“Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.” -Romans 12:11
This is an interesting statement, primarily because the language is fairly unfamiliar to us. The first thing one might notice is the trifecta of words that all have to do with one’s enthusiasm: not slothful, zeal, and fervent.
Slothful is the opposite of zeal and fervency, so Paul says to not be slothful. And the exhortation to avoid slothfulness seems to be aimed at a person’s zeal. The first question, then, is what is zeal? In zeal is from τῇ σπουδῇ (spoude) meaning the earnest commitment in discharge of an obligation. The obligation in this case is our spiritual worship, our service to the Lord as a reasonable response to his abundant mercies (Romans 12:1,2).
Following up, Paul says, in contrast to his exhortation to avoid sloth, be fervent in spirit. And, serve the Lord. Paul is exhorting the Roman believers, the new humanity that has been born again by the Spirit of God, to not be lazy in their service to the Lord. Instead, they are to be fervent (enthusiastic) in spirit about serving God and discharging their worship.
While some passages of Scripture are descriptive (tell us what happened or what was said without necessarily condoning the behavior or statement), other passages are prescriptive, meaning they teach us what all Christians everywhere and in every era should believe and do. Even though Paul’s letter to the Romans was not written to us, it is written for us. Thus, being diligent in the discharge of our worship to God is a command every Christian should heartily be grateful to obey.
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