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 1:12

1:12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share ⁶  in the saints’ ⁷  inheritance in the light.

[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.”

[1:12]  ⁶ tn BDAG 473 s.v. ἱκανόω states, “τινὰ εἴς τι someone for someth. Col 1:12.” The point of the text is that God has qualified the saints for a “share” or “portion” in the inheritance of the saints.

[1:12]  ⁷ tn Grk “the inheritance of the saints.” The genitive noun τῶν ἁγίων (twn Jagiwn) is a possessive genitive: “the saints’ inheritance.”