Genunine Love - Rom 12:9-21

For some time I had wanted to give a message on how our culture and the church have gone down further and further down the slippery slope of calling good evil and evil good.

In fact it was the prophet Isaiah that inspired this in me  . I would have likely titled this message, the good the bad and the ugly.

*****SLIDE**********

And based it on Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

Billy Graham once preached on how humanity has always been dexterous at confusing evil with good.

He said "That was Adam and Eve's problem; and that is our problem today!"

If evil were not made to appear good there would be no such thing as temptation.

The Reverend Graham is absolutely right

Satan has been redefining what love means for thousands of years and he knows exactly how we respond. Satan is a master at methodically destroying individual people and nations of people.

Those of us who have been around for the past 40 years in America have seen this methodical tearing down of a nations value system.

I use the example of our country not to compare ourselves to others but to make a clear point.

Satan works in a methodical way to destroy people.

Let me further this example a bit.

*****SLIDE**********

Proverbs 14:34  Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

Many people recognize some of the glaring examples of evil being called good that have happened in the past few decades.

Sinful men and women have always have always been bent toward believing their lustful desires were love.

Not always do people boldly declare that their lustful behavior is good.

Just 30 years ago it was a social taboo not to be married.

Often in spite of sinful mans tendency toward sin, something in his conscience reflecting on creation tells him it is not right.

And it does not benefit a nation to promote evil behavior.

As we saw earlier righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people.

Not only have the laws of our nation accepted this immorality as a normal expression of love they now protect it and promote it.

And because of this the majority of our youth today do not recognize the importance of marriage. To go right along with this the murder of millions of unborn children has become funded by our government as health care in the name of personal choice.

All of this has been a slow deliberate plan of Satan to change how we as a nation define love.

If I might be so bold we are now being conditioned to believe that isolation from our neighbor, not fellowship together, and covering up our images is love.  In the meantime preachers and teachers avoid speaking to the dangerous reality everyone is living in or even promote it.

This kind of behavior is not new. It has happened to other nations as well, including the nation of Israel.

I continued to meditate on this I realized that what we need is not so much to understand what evil looks like.

*****SLIDE**********

But rather what God's goodness looks like so my focus became Romans 12:9-21

Romans 12:9 Let love be genuine, abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.

- This verse and the preceding 12 verses speak to us about what genuine love looks like lived out.

- They are a summery of what it looks like to live like Jesus Christ

- This is how we are to be in the world but not of the world.

- They teach us what it means to be an alien on this planet.

- If taken seriously will be one of the most challenging and rewarding things you can do as you surrender to the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Before we dive into this passage I want to do a quick review on the Greek words for love.

The word for love in Romans 12:9 is agape.  In Greek there are 4 words for love. While in English we have only one.

I can tell you I love my granddaughter, I can tell you I love my wife, I can tell you I love my best friend, and I can tell you I love peanut M&M's.

However in English we understand the word love in different contexts but we are always the same word. In Greek there are four distinct words to differentiate between the contexts.

****SLIDE***

The word Storge is family love, it is the love between mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, sisters and brothers.

****SLIDE***

The word Eros is erotic love. It describes the love that is meant to be between a husband and a wife.

****SLIDE***

The word Phileo is strong friendship, it is where we get the word for Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, we also get the world Philanthropy from it which means the love of humanity.

****SLIDE***

Then lastly there is Agape love.

Agape love is God's love, it is a love that never ends! This love is so foreign to man that the Greek word Agape was invented to describe this kind of love in the New Testament.

It is a love so long, so high, so deep, we can never comprehend it. It surpasses knowledge.

It is a love we can know nothing about without God intervening in our lives. It is a love that in spite of our wrongs, in spite of our sin, in spite of our rebellion, God still loves us.

It is a love that does what is best for us even when we do things that are terrible for us.

It is the love that redeems us from our rebellion even when we have turned our backs on the one who loves us the most.

****SLIDE***

Romans 12:9 tell us to let our agape love be genuine. Let it be without hypocrisy.

As we begin to look into these next few passages we are going to look into God's perfect love.

Let me challenge you as we begin this study to consider one or two ways in which you can grow in God's grace in the coming year.

Something you may not have thought about before but this verse says that agape love abhors what is evil and clings to what is good.

So as we begin to see God's goodness let us cling to it. And let us have a distain in our hearts for what is evil.

****SLIDE***

Romans 12:10 (ESV) 10  Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

This love is a love for fellow believers.

The first word for love in this passage comes from the root of Storge which again is family love.

So this verse uses the word for family love while teaching us to do it with brotherly affection.

Brotherly affection is actually the Greek word Philadelphia meaning brotherly love.

*****SLIDE*****

So believers are to love each other both as family and close friends.

The word for outdo means to lead the way in preferring.

To honor means to esteem someone, to show them they have value. ]

*****SLIDE*****

So the believer is to try to outdo others at showing them they are precious and valuable.

****SLIDE***

Romans 12:11 (ESV) 11  Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

****SLIDE***

To be fervent in sprit means to be hot or to boil in your spirit.

This passage speaks of the fire of the Holy Spirit that burns in the heart of the believer.

****SLIDE***

We are not to be slothful in that zeal. If we take our eyes off of the Lord we can loose our zeal. We can loose our first love.

God has given every believer a spiritual gift and personal strengths. Know yours and be zealous in using them for God's kingdom.

****SLIDE***

The idea is to be full of energy but not out of control.

****SLIDE***

Romans 12:12 (ESV) 12  Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

The believer is to daily be focused on their hope and in prayer.

Our hope is Jesus Christ. More specifically it is fulfillment of our eternal salvation as Jesus Christ returns on the clouds

****SLIDE***

Titus 2:11-13 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

Jesus told his disciples that he would return in the same way he left. One day our Lord and Savior will break through the clouds and come for us and transform the mortal into immortality.

In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, the dead will be raised imperishable and then those who are living will be caught up together with them in the clouds with the Lord and we will be all be changed forever. In this we can rejoice always.

There is good reason Paul includes hope and prayer together.  It is very hard if not impossible to take joy in our difficulties when we are not keenly aware of our future hope. Remaining in this hope requires that we are constantly in communication with God through the power of the Holy Spirit.

* SLIDE*

Romans 12:13 (ESV) 13  Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Contributing to the needs of the saints is an all inclusive statement with regards to needs.

It includes everything from ministering the gospel of Jesus to other families, to helping out with construction projects and daily needs.

It includes contributing money to the local and global church.

This is why we find showing hospitality right along with it.

Hospitality here is not simply throwing a Christmas party, it includes the concept of the good Samaritan who took an injured man off the road and gave him a place to stay while he recovered.

We are to care for the church physically however we can.

Hospitality is actually one of the spiritual gifts listed in Scripture. So there may be some in your congregation that are gifted in this. However showing love in this way is something we can all strife to do. * SLIDE*

Romans 12:14 (ESV) 14  Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

It can often be very difficult to surrender this area of our lives. To love your enemy goes directly against our fight or flight instincts.

If I can be very honest this verse, it might seem unAmerican to not to seek out justice in the face of our enemy's.

Now this verse is not saying to lay down and do nothing. Rather it is saying to take your stand through the love of Christ. It asks us to bless those who persecute us and to believe that God will vindicate us. We need not take action ourselves.

****SLIDE****

To bless people who persecute you means to thank them or speak well of them.

Showing love to your enemies is a hallmark of the Christian

It is how we show others the love God proved for us in Christ, that while we were still in our sin, Christ died for us.

***** SLIDE******

Romans 12:15  (ESV) 15  Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

We are not only to identify our emotions but to place ourselves emotionally in our brothers and sisters shoes.

We should become em pathetic toward their feelings.

Empathy means the ability to imagine oneself in the situation of another, experiencing the emotions, ideas, or opinions of that person.

This is allowing the Holy Spirit to communicate through your emotions.

I have to confess that this is one area that I struggle with. It lets the other person know that not only are you listening to them but you understand what they are going through.

* SLIDE*

Romans 12:16 (ESV) 16  Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.

One of the common downfalls of any social structure is to becoming clicky. This happens in church too.

We get into our own group of friends that often tend to be like us.

We do this because it is comfortable to be with people that have similar interests and thoughts, and that group becomes our click.

This does not promote the health of the body of Christ.

When we get into clicks we often ignore others and judge others based on how our group thinks.  The Scripture here tells us we are to live in harmony with the entire body of Christ and associate with the lowly.

If for some reason you avoid certain groups of people in the church, you need to check yourself.

Christ who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant.

* SLIDE*

Romans 12:17 (ESV) 17  Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.

Similar to verse 14 where we learned about blessing those who persecute you, this Scripture teaches us to not repay evil for evil.

Again this goes against our instincts, it goes against our desire to strike back and get vengeance.

*****SLIDE*****

The word for honorable can also be translated good, fair or honest.

We are to act in a fair and honest way toward anyone who wronged us while looking out for everyone's best interest.

It does not mean we ignore what someone did but we are never to act out of our need for vengeance or take justice into our own hands.  Vengeance is in the hands of the Almighty and we should pray that justice for our enemies is found at the cross.

Rather than taking justice into our own hands, we should act out of love for the benefit of everyone including the person who did wrong.

*****SLIDE*****

Romans 12:18 (ESV) 18  If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

The believer is to live at peace with everyone if possible.

Now this should be understood in the full context of God's Word.

Living at peace does not mean compromising God's Word or the truth of the gospel.

In Matthew 10:34-37  “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Over the holiday season this tensions tend to become even more clear for believers. Is Jesus Christ telling us in Matthew to make enemies with our families? Lets compare this with our verse in

Romans 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. No, Christ is telling us that we must love Him above members of our family.

Jesus is declaring that He is to be Lord of our lives above our family members.

****SLIDE*****

We should do everything we can to try and live at peace with those who are against Christ, yet He comes first. It may mean you need to learn to live out forgiveness toward people that have hurt you.

It may mean you need to show more grace toward people that trigger your hot button issues.

If you are married and you want to know your hot button issues just ask your spouse.

When we do our part and stand firm in the grace and truth of Christ, their will be people that want nothing to do with us.

This should not surprise us. Jesus said that the world would hate us because it hated him first.

Never the less if possible, as far as it depends upon you, live at peace with them.

****SLIDE*****

Romans 12:19 (ESV) 19  Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

This is the third time in this Scripture that we are told to be kind to our enemies.

You know when a teacher repeats themselves over three times they are trying to make a point.

One of my favorite movie series is the Avengers. All of us have a built in desire for justice.

In fact one of God's traits is that he is a just God and that is why justice is important to us.

However God wants us to leave vengeance for Him, He will be the one to repay.

****SLIDE*****

Revelation 19:14-18  And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.  On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.  Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God,  to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.”

God had mercy on us at the cross and we are to extend that mercy to others.

God will repay the wicked and he promises to do so.

****SLIDE*****

Romans 12:20 (ESV) 20  To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”

The burning coals refers to an ancient Egyptian custom in which a person would carry a pan of burning coals on his head.

The coals represented the burning pain of their guilt. When believers lovingly help their enemies, it should bring a sense of guilt for their hatred thereby turning your enemy into a friend.

****SLIDE*****

Romans 12:21 (ESV) 21  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. When your enemy harms you repay them with kindness.

When someone injured and abused surrenders their pain to the forgiveness found in Christ Jesus

Bonds are broken. Evil passions loose their hold and the Holy Spirit can then speak to us. As our mind becomes renewed in Christ Jesus.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.