In our last passage from the book of Romans, I mentioned that Paul has turned from the theological to the practical. Last time we saw the first way that the Gospel works itself out in everyday life: we use our God-given gifts within the church to serve our brothers and sisters in Christ. Now, Paul turns to broader principles for how we are to live in light of the Gospel with our brothers and sisters in Christ, but also with those who are of the world. Let’s read Rom. 12:9-21 together. From this passage I want to consider two principles: How to live with believers, and how to live with outsiders. Many people look at this list of commands that Paul gives here and assume that they are a set of random commands that have nothing to do with each other. But actually, both sets of commands (those for believers and outsiders) follow the same pattern. For both believers and outsiders, Paul directs us to sacrifice our affections, our attitudes, and our actions.
So, let’s start by considering how we are to live out the Gospel with our fellow believers, from verses 9-13. To start, Paul directs us to sacrifice our affections towards other believers in verses 9-10. He gives us four commands regarding our affections. First, “let love be genuine.” The type of love that Paul refers to here is “agape” love. It is a love that is not conditioned on anything in the person receiving the love. It is the type of love that God has shown us in Jesus Christ, that he would love us in spite of our sinfulness. Christians are called to love in the same way, because we are called to follow our savior. But to be honest, other believers aren’t so easy to love in this way. Christians can often be just downright unlovable. Regardless, Paul calls us to let our love be genuine. We should not love out of obligation or out of a sense of going along to get along, but out of a concern for honoring Christ by loving our brothers and sisters.
Second, Paul directs us to abhor evil and cling to what is good. This is a very vivid contrast that he sets up in this statement. The word he uses for “abhor” means “to be horrified by”. Does evil horrify you? Are you disgusted when you see someone being mistreated? Does it make you sick to your stomach to know that there are orphans who, at this very moment, have no home? Do you well up with anger over the taking of innocent life, the devaluing of marriage, or the breakdown of the family? As a stark contrast, Paul commands us to cling to what is good. The word for “cling” here means literally, “to stick to or be glued to.” We are to be horrified by evil and cling to good like we’ve been glued to it.
Third, we are to love one another with brotherly affection. The love Paul refers to here is different from the unconditional love that he used earlier. The love he calls us to here is brotherly or familial love. We are to feel a family connection to our fellow believers. Brothers and sisters, the relationships we have within this church are to be some of the greatest, firmest, most trustworthy relationships we can have. We aren’t supposed to just be acquainted with our fellow church members. We are to love each other like kin.
The last command regarding our affections towards other believers is that we are to “outdo one another in showing honor.” To honor means to prize someone, or to value someone above yourself. So, Paul says, if we are going to be competitive about anything in the church, let us be competitive over how we value each other.
Next, we find commands for our attitudes in verses 11 and 12. Here, Paul gives four attitudes we should exhibit as believers. Let’s run through them quickly. First, we are not to be slothful in our zeal, but fervent in the Spirit. Again, Paul sets up a stark contrast. We are not to be slothful or lazy in our eagerness for the Lord. But rather, we are to be fervent (the Greek word means “to burn hot”) in the Spirit. But, what exactly are we to be fervent in the Spirit about? Paul answers that by adding, “serve the Lord.” So, we shouldn’t grow dull or slothful or lazy in our service to God, but we should always seek to burn hot with passion for service.
Second, we are to rejoice in hope. We are to have an attitude of cheerfulness as we hope in our salvation. It’s been said plenty of times, but it bears repeating. Christians can be some of the most mulligrubbed people you will ever meet. There are two places where I’ve found this to be most apparent: Walmart and Facebook. If you meet a fellow Christian in Walmart, and you can manage to get them to speak to you, often times you might wonder if someone has just shot their dog. We run around Walmart, grabbing what we need, without any concern for those around us, grumpy and tired. And if we aren’t doing that in Walmart, we are giving someone what’s for on Facebook. We post memes that poke fun at our political opponents. We bemoan the state of our country and cry about how everything has gone to pot. You rarely see a Christian proclaiming the wonders of Christ on Facebook. You rarely see a Christian posting a beautiful piece of art, or marveling at a sunset, or extoling the virtue in someone else. Brothers and sisters, we are to rejoice in the hope of our salvation, regardless of the circumstances around us. Why would the world want to join us in faith if we act like there is no joy in this hope we’ve been given?!
The last two attitudes we are to have are patience in tribulation and constancy in prayer. Even when things are tough, and even though the world may hate us, we are to exhibit patience in our lives. And, we do that by living in constant prayer.
The last command Paul gives for living with other believers is a twofold command about our actions that deals with generosity. We are, first, to contribute to the needs of the saints. We are to be generous with our money to support other believers in their times of need. Second, we are to be generous with our time and service to other believers by being hospitable. You see, you have more to give than just your money. You can be hospitable by having a new member over for a cup of coffee. You can be hospitable by helping a neighbor plant his garden or checking in on him when he’s down.
So, we’ve seen how we are to live with other believers. Let’s end by considering some principles for living with outsiders in verses 14-21. Again, Paul puts these in the categories of affections, attitudes, and actions. First, in verses 14-15, he gives us commands dealing with our affections towards outsiders. We are to bless those who persecute us. This echoes the commands of Christ in Matt. 5-6, that we are to love our enemies and do good to those who would do us harm. Second, we are to sympathize with others. We are to rejoice and weep when those affections are appropriate. It is so easy to look at the plight of another human being and think, “Well, if you hadn’t done X or Y, you wouldn’t be in this mess.” We are not called to judge, but to have compassion. To recognize loss and weep for it. To recognize successes, and be genuinely glad for the person, even if they are our enemies.
Next, we see the commands on our attitudes in verses 16-18. To start, Paul directs us to live in harmony. He echoes this same idea in verse 18, where he says, “as far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” Christian, hear me on this: you are not called to right every wrong that has ever been done in America. You are not called to fix every problem, correct every falsehood. Understand, I’m not telling you to mind your own business when sin is at your door and you have a clear and direct opportunity to deal with it. What I am saying is that we can learn to live with people who aren’t like us, and we can seek the common good with them, even if they aren’t believers. This also means that we need to learn to communicate our values in a way that outsiders will hear. We need to be ready to appeal to Scripture, but we also need to be ready to appeal to common sense and natural law.
Finally, Paul commands us in our actions in verses 19-21. He directs us to do nothing when it comes to vengeance. God will be the one to avenge us, and we need to be patient and wait on him. Beyond that, we are to overcome evil with good. As believers, we aren’t called to correct the systems of this world. That is something that God will do in his good time. What we are called to do is be salt and light. We are called to bring flavor to a world that is bitter and sour. We are called to preserve this world with our influence. We are called to do little acts of good. Sometimes, you may wonder what good it is to feed a hungry person, or loan money to a man that is down on his luck. You may think, “well, they are just going to be right back there tomorrow.” But that help you offer is good, and that good lasts. Even if that person never changes, even if he never comes to Jesus, you still loved your neighbor. You still brought the flavor of Christ into his life. May we go from this place and live in light of the Gospel as we sacrifice for others.
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