Romans 12.9-13

Characteristics of Christian Conversion: Part 1

The Hobbit, however, give a better understanding of how Christians make an impact in the world: “Saruman believes that it is only great power that can hold evil in check. That is not what I have found. I have found that it is the small things, everyday deeds from ordinary folk, that keeps the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love.” (Fesko, 353).

At the front of each verse in Greek is love (v. 9), love (v. 10), honor (v. 10b), zeal (v. 11), fervency in Spirit (v. 11), hope (v. 12), the needs (v. 13).

[1] a genuine and good love (vv. 9-10)

[2] a gifted and great zeal (v. 11)

[3] a grounded and guaranteed hope (v. 12-13)

— —

[1] a genuine and good love (vv. 9-10)

[v. 9]

Contrast between good and evil. “evil is to be taken for that malicious wickedness by which an injury is done to men; and good for that kindness, by which help is rendered to them; and there is here an antithesis usual in Scripture, when vices are first forbidden and then virtues enjoined” (John Calvin 464).

“If love is the sum of virtue and hypocrisy the epitome of vice, what a contradiction to bring these together! Dissembling affection” (Murray 128).

Love, ἀγάπη - primary fruit of the spirit, Galatians 5:22“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,”

That which is commanded of the Christian to love both God and their neighbor. It is a love which springs forth based upon the love God has for us.

1 John 4:19“We love because he first loved us.”

1 Corinthians 13:4–6“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.”

People can be externally kind and “nice,” yet lack genuine love and affection for others. (Schreiner, 644.)

It is not merely an artificial love, but that which is genuine.

Genuine (ἀνυπόκριτος) - without an underlying pretense, or false motivation

Aim of the christian charge, 1 Timothy 1:5“The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”

A love which is active, verified, true.

1 Peter 1:22“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,”

1 John 3:18–20“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.”

James 2:15–16“If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?”

A love which nullifies the effects of sin

1 Peter 4:8“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

Abhor, ἀποστυγέω to have a vehement dislike for (BDAG). A Godly hatred. Are we permitted to hate? Yes!

We hate when the unborn are killed under the false pretense of women’s writes. We hate when justice is not properly executed. We hate when evil people harm others. Godly hatred toward evil is within our rights.

Set forth in Scripture.

Psalm 45:7“you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;”

Psalm 97:10“O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.”

Proverbs 8:13“The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.”

Amos 5:15“Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

Cling, cleave, κολλάω, to join closely together, bind closely, unite, to be closely associated, cling to, attach to

“True virtue is not passive about evil but has an intense revulsion against it. Evil is not tolerated but is despised as that which is injurious and wicked” (Schreiner, 645)

[v. 10]

φιλαδελφίᾳ εἰς ἀλλήλους φιλόστοργοι

Switch to brotherly love in the following verse. Two primary types of love that fit within the Christian life.

A mark of genuine conversion.

John 13:34–35“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.””

John 15:17“These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”

John 17:21“that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

Mark of genuine Christianity

1 Peter 3:8–9“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.”

Contrasted with hatred

1 John 2:9–11“Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

1 John 4:20–21“If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

Outdo one another. Outdo, προηγέομαι. to go first and lead the way, go before and show the way.

Spiritual Ranger BN leading the way in honor toward one another. If you like to be competitive, here is your ticket in competition. Outdo one another.

Your “out-doing” however, is grounded in humility. Remember what Paul said in the previous passage, Romans 12:3“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

You are not to hold over your brothers your particular gifts. What Paul is emphasizing, however, is that we are to out-do one another in the love we have for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

[2] a gifted and great zeal (v. 11)

τῇ σπουδῇ μὴ ὀκνηροί· τῷ πνεύματι ζέοντες· τῷ Κυρίῳ δουλεύοντες·

In zeal, do not be slothful.

The command to not be slothful means to refrain from being lazy. Do not lazily sift through the Christian life. Be doers of the Word. Be lovers of God and neighbor.

The reverse then would be true, be active, be faithful, be ever present in the Christian life.

We are to be active in zeal. The zeal Paul has in mind means “to do something with intense effort and motivation — ‘to work hard, to do one’s best, to endeavor.’”

— earnest commitment in discharge of an obligation or experience of a relationship, eagerness, earnestness, diligence, willingness, zeal

2 Corinthians 8:7–8“But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also. I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine.”

In the Spirit be fervent.

Fervent means “to be stirred up emotionally, be enthusiastic/excited/on fire.”

It is the same zeal, or fire, Apollos had for proclaiming the Lord in Acts 18:25“He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.”

It is a sad state the mentality of Christians to be more fervent for their favorite sports teams than they are for the Lord. It matters not which sport one cheers for, typically the stadium or field is packed out, everyone is boldly wearing the colors of their team on full display, everyone is singing a form of a chant of hymn in praise of their team, they root and cheer, they are upset when things do not go well.

Are we ever like this? Rarely are we this fervent for the Lord.

Even still, rarely are we willing with enthusiasm to serve the Lord. The service Paul has in mind is slave service. Literally, the verb means, “Serve as a slave” for the Lord. We owe life, limb, body, mind, soul, all things to the Lord.

This is characteristic of the Christian life. One who was once enslaved to sin, is freed when bound to Christ. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 7:22“For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ.”

Elsewhere Paul emphasizes that spiritual manifestations must be subject to the lordship of Christ (1 Cor. 12:3) and that every spiritual manifestation must be tested (1 Cor. 14:29–32; 1 Thess. 5:21). Similarly, the baseline for Christian living is not ecstatic experience, although fervency and zeal are commended, but submission to the lordship of Christ

(Thomas R. Schreiner, 646).

Use 1. A passionate zeal in serving your worldly employers.

Ephesians 6:5–8“Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.”

Colossians 3:22–24“Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

Use 2. A passionate zeal in serving your church.

Use 3. A passionate zeal in serving your Lord.

[3] a grounded and generous hope (v. 12-13)

Three mutually building commands. Literally, the text reads as such “in hope, rejoice, in tribulation, endure, in prayer, persevere.”

“In hope rejoice.”

To rejoice is to be in a state of well-being, or happiness. It is one who can say, it is well with my soul. And it is done so in the hope of redemption and glorification.