When a pastor starts talking about theology, a lot of Christians yawn. Others want to argue that theology isn’t important, what we need to do is just love Jesus they say. While I understand not everyone is a theology nerd like me, I think we need to understand the importance of theology. You wouldn’t want to be hired for a job, and told to get it done but never be trained on how to get it done. Can you imagine how frustrated you would be if you asked how you are supposed to do it, and someone said, oh don’t worry about the process, we just care about results? I will admit, sometimes the teacher of theology can be boring. For what it is worth, I believe it is sinful to teach the Word of God and its many glorious truths in a boring way. The apostle Paul has spent the first 11 chapters of Romans writing out his theology for the Roman Christians. Paul wrote it out, because he wanted to come to Rome, be received by them, and get support from them so that he could travel on to Spain. We see this throughout the book, but especially in the end of Romans. I like to think of Romans as Paul writing a missionary support letter. But that is another topic for another post. What happens in Romans 12 is Paul flips from theology to practical application of that theology. As one of my professors put it one time, “orthodoxy always precedes orthopraxy.” Right beliefs flow into right living. Paul opens up Romans 12 by telling us not to be conformed to the world. Then, Paul starts to write what that looks like. He begins in Romans 12:9 by writing, “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.”
Paul says that not being conformed to the world has three specific actions. He begins by calling the Romans to love without hypocrisy. Jesus would say it this way, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt. 22:39). James would say that we are to not show favoritism (James 2:1-4). However, it is put, the command is the same, we are to love God and love others. Regardless of whether they love us back, we are to love them. We are to desire good for them, and we are to do good to them. It is important that we remember that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood” (Eph. 6:12). We will not see eye to eye on every issue with every person. However, we must remember that we dislike their position, not the person. I believe that is timely advice given we are just coming through another bitter and divisive election season. I don’t have to like a candidate’s political position, but I am commanded to love that person, because God loves them. As I was teaching this past Sunday, the Holy Spirit placed a thought in my head that I got to share. Every sin and every struggle reveals a love problem. If I am giving into temptation, then I am loving my sin more than I love the Savior. If I fuss and fight with people, I love to be right more than I love them as a person. Every martial, familial, job, etc. problem comes down to a love problem. Therefore, the answer is, we need to learn to love God more, because the more I love God, the more I will love those He loves.
The second and third commands here go together. I am to “abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.” The word “abhor” is a very strong word. It means to have a horror for or to detest strongly. Think of something that you absolutely hate or despise. We are to feel about evil even more strongly than that. Here in lies the problem, we keep sin around like a pet. We give it “cute” little nicknames to downplay its seriousness. The result is our conscience becomes numb to sins effects, and soon we don’t even feel the pull of conviction by the Holy Spirit. This is why we must regularly expose our hearts and lives to the Word of God. The Bible always accurately diagnoses our condition, but it also points us to the remedy, who is Jesus. The third command here is to “cling to what is good.” Be bonded to, desire it, and love it. This is what Paul is getting at for us. In a very real way, Paul is talking about repentance. Repentance is when we turn from our sin (evil), and turn to Jesus in faith (good). This isn’t a one-time thing, it is an every day decision we must make.
To love without hypocrisy is to be consistent in your life. Does your walk match your talk? Are you living a life of repentance? Are you running from Jesus or to Jesus? As Jesus said in Matthew 7, “by their fruits you shall know them.” Are you producing good fruit or bad fruit?
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Justin