Chapter # 12 Paragraph # 2 Study # 2
October 27, 2019
Humble, Texas

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1769 Translation:
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think [of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
5 So we, [being] many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

1901 ASV Translation:
3 For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but so to think as to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to each man a measure of faith.
4 For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members have not the same office:
5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one of another.

• I. The Foundations of Paul's Declaration.
  • A. The "I say" indicates a firm conviction of "faith" (whether legitimate or not; Romans 3:5 compared with 3:19), in the present, indicative, active verbal form.
  • B. The "vehicle" of this speech is "grace given" (Aorist Passive Participle).
    • 1. This is a direct reference to the original claim in Romans that Paul had received "grace" in the particular form of "apostleship" (1:5).
      • a. The "gift" of "apostleship".
        • 1) The significance of this term in the culture was that an "apostle" had the weight of the authority of his/her "sender" behind him/her so that the actions taken by the "apostle" were both underwritten, and enforced, by the "sender".
        • 2) In this context, there is a deliberate reference to God's "apportioning" of some degree of "faith" to each believer and a parallel reference to God's "gifting" of certain specific abilities to each believer "according to the 'grace' apportioned to each".
        • 3) Thus, Paul's "apostleship" resulted in "grace imparted words" that, in turn, resulted in the laying of a doctrinal foundation for God's work in this age: Ephesians 2:20.
      • b. The significance of the root of the "gift": Grace.
        • 1) At the very root of "grace" as Paul presented it throughout his letters, there is a strong disallowance of any sense of "merit" (11:6 pointedly declares this absolute distinction between "grace" and "work") so that men are not permitted any "boasting" because of "works" (3:27-28).
        • 2) In the actual historical record of Paul's receiving of this "grace", God simply declared that he was to be His "chosen vessel" without any alternative (no "free will") involved: Acts 9:15. Thus, the "grace" really was "grace".
    • 2. This also has to be rooted in an active dependence upon the Holy Spirit as the Source of the accuracy of speech that is tied to "apostleship".
      • a. It is not a part of the New Testament concept of "grace" in "gifting" that it is always in play; it must be a deliberate issue of "faith-focus" in the Spirit's "grace" so that, when that is not the focus, failures will occur. Paul was not claiming in 1:5 that every time he spoke it was Inerrant by reason of his "apostolic" status (how else to explain Peter's failure in Antioch as recorded in Galatians 2:11 and following?). Indeed, how else to explain how the "pillars" in Jerusalem allowed the false doctrine of salvation by obedience to the Law of Moses to exist and be promoted in the Church in that place for 16 years?
      • b. It is a part of the New Testament concept of "grace" in "gifting" that it is in play when the "gifted" is depending upon the Spirit to enable the gift.
    • 3. The "giving" is focused on the fact of a "presentation by one to another" without regard for the causes (unlike the "freely give" of 8:32 where the verb is built off of the verb "to extend grace"). Paul had already tied the "giving" to grace in the phrase "the grace which was given", so there was no need to double down on "grace" as an extension of "grace". God simply "gave" "grace".
• II. The Audience Paul Had In Mind.
  • A. His words are, "...to every one who is existing among you...".
  • B. He is evidently signifying "existence among you as God's 'church in Rome'". In other words, he is writing to those who have, as he says in the very next verse, been "apportioned" a measure of faith.
• III. The Message He Declares.
  • A. It is all about "thinking".
    • 1. The word is used of "focusing upon a particular issue to the exclusion of other issues".
    • 2. It is used with a prefix in the phrase "...not to think more highly..." and is immediately followed with the basic root idea in the phrases "...than he ought to think..." and "...but to think..." and, then, in turn, it is followed by another use with a different prefix in the phrase "...to think soberly...". The sentence reads thus: "me huperphronein par ho dei phronein alla phronein eis to sophronein" (the underlined parts being the same word with, or without, prefixes).
  • B. It is all about focusing attention upon "how" it is "necessary" to "think".
    • 1. Not using present appearances, "things with which we are faced as 'alongside' of us", to guide our focus, especially when that focus puts us in a "better" light than another.
    • 2. But considering the fact that God is the Root of every man's ability to "believe" so that He acts according to that "believing".

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This is article #019.
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