Romans 12:1-2

Consecration of the Believer’s Life

12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, ¹  by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God ²  – which is your reasonable service. 12:2 Do not be conformed ³  to this present world, ⁴  but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve ⁵  what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

Colossians 1:20

1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, ⁶  whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁷  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Ephesians 4:1

Live in Unity

4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, ⁸  urge you to live ⁹  worthily of the calling with which you have been called, ¹⁰ 

Philemon 1:9-10

1:9 I would rather appeal ¹¹  to you on the basis of love – I, Paul, an old man ¹²  and even now a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus ¹³  – 1:10 I am appealing ¹⁴  to you concerning my child, whose spiritual father I have become ¹⁵  during my imprisonment, ¹⁶  that is, Onesimus,

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

[12:1]  ² 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.

[12:2]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Grk “to this age.”

[12:2]  ⁵ sn The verb translated test and approve (δοκιμάζω, dokimazw) carries the sense of “test with a positive outcome,” “test so as to approve.”

[1:20]  ⁶ tc The presence or absence of the second occurrence of the phrase δι᾿ αὐτοῦ (di’ autou, “through him”) is a difficult textual problem to solve. External evidence is fairly evenly divided. Many ancient and excellent witnesses lack the phrase (B D* F G I 0278 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 al latt sa), but equally important witnesses have it (Ì⁴⁶ א A C D¹ Ψ 048^vid 33 Ï). Both readings have strong Alexandrian support, which makes the problem difficult to decide on external evidence alone. Internal evidence points to the inclusion of the phrase as original. The word immediately preceding the phrase is the masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou); thus the possibility of omission through homoioteleuton in various witnesses is likely. Scribes might have deleted the phrase because of perceived redundancy or awkwardness in the sense: The shorter reading is smoother and more elegant, so scribes would be prone to correct the text in that direction. As far as style is concerned, repetition of key words and phrases for emphasis is not foreign to the corpus Paulinum (see, e.g., Rom 8:23, Eph 1:13, 2 Cor 12:7). In short, it is easier to account for the shorter reading arising from the longer reading than vice versa, so the longer reading is more likely original.

[1:1]  ⁷ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[4:1]  ⁸ tn Grk “prisoner in the Lord.”

[4:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “walk.” The verb “walk” in the NT letters refers to the conduct of one’s life, not to physical walking.

[4:1]  ¹⁰ sn With which you have been called. The calling refers to the Holy Spirit’s prompting that caused them to believe. The author is thus urging his readers to live a life that conforms to their saved status before God.

[1:9]  ¹¹ tn Or “encourage.”

[1:9]  ¹² tn Or perhaps “an ambassador” (so RSV, TEV), reading πρεσβευτής for πρεσβύτης (a conjecture proposed by Bentley, cf. BDAG 863 s.v. πρεσβύτης). NRSV reads “old man” and places “ambassador” in a note.

[1:9]  ¹³ tn Grk “a prisoner of Christ Jesus.”

[1:10]  ¹⁴ tn Or “I am encouraging…”

[1:10]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “my child whom I have begotten.” The adjective “spiritual” has been supplied before “father” in the translation to clarify for the modern reader that Paul did not literally father a child during his imprisonment. Paul’s point is that he was instrumental in Onesimus’ conversion while in prison.

[1:10]  ¹⁶ sn During my imprisonment. Apparently Onesimus became a believer under Paul’s shepherding while he [Paul] was a prisoner in Rome.