Love Without Hypocrisy

turn to Romans chapter 12 Romans chapter 12 is where we're going to continue tonight and uh I just want to go uh straight into it but before we go into it let's pray and then we'll dive into this portion of Romans father we love you and we just thank you for the time that we have just to be able to come to you and uh be able to come together to study your word again I pray that you would speak to our hearts use me tonight as a mouthpiece Lord to be able to uh just uh preach uh teach your word and then also would you uh challenge us encourage us but and then also help us to be able to continue to do uh our studies after and may be helpful to us father we love you so much and we thank you in

Jesus name I pray amen Romans chap 12 our portion tonight is going to be uh verse 9- 21 and Paul has spent the first 11 chapters teaching us of the foundation truth of who God is who we are and how we can come to right relationship with God by faith and that's really what Romans the letter to the Romans has been so far we're now in Romans 12 and Paul is teaching us how to live but how to live in the doing in in in the Christian sense is always based on an understanding of who God is and what he has done for us in verses 9-13 as we'll we'll go through them Paul is going to to give us practical truths for relating with those in the church and then verse uh 14- 21 Paul will teach us how to

relate to everyone else including those in the church so we'll cover the rest of chapter 12 tonight but first I want us to see uh I I want us I want to take us to an answer that Jesus gave to a question uh Jesus was asked a question the question was by a lawyer what is the greatest commandment in the in the law it's important that we visit Jesus answer this question because I believe Paul embodies this truth in his writing and so Matthew chapter number 22 is where the question is uh posed verse number 36 down to verse number 40 Matthew 22 36-4 the Bible says this master which is the great commandment in the law and Jesus said unto him Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and

with all thy soul and with all thy mind this is the first and great commandment and the second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself on these two Commandments hang all the law and the prophets in this letter to the Christians in Rome we understand God's love for us just by reading Romans 1 to Romans 11 we see what the gospel is and the good news of of what God did for us and in chapter 12 uh starting in verse number one and two we actually see Paul actually tells us how we can love God and so we love God by uh by becoming living sacrifices and renewing our minds but then the rest of Romans uh 12:3 down and really to the end of the letter we're going to see Paul breaks down

what it really means to love your neighbor and so as we get into our passage tonight starting in verse number nine we'll dive in we're going to see Paul really expounding on what it means to love your neighbor and so verse number n in chapter 12 the Bible says this let love be without dissimilation uport that which is evil cleave to that which is good Paul makes a a bold and quick statement here uh the word dissimilation here just means genuine uh it means uh without hypocrisy uh love here um love in Greek is is described in four different uh words uh the first one is fileo and fileo means Brotherly Love uh Philadelphia we we have the City of Brotherly Love um that that's the first word uh

that describes love in Greek the other one is ays or AOS and uh that is passionate it's it's it's more of romantic love uh the other one is stor love and that's familial love uh that's love between family members uh parents siblings um and the one that Paul is using here with this word dissimulation is actually agape and Agape is unconditional love and that's the that's the love that he uses here and this is the Greek that's used here and this type of Love Remains steadfast even when circumstances change and even when your love is not accepted uh it is a love that mirrors the love that God has for all his children regardless of their actions and circumstances uh earlier in Romans chapter 5

Paul said this but God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us so agape love think of it as a one-way Street it is always flowing it is always going it's always coming to us that's that's Agape fileo is more of a two-way street so you love I love so it's it's it's give and take type of Love um but agape love is what the word that Paul is using here and Paul is reminding Christians that we are to love with a sincere love not a not a fake Love Not A Love That is hypocritical but a love that is genuine and heartfelt and unconditional but what does that look like it seems that Paul is giving three uh exhortations here in verse number nine he says uh to

love without dissimilation which is love genuinely and then he says aore evil and then he says cleave to that which is good but what Paul is actually saying in this verse he's actually saying to love genuinely to love without hypocrisy you have to uphor that which is evil and you have to cleave to that which is good and uh let me explain further uh to upour means to dislike it means to have horror for um and then to cleave has the idea of joining oneself to uh something to to glue together is the word cleave here and really the goal of what Paul is trying to say is the good of the person and so if you genuinely love someone you're going to look out for them and to look out for them means

you're going to stand up for what is evil but you're you're also going to encourage what is what is good if we see a Christian brother or sister falling into evil about to partake in a sin the genuine thing to do and the Agape thing to do is to a uport that evil by going up to them and saying hey this is wrong what you're about to do is not right and so it's it's to call out that sin and call out that evil and actually show some tough love but then it's not just it it doesn't just stop there because some of us are really good at that some of us are really good at being up pouring evil we go up to a brother and we say hey man that is wrong and and every negative thing they have we call it out

every single time and and the next time we see them they're always avoiding us because we're always calling out their sins and it's good to be tough with our love and it's good to look out for people when they're sinning but it's not always just one-sided where we're always calling everybody else it's good to call people out for their sins but it's also good to highlight the positives that are happening in their lives if they're actually progressing in their in their fight with this evil with this sin or whatever then it's good to say hey man I saw that you you did this Hey sister I saw that you're actually progressing here or you're actually doing well and so it's one thing to always

support evil but we need to be balanced in that we also cleave to that which is good and so always also giving that encouragement that is needed in essence Paul stresses that real love involves not only showing affection but also actively standing against evil and embracing what is good and right and so love without dissimilation means this it means it is authentic meaning it's genuine it's not fake uh you're not just saying words but you're actually meaning those words that you're saying it's transparent meaning meaning you're not hiding your true feelings your your or your intentions it's consistent me meaning that it doesn't change with circumstances so if that person changes it doesn't

mean that you stop loving that person you're always consistently loving them in in the the same way it's selfless meaning that you put others needs before your own and it's also unconditional given without expecting anything back this is what agape love is but how do we obtain this kind of love because to be honest it's hard to have agape love Paul tells us in Romans chapter number 5 verse5 that is it is the Holy Spirit who fills our hearts with love agape love you can only do this by relying on God by relying on the Holy Spirit to give you this type of love and Paul actually says you already have this Romans 5:5 says this and hope make it not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad

in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us and so because we have the Holy Ghost we are able to have unconditional love with others now we need to call upon the the Holy Ghost to empower us to do that and we need to put away our flesh but we can have unconditional love to people it is the holy spirit that helps us to love this way Paul goes on to say in verse number 10 he says be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love and honor preferring one another now Paul goes from agape love in verse 9 and then in verse number 10 he actually goes more specific into Fila love here he Paul goes from Agape to fileo and fileo is like I said is brotherly love which is conditional

and it's conditional because it's expected of both so it's not just I'm loving you all the time it's it is conditional in that sense um Paul becomes specific Paul is saying love one another in a family sort of way I know I said um uh ST means familial love but Paul actually uses filo here to portray that familiar love that Christians are supposed to have with one another here it's an equal type of Love um we call ourselves Ohana and Ohana is our is our church name Ohana means family and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten I think that's ditch it's it's applicable in this in this case but the question that we have to have we we have to ask ourselves is is every member of ohana

practicing filo love like do we come yes we come to accept the love from God but are we coming to show that love to others as well do we love each other like family because truly that is what a Christian family is we are Brothers and Sisters in Christ and and Paul is is trying to drive this home to these Christians in Rome uh kindly affectionate here in verse number 10 just describes a tender affection it's uh it's like that it's it's the love between It's the affection between parents and children or between siblings so it's it's that kind of affection that Paul is is trying to uh to illustrate here it suggests that we have the same feeling toward each other because we're part of this

family uh remember what Jesus said in John chapter number 13 in verse number 34 and 35 the Bible said Jesus said this he said a new commandment I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you that you also love one another by this shall all man know that you are my disciples if you have love one to another but the reality is that there are there are dysfunctional families in this world and sometimes even broken Families Our backgrounds can sometimes block us from experiencing love in our current relationship especially when you come to a church and and we grew up maybe with abusive uh family members maybe we grew up with uh parents that were not there at all and so this idea of

familial love that Paul is trying to drive home it's not connecting with us because our backgrounds are skewing our our illustration of this that Paul is trying to drive home maybe you didn't grow up with parents maybe your siblings didn't treat you well the list can go on and there is people here that have faced that in their lives where their parents have not been parents where their family members have not loved them the way they should love them and sometimes it's hard to love strangers church members because you've never felt love before you've never actually practiced that with your own family sometimes it's even easier because you're you're you're with people that you choose to be

with but here's the thing you may not have had an example of filo that Paul is describing here but that's why it's important to read this passage with the understanding of who you are and what God has done for you and that's why when we get to Romans 12 it's important that we understand the context of what Romans 1-11 was and how God was just teach what Paul was just trying to drive home to us that hey we are sinners yet God Loved Us by sending us his son Jesus Christ to die for us and he and he he uncondition unconditionally showed us that love and it is that love that we have the same access to that we can now in this new light be able to show it to others even though our history is skewed

because our parents might not have loved us the way we should have been loved but that's in the past now now that we're part of this family we can actually actually exercise This Love that God has shown us to our Brothers and Sisters in Christ and start this new because God has given us that same love a allow the love of God that he has shown you to pour through you as well here are some examples of how we can be kindly affectionate one to another with with Brotherly Love uh the first one is really just acknowledging someone's existence um coming to church and not just like looking down but looking across and actually saying hi to someone sometimes you never know how that can can actually

mean a lot to someone and so just think of how weird it would be to wake up and never acknowledge your family members sometimes you do that on purpose cuz you want to know your siblings but that's not right and so acknowledging someone is a good way to actually show Brotherly Love or this this kindly affection uh it's it's checking in with people hey how are you H how's uh so and so or how how are how are your family members doing it's actually checking in with people it's it's making time for others you know here we have uh Fellowship times we have um we do the the brunch and the things like uh during Easter and things like that just so we can actually come together because for some reason

we need food to actually Fellowship here but it's important that we make it not just beyond that and instead of having food just always having time to be able to fellowship with others in our own church um and then it's also caring for each other it's knowing people's needs it's know or knowing what people actually want too it's not just what they're struggling in but it's hey this person likes this I'm going to buy them uh this or whatever and just in just because you want to be kind to them you want to be you want to show this brotherly love Paul emphasizes in this verse verse 10 preferring one another in honor uh and what does that mean preferring uh actually implies taking the lead or or

setting an example it it's it's it involves showing respect and honor by aiming to give more than you receive and so it's it's really prioritizing others respect and honor over your own respect and honor so it's making sure that this person feels more respected than you do and so that that's what preferring one another in honor means here and verse number 11 Paul says not slothful in business fervent in spirit serving the lord uh not slothful uh I'm thinking of a sloth uh like the ones at waik kizu the the ones that are super slow and um they're cute but very very slow the word rendered slot for here has that same idea of being slow or idle it it really describes someone who's who is slow to

think and act and perhaps even sluggish or inactive that's what a being slothful is and then fervent in Spirit uh could be translated with respect uh to the spirit boiling over so it's it's more like passion that's what fervent in spirit is it's being passionate it uh remember 1 Corinthians chapter number 10:31 Paul says this he says whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever you do do all to the glory of God so what I think Paul is saying here is that he's saying Believers should be diligent and passionate in their service not only to God but actually to each other as well um we are called to work hard but not in the sense of overexerting ourselves but in the sense of Honor and

integrity so if nobody's watching you're you're being fervent in spirit still you're you're being passionate about the job the the work that you have for God because you just have that character and you have that Integrity um it's uh sometimes uh it takes reading a verse like this just to see that we needed to be reminded of it you know when I read this um I think okay fervent and spirit slothful and I'm just convicted just by reading the the the text the the verse 10 here uh or verse 11 here I'm convicted because I reminded I reminded that you know what Paul is right I remember when I was a teenager and I was more on fire for God then than I am today and so sometimes just reading a verse

like that is a good reminder for us to look and and just over review our lives and say hey am I as passionate today than I was when I was a teenager am I as passionate in serving God today than I was just a couple years ago so it's a good reminder just to read the verses and and be convicted by them yourself and verse number 12 the Bible says this rejoicing in Hope patient in Tribulation continuing instant in prayer um hope of what and it's it's really Del light at the end of the tunnel and the reason this makes sense that Paul would actually say rejoicing in Hope and patient in Tribulation you got to understand the context Paul is writing to Romans and I I actually want to touch this uh

touch on this at the end of this sermon of this lesson but just consider the the Christians that are in Rome persecution the things that are happening to them just that that quick highlight for these Christians they needed to be reminded that there's a reason why they're being faithful to God because there is a a light at the end of the tunnel in this world full of hardships and trials in our own world we have hope of eternal life because of Jesus Christ and that's really the hope that we have but also we know that this life is temporary and that eternity comes after and so we can be faithful in whatever service we have to God or whatever job we have because we understand that at the end of

this I'm going to be with Jesus Christ at the end uh and then he goes on to say patient in Tribulation um like I said first century Christians uh suffered persecution tion here and honestly we we don't really know what that's like unless you've been in other countries where persecution is still rampant today we we actually don't understand what persecution being persecuted for God means in our country cuz we live in a country that that has freedom of religion that's kind of going down the drains here and there but that's still that's we don't really know understand what that that's like and so here this really applies to those that were in Rome but Paul encourages them to be patient uh

really the encouragement here is to not give up and so in our case it'd be if we're going through something and it's really hard the encouragement is don't give up because God will still take care of you and this is very important uh for us to understand and then he ends it by saying continuing instant in prayer in verse number 12 there in all of your waiting what Paul is reminding us is to just keep praying uh this is very important I think it's easy for us Christians to live out our Christianity serving God but never actually spending time with him and it's so easy to do that because we think because we're serving God that you know we don't actually have to open our Bibles and read and do

our devotions or we don't actually have to sit down and and pray when God wants us to keep our relationship with him at the Forefront so Paul reminds Christians to keep their relationship at the Forefront like us in verse number 13 the Bible says this uh Distributing to the necessities of saints given uh to hospitality Saint uh just means um one who is set apart for God and a saint really is us we are all Christians are Saints and so here Paul is just saying Paul is encouraging the Christians to help each other out and he's bringing back to that filo love being able to look out and see hey is there somebody in need that is struggling that I can be uh help to that I can be a help to and he's

talking about financial needs and he's also talking about needs that these people would would have been struggling with during this time and so uh we as Christians uh we need to be able to look out and be able to help our fellow Christians as well and I love that Paul puts it here um puts this verse here after the whole slothful thing because in my mind I'm thinking okay if I'm going to help someone I want to know that they are uh not lazy that they're actually helping themselves now that's just the flesh speaking because if you actually have unconditional love you'd love people regardless of what they're doing um but the reality of our in our world we need to be able to be mindful of others

and not having people take advantage of us things like that but as true Christians and the ideal Christian world is a place where a Christian Church is a place where people are are constantly helping each other out regardless of what the the person is actually doing they're they're just stepping up but it's also accountability on that person doing their own work and not being slothful and being fervent and doing the things and so it's important that we we distribute to the necessity of the Saints and and do all of that with this idea of filo love as well and so Paul is saying our love for people should be tangible and we ought to look out for each other's need in verse number 14 Paul is now

going to move from um relating to the church Christians relating to each other and now he's going to teach us how to relate to the world to relate to the outside though those outside of the church in verse number 14 uh Paul focuses on our relationship with those outside and it's clear from uh Romans CH 12 that Paul understood uh The Sermon on the Mount uh Jesus Sermon on the Mount which was written in Matthew Chapter 5 I believe it's Matthew 7 or 8 but Jesus famous Sermon on the Mount and it's very clear that Paul maybe the disciples shared that sermon with him maybe it was Matthew's account and maybe Matthew was the one that gave him uh the report on that that sermon or maybe it was just so

famous that everybody else could recite it but as you read these verses you can tell that Paul has been learning about that sermon and here here in verse number 14 you you see just how he's saying this he says bless them which persecute you bless and curse not um bless them which persecute you that's easier said than done but Paul wants us to understand that we are not to have ha a hateful attitude towards anyone not even towards those who persecute us now once again this goes back to that original audience the ones that were actually in Rome for being persecuted could you imagine them blessing those who are actually persecuting them he said curse not and I'm reminded of what Ma what what

Jesus said in on in his sermon in Matthew chapter number 5 in verse number 44 down to verse number 46 he said but I say unto you love your enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you that he may be the children of your father which is in heaven for the for he maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good and send it rain on the just and on the unjust for if if you love them which love you what reward have ye do not even the publicans the same and so Paul is recounting jesus' words here when he's saying to bless them and don't curse them um bless how do we bless them we bless them by showing them love and

forgiveness instead of anger and retaliation and that's very hard but but Paul is encouraging the the Christians to do this and really when you you think back on what Jesus was saying this is what it means to love your neighbor it's to bless them when they're when they're cursing in you in verse number 15 Paul says this Rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep uh Rejoice it's it's it's sometimes hard for us to Rejoice with those who are rejoicing because sometimes we just get jealous like why is that person uh being happy and I'm here struggling and and for for some of us it's hard for us to uh to Rejoice with others because we're just jealous of the circumstances and

the blessings that they have and then he says weep with those who weep and uh this is sometimes hard too unless you're very compassionate and you're very merciful some of us when we see somebody weeping we just look the other way we just pass them and Paul is saying we need to uh be there for people and that's really what he's saying here in verse number 15 is for us to be there for people because people notice if you're there or if you're not there in verse number six um the last several verses here 16 down verse number 21 kind of go together so we'll go through them quick but verse number 16 Paul says this be of the same mind one toward another mind not high things but condescend to Men of

low State um be not wise in your own conceits uh be of the same mind here uh toward one another just has Paul is encouraging us to have unity and Harmony as as church members and then he says mind not high things but condescend to Men of low estate kind of hard to understand that but what Paul is actually saying here to condescend to to Men of low estate Paul instructs us to avoid arrogance or Spirit of a spirit of arrogance or pride and to instead show humility and empathy uh towards others uh this phrase condescend uh to Men of lowest State uh just means to associate with those who are considered socially or economically less privileged and really what Paul is highlighting here is the

importance of treating everyone with the with the same dignity and respect regardless of their status or position in society and in this in the society that they live in it was all about hierarchy and just people that were Rich the elite versus the ones that were poor and then he says be not wise in your own conceits and Paul is just warning us against being overly confident in our own wisdom or understanding and that ultimately leads us to having self-righteousness and that's what Paul is saying here verse number 17 he says recompense to no man evil for evil proi provide things honest in the sight of all men and here he teaches the principle of just non- retaliation he's going to uh touch

up on this again in verse number 19 down but Paul once again is saying to have that soft answer and having that that uh that gape love verse number 18 uh he says if it if it be if it be possible as much as Li in you live peaceably with all men and you probably understand this uh because there's some people that just just do not want to get along with you and the key in this verse is as much as lith in you and sometimes you can't control what others are are going to do or how they think but you can control what you're doing and what Paul is encouraging us is to not add to the fire but actually do the part in amending that relation or or doing whatever it takes to be able to reconcile that

relationship and sometimes you'll do the best that you can and they'll never do it they'll never uh have peace with you but at least you're doing your part and so here uh that the duty is on your part and and making sure that you in within your own power you're able to live in peace with all people verse number 19 Paul says dearly beloved avenge not yourselves but rather give place on to wrath for it is written vengeance is mine I will repay say the Lord our natural reaction to is to hurt others that have hurt us and it's hard for us to not retaliate the the fair thing to do is to do to them what they have done to us but the reality is life is not fair and when we think about Jesus and what

he's done for us to be tortured and beaten and mocked and humiliated and taken to the Cross crucified and when we think about what what he's done for us the honest truth is that's not fair that a that a that the god of our the the god of our creation the the Creator is the one that's dying for the creation that's not to minimize any trauma or any actual hurt that you might have gone through but sometimes it's good for us to take a shift in our minds and just remember what Christ did for us because everything that happened to Christ is not fair yet the Bible says God commended his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us I'm just thinking about when Christ was on

the cross and when he looked out and he said father forgive them for they know not what they do that's unconditional love that's love without dissimilation verse number 20 therefore if thine enemy hunger feed him if he thirst give him drink for in in so doing Thou shalt Heap Coes of fire on his head uh this verse advocates for an extraordinary level of kindness towards one towards our enemies really by meeting their basic needs such as providing food and drink despite their hostility you might stir feelings of conviction or shame within them what does it mean to Heap Coes of fire on their heads and the phrase here is is just symbolizes the burning conviction or discomfort that could arise in

the enemy's conscience when confronted with unexpected generosity and kindness you might have felt it before when you're trying to be mean with someone and then somebody is just so kind in response and in your mind you're just like I feel so stupid for doing that that's burning keeping cuse of fire on their head essentially this verse proposes uh that we respond on to hostility with unexpected generosity and love which could potentially result in reconciliation or change of heart in the other person verse number 21 the Bible says this be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good and what does that mean if someone hate uh if someone's hatred or bitterness causes you to hate them back

then you have been overcome by evil and so what Paul is saying is to overcome evil with good you have to bless them you have to forgive them you have to love them you have to treat them well you overcome evil by by being kind and putting on the Christlike attitudes for sake of time up to this point I've mostly applied the passage to us but now I want to put in P perspective Romans CH 12 when you consider Romans 12 and these are very applicable to us today but I'm thinking about the the Christians that were actually the recipients of this letter that Paul is writing to and I'm thinking about what they're going through in their time Christians who knew what it was like to be oppressed

Christians who knew what it was like to be persecuted Christians who knew what it was like to be isolated Christians who knew what it was like to suffer for Jesus who probably had to look over their shoulders a lot in fear of the authorities Christians who prob uh who by the end of the New Testament like the Disciples of Jesus who were martyred for Jesus um Paul wrote Romans uh the letter to the Romans in uh 58 ad I was looking up some um just some rulers during that time and the one that really popped out was Emperor Nero uh Emperor Nero ruled from 54 ad to 68 ad and around 64 ad emperor Nero is notorious for persecuting Christians after the great fire of Rome it it's been said that uh

Emperor Nero set the fire uh set Rome on fire and then blamed it on the Christians Emperor Nero is known to light Christians on fire and use them as guiding lights on the on the street so you can see on the pathway he's subjecting them to various forms of torture execution including crucifixion burning alive and feeding them to wild animals in the Coliseum for public entertainment there's a lot that the Christians during this time were facing that you and I if we would to look back we we would not understand because we're not facing it today but as I'm thinking about these Christians and I'm thinking about what what Paul is writing to them would you be upholding what he's saying would you be

loving the people that are persecuting you would you be loving emperor Nero I mean he was an evil man but Paul is saying to have love without dissimilation and Paul is saying to love those within the church with brotherly kindness with kind kindly affectionate to one one to another Paul is saying things to these Christians that are very hard to do considering the circumstances they're that they're in but what I want to know is in he wrote this in 58 ad I want to know in 65 ad how the the church was doing were they upholding the advice that Paul gave in 70 AD were they keeping it the honest truth is we don't know but we have the letter today and we're able to study it and we see what Paul is

saying to us Christians because it's not just them but it's us too are we going to uphold what Paul is saying to us to have love without dissimilation and the the other things that he's saying let's pray father we love you we thank you for this time I pray that you would help us to uh take in consideration what you've written to us Lord and I pray that you would help us to apply to our lives and we just thank you for your word we thank you for your servant Paul and writing it out and being so articulated and simplifying it for for us to understand father we love you and we thank you in Jesus name I pray amen