'Love So Amazing, So Divine, Demands My Soul, My Life, My All' Considering Romans 12:1-2

After 11 chapters of doctrine telling us what to believe, we now turn (perhaps with a measure of relief?) to the practical application — how we should live. This is a pattern Paul follows in many of his epistles. This article is an exposition of Romans 12:1-2. It shows the grounds for Christian commitment; its demand, renewal, and its goal. 

How to be a Good Member in the Church Considering Romans 12:3-8

The apostle Paul now applies this radical new way of living to our lives together in the church. Paul re­minds us of the importance of using our minds in the church. We are not to leave our minds outside the church door. The head, as Tozer reminds us, is not just a place to hang a hat on! As members of the church then, how are we to think—and behave? This article is an exposition of Romans 12:3-8. It shows how Christians must think about themselves and the church. 

A Work In Progress Considering Romans 12:9-21

Paul is writing to Christians: to people who have received mercy from God (Romans 12:1). Don’t think for a moment that by doing these instructions you are working for your salvation. No! Rather, if you obey these instructions, you are work­ing out your salvation. It’s often been said that while we are saved by faith alone, this salvation is by a faith that is not alone. These instructions are marks of the "new life" in all who have been born again. This article gives the essentials of biblical love.

Worship and Ethics in Romans 12

Is there a link between worship and ethics in Romans 12? Too often the main inspiration for Paul's thinking behind this text is ignored. The biblical-theological background to Paul's argument and the wider context of Romans must be taken into consideration. Peterson argues that the first two verses of Romans 12 proclaim a reversal of the downward spiral depicted in Romans 1.

Living Like the Azazel Goat in Romans 12:1b

The Old Testament does know of a "living sacrifice." The article demonstrates that the difference between the Old Testament and New Testament concepts of "spiritual life" is the way in which the believer becomes the sacrifice in the New Testament. It seems reasonable to think that the "living sacrifice" of Romans 12:1b may have an Old Testament precedent, and the article argues in the direction of the ritual for the Azazel-goat of Leviticus 16.

An Alternative Explanation for the Alleged "Imperatival" Particles of Romans 12:9-21

Do the participles of Romans 12:9-21 function as imperatives or may they be connected with a finite verb in the context of the passage? The suggestion of this article is that the participles might be connected with a finite verb, but one that is unexpressed in the passage.

Paul's Common Paraenesis (1 Thess. 4-5; Phil. 2-4; and Rom. 12-13): The Correspondence between Romans 1:18-32 and 12:1-2, and the Unity of Romans 12-13

What ought to characterize the Christian life? This article indicates the unity of vision for a Christian life in Romans 12:9-21, Philippians 4:2-9, and 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24. This unity of vision helps us see the correspondence between Romans 1:18-32 and Romans 12:1-2 and the unity of Romans 12–13 as a whole.