Romans 12:18-19 Romans 12:18-Paul Commands Romans … · Romans 12:18-Paul Commands Romans To...

2009 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries

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Romans 12:18-19

Romans 12:18-Paul Commands Romans To Continue To Live Peaceably With

All Men As Far As It Depends On Them

The apostle Paul commands his readers in Romans 12:18 to continue to live

peaceably with all people. In this passage he employs a first class condition. In the

protasis, he states that “if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument

that there continues to exist the possibility to continue to live peaceably with all

people as far as it depends on the Roman believers and they would agree that there

continues to be that possibility.” They would agree that it is possible because they

have already been doing it under the enabling power of the indwelling presence of

the Spirit and could continue to doing it under the Spirit’s power. Paul then infers

the following in the apodasis, “then continue to make it their habit to live

peaceably with all men.”

Like much of Romans 12:9-21, Romans 12:18 is elliptical meaning that in the

protasis Paul leaves out the third person singular present active indicative form of

the verb eimi (ei)miv) (i-mee), “it is.” Though it is omitted it is implied since Paul

deliberately omits it due to his use of the figure of ellipsis.

Also, in the apodasis, Paul leaves out deliberately though it is implied the

present active infinitive form of the verb eireneuo (ei)rhneuvw) (i-rane-yoo-o),

which means “to be at peace”.

Also, not translated but implied is a prepositional phrase, which appears in the

apodasis as well and is composed of the preposition meta (metav) (met-ah), “with”

and the genitive masculine plural form of the adjective pas (pa~$), “all” and the

genitive masculine plural form of the noun anthropos (a*nqrwpo$) (anth-ro-pos),

“men.”

Therefore, if we supply these words, the passage would read like this: “If it is

possible to continue to live peaceably with all people as far as it depends on you

and we agree that this possibility continues, then continue to make it your habit to

live peaceably with all people.”

Romans 12:18, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all

men.”

“If” is the conditional particle ei (ei)) (i), which introduces a protasis of a first

class condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument.

The conditional particle ei, “if” is employed with the indicative mood of the

verb eimi, “is,” which is deliberately omitted by Paul but implied due to his use of

the figure of ellipsis. Together, they explicitly convey a protasis of a first class

condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument. However,


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the apodasis is introduced implicitly meaning without a structural marker, thus we

will insert the word “then” into our translation before the apodasis statement in

order to account for this.

As we noted many times in our study of the book of Romans, the idea behind

the first class condition is not “since” but rather, “if-and let us assume that it is true

for the sake of argument that, then...”

This would encourage Paul’s audience to respond and come to the conclusion

of the apodosis since they already agreed with him on the protasis. Therefore, Paul

is employing the first class condition as a tool of persuasion with his audience.

Paul’s audience would respond to his protasis.

Here the protasis is “if and let assume that it is true for the sake argument that it

is possible to continue to live peaceably with all people as far as it depends on you

(Roman believers).”

The responsive condition indicates that Paul’s readers would say: “Of course

we agree that it is true that there continues to be the possibility of living peaceably

with all men as far as it depends on us.” They would agree because they were

already doing so through the power of the Spirit as indicated by Romans 1:8 and

15:14-15.

The apodasis is “(then) be at peace with all men.”

The basic relation that the protasis has to the apodasis is “evidence-inference.”

The “evidence” is that it is possible to continue to live peaceably with all people as

far as it depended on Paul’s Christian readers because they already were living

peaceably with all people by means of the enabling power of the Spirit. The

“inference” is that Paul’s Christian readers are to continue to live peaceably with

all men.

Paul is not attempting to prove that his protasis is true rather he is saying with

the first class condition that we agree that it is possible to continue to live

peaceably with all men as far as it depended on (the Roman believers). His

statements in Romans 1:8 and 15:14-15 indicate that they already were doing so by

the enabling power of the Spirit.

The first class condition would then persuade Paul’s readers to respond to the

conclusion, which is in the form of a command, then continue to make it their habit

to live peaceably with all men. Therefore, Paul’s audience would have to come to

his conclusion if they submit to this line of argumentation and continue to live

peaceably with all people. He wants them to come to his line of argumentation

because he wants his readers to continue to evangelize the unsaved in their

personal periphery. Therefore, it is essential that they agree with him on this point

since it will continue to contribute to the evangelization of Rome.


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Therefore, we will translate or paraphrase the conditional particle ei, “if, and let

us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that…And of course, we

agree that it is true…then…”

As we noted earlier, not translated but clearly implied is the third person

singular present active indicative form of the verb eimi (ei)miv) (i-mee), which Paul

deliberately omits due to his use of the figure of ellipsis, though it is clearly

implied.

The NIV and NKJV both supply the ellipsis and translate eimi, “it is.”

However, the New American Standard Updated Version does not.

Romans 12:18-19, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live

peaceably with all men.” NKJV

Romans 12:18, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace

with everyone.” NIV

The verb eimi means “to exist” indicating that as far as Paul’s readers were

concerned, there does “exist” the possibility of continuing to live peaceably with

all people.

The third person singular form of the verb means “there,” which is implied in

the verb and is the subject and refers to living peaceably with all people.

The present tense is also a “customary present” indicating the ongoing state of

the Roman believers living peaceably with all people as far as it depended on them

since they have the capacity to do so because of the indwelling Spirit.

The active voice is “stative” indicating that continuing to live peaceably with all

people does “exist in the state of” being possible as far as it depended on the

Roman believers.

The indicative mood of the verb is “conditional” meaning that it is employed

with the conditional particle ei in order to form the protasis of a first class

condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument.

We will translate eimi, “there continues to exist.”

Corrected translation thus far of Romans 12:18: “If and let us assume that it is

true for the sake of argument that there continues to exist…and we agree that

there continues to be that possibility then…


men.”

“Possible” is the nominative neuter singular form of the adjective dunatos

(dunatov$) (doo-nat-os), which pertains to being possible with the implication of

possessing the inherent ability to determine the state of one’s relationship with

another. It describes that there continues to exist the possibility of the Roman

believers continuing to live peaceably with all people because of the omnipotence

of the indwelling Spirit since He is the member of the Trinity that provides the

believer the capacity to execute the command to be at peace with all people. In


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fact, Romans 1:8 and 15:14-15 indicate that they already were living peaceably

with all people from their perspective. However, not all men will desire to be at

peace with them and would seek to persecute them instead. This word also

indicates that not all men would desire to be at peace with Paul’s readers since the

unsaved are deceived by the devil and enslaved to the sin nature and devoid of the

indwelling presence of the Spirit.

The adjective dunatos functions as a “predicate nominative,” which is indicated

in that it is anarthrous and stands before the substantive use of the verb eimi,

“there does exist.”

As a “predicate nominative” dunatos is making an assertion about Paul’s

Christian readers in Rome, namely, that there continues to exist the possibility of

them continuing to live peaceably with all men because of the power of the

indwelling Spirit. We will translate dunatos, “a possibility.”


true for the sake of argument that there continues to exist a possibility…and

we agree that there continues to be that possibility then…

Not translated but implied is the present active infinitive form of the verb

eireneuo (ei)rhneuvw) (i-rane-yoo-o), which is used intransitively and means “to

live peaceably” and is used in the apodasis.

The present tense is a customary present indicating that there continued to exist

the possibility of the Roman believers continuing to live in an ongoing state of

being at peace with all men. Of course, not all men were at peace with them since

they are deceived by the devil and possess a sin nature and devoid of the

indwelling presence of the Spirit unlike the Christian.

The active voice of the verb is “stative” emphasizing the Roman believers

“existing in the state of” continuing to live peaceably with all people.

The verb functions as a “complementary infinitive” meaning that it is

completing the thought of the verb eimi, “there does exist.”

We will translate eireneuo, “to continue to live peaceably.”

Also, not translated but implied is a prepositional phrase, which appears in the

apodasis and is composed of the preposition meta (metav) (met-ah), “with” and the

genitive masculine plural form of the adjective pas (pa~$), “all” and the genitive

masculine plural form of the noun anthropos (a*nqrwpo$) (anth-ro-pos), “men.”

The noun anthropos denotes a “person, human being” and is used in a generic

sense for the human race and in the plural means “people.” It is modified by the

adjective pas, which is used attributively emphasizing the totality of the human

race and specifically refers to unregenerate humanity.

The word functions as the object of the preposition meta, which functions as a

marker of association indicating the association between Paul’s readers and the rest

of unsaved humanity. We will translate this prepositional phrase “with all people.”


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true for the sake of argument that there continues to exist a possibility to

continue to live peaceably with all people…and we agree that there continues

to be that possibility then…


men.”

“As it depends on you” is composed of the accusative neuter singular form of

the definite article ho (o() (ho) and the preposition ek (e)k), which is followed by the

genitive second person plural personal pronoun humeis (u(mei~$) (hoo-mice).

Humeis refers to Paul’s Christian readers in Rome as a corporate unit. The

preposition ek is a marker of source indicating that as far as it “depends on” Paul’s

readers, they were to continue to live peaceably with all people.

The definite article ho functions as a “substantiver” meaning it nominalizes (i.e.

converts to a noun) and conceptualizing the prepositional phrase ex humon. It

functions as an accusative of respect or reference indicating with reference to what

the verbal action of living peaceably with all men is represented as true. This

indicates that “as far as” being at peace with all men depends on Paul’s readers,

they were to continue to do so. Therefore, we will translate the article “as far as it”

and the prepositional phrase ex humon, “depends on all of you.”



continue to live peaceably with all people as far as it depends on all of you and

we agree that there continues to be that possibility then…


men.”

“Be at peace” is the nominative masculine second person plural present active

participle form of the verb eireneuo (ei)rhneuvw) (i-rane-yoo-o), which is used

intransitively and means “to live peaceably.”

The second person plural form of the verb eireneuo refers to all of both

Christian readers in Rome without exception.

The word functions a “nominative subject” meaning that the subject, which is

embedded in the verb. The subject as we noted is the Christians in Rome as a

corporate unit. Thus, they are to produce the action of the verb of living peaceably

with all people.

The verb functions as an imperatival participle, which indicates that Paul is

commanding his readers that they must continue live peaceably with all people.

This is a “customary present imperative,” which is a command for action to be

continued, action that may or may not have already been going on and is often a

character building command to the effect of “make this your habit.”


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The present imperative of the verb is used of a general precept for habits that

should characterize one’s attitude and behavior. Therefore, it denotes that the

Roman believers’ must continue to make it their habit of living peaceably with all

people.

Paul’s statements in Romans 1:8 and 15:14-15 imply that they were obeying

this command. Therefore, the present imperatival participle form of the verb

eireneuo indicates that Paul is commanding the Roman believers to continue

making it their habit of living peaceably with all people.

The active voice indicates that this command is directed towards the believers

in Rome and is thus their responsibility to obey it.

We will translate the verb, “all of you continue to make it your habit to live

peaceably.”




we agree that there continues to be that possibility then all of you continue to

make it your habit to live peaceably…”


men.”

“With all men” is composed of the preposition meta (metav) (met-ah), “with”

and the genitive masculine plural form of the adjective pas (pa~$), “all” and the

genitive masculine plural form of the noun anthropos (a*nqrwpo$) (anth-ro-pos),

“men.”

The noun anthropos denotes a “person, human being” and is used in a generic

sense for the human race and in the plural means “people.” It is modified by the

adjective pas, which is used attributively emphasizing the totality of the human

race and specifically refers to unregenerate humanity.

The word functions as the object of the preposition meta, which functions as a

marker of association indicating the association between Paul’s readers and the rest

of unsaved humanity. We will translate this prepositional phrase “with all people.”

Completed corrected translation of Romans 12:18: “If and let us assume that

it is true for the sake of argument that there continues to exist a possibility to


we agree that there continues to be that possibility then all of you continue to

make it your habit to live peaceably with all people.”

So in Romans 12:18, Paul employs a first class condition to persuade his

readers to respond to his command to continue to make it their habit to live

peaceably with all men. In the protasis, he states that “if and let us assume that it is

true for the sake of argument that there continues to exist the possibility to

continue to live peaceably with all people as far as it depends on the Roman


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believers and they would agree that there continues to be that possibility.” They

would agree that it is possible because they have already been doing it under the

enabling power of the indwelling presence of the Spirit and could continue to

doing it under the Spirit’s power. Paul then infers the following in the apodasis,

“then continue to make it their habit to live peaceably with all men.” Therefore,

Paul’s audience would have to come to his conclusion if they submit to this line of

argumentation and continue to live peaceably with all people. He wants them to

come to his line of argumentation because he wants his readers to continue to

evangelize the unsaved in their personal periphery. Therefore, it is essential that

they agree with him on this point since it will continue to contribute to the

evangelization of Rome.

This command refers to the function of the believer’s royal ambassadorship, in

which the believer through his words is to proclaim the gospel to the unsaved. Paul

is also teaching in this passage that peace with others may not always be possible

but believers should never be responsible for the lack of peace in their relationships

with the unsaved.

Commenting on this passage, Moo writes, “Paul does not want Christians to use

the inevitability of tension with the world as an excuse for behavior that needlessly

exacerbates that conflict or for a resignation that leads us not even to bother to seek

to maintain a positive witness.” (Moo, Douglas J., The New International

Commentary on the New Testament, The Epistle to the Romans, page 786;

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan/Cambridge, U.K.,

1988.

Leon Morris writes, “The Christian is never to take the initiative in disturbing

the peace. Regrettably it may be disturbed, for the Christian lives among evil

people and they will sometimes refuse to let peace remain. But that is their

responsibility. As far as the Christian is concerned, there is to be no breach of the

peace. This must be qualified by the fact that the Christian is to bear witness to the

truth and to live by Christian principles. Peace at the price of the sacrifice of truth

or compromise of principle is not asked for. The Christian, because he is a

Christian, cannot do such things.” (Morris, Leon, The Pillar New Testament

Commentary, The Epistle to the Romans, page 452; William B. Eerdmans

Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan/Cambridge, U.K., 1996.


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Romans 12:19-Paul Commands Romans To Not Avenge Themselves But Let

The Lord Exact Retribution Upon Their Enemies

Romans 12:19 contains a prohibition and a command. In the former, Paul warns

his readers to not avenge themselves of their enemies. Also, in this passage, he

solemnly charges the Roman believers to give an opportunity for the Lord Jesus

Christ to exercise His righteous indignation on their behalf against their enemies.

He cites Deuteronomy 32:35 to support this command, which states vengeance

belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ and that He will exact retribution upon the

enemies of God’s people.

Romans 12:19, “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for

the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL

REPAY,’ says the Lord.”

“Never take your own revenge” is composed of the negative particle me (mhv) (may), “not” and the accusative masculine second person plural form of the

reflexive personal pronoun heautou (e(autou~) (heh-ow-too), “your own,” which is

followed by the nominative masculine second person plural present active

participle form of the verb ekdikeo (e)kdikevw) (ek-dik-eh-o), “take revenge.”

The verb ekdikeo is composed of the preposition ek, “out from” and the noun

dike, “justice,” thus the word literally means that which proceeds from justice. This

word was first attested around 150 B.C. in the writings of Apollodorus of Athens

and denotes the acts of “to avenge, to outlaw” or “to punish.” It is related to the

adjective ekdikos, which originally referred to a person who broke the law.

Eventually the word’s meaning went from “being outlawed” to the idea of

“vengeance” or “punishment” for those who break the law. Ekdikeo appears in the

Egyptian papyri where it is used in a legal sense meaning “to decide a case in

court” or “to enable a person to obtain his legal rights.”

It is used 91 times in the Septuagint and is used to describe God’s act in taking

vengeance or executing justice (Deuteronomy 18:19). The word is also used to

describe judicial proceedings carried out by man under the authority of God

(Numbers 31:2).

The verb ekdikeo appears six times in the Greek New Testament (Luke 18:3, 5;

Romans 12:19; 2 Corinthians 10:6; Revelation 6:10; 19:2).

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian

Literature-Third Edition: (1) to procure justice for someone, grant justice (2) to

inflict appropriate penalty for wrong done, punish, take vengeance for (3) to carry

out one’s obligations in a worthy manner, do justice to (Pages 300-301).

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains lists

the following meanings for the verb in the New Testament: (1) to give justice to

someone who has been wronged – ‘to give someone justice’ (volume 2, page 557).


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(2) to repay harm with harm, on the assumption that the initial harm was

unjustified and that retribution is therefore called for – ‘to pay back, to revenge, to

seek retribution, retribution, seeking retribution’ (volume 2, page 497). (3) to

punish, on the basis of what is rightly deserved – ‘to punish, to cause to suffer,

punishment’ (volume 2, page 490).

Vine commenting on the verb writes, “Ekdikeo, ek, ‘from,’ dike, ‘justice,’ i. e.,

that which proceeds from justice, means (a) ‘to vindicate a person's right,’ (b) ‘to

avenge a thing.’ With the meaning (a), it is used in the parable of the unjust judge,

Luke 18:3,5, of the ‘vindication’ of the rights of the widow; with the meaning (b) it

is used in Rev 6:10 and 19:2, of the act of God in ‘avenging’ the blood of the

saints; in 2 Cor 10:6, of the apostle's readiness to use his apostolic authority in

punishing disobedience on the part of his readers; here the RV substitutes ‘avenge’

for the KJV, ‘revenge’; in Rom 12:19 of ‘avenging’ oneself, against which the

believer is warned. Note: In Rev 18:20, the KJV mistranslates krino and krima

‘hath avenged you’; RV, ‘hath judged your judgment.’” (Vine’s Expository

Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright (c) 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

The Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised, “to execute right and justice; to punish;

to right, avenge a person” (Page 123).

The New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon lists the following meanings of the

word in the New Testament, “to vindicate one’s right, do one justice; to protect,

defend, one person from another; to avenge oneself; to avenge a thing” (Page 193).

In Luke 18:3, 5, it is found in the Lord’s parable of the widow and the unjust

judge and is used to describe legal protection for the widow. It is used in 2

Corinthians 10:6 of Paul’s willingness to exercise his apostolic authority toward

the disobedient Judaizers and those Corinthian believers who follow them.

The verb is found in Revelation 6:10 in connection with the fifth seal that will

be broken during Daniel’s Seventieth Week and is used to describe God executing

justice upon those unbelievers who killed Christians for their identification with

Christ. It is used in Revelation 19:2 again to describe God executing justice on

behalf of believers who were killed by Antichrist during the Tribulation.

In Romans 12:19, the verb ekdikeo means “to avenge” in the sense of repaying

harm with harm, on the assumption that the initial harm was unjustified and that

retribution is therefore called for. Paul is prohibiting his readers from avenging

themselves of their enemies in the sense of repaying their enemies with harm for

the harm they caused them unjustifiably.

Today, in the twenty first century we call this concept “pay back” or “getting

even.” The concept is glorified in Hollywood with movies by Clint Eastwood,

Charles Bronson, Sylvester Stallone and Steven Segal.

The verb’s meaning is negated by the negative particle me, “never.” Together,

they form a prohibition. The Roman believers are the subject of this prohibition.


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Paul employs me and not ouk since the latter is much stronger than the former

and would indicate that his readers were avenging themselves of their enemies.

Thus, by employing me instead of ouk, he does not believe that his readers were

doing this, which ouk would indicate. Therefore, the particle me indicates that this

has not taken place but is used with the verb ekdikeo to prohibit Paul’s readers in

the future from taking revenge against their enemies.

The verb functions as an imperatival participle, which indicates that Paul is

commanding his readers that they must continue to never avenge themselves of

their enemies.

This is a “customary present imperative,” which is a command for action to be

continued, action that may or may not have already been going on and is often a

character building command to the effect of “make this your habit.” The present

imperative of the verb is used of a general precept for habits that should

characterize one’s attitude and behavior. Therefore, it denotes that the Roman

believers’ must continue to make it their habit to never avenge themselves of their

enemies.

Paul’s statements in Romans 1:8 and 15:14-15 indicate that they were obeying

this prohibition. Therefore, in Romans 12:19, the present imperatival participle

form of the verb ekdikeo indicates that Paul is commanding the Roman believers to

continue making it their habit to never avenge themselves of their enemies. Paul is

simply performing preventive maintenance by employing this prohibition in

Romans 12:19 as he does with all the prohibitions contained in Romans 12:9-21.

He is in effect warning the believers in Rome to not take revenge against their

enemies. Thus, he is simply stating a general precept for his readers to follow in

the future that would protect their fellowship with God and their testimony before

the unsaved in their personal periphery.

The second person plural form of the verb ekdikeo refers to all of both Christian

readers in Rome without exception.

The active voice of the verb ekdikeo indicates that this prohibition is directed

towards the believers in Rome and is thus their responsibility to obey it.

The word functions a “nominative subject” meaning that the subject, which is

embedded in the verb. The subject as we noted is the Christians in Rome as a

corporate unit. Thus, they are to produce the action of the verb of never avenging

themselves.

The verb ekdikeo is used with the reflexive personal pronoun heautou whose

force is frequently to indicate that the subject is also the object of the action of the

verb or in other words, it reflects back on the subject. Therefore, the reflexive

personal pronoun heautou means “yourselves” and emphasizes Paul’s Christian

readers’ participation in not avenging themselves of their enemies. This word


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functions as an accusative direct object meaning that it is receiving the action of

the verb ekdikeo whose meaning is negated by the particle me.

We will translate ekdikeo, “all of you do not avenge” and the reflexive

pronoun heautou, “yourselves.”




“Beloved” is the vocative masculine plural form of the adjective agapetos

(a)gaphtov$) (ag-ap-ay-tos).

Agapetos is a verbal adjective from agapao. In classical Greek it commonly

describes “that with which one must be content,” and often refers to only children.

It is used of a child to whom all the love of his parents is given. When used of

things the word means “desirable,” and when used of persons it means “beloved.”

It is employed in letters as a term of address.

There are 15 canonical texts that the word is used in the Septuagint and 6

others. The Septuagint conforms to the classical usage but in another sense it

prepares for the theologically significant use of the term in the New Testament.

Agapetos is used 7 times for the Hebrew word yachidh (dyjy), “only.” It is

employed 5 times for the Hebrew term yadhidh (dydy), “beloved.” The word is

coupled with monogenes in Judges 11:34 meaning “only, unique.” It is found in

Baruch 4:16; Tobit 3:10, Amos 8:10 and Jeremiah 6:26.

Agapetos describes Isaac as Abraham’s “beloved, only” son (Gen. 22:2, 12, 16).

The word is used to describe those in Israel who remain faithful who will be

rescued by God (Ps. 60:5 [LXX 59:5]; 108:6 [107:6]; cf. 127:2 [126:2]). It is found

in Isaiah 5:1 where it describes Israel as God’s beloved son.

This sets the stage for the word’s usage in the New Testament. The word

appears 63 times in the New Testament. It is used by God the Father to describe

His personal love for the impeccable humanity of Jesus Christ in hypostatic union

(Matt. 3:17; 12:18; 17:5; Mark 1:11; 9:7; Luke 3:22; 9:35; 2 Pet. 1:17).

Agapetos is used in the New Testament to also describe church age believers

with emphasis upon Election (Rom. 1:7; Heb. 6:9). It is used quite often to

describe certain individuals who are singled out for their extraordinary service to

the body of Christ and their efforts in the advancement of the communication of

bible doctrine (Acts 15:25; Rom. 16:5, 8, 9, 12; 1 Cor. 4:17; Eph. 6:21; Col.

1:7; 4:7, 9, 14; 2 Tim. 1:2; Phlm. 1:1-2, 16; 3 John 1:1).

The word is also employed often in the plural as a term of direct address

indicating a close relationship between the writer and his readers (1 Cor. 10:14;

15:58; 2 Cor. 7:1; 12:19; Phil. 2:12; 4:1 twice; Heb. 6:9; James 1:16, 19; 2:5;

1 Pet. 2:11; 4:12; 2 Pet. 3:1, 8, 14-15, 17; 1 John 2:7; 3:2, 21; 4:1, 7, 11; 3

John 1:2, 5, 11; Jude 1:3, 17, 20).


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The term can be used to describe the writer’s love and affection for his readers.

Simultaneously, it can also serve as a reminder to believers that they are

beneficiaries of God’s impersonal unconditional love before salvation and objects

of His personal love after salvation.


Literature-Third Edition lists the following meanings for the adjective agapetos:

(1) pertaining to one who is in a very special relationship with another, only,

beloved (2) pertaining to one who is dearly loved, dear, beloved, prized, valued

(page 7).

The Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised lists the following (page 2): (1)

Beloved; dear (2) Worthy of love.

Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, “Agapetos, from agapao, ‘to

love,’ is used of Christ as loved by God, e. g., (Matt. 3:17); of believers (ditto), e.

g., (Rom. 1:7); of believers, one of another, (1 Cor. 4:14); often, as a form of

address, e. g., (1 Cor. 10:14). Whenever the KJV has ‘dearly beloved,’ the RV has

‘beloved’; so, ‘well beloved’ in (3 John 1); in (1 John 2:7), KJV, ‘brethren’

(adelphos), the RV has ‘beloved,’ according to the mss. which have agapetos.”

Louw and Nida’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on

Semantic Domains lists the following: (1) Pertaining to one who or that which is

loved – ‘object of one’s affection, one who is loved, beloved, dear’ (page 294). (2)

Pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is

particularly loved and cherished – ‘only, only dear’ (page 591).

The New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon defines the word: Beloved,

esteemed, dear, favorite (page 4).

In Romans 12:19, the adjective agapetos employed here as a substantive and is

used with God as its subject and Paul’s Christian readers in Rome as its object.

The word means “divinely loved” describing the fact that from the perspective

of God electing the nation of Israel in a national sense they are the object of the

triune God’s love.

The adjective agapetos is a reminder to the Roman believers that before

salvation they were the objects of God’s “impersonal” love but now after salvation,

they are the objects of God’s personal and affectionate love.

As to His nature, God is love, which is an attribute of His.

1 John 4:7-8, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and

everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love

does not know God, for God is love.”

Before salvation, the believer was the object of God’s “impersonal” love

meaning that he was obnoxious and unattractive to God since he was enslaved to

the cosmic system of Satan and his old Adamic sin nature and under real spiritual

death.


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Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while

we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Even though the believer was dead in his sins and transgressions and as a result

an enemy of God who is holy, at the moment of salvation, through the baptism of

the Spirit, he was raised and seated with Christ at the Father’s right hand because

of the Father’s great love.

Ephesians 2:4-6, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love

with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made

us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) and raised us up

with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

At salvation, the believer became the object of God’s “personal” love meaning

that the believer is attractive to God since God imputed His righteousness to the

believer at the moment he exercised faith alone in Christ alone and is now a child

of God and a partaker of the divine nature.

1 John 3:1, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we

would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world

does not know us, because it did not know Him.”

The adjective agapetos, “beloved” serves as a reminder to the Roman believers

that they are the beneficiaries and objects of the Father’s love, the Son’s and the

Spirit’s.

The divine-love of God the Father expressed itself in eternity past when He

designed the Incarnation Plan for the Son to execute in order to provide salvation

for all mankind (John 3:16-18; Ephesians 1:3-14). The divine-love of God the Son

expressed itself in eternity past when He volunteered His services to execute the

Incarnation Plan of God the Father (Hebrews 10:5-9). The divine-love of the Lord

Jesus expressed itself when He voluntarily denied Himself the independent

function of His divine attributes in order to die a spiritual and physical death on the

cross as a substitute for all mankind (Philippians 2:5-11). The divine-love of the

Holy Spirit expressed itself when He made the gospel understandable at the point

of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:1-2). This love expressed itself when the Spirit

performed seven ministries for the believer at the moment of salvation and after

salvation through His various post-salvation functions to reproduce the character of

Christ in the believer.

The divine-love of the Trinity expressed itself in providing for the believer

three categories of grace provision: (1) “Antecedent” grace: Election,

Predestination, and Eternal inheritance (2) “Living” grace: The spiritual life of the

believer. (3) “Eschatological” grace: Resurrection body and rewards for

faithfulness.

The Father expressed His love through: (1) Election: He elected the believer to

the privilege of an eternal relationship and fellowship with the Trinity (Ephesians


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1:3-14). (2) Predestination: He predestinated the believer to be conformed into the

image of Christ (Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:5). (3) Eternal inheritance and

rewards: He will bestow an eternal inheritance and rewards if the believer does His

will (1 Corinthians 9:25; Ephesians 1:11; James 1:12; Revelation 2:10).

God the Son expressed His love through: (1) Redemption: He redeemed the

believer through His spiritual death on the Cross (Ephesians 1:7). (2) Propitiation:

He propitiated or satisfied the Father’s holiness, which demanded that sin be

judged (1 John 2:2; 4:10). (3) Reconciliation: He reconciled the believer to the

Father through His death (Colossians 1:22).

The Holy Spirit expressed His love through: (1) Efficacious grace: He made the

believer’s faith in Christ effective for salvation (2 Cor. 6:1-2). (2) Regeneration:

He regenerated the believer by giving him a spirit and eternal life (John 3:1-7;

Titus 3:5). (3) Baptism: He placed the believer in union with Christ and identified

him with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection and session (1 Corinthians 12:13;

Ephesians 4:5). (4) Indwelling: He permanently indwells the believer (Romans

8:11; 1 Corinthians 3:16). (5) Filling: He influences the believer who is obedient to

the Word of God (Ephesians 5:18). (6) Sealing: He puts His stamp on the believer

guaranteeing his salvation (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13). (7) Spiritual gifts:

He gives the believer a spiritual gift to serve God (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). (8)

Mentorship: He functions as the believer’s mentor and teacher (John 14:26; 1 John

2:20). (9) Fruit bearing: He reproduces the character of Christ in the believer who

is obedient to the Word of God (Galatians 5:21-22). (10) Convicts of sin: He

convicts the believer of sin (Romans 8:4-11; Ephesians 4:30).

The adjective agapetos would serve to remind the Roman believers that they

are beneficiaries of God’s divine-love before salvation and objects of His personal

love after salvation. It would also serve to encourage them in the midst of

undeserved suffering and persecution and would challenge them to advance to

maturity and execute the plan of God. Lastly, it would serve as a reminder that they

are obligated to love their enemies just as God loved them when they were His

enemies prior to their faith in Christ.

The adjective agapetos is employed here in Romans 12:19 as a substantive and

means, “divinely loved ones.” Paul uses this word not only to express his love and

affection for his readers but also to remind them of their relationship with each

member of the Trinity. The love that Paul has for his readers is not a product of

human emotions but rather it is divine in origin (1 Jn. 4:7-19). It is a divine love

that both John and his readers are the beneficiaries of since it originates in the

essence of God. Because it originates in the essence of God it is a love that has the

capacity to love the unlovely and the obnoxious, and antagonistic. Paul loves them

all individually as does each member of the Trinity and thus his love for them is

the same love that each member of the Trinity has for them.


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The word serves as a reminder to Paul’s readers that they are the beneficiaries

and objects of three categories of divine-love: (1) God the Father (2) God the Son

(3) God the Holy Spirit.

The anarthrous construction of the adjective agapetos indicating that Paul’s

readers belonged to a particular class of human beings who have responded to

God’s love by exercising faith in Christ as Savior and have now become members

of God’s family and the objects of His love. The anarthrous construction could also

be classified as qualitative emphasizing the qualitative aspect of the word, thus it

emphasizes that Paul’s readers are the objects of a love that is “divine in nature.”

Agapetos also functions as a vocative of direct simple address indicating Paul is

directly addressing in writing his spiritual brothers and sisters who were located in

the city of Rome.

We will translate the word “divinely loved ones.”

Corrected translation thus far of Romans 12:19: “All of you do not avenge

yourselves divinely loved ones…”

In this prohibition, Paul is forbidding his readers from retaliating against those

who mistreat them or harm them in any way. This prohibition expands upon the

command issued by Paul in Romans 12:14 to bless those that persecute them and

not to curse.

Romans 12:14, “All of you continue to make it your habit to bless those

who persecute you. All of you continue to make it your habit to bless and do

not curse.”

This prohibition echoes the prohibition in Romans 12:17 to never repay evil for

evil to anyone.

Romans 12:17, “All of you continue to make it your habit to never repay

evil in exchange for evil to anyone. All of you continue to make it your habit to

take into careful consideration words and actions, which are considered by all

men to be virtuous for the purpose of manifesting them through your

conduct.”

This prohibition in Romans 12:19 echoes the Old Testament teaching.

Leviticus 19:18, “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge

against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I

am the LORD.”

Proverbs 17:13, “He who returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his

house.”

Proverbs 20:22, “Do not say, ‘I will repay evil’; Wait for the LORD, and

He will save you.”

Proverbs 24:29, “Do not say, ‘Thus I shall do to him as he has done to me; I

will render to the man according to his work.’”


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This prohibition in Romans 12:19 echoes Paul’s teaching in 1 Thessalonians

5:15.

1 Thessalonians 5:15, “See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but

always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.”

It also echoes Peter’s teaching in 1 Peter 3:9.

1 Peter 3:8-9, “To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic,

brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or

insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very

purpose that you might inherit a blessing.”

This prohibition in Romans 12:19 echoes the Lord Jesus Christ’s teaching.

Matthew 5:38-48, “You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN

EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evil

person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.

Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of

you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. You

have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and

hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who

persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for

He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the

righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what

reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet

only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the

Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly

Father is perfect.”

Luke 6:27-35, “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to

those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat

you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever

takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give to

everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not

demand it back. Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. If you

love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those

who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that

to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you

expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in

order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good,

and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you

will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil

men.”


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“But” is the adversative use of the conjunction alla (a)llav) (al-lah), which is

used to set up a strong contrast between the previous prohibition and the command

that follows it. Therefore, it is emphasizing a strong contrast between avenging

oneself of one’s enemies with that of letting God deal with one’s enemies. We will

translate alla, “but rather.”


yourselves divinely loved ones but rather…”




“Leave room” is composed of the second person plural aorist active imperative

form of the verb didomi (divdwmi) (did-o-mee), “leave” and the accusative

masculine singular form of the noun topos (tovpo$) (top-os), “room.”

The verb didomi means “to give” and the noun topos means “opportunity.”

Together, they speak of giving God the opportunity to execute justice on behalf of

Paul’s readers for any injustice done against them by their enemies or any harm

caused by their enemies.

The second person plural form of the verb didomi again refers to all of both

Christian readers in Rome without exception.

The active voice indicates that this command is directed towards the believers

in Rome and is thus their responsibility to obey it.

This is a “constative aorist imperative” meaning that this is a solemn or

categorical command. The stress is not “begin an action,” nor “continue to act.”

Rather, the stress is on the solemnity and urgency of the action; thus “I solemnly

charge you to act—and do it now!” This is the use of the aorist in general precepts.

The aorist imperative means that Paul is saying to the Roman believers that rather

than taking out their own revenge, “make this your top priority” or “I solemnly

charge all of you” to give place to the wrath of God “and do it now!” Therefore,

the constative aorist imperative does not imply that they were failing to let God

deal with their enemies by avenging themselves. We will translate didomi, “I

solemnly charge all of you to give.”

The noun topos functions as an accusative direct object meaning that it is

receiving the action of the verb didomi. We will translate topos, “an opportunity.”


yourselves divinely loved ones but rather I solemnly charge all of you to give

an opportunity…”


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“For the wrath of God” is the articular dative feminine singular form of the

noun orge (o)rghv) (or-gay), which refers to God’s attitude of “righteous

indignation” in response to any thought, word, or action of mankind and angels,

that is opposed to His holiness and manifests itself in actions that judge and punish

the guilty.

God’s righteous indignation is the legitimate anger towards evil and sin since

both are contrary to His holiness or perfect character and nature. The holiness of

God pertains to the absolute perfection of God’s character or expressing the purity

of His character or moral perfection and excellence and means that God can have

nothing to do with sin or sinners. He is totally separate from sin and sinners unless

a way can be found to constitute them holy and that way has been provided based

upon the merits of the impeccable Person and Finished Work of the Lord Jesus

Christ on the Cross.

The presence of evil, sin and injustice is totally absent in the character of God,

thus God does not tolerate evil or sin because it is contrary to His character, i.e. His

inherent moral qualities, ethical standards and principles.

Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines “holiness” as “the

quality or state of being holy; sanctity” and they define “sanctity” as, “sacred or

halowed character.”

One of the definitions that Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary

gives for the adjective “holy” is, “entitled to worship or profound religious

reverence because of divine character or origin or connection with God or

divinity.”

One of the definitions for the noun “character” that Webster’s New Universal

Unabridged Dictionary provides that applies to the context of our passage is the

following: “the aggregate of features and traits that form the apparent individual

nature of some person or thing.”

If we paraphrase these definitions, we would say that the God’s holiness refers

to “the aggregate (i.e. sum total) of perfect features and traits that form the divine

nature of God.”

Therefore, God’s holiness refers to the absolute perfection of His character,

expressing His purity of His character or moral perfection and excellence and

intolerance and opposition and rejection of sin and evil, thus God is totally separate

from sin and sinners. Thus, God’s holiness is related to all of His divine attributes

or in other words, it is simply the harmony of all His perfections or attributes.

Every unbeliever will experience the righteous indignation of God forever in

the eternal Lake of Fire. Unbelievers will “not” be judged according to their sins at


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the Great White Throne Judgment since Jesus Christ died for all men, Jew and

Gentile and for every sin that they have committed-past, present and future. The

unbeliever will be judged according to their self-righteous human good works,

which do not measure up to the perfect work of the impeccable Christ on the Cross

(Rev. 20:11-15).

The unbeliever goes to the lake of fire because of his rejection of Christ as his

Savior since 1 Timothy 2:4 and John 3:16-17 clearly indicates that God desires all

men to be saved, thus, He has made provision for all men to be saved through the

Person and Work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Those who reject Jesus Christ as

Savior will be thrown into the eternal Lake of Fire forever and ever at the

conclusion of human history.

God hates sin so much and loves the sinner so much that He judged His Son

Jesus Christ for every sin in human history-past, present and future and provided

deliverance from sin through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. The only way to avoid

God’s righteous indignation is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The judgment

of God is inescapable unless one trusts in Jesus Christ as their Savior.

John 3:16-18, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten

Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For

God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world

might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who

does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the

name of the only begotten Son of God.”

John 3:36, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does

not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

The noun orge is used of God’s settled opposition to and displeasure against sin

meaning that God’s holiness cannot and will not coexist with sin in any form

whatsoever. It is not the momentary, emotional, and often uncontrolled anger to

which human beings are prone and does not refer to an explosive outburst but

rather it refers to an inner, deep resentment that seethes and smolders, often

unnoticed by others as in the case of God’s wrath.

If the sinner will not exercise faith in Jesus Christ as his or her Savior, then they

will face His righteous indignation at the Great White Throne Judgment. The fact

that unregenerate man will receive eternal condemnation in the lake of fire forever

and ever is a righteous judgment since as sinners they can never be justified before

a holy God and have rejected God’s only provision for sin, which is the Person and

Finished Work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

God who is holy and cannot tolerate sin is justified in throwing His creatures

into the lake of fire for rebelling against Him but also God, who as to His nature, is

love, did everything He could to prevent any of His creatures from going to the

lake of fire forever and ever for their rebellion against Him. The fact that God did


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not immediately deposit all mankind in the lake of fire for their disobedience is

incontrovertible evidence that God loves His creatures and desires none of them to

go to the lake of fire.

The fact that God the Father sent His Son into the world to become a human

being to satisfy His righteous demands that the sin of men be judged is also

incontrovertible evidence that God loves His creatures.

The Lord Jesus Christ will conduct the Great White Throne Judgment as He

will all judgments since God the Father has promoted Him to sovereign ruler of

creation as a result of His voluntary substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross

(See Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 1:1-3).

The sins of the unbeliever are never brought up since Christ died for all their

sins and instead their self-righteous works that do not measure up to Christ

perfection will be used to condemn them to the eternal lake of fire.

The difference between righteous indignation and anger is that the former is

based upon concern for the holiness of God whereas the latter is emotional, selfish,

self-centered, vindictive and intent on harming another.

Nahum 1:2, “A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; The LORD is

avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, and

He reserves wrath for His enemies.”

Revelation 19:15, “From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it

He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and

He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.”

Normally, anger expressed by human beings is emotional and selfish but

sometimes human beings manifest righteous indignation as in the case of the Lord

Jesus Christ who displayed righteous indignation towards the moneychangers in

the Temple whose actions stood in opposition to the holiness of God (Jn. 2:13-17).

In fact, in Ephesians 4:26-27, the apostle Paul commands believers to display

righteous indignation towards injustice, sin and evil and to reject the emotional,

selfish, self-centered, vindictive and revengeful form of human wrath and anger.

Ephesians 4:26-27, “BE ANGRY, AND YET DO NOT SIN; do not let the

sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.”

God’s righteous indignation is the legitimate anger towards evil and sin since

both are contrary to His holiness or perfect character and nature. In fact, God’s

righteous indignation expresses His holiness. Therefore, God’s wrath, which is in

reality, righteous indignation is an expression of His holiness, righteousness and

love in opposition to sin and evil.

The Bible teaches that each and every member of the human race is a sinner by

nature as well as by practice.

Ecclesiastes 7:20, “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is

right and never sins.”


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Galatians 3:21-22, “But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a

prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus

Christ, might be given to those who believe.”

The Bible teaches that every person born into the world without exception

received the imputation of Adam’s original sin in the Garden of Eden and the

nature of Adam. This nature is always disobedient to God and making them all

physically alive but spiritually dead, having no capacity whatsoever to have a

relationship with God.

Romans 5:12-21, “Therefore, based on this (principle), just as, through one

man the sin nature entered into the human race so that spiritual death entered

through this sin nature. Thus, in this manner, spiritual death spread to each

and every member of the human race without exception because each and

every member of the human race sinned (the moment Adam sinned). For you

see, prior to the giving of the Law, personal sin was habitually taking place

among the individual members of the human race however personal sin is

never, as an eternal spiritual truth, charged to one’s account while the Law

does not exist. Yet, in spite of this, spiritual death reigned as king from the fall

of Adam to the giving of the Law to Moses, specifically, over those who had

not sinned according to the same exact transgression committed by Adam,

who is, as an eternal spiritual truth, an illustration of the One destined to

come. However, on the other hand, absolutely not like this transgression is, as

an eternal spiritual truth, also, in the same way, the gracious act. For if and let

us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that by means of this

transgression committed by the one, the entire human race died. Of course,

we know this is true. How much more then has the grace originating from

God and the gracious gift on the basis of grace, which is specifically, on the

basis of the obedience of the one Man, who is Jesus, who is the Christ been

generously and graciously offered to the entire human race. In fact, the

condemnation through the one who sinned is absolutely not, as an eternal

spiritual truth, like the gift itself. On the one hand the verdict arose from one

transgression resulting in condemnation while on the other hand, the gracious

act arose from innumerable transgressions resulting in justification. For if,

and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that by means of the

transgression committed by the one, spiritual death reigned as king through

this one. Of course, we know this is true. Then, how much more those who do

receive His transcendent grace, specifically, the gracious gift, which is His

righteousness, will, as a certainty, reign as kings by means of life through the

One, who is Jesus, who is the Christ. Therefore, as previously stated, just as

through the one who committed the transgression resulted in condemnation

affecting each and every member of the human race without exception in the


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same way also through the One who committed the righteous act resulted in

the basis for the offer of justification, which produces (eternal) life, affecting

each and every member of the human race without exception. For you see,

just as through the one man’s disobedience, the entire human race has been

rendered sinners in the same way also through the One’s obedience, many

will, as a certainty, be rendered righteous. Now, the Law was an addendum in

order that the transgression might increase but where personal sin increased,

grace infinitely abounded in order that just as, the sin nature reigned as king

in the realm of spiritual death in the same way, also grace would reign as king

through righteousness resulting in eternal life through Jesus, who is the

Christ, who is our Lord.”

Paul has pointed out that the sinner can only be declared justified by God the

Father and delivered from the wrath of God through faith in His Son Jesus Christ

and not by observing the Law or circumcision (Romans 3:19-4:25).

In Romans 1:18-3:8, Paul clearly teaches that both unregenerate Jew and

Gentiles are the objects of God’s righteous indignation. This is the result of their

disobedience to the revelation of God in creation, the Law, both inherent and

written through mental, verbal and overt acts of sin.

In Romans 1:18-32, Paul demonstrates that the Gentiles are unrighteous and

totally depraved by virtue of their sinful conduct and failure to worship God in

light of God’s self-revelation in creation as well as their failure to obey the moral

law inherent within them.

Romans 1:18-32, “For God’s righteous indignation is, as an eternal

spiritual truth, revealed from the third heaven against each and every kind of

ungodliness and unrighteousness produced by mankind who, as an eternal

spiritual truth, are characterized by suppressing the truth by means of

unrighteousness. Because that which is objectively and experientially known

about God, is, as an eternal spiritual truth, evident within them for God made

it evident to them. Because from the creation of the world, His invisible

attributes, His eternal power and divine nature are, as an eternal spiritual

truth, observed and comprehended by means of that which He has created so

that they are without excuse. Because even though, they, as an eternal

spiritual truth, had an objective, experiential knowledge of God, they never

worshipped Him as God or gave thanks, but rather they became futile in the

realm of their thought process and their ignorant hearts became darkened. It

is, an eternal spiritual truth, that although they profess to be wise, they

became fools and exchanged the glory originating with God, which is

immortal for a likeness, which is an image of man, which is characterized by

corruption as well as birds and four footed creatures and creeping things.

Therefore, God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity, namely,


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they degraded their bodies between themselves who indeed by virtue of their

evil character exchanged the truth originating from God by means of the lie.

Furthermore, they worshipped and served the creature rather than the

Creator, who is worthy of praise and glorification throughout eternity. Amen.

Because of this God gave them over to disgraceful perversities, namely, their

females, who indeed by virtue of their evil character, not only exchanged the

natural sexual function for that which is contrary to the laws of nature but

also, in the same way, even the males after they had abandoned the sexual

function possessed by the female, they became inflamed with sexual desire by

means of lust towards one another, their males with males with the result that

they committed the indecent act. Consequently, they as an eternal spiritual

truth receive the inevitable, negative consequence in themselves produced by

their perversion, which was appropriate in the nature of the case.

Furthermore, just as, they never approved of God for the purpose of retaining

(Him) in the realm of knowledge, God, as an eternal spiritual truth, gave them

over to a disapproved intellect in order to habitually do improper things with

the result that they have been consumed with each and every kind of

unrighteousness, evil, greed, malice, extensively engaged in envy, murder,

strife, deception, evil dispositions, scandals, slanders, God-haters, violent

insolent antagonists, arrogant, loud arrogant boasters, inventors of evil,

disobedient to parents, stupid, contract breakers, unaffectionate with loved

ones, unmerciful, who indeed by virtue of their evil character, although, they,

as an eternal spiritual truth, know experientially the righteous regulation

originating with God, namely, that those who as a lifestyle practice such

things are, as an eternal spiritual truth, worthy, namely, of death, they not

only, as a lifestyle, do the same things but also, they, as an eternal spiritual

truth, applaud those who, as a lifestyle, practice them.”

In Romans 2:1-29, he demonstrates that the Jews are unrighteous and totally

depraved as well as manifested in their failure to obey perfectly the written Law of

God and committing the same sins that the Gentiles committed.

Romans 2, “For this very reason, you are, as an eternal spiritual truth,

without excuse O man, each and everyone of you without exception who as a

lifestyle judge as guilty for by means of that which you as a lifestyle judge as

guilty the other person, you, as an eternal spiritual truth condemn yourself for

you, who as a lifestyle judge as guilty, make it a habit to practice the same

things. Now, we know for certain that God’s judgment is, as an eternal

spiritual truth according to truth, against those who as a lifestyle practice

such things. But, do you continue to presume this that you will escape God’s

judgment, O man, when you, who as a lifestyle, judge as guilty those, who as a

lifestyle, practice such things and you do, as a lifestyle, the very same things?


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Or do you continue to hold in contempt His infinite kindness and tolerance

and patience, habitually ignoring the fact that the kindness originating from

God’s character and nature is, as an eternal spiritual truth, leading you to

repentance? But according to your obstinacy and unrepentant heart, you are,

as an eternal spiritual truth, storing up for yourselves righteous indignation

on a day characterized by righteous indignation, yes, when the righteous

judgment executed by God is revealed who will recompense each and every

one without exception according to their works. On the one hand, according

to perseverance, which produces work that is divine in quality and character:

glory and honor and immortality for the benefit of those who as a lifestyle

make it a top priority to diligently and tenaciously pursue after eternal life,

sparing no effort for it is of the highest value while on the other hand, for the

disadvantage of those who are motivated by inordinate selfish ambition and

continue not to be persuaded so as to believe and thus disobey the truth but

rather continue to obey unrighteousness, there shall be righteous indignation,

yes, the manifestation of that righteous indignation. There will be tribulation

and distress upon each and every soul of man, who continue to accomplish

that which is evil, namely, both to the Jew first and also to the Greek. But not

only this, there will be glory and honor and peace for the benefit of each and

every one who works hard to accomplish the good, which is divine in quality

and character, for both the Jew first and also the Greek. For, there is, as an

eternal spiritual truth absolutely never any partiality in the presence of God.

For as many as have sinned without the Law have caused themselves to be

destroyed without the Law and as many as have sinned under the jurisdiction

of the Law will be condemned by means of the Law. For you see, the hearers

of the Law are, as an eternal spiritual truth, absolutely never righteous before

God but rather the doers of the Law will, as an eternal spiritual truth, be

justified. Since, whenever Gentiles, who, as a fact of history, do not possess the

Law, obey, at any time, instinctively the principles belonging to the Law,

although, these, as a fact of history, do not possess the Law, they, as an eternal

spiritual truth, manifest that they possess inherently, a law, which belongs to

them. Who, indeed by virtue of their obedient character, demonstrate, as an

eternal spiritual truth and fact of history, the conduct produced by obedience

to the Law as written on their hearts. During which time their conscience does

confirm the testimony, namely, their thoughts alternately, at any time, making

an accusation or else, at any time, making a defense. On a day when God will

judge the secret motives of mankind according to my instruction in the gospel

through Christ, who is Jesus. Now, if-and let us assume that it’s true for the

sake of argument-you do identify yourself by the name ‘Jew’ and you do rely

upon the Law and do boast in a relationship with God and know His will


25

through instruction and can discern the essentials because you have received

oral instruction in the past in a detailed, systematic and repetitious manner by

means of the Law and continue to do so. Moreover, you are confident in

yourself, namely that you are as a guide for the blind, a light to those in

darkness, an instructor of the ignorant, a teacher of the immature because in

the Law you are in possession of the unique embodiment of that, which is full

of knowledge well as that, which is full of truth. Then, you who do teach

another person, do you ever teach yourself? You, who do publicly proclaim

(the Law) as a herald in a dignified and authoritative manner: don’t steal, do

you steal? You, who do command: Don’t commit adultery, do you commit

adultery? You who do abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who do boast

about possessing the Law, by means of your transgression of the Law, do you

cause the (Son of) God to be dishonored? Consequently, ‘the reputation of the

character of God’s person as a fact does get slandered among the Gentiles

because of all of you’ just as it stands written, for all of eternity. Indeed, on

the one hand circumcision is, as an eternal spiritual truth, beneficial if you

should always practice the Law. On the other hand, if you should be at any

time a transgressor of the Law, (then) your circumcision has become

uncircumcision. Therefore, if the uncircumcision always observes the

righteous regulations originating from the Law, then, will not (God) consider

and treat accordingly his uncircumcision as circumcision? In fact, the

physically uncircumcised by fulfilling perfectly the Law will condemn you

who are by means of Scripture and circumcision a transgressor of the Law.

Therefore, as an eternal spiritual truth, he is absolutely never a Jew who is

one by means of the external, nor, as an eternal spiritual truth, is

circumcision, that which is by means of the external in the human body. But

rather, as an eternal spiritual truth, he is a Jew who is one by means of the

internal and circumcision originates in the heart by means of the omnipotence

of the Spirit, never by means of the letter whose praise is as an eternal

spiritual truth never from men but from God.”

In Romans 3:9-20, Paul summarizes his statements in Romans 1:18-2:29 and

teaches the totally depravity and universal unrighteousness of mankind, both Jew

and Gentile.

Romans 3:9-20, “What then is the conclusion that we are forced to? Is God

unrighteous, while inevitably exercising His righteous indignation? (I am

speaking according to human viewpoint.) No! Absolutely not! For how will

God condemn the unsaved inhabitants of the cosmic system? But, if-and let us

assume that it’s true for the sake of argument by means of my lie God’s truth

achieved fame resulting in His glory. Why then have I in the past been singled

out to be condemned as a sinner and continue to be up to the present


26

moment? Furthermore, what is the conclusion that we are forced to? (As we

have been slanderously charged with in the past and continue to be up to the

present moment and as some have in the past alleged we say and continue to

do so up to the present moment), “Let us perpetrate evil acts in order that

blessings might result.” No! Their condemnation is, as an eternal spiritual

truth, deserved. What shall we conclude then? Are we (Christians) as an

eternal spiritual truth, superior? By no means, absolutely not! Since, we have

already previously indicted both Jew and Greek, with the result that each and

every one is under the power of the sin nature. As it stands written for all of

eternity, “there is, as an eternal spiritual truth, absolutely none righteous not

even one. There is, as an eternal spiritual truth, absolutely none who, at any

time, comprehends. There is, as an eternal spiritual truth, absolutely none,

who, at any time, diligently seeks after God. Each and every one has deviated

from the way (of righteousness). Together, they have become useless. There is,

as an eternal spiritual truth, absolutely none, who at any time performs an act

of kindness. There is, as an eternal spiritual truth, absolutely none, so much as

one. Their conversation is like an open grave. With their tongues they were

always deceiving. Venom produced by poisonous snakes is always under their

lips whose mouth is always full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are always

swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery characterize their ways. Indeed,

they totally refused to acknowledge the way, which is peace. There is, as an

eternal spiritual truth, absolutely no reverence for God before their eyes.

Now, we know for certain that whatever the Law says, it speaks for the benefit

of those under the jurisdiction of the Law in order that each and every mouth

may be silenced and in addition all the unsaved inhabitants of the cosmic

system may be demonstrated as guilty in the judgment of God. Because each

and every member of sinful humanity will never be justified in His judgment

by means of actions produced by obedience to the Law for through the Law

there does come about an awareness of the sin nature.”

In Romans 5:1, Paul taught that the Christian received a permanent

reconciliation between himself and God and is no longer the object of God’s

righteous indignation. This is the result of being declared justified by God through

faith in Jesus Christ whose spiritual death on the Cross propitiated God’s holiness

that required that human sin and the sinner be judged.

Romans 5:1, “Therefore, because we have been justified by means of faith

as a source, we, as an eternal spiritual truth, always have peace in the

presence of God through our Lord who is Jesus, who is the Christ.”

If the sinner will not exercise faith in Jesus Christ as his or her Savior, then they

will face His righteous indignation at the Great White Throne Judgment. The Lord


27

Jesus Christ Himself declared to the Jews that the Father had given Him authority

to judge the living and the dead.

John 5:22-29, “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all

judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the

Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent

Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who

sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out

of death into life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is,

when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will

live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also

to have life in Himself and He gave Him authority to execute judgment,

because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in

which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those

who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil

deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”

The judgment of God is inescapable unless one trusts in Jesus Christ as their

Savior. Unbelievers will “not” be judged according to their sins at the Great White

Throne Judgment since Jesus Christ died for all men, Jew and Gentile and for

every sin that they have committed-past, present and future. The unbeliever will be

judged according to their self-righteous human good works, which do not measure

up to the perfect work of the impeccable Christ on the Cross (Rev. 20:11-15). The

unbeliever goes to the lake of fire because of his rejection of Christ as his Savior

since 1 Timothy 2:4 and John 3:16-17 clearly indicates that God desires all men to

be saved, thus, He has made provision for all men to be saved through the Person

and Work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

Those who reject Jesus Christ as Savior will be thrown into the eternal Lake of

Fire forever and ever at the conclusion of human history. Every unbeliever in

history will have to stand before Christ at the Great White Throne Judgment,

which will take place at the end of human history and is the judgment of all

unregenerate humanity in human history for their rejection of Christ as Savior

(Rev. 20:11-15).

The fact that unregenerate man will receive eternal condemnation in the lake of

fire forever and ever is a righteous judgment since as sinners they can never be

justified before a holy God and have rejected God’s only provision for sin, which

is the Person and Finished Work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

God who is holy and cannot tolerate sin is justified in throwing His creatures

into the lake of fire for rebelling against Him but also God, who as to His nature, is

love, did everything He could to prevent any of His creatures from going to the

lake of fire forever and ever for their rebellion against Him.


28

The fact that God did not immediately deposit all mankind in the lake of fire for

their disobedience is incontrovertible evidence that God loves His creatures and

desires none of them to go to the lake of fire. The fact that God the Father sent His

Son into the world to become a human being to satisfy His righteous demands that

the sin of men be judged is also incontrovertible evidence that God loves His

creatures.

The Lord Jesus Christ will conduct the Great White Throne Judgment as He

will all judgments since God the Father has promoted Him to sovereign ruler of

creation as a result of His voluntary substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross

(See Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 1:1-3). The sins of the unbeliever are never

brought up since Christ died for all their sins and instead their self-righteous works

that do not measure up to Christ perfection will be used to condemn them to the

eternal lake of fire.

This is the tenth time that we have seen the noun orge up to this point in our

study of the book of Romans.

Romans 1:18, “For God’s righteous indignation is as an eternal spiritual

truth revealed from the third heaven against each and every kind of

ungodliness and unrighteousness produced by mankind who as an eternal

spiritual truth is characterized by suppressing the truth by means of

unrighteousness.”

Romans 2:5, “But according to your obstinacy and unrepentant heart, you

are, as an eternal spiritual truth, storing up for yourselves righteous

indignation on a day characterized by righteous indignation, yes, when the

righteous judgment executed by God is revealed.”

Romans 2:8: “While on the other hand, for the disadvantage of those who

are motivated by inordinate selfish ambition and continue not to be persuaded

so as to believe and disobey the truth but rather continue to obey

unrighteousness, there shall be righteous indignation, yes, the manifestation of

that righteous indignation.”

Romans 3:5, “But, if-and let us assume that it’s true for the sake of

argument our unrighteousness does cause God’s righteousness to be made

conspicuous. What then is the conclusion that we are forced to? Is God

unrighteous, while inevitably exercising His righteous indignation? (I am

speaking according to human viewpoint.) No!”

Romans 4:15, “For, the Law, as an eternal spiritual truth, produces

righteous indignation but where there is, at any time, the total absence of the

Law, neither, is there, as an eternal spiritual truth, violation.”

Romans 5:9, “Therefore, because we have been justified on the basis of His

blood, how much more will we be delivered from His righteous indignation

through Him.”


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Romans 9:22, “In fact, if-and let us assume that it is true for the sake of

argument that because God the Father, as an eternal spiritual truth does

choose to demonstrate His righteous indignation and in addition to make

known publicly and explicitly His power, endured with much patience vessels

destined for righteous indignation which are prepared for destruction.”

In Romans 12:19, the noun orge refers to God’s attitude of “righteous

indignation” in response to any thought, word, or action of mankind and angels,

that is opposed to His holiness and manifests itself in actions that judge and punish

the guilty. Specifically, it refers to the expression of God’s righteous indignation

by executing judgment against the enemies of Paul’s Christian readers in Rome.

Orge functions here as a dative indirect object meaning that the word is that to

or for which the action of the verb is performed. When the verb is in the active

voice as we have here in Romans 12:19, the indirect object receives the direct

object. The direct object in our passage is the adjective topos, “an opportunity”

indicating that Paul is commanding his readers to give God an opportunity to

express His righteous indignation towards their enemies.

The definite article preceding the noun orge functions as a possessive pronoun

since possession is obviously implied and thus should be translated “His” referring

to the Lord Jesus Christ since the Father delegated all judgment to Him. The Lord

Jesus Christ will conduct the Great White Throne Judgment as He will all

judgments since God the Father has promoted Him to sovereign ruler of creation as

a result of His voluntary substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross (See

Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 1:1-3).

The humanity of Christ in hypostatic union has been awarded the sovereign

rulership over the entire cosmos for His voluntary substitutionary spiritual death on

the cross and as a result has been awarded by God the Father the power and

authority to preside over and conduct the following judgments: (1) “Bema Seat

Evaluation”: The name “Bema” is taken from the Greek noun bema and this

judgment takes place immediately after the Rapture of the Church and is actually

an “evaluation” of the church age believer’s life after salvation to determine if

they merit rewards or not (Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians

5:10; 1 John 2:24). (2) The judgment of “Israel” will take place immediately after

the Second Advent and prior to the millennial reign and involves the removal

unregenerate Israel from the earth leaving only regenerate Israel to enter into the

Millennial reign of Christ (Ezekiel 20:37-38; Zechariah 13:8-9; Malachi 3:2-3, 5;

Matthew 25:1-30). (3) The judgment of the “Gentiles” and also takes place

immediately after the Second Advent of Christ and prior to His millennial reign

and involves the removal unregenerate, anti-Semitic Gentiles from the earth

(Matthew 25:31-46). (4) The judgment of Satan and his fallen angels and will take

place at the end of the appeal trial of Satan, which runs co-terminus with human


30

history and is execution of Satan and the fallen angels sentence for their pre-

historic rebellion against God (Matthew 25:41; 1 Corinthians 6:3; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude

6; Revelation 20:10). (5) The “Great White Throne” judgment, which will take

place at the end of human history and is the judgment of all unregenerate humanity

in human history for the rejection of Christ as Savior (Revelation 20:11-15).

We will translate the expression te orge, “for His righteous indignation.”



an opportunity for His righteous indignation…”




“For” is the “causal” use of the post-positive conjunction gar (gavr), which

introduces quotation from Deuteronomy 32:35 that presents the reason why the

Roman believers are to obey the command in the adversative clause that appears in

Romans 12:19. We will translate the word “because.”



an opportunity for His righteous indignation because…”

“It is written” is the third person singular perfect passive indicative form of the

verb grapho (gravfw) (graf-o), which means, “to write.”

The perfect tense of grapho is an “intensive” perfect emphasizing the results or

present state produced by a past action. Therefore, it emphasizes the present

permanent and authoritative state of Paul’s quotation from Deuteronomy 32:35 that

was produced by the past action of the Holy Spirit supernaturally guiding Moses to

write what he did with perfect accuracy and also Paul to quote it in Romans 12:19.

The passive voice indicates that the subject receives the action of the verb.

Thus, it indicates that both Moses and the apostle Paul received inspiration from

the Holy Spirit to write in perfect accuracy God’s complete and connected thought

to man and Paul’s Gentile Christian readers in Rome. Therefore, the passive voice

indicates that God the Holy Spirit inspired Deuteronomy 32:35 and the apostle

Paul in using this passage to support his command to Paul’s readers in Romans

12:19 to give opportunity for God to exercise His righteous indignation against

their enemies.

The indicative mood is “declarative” presenting this assertion as an unqualified

statement of historical fact and Bible doctrine.

Therefore, we will translate the verb grapho, “it stands written for all of

eternity.”




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an opportunity for His righteous indignation because it stands written for all

of eternity…”




The quotation here is from Deuteronomy 32:35. Paul’s wording in Romans

12:19 differs from the Septuagint and the Massoretic Text.

The Septuagint: e)n h(mevra| ekdikhvsew$ a)ntapodwvsw, “in the day of vengeance,

I will recompense.”

Paul: ekdivkhsi$ e)gwV a)ntapodwvsw, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.”

MT: sL@v!w+ sq*n* yl!, “Vengeance is mine and retribution.”

Some contend like Moo and Dunn that Paul’s text is closer to the Targums than

the MT. However, it does appear the apostle was following the MT since he

follows it pretty much word for word except when translating the Hebrew noun

shillem “vengeance” he uses the verb antapodidomi and not the noun antapodoma.

He uses the verb antapodidomi along with the personal pronoun ego so that he can

emphasize the contrast between the Roman believers avenging themselves of their

enemies with the Lord exacting retribution against their enemies.

“VENGEANCE” is the nominative feminine singular form of the noun

ekdikesis (e)kdivkhsi$) (ek-dik-ay-sis), which refers to the execution of divine

justice on behalf of Paul’s readers by the Lord Jesus Christ against their enemies

and expresses God’s righteous indignation, which itself is an expression of God’s

holiness.

The word functions as a nominative subject meaning that it is performing the

action of the verb eimi, which is deliberately omitted by Paul due to his use of the

figure of ellipsis though it is implied as reflected by it being translated by the

translators. We will translate the word “vengeance.”




of eternity, ‘Vengeance…”




“IS” does not appear in the original text but is correctly added by the translators

since Paul is using the figure of ellipsis meaning that he deliberately omits the third

person singular present active indicative form of the verb eimi (ei)miv) (i-mee).

The verb eimi means “to belong to” indicating that vengeance belongs to only

God.


32

The word functions as a copula uniting the subject which is the noun ekdikesis,

“vengeance” and the dative form of the personal pronoun ego, “MINE.”

The present tense is a “gnomic present,” which is used for a general timeless

fact or spiritual axiom, or an eternal spiritual truth and says something “does”

happen. This indicates that the vengeance “as an eternal spiritual truth” belongs to

the Lord Jesus Christ.

The active voice is a “stative” active indicating that the subject, vengeance

against the enemies of Paul’s readers “exists in the state” of belonging to the Lord

Jesus Christ.

The indicative mood is “declarative” presenting this Pauline assertion as an

unqualified statement of Bible doctrine.

We will translate eimi, “as an eternal spiritual truth, belongs to.”




of eternity, ‘Vengeance, as an eternal spiritual truth, belongs to…”




“MINE” is the dative first person singular form of the personal pronoun ego

(e)gwv) (eg-o), which refers to the Lord Jesus Christ since the Father delegated to

Him the authority to judge all men. It functions as a dative of possession meaning

that this word possesses the noun ekdikesis, “vengeance” to which it is related. In

other words, ego is that to which the subject (vengeance) of an equative verb (eimi)

belongs. The dative of possession is employed by Paul since he wants to emphasis

with his readers that vengeance belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ alone since the

Father delegated to Him the authority to judge all men.




of eternity, ‘Vengeance, as an eternal spiritual truth, belongs to Me…”




“I WILL RECOMPENSE” is composed of the nominative first singular form

of the personal pronoun ego (e)gwv) (eg-o), “I” and the first person singular future

active indicative form of the verb antapodidomi (a)ntapodivdwmi) (an-tap-od-ee-do-

me), “WILL RECOMPENSE.”

The verb antapodidomi is a compound word composed of anti, “against” and

the preposition apo and the verb didomi and means “to repay.” In classical Greek it


33

can have both a positive and negative sense and occurs in may contexts and could

mean “to answer” or “to make return” (Liddell-Scott, page 150).

The verb translates six Hebrew words in the Septuagint and can mean “reward”

(Psalm 18:20 [LXX 17:20]) or repay” (Psalm 103:10 [LXX 102:10]). It appears

only seven times in the Greek New Testament (Luke 14:14 twice; Romans 11:35;

12:19; 1 Thessalonians 3:9; 2 Thessalonians 1:6; Hebrews 10:30).

Louw and Nida lists the following meanings for the verb: (1) to cause someone

to suffer in turn because of actions which merit retribution – ‘to pay back, to pay in

return, to repay, to cause retribution’ (volume 2, page 492) (2) to pay something

back to someone as the result of an incurred obligation – ‘to repay, to pay back, to

give back’ (volume 2, page 575).


Literature-Third Edition: (1) to practice reciprocity with respect to an obligation,

repay, pay back, requite (2) to exact retribution, repay, pay back (Page 87).

In Romans 12:19, the verb antapodidomi means “to repay” in the sense of

exacting retribution and is used with the Lord Jesus Christ as the subject and no

particular member of the human race as its object who cause harm to Paul’s

readers.

The third person singular form of the verb refers to Lord Jesus Christ.

The future tense of the verb is a predictive future indicating the certainty that

the Lord Jesus Christ will exercise His wrath and exact retribution upon the

enemies of Paul’s readers for causing them harm.

The active voice indicates that the Lord Jesus Christ as the subject will perform

this action.


statement of fact.

We will translate the verb “will exact retribution.”

Ego emphasizes the Lord Jesus Christ as the subject and involves a contrast

between the Roman believers avenging themselves of their enemies with the Lord

exacting retribution against their enemies. We will translate the word “I myself.”




of eternity, ‘Vengeance, as an eternal spiritual truth, belongs to Me, I myself

will exact retribution…”




“SAYS” is the third person singular present active indicative form of the verb

lego (levgw), which refers to the “content” of what the Lord communicated through


34

Moses that is recorded in Deuteronomy 32:35 and is quoted by Paul in Romans

12:19.

The third person singular form refers to the Lord, i.e. the Father.

This is a “perfective” present, which is used to emphasize the results of a past

action. Therefore, the “perfective present” of the verb lego emphasizes that even

though Deuteronomy 32:35 was written in the past, it still speaks today and is

binding on Paul’s readers.

The active voice indicates that the Lord, i.e. the Father as the subject produced

the action of the verb in communicating through Moses what is recorded in

Deuteronomy 32:35.


statement of fact.

We will translate lego, “says.”





will exact retribution,’ says…”




“The Lord” is the nominative masculine singular form of the noun kurios

(kuvrio$) (koo-ree-os), which refers to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is indicated in

that the Scripture clearly teaches that the Father delegated to Jesus Christ authority

to judge all men because He was obedient in fulfilling His will to die a

substitutionary spiritual and physical death on the cross on behalf of all of sinful

humanity.

The noun kurios indicates the following: (1) Jesus of Nazareth’s equality with

the Father and the Spirit. (2) His joint-rulership with the Father over the entire

cosmos. (3) His highest ranking position as Chief Administrator in the divine

government. (4) His absolute sovereign authority as Ruler over all creation and

every creature. (5) His strategic victory over Satan and the kingdom of darkness in

the angelic conflict.

In His deity, Jesus Christ is “Lord” (See Luke 20:42), however in His human

nature He received this title as a result of His obedience to the Father’s will, which

called for Him to suffer spiritual death on the cross as a substitute for every

member of the human race-past, present and future (See Philippians 2:5-11).

The word functions as a nominative subject meaning that it is performing the

action of the verb lego, “says.” We will translate kurios, “the Lord.”


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Completed corrected translation of Romans 12:19: “All of you do not avenge




will exact retribution,’ says the Lord.”

To summarize what we have learned from our study of Romans 12:19, Paul

issues a prohibition and a command. In the prohibition, he warns his readers to not

avenge themselves of their enemies. The customary present imperatival participle

form of the verb ekdikeo and the negative particle me indicates they were not

avenging themselves of their enemies. Paul’s statements in Romans 1:8 and 15:14-

15 further indicate this.

Then, in the command, he makes a strong contrast between the Roman

believers avenging themselves of their enemies and the Lord Jesus Christ

exercising His righteous indignation against their enemies by exacting retribution

upon them. He solemnly charges the Roman believers to make it their top priority

to give an opportunity for the Lord Jesus Christ to exercise His righteous

indignation on their behalf against their enemies. He cites Deuteronomy 32:35 to

support this command, which states vengeance belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ

and that He will exact retribution upon the enemies of God’s people.

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