Roma 3:9-19

The Condemnation of the World

3:9 What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin, 3:10 just as it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one,

3:11 there is no one who understands,

there is no one who seeks God.

3:12 All have turned away,

together they have become worthless;

there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.” ¹ 

3:13 “Their throats are open graves, ² 

they deceive with their tongues,

the poison of asps is under their lips.” ³ 

3:14 “Their mouths are ⁴  full of cursing and bitterness.” ⁵ 

3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,

3:16 ruin and misery are in their paths,

3:17 and the way of peace they have not known.” ⁶ 

3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” ⁷ 

3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under ⁸  the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

Roma 9:22-25

9:22 But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects ⁹  of wrath ¹⁰  prepared for destruction? ¹¹  9:23 And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects ¹²  of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory – 9:24 even us, whom he has called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 9:25 As he also says in Hosea:

“I will call those who were not my people, ‘My people,’ and I will call her who was unloved, ¹³  ‘My beloved.’” ¹⁴ 

Roma 12:1-2

Consecration of the Believer’s Life

12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, ¹⁵  by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God ¹⁶  – which is your reasonable service. 12:2 Do not be conformed ¹⁷  to this present world, ¹⁸  but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve ¹⁹  what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

[3:12]  ¹ sn Verses 10-12 are a quotation from Ps 14:1-3.

[3:13]  ² tn Grk “their throat is an opened grave.”

[3:13]  ³ sn A quotation from Pss 5:9; 140:3.

[3:14]  ⁴ tn Grk “whose mouth is.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:14]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Ps 10:7.

[3:17]  ⁶ sn Rom 3:15-17 is a quotation from Isa 59:7-8.

[3:18]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 36:1.

[3:19]  ⁸ tn Grk “in,” “in connection with.”

[9:22]  ⁹ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

[9:22]  ¹⁰ tn Or “vessels destined for wrath.” The genitive ὀργῆς (orghs) could be taken as a genitive of destination.

[9:22]  ¹¹ tn Or possibly “objects of wrath that have fit themselves for destruction.” The form of the participle could be taken either as a passive or middle (reflexive). ExSyn 417-18 argues strongly for the passive sense (which is followed in the translation), stating that “the middle view has little to commend it.” First, καταρτίζω (katartizw) is nowhere else used in the NT as a direct or reflexive middle (a usage which, in any event, is quite rare in the NT). Second, the lexical force of this verb, coupled with the perfect tense, suggests something of a “done deal” (against some commentaries that see these vessels as ready for destruction yet still able to avert disaster). Third, the potter-clay motif seems to have one point: The potter prepares the clay.

[9:23]  ¹² tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

[9:25]  ¹³ tn Grk “and her who was not beloved, ‘Beloved.’”

[9:25]  ¹⁴ sn A quotation from Hos 2:23.

[12:1]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[12:1]  ¹⁶ tn The participle and two adjectives “alive, holy, and pleasing to God” are taken as predicates in relation to “sacrifice,” making the exhortation more emphatic. See ExSyn 618-19.

[12:1]  sn Taken as predicate adjectives, the terms alive, holy, and pleasing are showing how unusual is the sacrifice that believers can now offer, for OT sacrifices were dead. As has often been quipped about this text, “The problem with living sacrifices is that they keep crawling off the altar.”

[12:2]  ¹⁷ tn Although συσχηματίζεσθε (suschmatizesqe) could be either a passive or middle, the passive is more likely since it would otherwise have to be a direct middle (“conform yourselves”) and, as such, would be quite rare for NT Greek. It is very telling that being “conformed” to the present world is viewed as a passive notion, for it may suggest that it happens, in part, subconsciously. At the same time, the passive could well be a “permissive passive,” suggesting that there may be some consciousness of the conformity taking place. Most likely, it is a combination of both.

[12:2]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “to this age.”

[12:2]  ¹⁹ sn The verb translated test and approve (δοκιμάζω, dokimazw) carries the sense of “test with a positive outcome,” “test so as to approve.”