Cling to What is Good

Romans 12:9–21 CSB

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. 10 Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another. 11 Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit; serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. 13 Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. 18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord. 20 But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head. 21 Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

Intro

There are three transcendentals in modern philosophy. These are ideas that transcend the individual, that we as humans tend to move towards. That which is:

True

Beautiful

Good

A transcendental is something that is greater than you.

***The title of “philosopher” was originally one of humility

When Socrates was alive he always had conflict with the Sophists - “Wise ones”

Socrates said that only God is wise so he called himself a “Philo- sophist” - “Lover of wisdom”

Last time I preached, we talked about the concept of beauty, today, I would like us to focus on the “good”

What is Good?

Do Good to Other Believers

Do Good in the Face of Evil

Romans 12:9 CSB

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good.

Love without hypocrisy?

Don’t be choosy with who you show love to and when show love, but let your love be genuine… on all the time

Detest evil - Young Adults Bible Study - Fear God

Proverbs 16:6 “6 Iniquity is atoned for by loyalty and faithfulness, and one turns from evil by the fear of the Lord.”

John 14:15 “15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands.”

Love and fear

Godliness is loving and fearing God

Sinfulness is loving and fearing ourselves

What is good?

It is important - What I’m hoping to do today is to make sure that from now on, when you and I read this passage, we will not not divorce the use the word “good” here from what the rest of Scripture says!

What does Paul mean when he uses the word “good” here?

Social workers - counselors who cannot use the word “good” or “evil” when counseling because they carry a heavy religious connotation.

What this shows is that there are aspects of human existence that secular counselors have to ignore

What this world desperately needs is a reminder of the interdependency of

————

What makes God good?

Philosophically speaking, the greatest good is that you and I are alive today… no matter what we’re going through, it is good that we’re still here.

The greatest good is existing and things that are good are things that help benefit your existence (things that lead to your “Well-Being”)

But, us being here, isn’t something that we could have done on our own… We needed our parents, and they needed their parents -> to Adam who needed the dust

We need oxygen, which comes from trees, and they need carbon-dioxide and sunlight -> sun -> and so on...

Eventually, you’ll see that the existence of everything in this world dependent on something else, and if you keep going back, eventually, what you’ll need is something that is self-existing

What philosophers may call existence or being, the Bible often uses the term, “Life” - God is the giver of life

Psalm 107:9 “9 For he has satisfied the thirsty and filled the hungry with good things.”

Proverbs 29:13 “13 The poor and the oppressor have this in common: the Lord gives light to the eyes of both.”

Colossians 1:16–17 “16 For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.”

Psalm 23:2–3 “2 He lets me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He renews my life; he leads me along the right paths for his name’s sake.”

Promotes are being

Acts 17:28 “28 For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’”

———

God is good

And the reason why you can’t use the terms “good” and “evil” is because attempting to define those terms will quickly take you to the realm of the religious.

When people say there’s no such thing as truth, you have to ask them, “Is what you said true?”

Good cannot be defined by:

The majority - There has been many times when the majority has been wrong

The powerful -

Yourself (individual) - You are wrong many times

If you believe in “good” then you must

This is not a hard conclusion to come to intellectually, but it is hard to come to this emotionally.

A great deception of Satan is that he’s caused many to believe that they are operating out of their intellect when really, their heart

Then why didn’t you just say that? Instead of hiding behind a philosophy of straw

Proverbs 9:10 “10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

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Thomas Aquinas

When you know that something is good you are attracted to it.

When you know that God is good, you naturally move towards God.

God is good because he gives true life!

Amos 5:14–15 “14 Pursue good and not evil so that you may live, and the Lord, the God of Armies, will be with you as you have claimed. 15 Hate evil and love good; establish justice at the city gate. Perhaps the Lord, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

Following the ways of Christ is Good and leads to life

John 10:10 “10 A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.”

2 Peter 1:3 “3 His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”

Psalm 107:9 “9 For he has satisfied the thirsty and filled the hungry with good things.”

Matthew 11:28 “28 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

So what is good? God is good, and to live like Christ lived is good.

Do Good to Other Believers (10-16)

Ethical principles and not moral laws

Example of moral laws:

Exodus 21:33–34 “33 “When a man uncovers a pit or digs a pit, and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the owner of the pit must give compensation; he must pay to its owner, but the dead animal will become his.”

Often times, we crave this kind of specificity.

“Moralism”

The problem of preaching moralism, isn’t actually with the morals.

It’s worse than trying to teach differential equations to four year old’s

Matthew 25:40 “40 “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

Galatians 6:10 “10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.”

Let us behave like Christ to one another here in this Church

Do Good in the Face of Evil (17-21)

Story about Christian Ethics class paper on gun violence

Exodus 22:2–3 “2 If a thief is caught in the act of breaking in, and he is beaten to death, no one is guilty of bloodshed. 3 But if this happens after sunrise, the householder is guilty of bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution. If he is unable, he is to be sold because of his theft.”

Luke 22:36–38 (after Passover) “36 Then he said to them, “But now, whoever has a money-bag should take it, and also a traveling bag. And whoever doesn’t have a sword should sell his robe and buy one. 37 For I tell you, what is written must be fulfilled in me: And he was counted among the lawless. Yes, what is written about me is coming to its fulfillment.” 38 “Lord,” they said, “look, here are two swords.” “That is enough!” he told them.”

John 18:10 “10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)”

He wasn’t supposed to use it

Christ is the most dangerous being to exist, yet he let us nail him to a cross

No physical fighting when it comes to the building of the kingdom of God.

2 Corinthians 10:3–4 “3 For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, 4 since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments”

Preaching the gospel is one of the most courageous things you can do.

We are defenseless in the physical

Matthew 16:25 “25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.”

God doesn’t want you and I to be weak, he wants us to be courageous!

Satan doesn’t want you to understand truth

He wants you weak…

CS Lewis Abolition of man -> Chest-less men

Love Life Ministry

Pastor who was too afraid

Recent bill (2025 budget reconciliation bill) that passed in the house to stop federal funding to planned parenthood

Will also grant a larger tax credit for parents who claim their kids on their taxes and for parents who adopt

When a mother has an abortion, she doesn’t stop becoming a mother, she only becomes a mother to a dead child

Young lady who yelled out some profanity

I used to be afraid of that…

Cowardly to throw insults from afar

Matthew 10:28 “28 Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Cling to what is good, because it is a matter of life and death