Love. Four letters. One word. Eight billion definitions. Everyone in the world today knows this word, uses this word, and more than likely abuses this word. We overuse it so that it carries minimal weight. We misunderstand what real love looks like or should look like. The world is a place that is both saturated and barren of love. It is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. We all want love (whatever we decide that is), but we want to give love on our own terms, when we want, how we want, and who we want. Those outside of Christ are obsessed with the idea of love, but they are blissfully unaware of the realities of love. The world is characterized in the Bible as being without love and in darkness (Rom. 1:28-32; 3:10-18). However, the Christian community is defined by love. Jesus said in John 13:34-35, “34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” The Christian life and Christian living are based and built on the love of God in Christ. There is no such thing as a loveless Chrisitan. It is an oxymoron. A contradiction. For those of us in Christ, we have experienced the vertical love of Christ to then express His love horizontally to our fellow man, especially those within the Body and Bride of Christ. Christian love is our normal experience, and it is the expectation of our daily life. Paul has already shown us the character of God’s love for us and therefore, it should be the motivation of our love for one another (See Rom. 5:5-8; 8:35-39). God’s love for us motivates our love for one another. Andrew Murray writes, “Our love to God is measured by our everyday fellowship with others and the love it displays.” With that in mind, how is your love life?
Others will only know if you love God and know God’s love as you live a life based on God’s love. The ancient Greeks had many words for “love.” First, there is “agape” love. This is the love that is characterized by God. It is unconditional, self-sacrificing, self-giving, and solely motivated by the good of another (1 Cor. 13; Rom. 12:9). Second, there is “philia” love. This is where the word Philadelphia comes from. It is a brotherly love or a friendship love (John 15:13; Rom. 12:10b). Third, there is “eros” love. This is a passionate romantic love and sometimes used as a sensual love. This word is not used in this passage and is never used of the Christian community. Fourthly, there is “storge” love. This is a familial love of those who are related kin (Rom. 12:10a). Rom. 12:9-10 uses three of these words to show that the Christian community is built on a love for Christ and one another. The Church is a Body, a family, an inseparable unit that is united to Christ and one another eternally. In the larger context, we have been covering the exercising of spiritual gifts based upon a consecrated life that is “of Him, through Him, and to Him.” A life of love in the Christian community is seen only as we humbly and faithfully function in our spiritual giftings for the good of the Church and glory of Christ. However, exercising your gifts without extending grace is not Christian love. You can never fully function in the gifts of grace until you learn to graciously serve in love. 1 Cor. 13 is all about this issue. Right in the middle of two other chapters where Paul deals with spiritual gifts within the church, he must show that all the work in the world done without love is worthless and wasteful. In today’s passage that we will cover, it is one portion of a small section of imperatives for living the Christian life in right relation to the local church (Rom. 12:9-13). Today, we will cover Rom. 12:9-10 as we focus on our love life with one another. These two verses focus on the life of love that the Christian should have. The verses say, “9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. 10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;” In these verses, we will see love’s authenticity, adherence, affection, and attitude.
First, let’s look at love’s authenticity as seen in the first part of verse nine which says, “Let love be without dissimulation.” The word love here is “agape.” As we covered earlier, it is unconditional, self-sacrificing, self-giving, and others focused. It is sacrifice in action. It is a deliberate decision of devotion that declares and demonstrates love for another. Love is not love in word only, nor is it love without words. True Christian love must be authentic from start to finish. If the love that you have experienced in Christ is real, then shouldn’t the love that you express to others, especially those in the local church be just as real. Love should be palpable as you walk through the door. You should smell the scent of sacrificial love in the pews. It should resound as believers’ fellowship and sing together. Love should cascade down the pulpit as the truth is preached. Love is what binds the church and builds the church together. This sort of love is not natural. It is supernatural and only enabled by the Holy Spirit as we yield ourselves to His authority and activity in our life (Rom. 6; 12:1-3; Gal. 5:22). Love is the reality of what it means to be in Christ and belong to the Church. The key description though is that this love is to be “without dissimulation.” When is the last time you heard that word? The word “anuopkritos” means without play acting or hypocrisy. The word originally was used in the ancient theatre as actors would use masks to show their emotion on stage. It is how they would transform into a character and tell the story to the audience. It is what they portrayed. The masks were to conceal the performer’s identity so that only the emotion of the character would be outwardly seen. Hypocrisy in the church should never be the norm. How many times have you heard someone say, “Well, I would go to church, but there are so many hypocrites!”? There would be no one in the pews or the pulpit if it weren’t for hypocrites, but hypocrisy can’t be tolerated in our life. Our love for one another in Christ should be authentic, real, genuine, and should express a true love for the relationship that we have with one another in Christ. If you really love Jesus then you’ll really love His Church. Jesus authentically and audaciously loves His Bride (Rom. 5:8; 8:35-39; Eph. 5:22-33). Is your love for the church authentic? Here’s the test, are you living out Rom. 11:36-12:8? Are you engaged? Do you lie to one another or about one another? Are you the “silent” critic of Christ’s Bride and Body? Is there always a greener pasture? If these things are true, then you don’t love the church like you say you do. You love yourself. You love your preferences. You are unauthentic. Get real, real fast.
Second, let’s look at love’s adherence. Rom. 12:9 continues, “Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.” Dictionary.com defines the word as, “the quality of adhering; steady devotion, support, allegiance, or attachment: adherence to a party; rigid adherence to rules. the act or state of adhering; adhesion.” To have a Chrisitan love means to have a love built on the word, work, and will of the Lord Jesus Christ. When you think of love, you may not think of hate or perhaps you see it as the opposite. Well, this verse makes it clear, that to truly love Christ then you must at the same time hate what He hates. To love what He loves, you must hate what He hates. What does God hate? Well, sin of course, but Proverbs 6:16-19 says, “16 These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, 19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” We are told that love is to abhor that which is evil. The word abhor means to have a horror or hatred of something that leads to a distinct separation. To adhere to Christ, you must abhor evil (Rom. 12:2). Does your sin horrify you as much as you are horrified at the sinful atrocities of the world? Do you hate your sin as much as you hate those who have sinned against you? We are commanded to love Christ enough to hate our sin, so that we may truly live a life of love for Christ and His Church. Love’s adherence is that it “cleaves to that which is good.” The word cleave means to glue, cement, join, fuse, or unite together. It gives the idea as well as something that is fastened firmly. If we authentically love Christ and His Church, it will show up as we abhor the evil in our own life and adhere to the word, work, and will of Christ. This can only happen as we follow the pattern of Rom. 6;12. Do you love what God loves and hate what God hates? Does your sin horrify you? Is holiness your pursuit of love? May we adhere strictly to Christ and His Church. If you aren’t firmly fastened to that which is good (Christ and His Church), then you may be adrift. Cleave to Christ!
Third, let’s look at love’s affection. This is the part you were thinking about when you heard love would be the topic. Rom. 12:10 says, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love.” The first phrase, “Be kindly affectioned one to another” comes from a word that deals specifically with a natural family affection ranging from the relationship between parents and children; or also that of siblings. The KJV translation of “kindly” comes from the root meaning “kin.” Have you ever noticed that a child naturally loves their parent from birth (until they become teenagers at least)? It is natural. If you and I belong to Christ, then we should naturally be affectionate toward one another. We should be glad to see one another when we walk through the doors. Gathering with the church should be like coming home to a family supper at the end of a hard day. This affection is not natural to our flesh. The church is a family. We are brothers and sisters, which is why Paul adds the descriptor of “with brotherly love” to remind us of the affectionate relationship that we have because of our new birth into a new family with a new nature and a new Father. Our naturally supernatural affection for our family in Christ should be one of authenticity and adherence to one another. We must stick together, but this means we are going to have to forgive, forbear, and forge a bond with folks that just may rub us wrong. As we’ll see in a few moments, it means we are going to have to humble ourselves. If you and I learn that we are each a member of the greater Body of Christ, then we have a family bond that is eternal. The reality is that we are only as affectionate to Christ as we are His Church. There are many passages that deal with this issue in greater detail including John 15:9-14; 1 John 3:11-18; 4:16-21. These verses show us that we can’t truly be affectionate to Christ if we aren’t affectionate to our church family. Our affection for Christ and His Church is the mark of our life and shows if we are really real or really not.
Fourth, and finally, let’s look at love’s attitude. Rom. 12:10 continues saying, “in honour preferring one another.” As stated earlier, true Christian “agape” love is only focused on the benefit of the other party. True love is a humble love, because love is the expression of a humble attitude. Love is humility with shoes on. True love’s attitude has on a servant’s towel and washes feet (John 13:1-17). Christian love has the attitude that willingly serves and defers to the needs of others. True Christian love’s attitude is not self-focused needing to get one’s own way. You don’t love others if you have to get your way all the time. Instead, it is focused on the growth and good of others with the glory of Christ as the end goal. Our attitude is either for the good and growth of others or it is for our own, which is not true love. Our attitude is either for the glory of Christ or for our own glory, which is not true love either. Christian love has an attitude of appreciation, acceptance, and admiration. John Newton, author and hymn writer said, “I am persuaded that love and humility are the highest attainments in the school of Christ and the brightest evidences that He is indeed our Master.” Paul later writes in Philippians 2:1-5, “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:” How’s your attitude? If we understand our relationship and responsibility to Christ and His Church, then our attitude should be humble, loving, and grateful to belong to God’s family. You can’t love Jesus without humility. You can’t love others without humility. You can’t have love or humility without first having Rom. 12:1-3 branded on your heart. May our attitude be that of John the Baptist, the Apostles, or the Puritans and seek to decrease in everything so that Jesus is increasingly magnified in everything.
Love. It is easier said than done. Love is hard, but it is patient, kind, humble, authentic, and affectionate in Christ. If we are going to live as living sacrifices while functioning in our spiritual gifts, it must be done in and by a life of love. However, if you are without a love for the church or if there is bitterness, unforgiveness, or discontentment you may have a heart problem. If we are going to grow as believers in unity and usefulness in these last days, it must be through developing a deeper love for Christ and His Church. How’s your love life? Is it authentic? Does it abhor evil and adhere to the word, work, and will of Christ? Where is affection shown in your life? Who and what has your attention or affection? How’s that attitude going? Is there bitterness or unforgiveness. Don’t be a hypocrite. Get real. Get in love with Jesus in all of His grace and glory. Fall in love with your believing family again. Learn to love and live a life of love for Christ and His Body and Bride. So, how do we do that? Look now at the clearest example and expression of love. There on the old rugged cross so despised by the world, see the blood-stained banner of love where Christ offered you Himself so that you may see the love of the godhead on full display. There at that cross, there in His wounds, there in His scars you and I may gaze into the grace and glory of God. There we may see His hatred of sin and love for our soul by faith. Love Christ. Love His Church.
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