Romans 12:11

Romans 12:11. In diligence, not slothful. We restore the emphatic order throughout ‘In diligence' (the same word as in Romans 12:8), not, ‘in business,' but with respect to zeal;' in whatever Christian duty requires your diligence, do not be slothful.

In spirit, fervent. The figure is that of seething, boiling like a hot spring; hence the human spirit is meant, but the regenerated human spirit, since Christians are addressed. This clause is opposed to mere animal excitement in our diligence; the spirit itself must be stirred.

Serving the Lord. Many ancient authorities, by a variation of two letters (καιρω for κυριω) read: ‘serving the time,' i.e., the occasion, or, opportunity. This means: in one's daily task adapting one's self to the occasion, to the circumstances of the hour, with the self-denying discretion of true love. The Sinaitic manuscript, however, decides in favor of the other reading. The variation can readily be accounted for. The objection that so general a precept is inappropriate here is invalid. It is characteristically Pauline to insert a distinctively Christian motive in his minute exhortations. In whatever we find to do we are not only to be active, but to have a spiritual enthusiasm, which is prompted by the knowledge that all our doing, however humble, is in the service of Christ.