Romans chapter 12 verses 9 through 16," Living the Christ life." Verse 9," Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good." Paul continues to describe the transformed life. Loving our neighbor as ourselves is the second greatest commandment.
Matthew 22:39," Such love must be without pretense, unlike the hypocritical kiss Judas gave Jesus." Theodoret comments," Paul commands love to be genuine and sincere, and he repudiates the mask of pretense." Origen adds," A man may think he loves his neighbor. Yet when he sees him erring, he neither admonishes him nor corrects him." We would have to say," Such love is a pretense.
For genuine love allows no flattery, nor does it have anything artificial about it." Here, Origen is echoing the principle stated by Moses," You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor and not bear sin because of Him." Leviticus chapter 19:17." Abhor what is evil." Here Paul uses apostagio, which is an even stronger word than hate. Abhor is a good translation. One dictionary defines abhor as to utterly detest, loathe, abominate.
Normally, we do not think of hate as being a Christian virtue. Certainly, Christians are not to hate others, even their persecutors. Matthew 5:44. However, Paul tells us that we are to abhor evil, that is sin. For it is only through such abhorrence that we will be able to cling to what is good. Chrysostom comments," Paul does not merely speak of refraining from evil, but of hating it. In fact, he does not merely say hating it, but utterly abhorring it." Cling to what is good.
The Greek word Paul uses here for cling, or cleave, is the exact same word that the Septuagint uses in Genesis to describe a man and wife becoming one flesh. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be one flesh. Genesis chapter 2:24, NKJV. So Christians should be as closely bonded to what is good as a husband and wife are bonded to each other. Theodoret says we should be cemented to what is good.
Verse 10," Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love. In honor, give preference to one another." Be kindly affectionate to one another. Chrysostom explains that Paul is saying," Our love for one another must be intense, warm, and glowing. Do not wait to be loved by another, but leap at it yourself and be the first to show love." Give preference to one another. This means we are willing to defer to another's point of view or another's way of doing things.
Preferring others is part of showing honor to them and maintaining a humble opinion of ourselves. Jesus tells us," Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." Luke chapter 14:11. Peter exhorts us," All of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility." 1 Peter 5:5, and KJV. Verse 11," Do not be slothful as to diligence. Be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord.
Do not be slothful as to diligence." According to Theodoret, this exhortation means to exhibit a ready promptness towards what is good and to cast laziness completely away from us. There is no place for spiritual slothfulness in a disciple of Jesus Christ. When denouncing the servant who hid his talent in the ground, Jesus addressed him as" You wicked and lazy servant." Matthew chapter 25:26.
And Ambrosiaster points to the words of Jeremiah," Cursed is the man that does the works of the Lord carelessly." Jeremiah chapter 31:10 Septuagint. He also quotes the words of Jesus to the church in Laodicea:" Because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth." Revelation 3: 16," Be fervent in spirit." The Greek word translated as fervent, zeo, literally means to be hot or to glow with heat. Origen writes," Scripture says, our God is a consuming fire." Deuteronomy 4: 24.
Concerning the substance of the angels, it speaks as follows:" Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a burning fire?" Hebrews 1:7." And in another place, the angel of the Lord appeared in a flame of fire in the bush," Exodus chapter 3:2. Furthermore, we have received a commandment to glow in spirit. In summary, God is a fire, the angels are a flame of fire, and all the saints glow in spirit. In contrast, those who have fallen away from the love of God have become cold.
For the Lord says," Because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold." Matthew 24: 12. Theodoret comments," He who is fervent in spirit, readily obeys his master, and patiently waits for the enjoyment of the promised blessings." Serve the Lord. Jesus said," No man can serve two masters," Matthew 6: 24. Accordingly, Origen explains that when we serve the Lord, it means we do not serve money, lust, pleasure, or anything else of this world. Our God is a God who demands exclusive devotion.
Romans 12:12," Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, persevere in prayer, to rejoice in hope means that we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18," We are patient in tribulation because we know the sufferings of this present age are not worthy of comparison with the glory that will be revealed in us." Romans 8:18. Persevere in prayer.
Jesus taught perseverance in prayer through the parable of the persistent widow. She repeatedly begged the judge for justice, and in the end, she obtained her request because of her persistence. Luke chapter 18 verses 1-8. Clement of Alexandria writes," The violent ones who storm the kingdom are not the ones who do so by argumentative speeches. Rather, they do it by continually living an upright life and by praying without ceasing." 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Romans chapter 12 verse 13. Supply the needs of the saints.
Pursue hospitality. As Paul told the Galatians," Let us do what is good toward all men, and especially toward those who are of the household of the faith." Galatians 6:10. So although Christians try to help all the needy, we particularly want to make sure that none of our brethren are in need. When we supply the needs of the saints, we are helping our own family members. This is the spirit of the first Christians, of whom it is said.
Not one of them claimed that anything of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. Acts chapter 4 verse 32," Pursue hospitality." In the ancient world, hospitality particularly carried with it the connotation of caring for strangers. Hebrews tells us," Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:2. Origen focuses on Paul's use of the word" pursue" in this verse.
He says," This means that we do more than just receive strangers who may come to us." Rather, it means we proactively search for strangers in need. Chrysostom writes," Paul does not say that we are to provide hospitality. He says we are to pursue it." In other words, we are not to wait to be asked for hospitality. We are not to sit and see if someone comes to us in need. Rather, we must run to them.
The scriptures commend Lot because he sought out the strangers who came to his city and insisted that they stay in his home. Genesis chapter 19 verses 1 through 3. Likewise, when Abraham saw the strangers approaching his tent, he ran to meet them from the tent door and bowed himself to the earth. Genesis chapter 18 verses 1 and 2. Lot and Abraham are examples of what it means to pursue hospitality. Romans chapter 12:14." Bless those who persecute you.
Bless and do not curse." Here Paul is once again reinforcing the teachings of Jesus, who taught," Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:44 and 45," We bless those who persecute us by praying for them and doing whatever good we can for them." Chrysostom writes," He that curses his persecutor shows that he is not pleased to suffer for Christ."
Yet Christ Himself said," Rejoice when men speak all manner of evil against you falsely." Matthew 5:11." For this reason, the apostles returned with joy not only from being reviled, but also from being flogged." Acts chapter 5 verses 40 and 41, Romans 12:15," Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep." Origen remarks that the sorrows of our brethren should become our sorrows.
We should weep with them when they mourn. For Jesus said," Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Matthew 5:4. At the same time, Paul's directive in this verse also applies to our non-believing neighbors and even our enemies. Chrysostom writes," We are not only to bless our persecutors, but we are even to feel compassion for their pains and sufferings when we see they have fallen into trouble. For there is nothing that builds ties of love so firmly as sharing both joy and pain with others.
Just because you have many difficulties yourself, this is no reason to refrain from sympathizing with others. When your neighbor is ill-treated, you should make his calamity your own. We should also share the joys of others. However, when it comes to rejoicing with others, Paul does not mean that we do so indiscriminately. We do not celebrate with the world when it rejoices over the triumph of evil. Nor are we to rejoice over the profane jokes, worldly entertainment, and foolish successes of this world.
Similarly, we do not mourn over ungodly sorrows. If the world mourns over the defeat of evil, we do not mourn with them. Speaking of His death, Jesus said," You will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy." John chapter 16:20. Romans 12:16," Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on haughty things, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own sight.
Be of the same mind toward one another." In Acts, we read of the Church in Jerusalem," The multitude of those who believed were of one heart and soul." Acts chapter 4:32." Also, all these with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer and supplication." Acts chapter 1:14," The Spirit of God brings about that type of unity." However, the Spirit does not do so apart from our cooperation. Christians cannot have unity without submitting to one another in the fear of God.
Ephesians 5:21: Do not set your mind on haughty things, but associate with the lowly. In other words, do not be proud. Lactantius writes," In God's sight, no one is a slave, no one is a master. For if we all have the same Father, by an equal right, we are all His children. No one is poor in the sight of God except He who lacks justice. No one is rich except he who is full of virtues. Lactantius is not saying that some Christians were not wealthier than others.
Rather, he is saying that they associated together as equals. The fact that the rich and poor masters and servants all fellowshiped together as equals, as brothers and sisters, was one of the revolutionary aspects of Christianity. Do not be wise in your own sight. Here Paul is paraphrasing the warning given in Isaiah:" Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight." Isaiah chapter 5:21.
Theodoret comments," In other words, do not be satisfied with your own judgments, but take the counsel of others." Origen writes," So then he who is wise in his own eyes cannot be wise in God's sight." Such a person is nothing more than a fool with haughtiness.