Remember and Act

We have come to the great divide that characterizes so many of Paul’s letters, the point at which he ceases to deal primarily with doctrinal matters and turns his focus instead to what usually are called “practical” concerns. But we must not think that we can leave behind all that we have studied in Romans 1–11, for what lies ahead is built squarely on those earlier chapters. For this reason, our commentator, Dr. James M. Boice, prefers to speak of these final chapters as “application.” He writes: “Doctrine is practical, and practical material must be doctrinal if it is to be of any help at all. A far better way to talk about Romans 12–16 is to say that these chapters contain applications of the very practical teaching Paul presented earlier.”

The fact that chapter 12 represents a turning point in Romans is evident from several clues, but one simple indicator is the presence of the word therefore. Boice calls this the most significant “therefore” in Romans thus far. Why? Because, in his view, it refers back not just to the mysteries about God’s redemptive purposes among Jews and Gentiles, the content of chapter 11, but to everything Paul has written up to this point. Thus, Paul is about to begin showing the Romans how they ought to live in light of the doctrinal truths he has taught them. From here to the end of the epistle, he will be calling them, in view of the great truths he has laid out through the first 11 chapters of Romans, to embark on a new way of life. And Paul’s call is heartfelt and urgent—the word here translated “beseech” is elsewhere rendered “entreat,” “plead,” or “beg.” Thus, it is important for the Romans—and for us—to give as much attention to these application chapters as to the earlier doctrinal material.

Why the urgency? Paul explains when he writes that he is beseeching the Romans “by the mercies of God.” In a sense, chapters 1–11 have been all about the mercies of God, the manifold ways in which God has shown blessing and favor to undeserving sinners. Now Paul is telling us that, because God has so blessed us, we ought to live as He calls us to live—pursuing righteousness and putting off our sinful natures. “The reason for giving ourselves to God is literally because of God’s manifold mercies—that is, because He has been good to us in many ways,” Boice writes in his commentary.