8/18 "Our Spiritual (Reasonable) Worship" Romans 12
In a Nutshell: The NIV calls those things described in Romans 12 as our “reasonable service” while the ESV calls them our “spiritual worship.” What appears at first as disagreement can be seen in context as complimentary interpretations. Words like “appealing” us to “consider” and “discern” point us to reason while “living,” “loving” and “serving” as a kind of “sacrifice” all point toward worship.
Connecting to the Text
1. WHAT specifically does Paul “appeal” to us to do? And in “view” of what does he make this request? Rom. 12:1,2
2. WHY does Paul call us to do these things? What does he cite as the reason(s) [1:19; 2:7; 3:2; 3:26; 4:24; 5:1; 5:8; 6:3,4; 7:24,25; 8:26; 8:32; 10:9; 11:22] ( and/or the “measure” or motivation behind the things we do? Rom. 12:3-8
3. HOW are we to accomplish the “service” or “worship” that Paul describes? What states of mind will best suit our fulfillment of these things? Rom. 12:9-13
4. WHO all does Paul see as being affected by our ”service”/“worship?” Rom. 12:14-21
Good Resources: