... in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord
Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen. Glory
to You, our God, Glory to You.
O Heavenly King,
the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things, Treasury
of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every
impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal,
have mercy on us (three times).
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the beginning, and ever
shall be, world without end. Amen.
The
Epistle
Romans 1:1-32
The
Epistle Translation
1Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ, a called
Apostle, having been severed into God’s good message, 2which He
foretold through His prophets in sanctified writings,[1] 3about His Son,
having come from the seed of David according to the flesh, 4being declared the Son of God in [the] power of
sanctification according to [the] Spirit, from[2] [the] resurrection of
[the] dead,[3]
Jesus Christ our Lord. 5Through Whom we received joy[4] and apostleship for [the]
heeding[5] of conviction[6] in all the nations, on
behalf of[7] His name, 6in Whom
you all are also called by Jesus Christ,
7To all being in Rome, beloved by God, called
saints,
Joy to you all, and
peace from God our Father and [our] Lord
Jesus Christ.
8First one. I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of
you, because your conviction is proclaimed in all the Universe: 9for
my witness is God, Whom I serve in my spirit, in the good message about His Son,
how ceaselessly, I make remembrance of you, already 10always begging
upon my prayers if, how, already, when,[8] I will be given a good
road, in the will of God to come to you: 11for I long to see you, so
that I might share some spiritual joy with you all, for you to be upheld.
12Two. This
is to be mutually encouraged in you, through the in one-another-ness[9] of conviction, both yours
and mine.
13Three. Brothers, I do not wish you to be unaware that
previously, I planned many times to come to you and was forbidden until now, so
then I also might have some fruit in you all,[10] just as in other nations. 14I am a debtor to both Greeks and
barbarians, wise and unknowing, 15thus [I am][11] ready (by my own
standards)[12]
to evangelize also all of you who are in Rome:
16For I am not ashamed of the good message: for
it is the power of God to salvation to all being convinced, both Jew and Greek:
17for the justness of God is revealed in it[13] of conviction into conviction,
just as it stands written,
Four. The
just will live by conviction.[14]
18For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven upon
all godlessness and injustice of men, who grasp the truth in injustice; 19because
the knowledge of God is shining in them: for God shined to them: 20for
His invisibility, being noumenal, is discerned from [the] creation of [the]
universe, in the things that are made; specifically, both His eternal power and
godliness; thus they are defenseless;[15] 21because,
knowing God, they did not glorify [Him] as God, neither were they
thankful, instead they were emptied in their dialog, and their conflicted heart
was darkened, 22by claiming to be wise, they were made fools,[16] 23and
exchanged the Glory of the incorruptible God in [to] a likeness of an
image[17] of corruptible man, birds,
four-footed animals, and reptiles.
24For this reason, God surrendered them in the burning
desire of their hearts into uncleanness, their bodies to be dishonored in them
[selves], 25who exchanged the truth of God in to the lie, and
feared, and served the creation beside[18] the Creator,
Who is praised for
the ages. Amen.
26Through this, God surrendered them to suffering
of dishonor, for which even their females exchanged the natural use for that beside
nature. 27Even likewise, also
the males, departing from the natural use of the female, were set on fire in
their desire for one another, males in males, accomplishing twisted actions,
and taking away in themselves the punishment, which is the liability of their
straying.
28Just as they did not prove[19] to have God in
understanding, God surrendered them to an unproved[20] mind, to do that which is
not acceptable[21]; 29Being
filled with all injustice, misery, plunder, and rottenness: full of envy,
murder, quarreling, fraud, and rotten moral standards; whisperers, 30character
assassins, God-haters, thugs, show-offs, braggarts, finders of rotten things; to
parents, apathetic; 31conflicted, renegades, cold-blooded, merciless[22].[23]
32who having understood the justness of God,
that the ones practicing such
things are worthy of death; not only are doing, but also are approving the ones
practicing them.[24]
[1] We
understand this to mean the Old Testament Scripture, but such wisdom may have
escaped the average Greco-Roman listener.
Paul is making a friendly point, not sharpening an axe.
[2]
Out of, not far away from
[3]
The power of resurrection declared by the Holy Ghost on the day or Pentecost in
33 AD. Jesus is resurrected (singular)
from among the dead (plural). However,
in conquering death by death, He is bringing about the eventual resurrection of
all; some of whom follow Him and walk about Jerusalem in the flesh in 33 AD.
[4] This
word is frequently translated, grace.
This completely removes the idea that the root word is about joy. Grace is something that flows from and
through joy in the Holy Ghost.
[5]
Obedience is too strong a translation; hearing is too weak a translation.
[6]
The obedience of faith conveys only part of the meaning. Faith and pathos (experience: joy and
suffering, ending in death) have the same root idea. Modern society seeks a faith without pathos,
and that is impossible to achieve. Real
faith carries with it the costs of commitment and conviction, as well as the
price of Christ’s death on the cross.
There is no such thing as easy belief or cheap grace. The grace of joy comes through a veil of
tears. To follow Christ in faith is only
to follow Him in His passion.
[7]
Above, supported by
[8] It
is tempting to translate this string of adverbs out of existence; we didn’t do
that, because they have a sort of poetic lilt, in the sense of free verse. Their very awkwardness convey Paul’s sense of
frustration and urgency. He strains at
the harness to leap ahead to Rome. He
champs at the bit to be underway. His
Master is not yet ready for him to go, because he is not yet ready to go, he is
not sufficiently groomed for the task, the time is not yet ripe.
[9] While
this is built by mutual encouragement, the outcome is far more than
mutual. The Church is a complete
organism, the body of Christ, for which each has an invested interest in every
other. In mutual behavior, we may
scratch one another’s backs. In this
relationship we become like Siamese twins, even though our lives are distinct,
they are never separate. Without each
other, we cease to live, which is why the fragmentation of The Church is so
terrifying.
[10] The
fruit flows from the one-another-ness. Both the Romans and Paul will yield more
fruit because of his visit. The life of
conviction is not one way between brothers and sisters. I cannot possibly help you, without you also
helping me.
[11]
This is repeated from the previous phrase for clarity, and continues its
action, all of which are implied by and included in the word thus. “I am
a debtor … thus ready.”
[12] It
literally says, “according to the standard of me;” by my own abilities. Had God thought that Paul was adequately
prepared; doubtless, Paul had already arrived.
However, human preparation and divine preparation are distinctly
different matters. Paul is not yet
ready, and subtly suggests that this is the true case.
[13]
The antecedent is good message, which is neuter; rather than Jesus or Son,
which are masculine.
[14]
This puts an end to the contention that the Bible has nothing juridical to
say. Habakkuk 2:4
[15] Without
excuse is close. However, the idea is
that they stand convicted in the court of final resort, and have no legal
defense for their actions, which in retrospect have simply been silly and
stupid. This is the final epitaph for
all human life.
[16]
As strong as this statement is, Paul assiduously avoids the blunter, harsher
middle, “They made fools of themselves.”
Paul is being as gentle and kind as reality permits. He seeks to avoid alienating anyone: but in
the end, he cannot avoid the truth, nor can we.
[17]
The problem is not that they owned an image or a picture. The problem is that they exchanged that image
or picture for the living God.
[18]
Establishing a “beside” relationship between the Creator and the creation, is
to set them in competition with each other.
What could be more insulting to the Creator than to be contrasted to His
own creation, let alone an image of that creation? The church members from a Greco-Roman
culture, with its countless competing idols, easily got the point.
[19]
Literally test, or battle test. The
failure to test spiritually does not merely show that the test was never
performed at all, which was sometimes the case; but rather that the spiritual
test was entered in a halfhearted and slovenly manner. That “they did not test God” means that they
failed to trust His promises, which are battle tested. Thus they failed to enter into the spiritual
conflict in any real way.
[20]
Literally untested. Mental failure in
this verse is the result failing the test and being rejected by it; not merely
the result of leaving the test undone.
Mankind lapsed into idolatry, homosexuality, and the like, by
self-conscious choice, not by accident.
The inevitable and ongoing result of such failure is increasing insanity
or madness. The mind never fully develops
because it is not engaged in conversation with God.
[21]
That which is not up to Kingdom standards: wood, hay, and stubble; rather than gold,
silver, precious gems (1 Corinthians 3:12).
[22]
This is the description of one who is dead on the inside, catatonic, possibly
morose, or even morbid; not one who is wildly wicked.
[23] I
like what the Revised Standard Version did with these last four words, “foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless,” even if it misses the
precise meaning a little.
[24] While Paul certainly has Exodus
20 in mind here; he is also leaning heavily on the Law written on the heart
(Romans 2:11-16), that which the Greco-Romans would have understood as their
ethos.
[25] If
you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost,
share, or use any of them as you wish.
No rights are reserved. They are
designed and intended for your free participation. They were freely received, and are freely
given. No other permission is required
for their use.
No comments:
Post a Comment