Romans 12:9-13

Christ-Centered Love

Last Sunday we noted how Paul begins to fill out for us the nature and character of the Christian walk – a walk that is, by its union with Jesus Christ, a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God – which is being daily transformed by Christ’s Spirit into the glorious image of Jesus Christ.

The life of the Christian looks like Jesus Christ in both His humility and love AND we are day-by-day being conformed into that image of sacrificial, self-denying humility and love.

Christ’s humility is sacrificial in that He willingly laid the glory of the heavenly realm aside to become your slave, taking upon your human flesh, so that he might take your cross under the curse of God. 

It is this humble mind of Christ that you now take up by God’s Spirit working in you both to will and to do His good pleasure.

But the character of our God is not only humble, meek, and gentle – God is love and He has loved you perfectly by giving you His only Son, literally handing Him over to you to be nailed to the cross to pay the capital penalty of your sin before God.  As Paul says:

The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us . . . God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (Romans 5:5, 8-10).

It is because you have been so fully and completely loved by God through the cross of His Son that you now love one another.  John writes:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 John 4:7-11).

We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one 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, that the one who loves God should love his brother also (1 John 4:19-21).

The apostle Paul told the Ephesians:

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma (Ephesians 5:1-2).

The Christian walk or virtue of love is essentially Christological, or Christ-centered.  It is Christ’s Spirit living in and through you reproducing the life of God in Christ in your love for one another.  

In v. 9, says, “let your love be without hypocrisy” or “let your love be genuine.”  This statement serves as the title for the rest of chap. 12 as the single thread running continuously throughout the fabric of our text.  Paul presents “love” as the capstone or single most important characteristic of the Christian life. In Gal. 5, Paul says, “through love serve one another.  For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘You will love your neighbor as yourself’” (Gal. 5:13c-14).  And in Romans 13, Paul will once again stress:

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:8-10).

As Paul says in 1 Cor. 13, you may have all the other gifts of the Spirit, like those mentioned in vv. 3-8 of our passage, but if you don’t have love or if you don’t use these gifts within the context of the life and power of love, all is in vain.  We might say it even stronger yet – there is no Christian faith is there is no love.  Without love all of these gifts will end up destroying the very people you seek to serve rather than encouraging and building one another up in Christ. 

Love is an absolute necessity – it is the indispensable mark of the new creation in Christ.  And as we noted earlier that this love for one another is grounded and enabled by God’s love for you as expressed in the gift of His Son.

Therefore, we can say this morning that love is the single, all-comprehensive characteristic of the Christian life that most parallels the essential nature of God Himself.

The early Christians noted the unique character of Christian love as displayed in Christ that they chose an extremely rare verb in Koine Greek to express its distinctive nature:  agape.  It is this word that Paul uses in our text this morning – you are to agape one another without any hypocrisy.

Paul uses the ancient word “hypocrisy,” which referred to an actor in a play who pretended to be someone else.  Paul recognizes that love can be performed hypocritically – a pretend kind of love – that is merely an outward display or emotion that does not truly conform to the real nature of love as showed to us by God, who is love and has loved us in Christ. 

It is because love can so easily be conformed to without sincerity that Paul now gives us 12 clauses in vv. 9-13 to flesh out what sincere love really is.  Each clause contains a present participle showing the continuous, expression of genuine love for one another.

1.Abhoring Evil (v. 9)

2.Clinging to Good (v. 9)

In v. 9, Paul says that genuine love will both abhor what is evil and cling to what is good.  Both of these participles are very strong – to “abhor” is to “hate exceedingly” and to “cling to” can be used to refer to “the intimate union of the marriage relationship.”  Christian love is not without direction or definition.  Paul tells us that love is not genuine if it leads you to do something evil to another or to avoid doing good to your neighbor AND Christ defines both evil and good in His Word to us and the Spirit is producing this good (cf. v. 2) in us.

3.Being Affectionate to One Another in Brotherly Love (v. 10)

4.Going Before One Another in Honor (v. 10)

Both of these focus on what Christians are to do to “one another.”  First, you are each to be devoted or affectionate to one another in “brotherly love,” or “philadelphia.”  Your love for one another is “brotherly” – referring to the familial relationships of the body of Christ.  As you have all become “sons” of God in Christ, you are therefore brothers to one another, with Christ being your elder brother.

The church family is an extended family whose members are bound together in a very special, intimate fellowship with one another.  Paul says in Gal. 6:

So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith (Galatians 6:10).

There is a very special, intimate love and concern for one another that is entirely unique in the church from all other relationships in life.

And this can be expressed by the second clause “give preference to one another in honor,” which means that we are to be anxious to out-do one another – to go before each other – in recognizing and giving praise and honor to one another, while deferring ourselves to one another.  Paul says in Phil. 2:

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-4).

5.Not Being Slothful in Zeal (v. 11)

6.Being Fervent in the Holy Spirit (v. 11)

7.Serving the Lord (v. 11)

In v. 11, Paul says literally, “in zeal, do not be lazy, be set on fire by the Holy Spirit in serving the Lord.”

Paul is instructing us to love one another genuinely – and as each of us know from experience that there is always a tendency in the Christian life to “lose steam” in our affectionate love towards one another.  There are times when we simply become lazy and complacent in our love and service to one another.  But Paul says that we can never take a vacation from loving one another.  We are to continuously press on and fight the good fight – to run the race well:

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart (Hebrews 12:1-3).

Rather than becoming lazy, Paul says that we are to allow the Spirit of God to set our hearts aflame – to allow or open yourself up – yield your whole life to the complete control of the Holy Spirit as He seeks to excite and stir your hearts in the fullness of your union with Christ to love one another fervently.

And as you seek to yield your life in complete and total devotion and obedience to the Holy Spirit, always remember that your life in the Spirit is not to be self-centered in exalting your own giftedness (cf. v. 3) but solely in humble, self-sacrificing service to the Master who bought you with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

8.Rejoicing in Hope (v. 12)

9.Being Patient in Affliction (v. 12)

10.Steadfastly Continuing in Prayer (v. 12)

At first v. 12 looks as if there is no connection whatsoever between these gospel imperatives.  But look more closely!  As you rejoice in your settled and confident hope in God’s promises in Christ – that you too will share in the coming glory of Jesus Christ – nevertheless you are well aware that the Christian life is littered with earthly, and often painful tribulations.  Therefore, you need endurance – patience.  As Paul says in Romans 5:

We have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Romans 5:2-5).

And your ability to continue faithfully and bear up under those tribulations is entirely dependent upon your persistence in prayer.  Paul ties all three of these together beautifully in Romans 8:

For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:24-28).

11.Sharing in the Needs of the Saints (v. 13)

12.Pursuing Hospitality (v. 13) 

Finally, in v. 13 Paul calls each of you to put your love for one another into a very concrete practice of showing your concern for one another.  First, in your contributing to the needs of other believers in Christ.  Literally, Paul says that you are to “koinonia” in the “needs” of the saints.  Here Paul is not talking about your fellowshipping together with the saints, but with the needs of the saints.  You are to intimately associate yourselves with the material needs of those among you who are in need.  Paul encourages you:

Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

Of course, the only way for you to know the needs of others is through the intimate, brotherly fellowship that you have with one another and this is most often so wonderfully expressed in your pursuit of hospitality towards one another.

Is there a more tangible and gracious expression of love between the individual members of the family of God than opening your homes to one another to share a meal across the table or provide shelter for another brother or sister in Christ?  As we open our tables for our own immediate families to share the day and experiences with laughter and joy so we have the incredible privilege to open our homes even wider for our extended family in the body of Christ.  The author of Hebrews even goes so far as to say:

Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it (Hebrews 13:1-2).

And Paul says that we are to “pursue” hospitality in that we are to go out of our way to welcome and provide for one another in this very tangible expression of love.

Now as we pause here in Paul’s unfolding for us the nature of Christian love, to be continued next Sunday, as the Lord wills, remember these words of our Lord Jesus:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-35).

Jesus says that it is by this “love,” the love so wonderfully displayed for you at His cross, and now being lived out inside you and through you to one another by His Spirit and unfolded for you this morning in Paul’s very tangible expressions this morning – it “this love” that the whole world will know that you belong to Jesus. 

Notice that Jesus did not say that you will be known by your buildings, or signs, or your worship practices, or even your unique theological beliefs.  No!  He said that the world will know that you belong to Him by your love for one another – “a love,” Jesus says, “even as I have loved you.”

Amen!

-SDG-