7/14/2019 The Love that Hates - Romans 12:9: Berean Bible Church

Pastor David B. Curtis

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The Love that Hates

Romans 12:9
Delivered 09/16/2012

If you missed last weeks message please listen to it, it is very important in our understanding
of these closing chapters. If I could summerize very briefly what I said last week it would be
that the believers in Rome were all meeting in the synagogue; believing Jews, unbelieving
Jews, and Gentiles. Evidence indicates that in Rome Christianity and Judaism shared a common
heritage and were probably inseparable before the middle of the second century. So Jew and
Gentiles are meeting in the synagogue, and the believing Gentiles are being tempted to look
down on and even consider unbelieving Jews excluded from God's purposes.

In Chapters 12-15 it seems that Paul is specifically addressing the Gentile believers. He wants
them to treat the non-believing Jews in the synagogue with love so that they don't put a
stumbling block in the way of them and the truth:

Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this
— not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way. Romans
14:13 NASB

The Gentiles are to live righteously so as not to cause the unbelieving Jews to stumble.

In a sense, we begin a new section here at verse 9. Verses 4-8 have been about the use of
spiritual gifts, and now Paul turns from the focus on gifts to the focus on love in the church.
This is just what he did in 1 Corinthians 12-13. 1 Corinthians 12 is all about spiritual gifts. But
then Paul says at the end of chapter 12:

But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent
way. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have
love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 1 Corinthians
12:31-13:1 NASB

So Paul moves from spiritual gifts to the more excellent way of love. He does that in 1
Corinthians, and he does it here.

In Romans 12, verses 9-21, we have the believers' response to the mercies of God. If we
understand what the Lord did for us in Romans 1 to 11, it seems the normal grateful response
to Him is the love given to me in a life of obedience, as indicated in chapters 12, 13, 14 and
15. In these verses we find the more specific exhortation, the more specific series of
exhortations that tells us just exactly what it is to present one's body a living sacrifice.
Nowhere does the contrast between the world's way of thinking and biblical thinking become
more apparent than in verses 9-21.

The five verses from Romans 12:9 to 12:13 contain 13 exhortations. Paul is giving commands.
These words are very similar to the words that our Lord spoke in the "Sermon on the Mount."
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We really need to meditate on these exhortations and do not breeze over them:

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
Romans 12:9 NASB

Paul's first and foremost command is "love" — this is a command, believers are to love. Let me
ask you something: If love was the natural outflow of the life of a believer, as some teach,
would we have to be given these commands?

John MacArthur was asked, "How does one know when he's truly a Christian and that it isn't
just some momentary emotional activity that happened in some past time? How does one
really know?" MacArthur's answer was, "The way you know and the only way you know is to
look at your life and see what is there." What are we looking for exactly? Is love the evidence?
If so, how much love? 20%, 50%, 85% or 100%?

How many of you know that love is a priority in the Christian life and that you should be
striving to love all who you come in contact with? How many of you are doing it? Before you
answer, notice what love looks like:

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is
not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not
provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in
unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NASB

So when you look at your life, is this what you see? Is this how you always treat others? Calvin
Coolidge said, "People criticize me for harping on the obvious. Yet, if all the folks in the United
States would do the few simple things they know they ought to do, most of our big problems
would take care of themselves." For the Christian who wants to honor God, the most basic of
all activities is love. Although most Christians would agree with this statement, as the
frustrated Coolidge pointed out, most of us don't do the things we ought to do.

Love is the greatest spiritual virtue. It is the sine qua non of the Christian life. God takes love
seriously. He loves us, and he expects us to love one another. I doubt if anyone here needs to
be sold on the importance of love. I'm sure that most of us are already convinced this is the
lifestyle God wants for us. From cover to cover, the Bible teaches how important it is. Here are
just a few of the injunctions in the Scripture that call us to love one another:

'You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of
your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.
Leviticus 19:18 NASB

Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
Colossians 3:14 NASB

Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere
love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, 1 Peter
1:22 NASB

The Greek word that Peter uses here for "fervently" is ektenos. This Greek word
means:"intently." It comes from ektenes, which means: "without ceasing." We are to intently
love each other without ceasing.

Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a
multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8 NASB

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But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is
love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 NASB

The greatest Christian virtue is love. Faith and hope are embodied in love. Love is the
surpassing virtue; it is the most essential factor in the spiritual life. Life without love equals
ZERO. Paul says that if we live life without love, we are nothing and produce nothing. (1
Corinthians 13:1-3)

Our culture uses the word love to mean just about everything except what the Bible means by
it. So Christians are easily misled into thinking love is primarily a feeling, something we fall in
or out of. The biblical word used for love is "agape." Agape was used by the New Testament
writers to designate a volitional love (as opposed to a purely emotional love), a self-sacrificial
love.

Agape love is a response to someone who is unworthy of love. This concept of love was derived
from the cross. God loved the world and gave his Son for it. That was a response to unworthy
people, to sinners, to those who were His enemies:

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 NASB

That is agape. It is a love that proceeds from the nature of the lover, rather than the worth of
the person who is loved. It is a love that gives, a love that seeks the best of the object loved.
Agape is a commitment of the will to cherish and uphold another person. It is the only word
ever used to describe God's love. It is a decision that you make and a commitment that you
have launched upon to treat another person with concern, with care, with thoughtfulness, and
to work for his or her best interests. That is what love is.

How much you love is determined by how much you do. Biblical love is something you do.
Therefore, you can only say, "I love you" by your actions:

If someone has worldly possessions and sees his brother in need, yet
closes his heart against him, how can he be loving God? 18 Children, let us
love not with words and talk, but with actions and in reality! 1 John 3:17-
18 CJB

Contrary to this, our society teaches love is a feeling, it's a mystical sensation that sweeps over
you one day and may disappear the next. The Bible teaches just the opposite. Love is not a
feeling. It's an action. It's something you do.

Agape is a sacrificial love of choice. You must choose to love. It is expressed in meeting a need,
doing a deed of kindness, caring for someone in a practical way. It is not the love of feelings,
but action. Love is described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 by the use of 15 verbs. Love is action, a
series of actions. It is what you do, not feel. It is sacrificially meeting needs. The world's love is
totally the love of impulse and emotional attraction. It knows very little about the love of the
will. All that human love knows is response to a feeling.

Love is the single greatest virtue in the church. It is the mark of our discipleship. Rinehold
Neibor, the German theologian, said, "The church reminded him of the ark, you couldn't stand
the stink inside if it wasn't for the storm outside." Too often this is very true. The church too
often lacks love.

Ray Steadman writes, "Everyone knows that the church is a place where love ought to be
manifested, and many people have come to church hoping to find a demonstration of love, only
to discover an encyclopedia on theology."

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Believers, when we truly love others, we are living in obedience to Yahweh. This should be all
the motivation that we need, but when we love others, it also is of great benefit to ourselves.
Fulton Oursler, some years ago, told the following story that illustrates this point:

A uniformed chauffeur approached the desk of a clerk in a cemetery and said, 'The
lady is too ill to walk. Would you mind coming with me?' Waiting in the car was a
frail, elderly woman whose sunken eyes could not hide some deep, long-lasting
hurt. 'I'm Mrs. So-and-so,' she said weakly. 'Every week for the last two years I
have been sending you a five-dollar bill in the mail.' 'Oh yes-for the flowers!', the
clerk remembered. 'Yes, to be laid on the grave of my loved one. I came today,' she
confided softly, 'because the doctors have let me know I have only a few weeks left.
I shall not be sorry to go. There's nothing to live for anyway, so I wanted to drive
for one last look at the grave."'

The clerk blinked at her irresolutely. Then with a wry smile he spoke, 'You know,
ma'am, I'm very sorry you kept sending the money for the flowers.' 'Sorry?' she
asked. 'Yes,' he replied. 'The flowers last such a little while, and no one ever sees
them.' 'Do you realize what you're saying?' she asked. 'Oh, indeed I do. You see, I
belong to a visiting society,' he said. 'I go to state hospitals and insane asylums
where people dearly love flowers— and they can see them and smell them. Lady,
there are living people in places like that.' The woman sat in silence for a moment,
and then, without a word, she signaled the chauffeur to drive away.

Some months later, the clerk was astonished to receive another visit. Only this time
he was doubly astonished, because the woman was driving the car. 'I take the
flowers to the people at the hospitals myself,' she said with a friendly smile. 'You
were right! It does make them happy; and it makes me happy, too. The doctors
don't know what is making me well— but I do. I have somebody else to live for.'

Surely the number one reason both for mental and physical illness in our society today is the
overwhelming preoccupation with self. When everyone is fighting for his own rights, no one can
really succeed or be happy. In an age in which demanding one's rights is considered a virtue,
we must read again and again that love is not self-seeking.

The reason the early church made such a difference in their world was because they loved one
another. In fact, even their critics marveled at their love for one another.

All believers have the capacity to love, but do we all love? No! Why? Because love is a product
of a Spirit controlled life.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, Galatians 5:22 NASB

The fruit of the Spirit, like all of spiritual living, comes only from living a Spirit controlled life.
Apart from the control of God's Spirit we cannot love. I can't love my neighbor no matter how
hard I try. Love is supernatural. It is living that can only occur when its energized by the divine
Spirit of God.

Augustine said, "God gives us commands we cannot perform, that we may know what we
ought to request from him."

True love is manifested by learning from the Word of God how you should behave in a certain
situation, and then, depending on the Spirit of God to give you the strength to do it, then
moving out and doing it. I see the prohibitions and imperatives in Romans 12:9-21, and I see

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this is how Yahweh wants me to live, and it drives me to Him. I look to Him in faith to do in me
what I cannot do myself.

Who are we to love? When the Lord said, "Love your neighbor as yourself," the question came
to Him, "Who is my neighbor?" and Yeshua told a story about a man lying in the road, on the
way to Jericho that had been beaten and left for dead. What was the point of that story?
Yeshua asks, Who is the neighbor? Most commentators and Bible teachers say that your
neighbor is anyone with a need. If we refuse to respond to the need, we are not acting in love,
we are not being kind, we are not being useful."

According to the text, who is the neighbor?

"Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who
fell into the robbers' hands?" And he said, "The one who showed mercy
toward him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same." Luke 10:36-37
NASB

The three he is talking about are; a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan. Who is the neighbor?
The one who showed mercy. Who was that? The guy that was beaten up? No! It was the
Samaritan! So what is the answer to the man's original question: Who is my neighbor? The
Samaritan! Who is it that you have to love? The despised Samaritans! Yeshua was forcing this
man to say: Even my enemy is my neighbor. Yeshua says to the man: You go, love your
enemy! And this is exactly what He taught in the Sermon on the mount. We are to love our
enemies.

So Paul tells the believers in Rome to love: "Without hypocrisy"-the Greek word used here
for "hypocrisy" is anupokritos. Hypocrisy is a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what
one does not. The Greek word which is translated hypocrite, originally referred to an actor, one
who was playing a role, so it carried over to indicate one who was not genuine or sincere.
Hypocrites are those who are playing roles, pretending to be something they are not. Paul is
saying, let love be genuine, let it be true, not an act or show.

Struggling against hypocrisy is something that you and I have to understand, because the
struggle against hypocrisy comes into the life of every one of God's children. We see what
hypocrisy is as we look at how it is used in Scripture:

"You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 'THIS PEOPLE HONORS
ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. Matthew
15:7-8 NASB

They honored Yahweh only with their lips, it was just outward. They only appeared to honor
Him. Yeshua called this hypocrisy. We see that their hypocrisy caused Yeshua to pronounce
wrath on them in Matthew 23:

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside
of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-
indulgence. Matthew 23:25 NASB

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like
whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they
are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Matthew 23:27 NASB

The Greek word used for "woe" is ouai; it is hard to translate for it includes not only wrath, but
also sorrow. Yeshua, the Messiah, is here pronouncing judgment for their hypocrisy. They were
pretending to be something they were not. We see hypocrisy and its judgment in:
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And Peter responded to her, "Tell me whether you sold the land for such
and such a price?" And she said, "Yes, that was the price." Then Peter said
to her, "Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the
Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband
are at the door, and they will carry you out as well." And immediately she
fell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found
her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Acts
5:8-10 NASB

Hypocrisy tries to make the outer appearance look better than what is really happening
inwardly. It is driven by the craving for other people to think much of us. For example, in
Matthew 6:2 Yeshua said,

"So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the
hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be
honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. Matthew
6:2 NASB

When they gave their charitable gifts for the needy, they wanted to draw all the attention they
could to the fact that they were doing this so that people would think of them as being godly,
spiritual people.

"When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to
stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they
may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
Matthew 6:5 NASB

Like giving, prayer can be offered in hypocrisy, to attempt to make others think more of you.

We see another manifestation of hypocrisy in:

"Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck
that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your
own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then
you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye. Luke
6:42 NASB

They were drawing attention to other people's flaws in order to hide theirs. Paul is saying real
love doesn't act this way.

Do you think that it is hypocritical to say we love Yahweh and then spend no time with Him?
How do you love someone that you spend no time with? Read the Word!

Paul says, "Love without hypocrisy". And then, without starting a new sentence (in the original
Greek), it goes on to say, "abhorring what is evil; holding fast to what it good." The link
between the command to love and the command to abhor evil and embrace good is very close.
It looks as if Paul is saying something essential about love.

"Abhor what is evil" — anyone who truly loves will hate evil and cling to what is good. The
use of the imperative in the present tense denotes, "Be continuously or be constantly hating
that which is evil." If you love you must hate anything that will hurt that love. The prophets
commanded this:

Hate evil, love good, And establish justice in the gate! Perhaps the LORD
God of hosts May be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. Amos 5:15 NASB

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Let me say here that evil and good are not subjective concepts; that is, we do not have the
liberty to abhor what we think is evil and cling to what we think is good. Otherwise, no
standard would exist for good and evil. What is good to me, subjectively, might be evil to you,
subjectively. Unfortunately, this is where too much of Christian abhorrence and clinging lands.
It focuses on our sentiments instead of what is clearly revealed in the Word of God.

From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.
Psalms 119:104 NASB

The standard for identifying those things we are to abhor and the things that we are to cling to
is found in Scripture not in opinion polls. Today's society, like those in the days of Micah have
this backward:

"You who hate good and love evil, Who tear off their skin from them And
their flesh from their bones, Micah 3:2 NASB

The love of evil and the hatred of good is a characteristic of our sick society. The murder of
unborn children is seen as woman's right to choose. Yahweh hates murder and so should His
children:

There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an
abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed
innocent blood, Proverbs 6:16-17 NASB

If you love life, you will hate abortion, it is evil.

He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, Both of
them alike are an abomination to the LORD. Proverbs 17:15 NASB

Those who support abortion do both, they justify the act of murder as a right, and they
condemn the righteousness unborn child to death.

If you want to know what is evil and what is good, we have an objective standard, it's called
the Bible. The more we dig into the Word, paying attention to context, seeing the commands in
their appropriate setting, and observing how they are modeled for us in Yeshua, the clearer we
see what is good and what is evil.

'You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an
abomination. Leviticus 18:22 NASB

Homosexuality is an abomination! It is something Yahweh hates. But our society loves and
supports it and if you speak out against it you can be arrested for a hate crime. Well I hate it,
and it's no crime to hate what Yahweh hates. Our society hates good and loves evil.

Homosexuality is not an alternative lifestyle, it is a sin. God uses Sodom and Gomorrah as an
example of the devastating effects of God's judgment. Sodom is a picture of devastation.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Lamentations, and Amos all use Sodom as an illustration of
Judgment. Yeshua uses it, as does Peter and Paul, as an illustration of God's vengeance.
Sodom and Gomorrah is the severest example of judgment because homosexuality is sin at its
worst.

It is sad when the church accepts this sin under the guise of love. If you really loved them, you
would tell them their sin. True love hates what Yahweh hates. The Bible condemns
homosexuality, don't miss this. So the real menace of society is not those who oppose
immorality, but those who promote it. Now I need to add here that we are to treat

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homosexuals as Samaritans and love them. We do not accept their lifestyle but we are to treat
them with respect and kindness. We are to show them the love of Christ.

In our society the criminal is pitied rather than blamed. And there are a multitude of
government agencies that are so occupied in elevating wrong doers that they lose sight of the
biblical doctrine of punishment for the correction of evil.

Hate evil, you who love the LORD, Who preserves the souls of His godly
ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Psalms 97:10 NASB

If we love Yahweh we will hate evil. And remember good is not what you want to be good. And
evil is not what you want to be evil. Liking something does not make it good and hating
something does not make it evil. It is the objective standard of the Word of God that makes
something good or evil.

"Cling to what is good" — the word "cling" is the word cleave, it's the same word used of a
marriage bond. It's a word that means to glue. Be bonded, be stuck to that which is good,
agathos, inherently good, genuinely good, qualitatively good. The same Greek word is used in:

And as He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt
before Him, and began asking Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to
inherit eternal life?" Mark 10:17 NASB

This man calls Yeshua, "Good teacher"-a somewhat improper way to address a Rabbi. In Jewish
circles goodness was seen as belonging only to God. Goodness was never attributed to a rabbi,
but only to God. There is no instance in the whole Talmud of a rabbi being addressed as "Good
Master." In typical Rabbinic style Yeshua answers his question with a question:

And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except
God alone. Mark 10:18 NASB

Yeshua's question is "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone." Why did
Yeshuaask him this? The issue is goodness. In the definitive sense of that word, He could not
be "good" if He was a mere man. The Tanakh taught that no one was good except God:

The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they
have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. 2 The
LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, To see if there
are any who understand, Who seek after God. 3 They have all turned aside;
together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not
even one. Psalms 14:1-3 NASB

Man is not good, but Yahweh is:

O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes
refuge in Him! Psalms 34:8 NASB

Only God was good, and that could mean only one thing. Yeshua could not be good unless He
was also God. Yeshua was trying to get this man to see who He was. The man was seeing
Yeshua as a good man, a wise teacher who had some answers. He was not seeing that all that
is truly good is found in God. He was not seeing Yeshua as the Christ, as God in the flesh. He
was also trying to get the young man to see that if none are good, then he is not good. Only
God is good.

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The young man can't understand anything else Yeshua will tell him unless he grasps that our
relative standards of goodness are much, much different than God's absolute goodness and
God's standards of righteousness. And this is something that we must see also. Good is only
what Yahweh says is good.

We need to find what is good from the Scriptures and cling to it, while hating what is evil. This
will only happen as we line our thinking up with the Word of God. May our love for Yahweh
cause us to hate all that would damage that love.

Paul is talking to the 1st century Roman Christians, but the command is universal and timeless.
All believers are to love without hypocrisy, hating what is evil and clinging to the good. I pray
that the world in which we live will know we are Yeshua's disciples by our love.

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