Romans 12:10-11
10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
V10
We have spent a great deal of time lately speaking of unity and family and love, so I don’t think we need to dwell here long, other than to make a few short notes.
-The frequency with which this topic comes up in the NT is staggering. What does that say about it’s importance?
-Last week we mentioned that Paul said agape must not be hypocritical and that agape is the only word for love not directly tied to emotion. Now immediately after that Paul says te philadelphia, in brotherly love, in warm affection for each other. So Paul isn’t anti emotional love in v.9.
-What does it mean to honor one another above ourselves? A more literal translation of the phrase from Gk is “Lead the way in bestowing honor on each other.” One aspect of this is being more aware of gifts, good works, graces and abilities in others than ourselves. Are you more concerned with people noticing what you have done well or what your brothers and sisters have done well? Human nature is to want accolades and praise. The nature of Christ is to want that for another. Some people are naturally better at encouragement than others, but to put this into practice means all of us need to lead the way in giving honor to each other. (Jesus exemplifies this for us. Jesus was primarily focused on the Father receiving glory for His greatness. In John 17 He’s praying and says in essence, “The time has come for me to die. Father glorify me so that I can bring you glory.”)
Another aspect of this is eliminating the sense of competition we have with each other. Matthew Henry describes this verse as not contending with each other for superiority.
V11
Never be lacking in zeal. What is zeal? A passion or extreme enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause of objective. The objective here is clearly fervent passionate service to and relationship with God. This relationship is supposed to be alive and passionate. Some traditional and liturgical approaches to Christianity strip it of the zeal and passion it is supposed to have. Other, super charismatic approaches focus on the passion and emotion at the expense of the intellect and beauty of tradition.
BALANCE! Faith is supposed be this passionate, zealous, fiery, burning, all consuming pursuit of Jesus that involves embracing the mind and truth and philosophy and intellect. Most people make the mistake of choosing one or the other when the design is to embrace both.
What is the danger of loosing zeal? Complacency in faith is so dangerous because it leads to the very subtle distancing between Jesus and us. It can lead to a severed and destroyed relationship but is so sneaky we don’t realize its happening.
This is the purpose of human existence. We were created for God to be the center of our world and to be in awe of His beauty and infinite worth. To shift our passion away from our created purpose to anything else is cheating God, and us, out of what is supposed to be.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
None of that fake love!!!
Romans 12:9
Love must be sincere:
Agape anipocritos. Un-hypocritical love.
What is hypocritical love? While you think about that let me explain the words used and maybe that will help a little.
Agape: is familiar to most of us; godly love, selfless love.
Anipocritos: As stated, it means un or non-hypocritical. The word comes from hypocrisis. A hypocrites was one who wore a mask to act on stage. The idea is presenting something that is not really the case; wearing a mask, playing a part, etc.
So, what is hypocritical love?
Hypocritical love can be directed at God or at people. Either way, fake love performs acts of love in order to be seen. Fake love prays and goes to Bible study and does “Christian” things so that it looks like we love God. Fake love is kind and treats others well and maybe even sometimes helps someone else so that it looks like we love people. Genuine love is not concerned with recognition. Genuine love does not change its behavior based on whether or not people will see.
Genuine love is not what you say you love or what you want people to think you love, it’s what you show love to. Genuine love is not concerned with self.
How can we strive for genuine love? What I don’t want you to hear is, “If I don’t feel an overwhelming drive to do something then I shouldn’t do it.” First, pray for God to instill genuine love in you. God is love and any genuine love we have in us is a reflection of Him. Second, be honest! We often think that to do the loving thing is to do or say what is expected, what people want to hear, what will pacify people. How often do false words come out of our mouths simply because we don’t want to look bad in that moment? Lastly, strive to be less concerned with recognition than with reality and truth.
Hate what is evil, cling to what is good:
Is this a new idea or a further description of the last statement? I think it describes what genuine love looks like. Genuine love must, by its very nature, contain the propensity to hate. We assume that Christian or godly love is always sappy and sweet and kind 24/7. True love hates anything that jeopardizes the object of love or the virtue of the object of love.
Examples: Because I love my wife, I hate anything that would cause her harm. I hate the idea of her not being happy. I hate the idea that eventually, one of us will die first and the other will be alone. Because I love my kids I hate any situation that could harm them. If I discovered some situation in which one of my kids would be harmed in a significant way I would not be filled with dislike or unhappiness; I would feel hate. Because I love, I hate.
As believers we are called to love everything that is genuinely good, and therefore hate what is evil. Sadly, many believers see this verse as an excuse to act hatefully towards people and display messages of hate towards certain groups. This is not what Paul is saying here. So, what exactly does this look like? It looks like loving and clinging to unity among believers to the point that you hate anything that causes division (racism, sexism, denominational elitism…any of the ism’s). It looks like Jesus loving His Father’s house so much that He hated seeing it used by dishonest people to make money (John 2:13-16). Notice I didn’t say anything about Jesus hating the people dishonestly making money.
Cling to what is good means not only embrace it in theory, but take a stand. Protect, obtain, grab, etc.
Think about some other practical ways this verse plays out.
Love must be sincere:
Agape anipocritos. Un-hypocritical love.
What is hypocritical love? While you think about that let me explain the words used and maybe that will help a little.
Agape: is familiar to most of us; godly love, selfless love.
Anipocritos: As stated, it means un or non-hypocritical. The word comes from hypocrisis. A hypocrites was one who wore a mask to act on stage. The idea is presenting something that is not really the case; wearing a mask, playing a part, etc.
So, what is hypocritical love?
Hypocritical love can be directed at God or at people. Either way, fake love performs acts of love in order to be seen. Fake love prays and goes to Bible study and does “Christian” things so that it looks like we love God. Fake love is kind and treats others well and maybe even sometimes helps someone else so that it looks like we love people. Genuine love is not concerned with recognition. Genuine love does not change its behavior based on whether or not people will see.
Genuine love is not what you say you love or what you want people to think you love, it’s what you show love to. Genuine love is not concerned with self.
How can we strive for genuine love? What I don’t want you to hear is, “If I don’t feel an overwhelming drive to do something then I shouldn’t do it.” First, pray for God to instill genuine love in you. God is love and any genuine love we have in us is a reflection of Him. Second, be honest! We often think that to do the loving thing is to do or say what is expected, what people want to hear, what will pacify people. How often do false words come out of our mouths simply because we don’t want to look bad in that moment? Lastly, strive to be less concerned with recognition than with reality and truth.
Hate what is evil, cling to what is good:
Is this a new idea or a further description of the last statement? I think it describes what genuine love looks like. Genuine love must, by its very nature, contain the propensity to hate. We assume that Christian or godly love is always sappy and sweet and kind 24/7. True love hates anything that jeopardizes the object of love or the virtue of the object of love.
Examples: Because I love my wife, I hate anything that would cause her harm. I hate the idea of her not being happy. I hate the idea that eventually, one of us will die first and the other will be alone. Because I love my kids I hate any situation that could harm them. If I discovered some situation in which one of my kids would be harmed in a significant way I would not be filled with dislike or unhappiness; I would feel hate. Because I love, I hate.
As believers we are called to love everything that is genuinely good, and therefore hate what is evil. Sadly, many believers see this verse as an excuse to act hatefully towards people and display messages of hate towards certain groups. This is not what Paul is saying here. So, what exactly does this look like? It looks like loving and clinging to unity among believers to the point that you hate anything that causes division (racism, sexism, denominational elitism…any of the ism’s). It looks like Jesus loving His Father’s house so much that He hated seeing it used by dishonest people to make money (John 2:13-16). Notice I didn’t say anything about Jesus hating the people dishonestly making money.
Cling to what is good means not only embrace it in theory, but take a stand. Protect, obtain, grab, etc.
Think about some other practical ways this verse plays out.
Give him everything, and start with your mind.
Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
V1
-Romans 12 starts with “Therefore”. Always ask “What is the ‘therefore’ there for?” The first 8 chapters are Paul’s theological dissertation on salvation. 9-11 are Paul’s thesis on Israel’s part in all this in which he claims over and over that God’s promises are good and He is faithful. Now, Paul shifts from theology to practicality. Chapter 12 marks a great shift in topic from talking about the lofty things of God to how we live a life in response to God. So, for 11 chapters Paul discusses some of the heaviest theology in the Bible and then answers the question; “So what?” The “therefore” means “Now that we are thinking of all the greatness of God, all His mercies, His faithfulness, His great love for humanity…THEREFORE respond this way.” F. F. Bruce says theology and doctrine are never taught in the Bible simply to be known. They are taught in order to translated into practice. The purpose of theology is to shape how we believe and live.
-Paul says the only proper response to gaining knowledge of such an intensely merciful and loving God is to offer the totality of ourselves to Him. It does little good to be convinced of the precepts in the first 11 chapters if we are not convinced to the point of a changed life. This is not salvation by works, this is the appropriate response to the free gift. We no longer make sacrifices to obtain mercy, we become the sacrifice because of mercy.
-Paul, as an apostle, had the right to command this response, but he doesn’t. He begs for us to choose it. This is the language of grace, not the law. Paul begs his readers, and us, to choose to offer ourselves completely to God, to surrender our bodies.
What does this mean, to offer our bodies? What does it mean that is our “spiritual act of worship”?
The word “spiritual” here is logikos. It comes from the word logos (logic). The wide use of the word is represented in the various translations; spiritual, reasonable, responsible, logical, intelligent. The idea here is that offering God our bodies, and striving to live out our faith in our bodies, is both spiritual and logical. It is a form of worship that is deeply spiritual and at the same time well reasoned and intelligent. What is our common assumption about worship and what things are spiritual? We typically think things are spiritual and worshipful when they are in a specifically spiritual setting. Only when I’m singing a worship song, only when I’m at church, only when I’m surrounded by stained glass windows and have my Bible open and hear angels singing….you get the point. But Paul’s theology is that any act done as a offering to God is spiritual, reasonable and significant.
V2
-What does this look like? It starts with changing our desired outcome, our goal, the target that we are aiming at. Do not be conformed to this age but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The NIV says “the pattern of this world”. What are the things you desire most? What things, when you see them or hear about them or see them in others, do you think, “That is what I desire. That is what I want to be like.”?
What is the difference between being conformed and being transformed? Conforming is forcing something to take a certain shape, but it doesn’t change the substance. Transforming is actually changing the substance or essence of what something is. Once you come to faith in Jesus you are a new creation. Your inner substance is different. When you embrace Jesus you are transformed and have the nature of Christ. Imagine it like this: All the world is cats, when you embrace Jesus you become a dog, something altogether different. You may be able to get a dog to meow and drink milk from a dish and poop in a box. You may be able to get a dog to act like a cat in some ways, but it is still a dog in substance.
When we as believers act like the world we are conforming to its image even though our substance is different. Paul says not to do this but to keep pursuing the transformation. Keep being transformed. Embrace the change in nature and find out what all that means. Paul says this is fundamentally an inner issue. It happens first in our minds and then plays out in our actions. Just like you can’t change a dog into a cat by making it poop in a box, you can’t force yourself into the image of Christ by making yourself do certain “Christian” things. It must originate in the mind, in the will, in the inner person and then it will play out in actions.
-Note the passive nature of Paul’s instruction. Paul doesn’t say “transform yourselves”, but “be transformed.” This is something the Holy Spirit does in us, and yet Paul is telling us to be transformed which means there must some responsibility on our part. There is an active/passive nature to this process. The Holy Spirit seeks to change our thinking, but we must respond and submit to what He is seeking to do.
How do we allow God to transform our thinking? Reading Scripture is a big part of it.
Somehow, as we engage in this process of offering our bodies to God, which starts in the mind, we are able to discern what God’s will is. How does this work? It’s pretty simple really. The more our mind is transformed and becomes like the mind of Christ, the more able we are to know what He His will is. The more I think like Jesus, the more I know what He wants.
Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
V1
-Romans 12 starts with “Therefore”. Always ask “What is the ‘therefore’ there for?” The first 8 chapters are Paul’s theological dissertation on salvation. 9-11 are Paul’s thesis on Israel’s part in all this in which he claims over and over that God’s promises are good and He is faithful. Now, Paul shifts from theology to practicality. Chapter 12 marks a great shift in topic from talking about the lofty things of God to how we live a life in response to God. So, for 11 chapters Paul discusses some of the heaviest theology in the Bible and then answers the question; “So what?” The “therefore” means “Now that we are thinking of all the greatness of God, all His mercies, His faithfulness, His great love for humanity…THEREFORE respond this way.” F. F. Bruce says theology and doctrine are never taught in the Bible simply to be known. They are taught in order to translated into practice. The purpose of theology is to shape how we believe and live.
-Paul says the only proper response to gaining knowledge of such an intensely merciful and loving God is to offer the totality of ourselves to Him. It does little good to be convinced of the precepts in the first 11 chapters if we are not convinced to the point of a changed life. This is not salvation by works, this is the appropriate response to the free gift. We no longer make sacrifices to obtain mercy, we become the sacrifice because of mercy.
-Paul, as an apostle, had the right to command this response, but he doesn’t. He begs for us to choose it. This is the language of grace, not the law. Paul begs his readers, and us, to choose to offer ourselves completely to God, to surrender our bodies.
What does this mean, to offer our bodies? What does it mean that is our “spiritual act of worship”?
The word “spiritual” here is logikos. It comes from the word logos (logic). The wide use of the word is represented in the various translations; spiritual, reasonable, responsible, logical, intelligent. The idea here is that offering God our bodies, and striving to live out our faith in our bodies, is both spiritual and logical. It is a form of worship that is deeply spiritual and at the same time well reasoned and intelligent. What is our common assumption about worship and what things are spiritual? We typically think things are spiritual and worshipful when they are in a specifically spiritual setting. Only when I’m singing a worship song, only when I’m at church, only when I’m surrounded by stained glass windows and have my Bible open and hear angels singing….you get the point. But Paul’s theology is that any act done as a offering to God is spiritual, reasonable and significant.
V2
-What does this look like? It starts with changing our desired outcome, our goal, the target that we are aiming at. Do not be conformed to this age but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The NIV says “the pattern of this world”. What are the things you desire most? What things, when you see them or hear about them or see them in others, do you think, “That is what I desire. That is what I want to be like.”?
What is the difference between being conformed and being transformed? Conforming is forcing something to take a certain shape, but it doesn’t change the substance. Transforming is actually changing the substance or essence of what something is. Once you come to faith in Jesus you are a new creation. Your inner substance is different. When you embrace Jesus you are transformed and have the nature of Christ. Imagine it like this: All the world is cats, when you embrace Jesus you become a dog, something altogether different. You may be able to get a dog to meow and drink milk from a dish and poop in a box. You may be able to get a dog to act like a cat in some ways, but it is still a dog in substance.
When we as believers act like the world we are conforming to its image even though our substance is different. Paul says not to do this but to keep pursuing the transformation. Keep being transformed. Embrace the change in nature and find out what all that means. Paul says this is fundamentally an inner issue. It happens first in our minds and then plays out in our actions. Just like you can’t change a dog into a cat by making it poop in a box, you can’t force yourself into the image of Christ by making yourself do certain “Christian” things. It must originate in the mind, in the will, in the inner person and then it will play out in actions.
-Note the passive nature of Paul’s instruction. Paul doesn’t say “transform yourselves”, but “be transformed.” This is something the Holy Spirit does in us, and yet Paul is telling us to be transformed which means there must some responsibility on our part. There is an active/passive nature to this process. The Holy Spirit seeks to change our thinking, but we must respond and submit to what He is seeking to do.
How do we allow God to transform our thinking? Reading Scripture is a big part of it.
Somehow, as we engage in this process of offering our bodies to God, which starts in the mind, we are able to discern what God’s will is. How does this work? It’s pretty simple really. The more our mind is transformed and becomes like the mind of Christ, the more able we are to know what He His will is. The more I think like Jesus, the more I know what He wants.
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