Category: 23 Romans

Finally, Paul returns to our interactions with enemies and describes what it looks like to respond in love.  It may seem strange that I’m discussing love and labeled this section as battleplans, but do not mistake that we are in a battle with the forces of evil.

Our first directive is that we do not battle as the enemy does.  We see evil for what it is, trash and worthless, not a currency to be traded.  If we deal in evil, we become infected by evil.  Not only is this an important aspect to keep in mind, but it addresses how we are to deal with the evil things that we may have allowed into our lives in the past.  Objects of the occult, books, pornography, magazines, inappropriate movies and any other items that do not honor God and lead others to God should be removed and destroyed.  These are not items, despite what value the world may place on them, to be sold or traded.  Do not participate in the currency of evil or of evil things.

We are not to take revenge.  Our mission is to continue moving the battleline forward, not to stop and engage in side skirmishes.  We need to trust and understand that God is with us and that it is His role and His alone to the people who have fought for the forces of evil in our lives.  Remember we hate what is evil, not who is evil.  Our mission of love is to entrust the people to God’s judgment.  Paul reminds us that we are to “leave room for God’s wrath”, but in Romans 9 he also reminded us that God will show mercy to whom He will show mercy and have compassion on whom He will have compassion.  It is not our role or mission, ours is to love, not judge.  He emphasizes and illustrates this with the analogy of pouring burning coals of fire on their heads.  The fire of God is beneficial or harmful in how it is received.  If received as a new believer, it is a tongue of fire as in Acts 2, that alights on the head and brings the Holy Spirit.  If received as a non-believer, it is a lake of fire, as in Revelation 20, that brings eternal turmoil.  As fire in the physical world can bring light and warmth, it can also bring pain and destruction depending on how it is received and used.

In conclusion Paul emphasizes, do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.  We are to play offense, not defense.  Jesus did tell us to “turn the other cheek”, but this is in contrast to the idea of vengeance that Paul already dispelled, not as an encouragement to pacifisms or yielding power and authority to allow evil to attack.  Jude 1:3 tells us to “contend for the faith”.  We are given power, the power of the Holy Spirit, to love what is good, to hate what is evil, to go and spread the good news of Jesus Christ in the face of evil which must retreat in the power of the name of Jesus.  We are told to put on the full armor of God not so the enemy might overcome us, but so that we might “stand up” in the faith.

My Answers:

13.
the need to get even or ahead. The emphasis on snarkiness. Neither of these, but I don’t like to feel cheated or taken advantage of, so I tend to be defensive in these areas.

14.
1. Jesus, died for the sins even of those who beat and killed him
2. God, Adam and Eve, banished but redeemed
3. Moses/Aaron, fell down praying to God, plague was stopped
4. David against Saul, rose to be a man after God’s heart
5. Paul, beaten and stoned, continued to preach – His witness was multiplied

15.
To pray for them and turn them over to God. Every sin against a believer is also a sin against God. God’s will and wrath trumps our own. Do not take revenge but leave room for God’s wrath. Rom 12:9. I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy and have compassion on whom I will have compassion says the Lord, Rom 9:15

16.
Only through the power of the Holy Spirit. But, with the power of the Holy Spirit, this is what comes naturally, for love is the nature of the Spirit of God.

We talked about how to love, now Paul turns to whom to love.  If it didn’t seem like an battle that we couldn’t accomplish on our own strength before, here come the details of the mission brief:  “Bless those who persecute you.”

Persecution is persistent infliction of hostility and ill-treatment.  Paul doesn’t start with those who sometimes annoy you, his 5 word sentence is to bless those who stand not only in opposition to you but who are on the attack against you.  Your direct enemies.  Paul picks this up later in the chapter, so let’s put it on a parking lot for now and focus on the other parts of this paragraph.

He encourages us to be aware of the harmonies of life.  As the book of Ecclesiastics notes, there are seasons in life, just as there are seasons in the year.  Our role, as part of the body of Christ, is to be in harmony with those seasons with other believers.  When others are rejoicing, we are to rejoice, when they mourn, we are to mourn.  We are to be humble servants not conceited and judgmental.

Note that to do this we must serve as part of the body of Christ.  We are not to sit on the sidelines as others rejoice or mourn, we are supposed to be active with them.  Serving is not a talent or spiritual gift, it is part of worship and an expectation of all believers.

My Answers:

9.
first through prayer and the strength and will of the Holy Spirit. By not taking a stand over things of this world (e.g., money) but letting go.

10.
To live in harmony with others, rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn, don’t be proud but be willing to associate with those in low position and do not be conceited. To honor and respect those working hard and menial jobs, greet them by name and thank them for their service.

11.
Pride is placing me above you – it does not yield harmony or show respect of love.

12.
I have been helped the most by those who have come along side and prayed with and for me.

Reading Romans 12:9-13 reminded and emphasized to me that my nature is not a nature of love.  Paul starts with, “Love must be sincere.”  Let’s pause there for a moment and really look at that.

There is no ebb and flow in sincerity.  The definition of sincere is, “free from pretense or deceit; proceeding from genuine feelings.”  It isn’t a sometimes sincerity, other times false.  It isn’t sometimes with pretense other times without.  The sentence is very succinct and clear.  “Love must be sincere.”

That means, when I am angry at a loved one, I can’t fake loving them in the moment of anger.  I can’t love them under the pretense of reconciliation.  I can’t show love to an enemy to get them to bend my direction.  Love must always, in all situations and at all times be completely real and authentic, not only in its delivery, but that it proceeds from genuine feelings.  Not just to select people, but to everyone, including the guy who cut in front of me in line or who honked at me.

That is not my nature.  I freely admit what is so thoroughly documented in the bible, I am of a sin nature.  I want to do what is right, but my emotions betray me.  My heart longs for holiness, but my thoughts turn to evil.

But, the nature of the Holy Spirit, who now lives in me and who, as noted early in Romans 12, I give my life over to, is a nature of sincere love.  Even with all the effort I can muster of my own, I can’t love in this way.  But, this is the natural way for the Holy Spirit to love.  It is how He loves me and accepts me and lives in me.

But, Paul doesn’t stop there, he goes on to note that we are to have a discerning love, as the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of discernment.  We don’t love everything, we love what is good, what is of God, and we hate what is evil, that which is of sin and Satan.  Note that he says to hate WHAT is evil, not that we hate WHO is evil.  Even those who practice evil and wickedness are loved by God.  They are sheep without a shepherd and Christ’s death on the cross was as much for their benefit as for yours or mine.

We accomplish this through the unity of the church.  We, like soldiers, have an individual job to do, we are called to be “devoted to one another in love” as the body of believers, a troop united on a mission of God, equipped by God through the power of the Holy Spirit, led by God in the presence of the Lamb of God, to Love as God loves.

My Answers:

6.
Those who belittle faith, who do not love and harm children. Those who find themselves more important than others

7.
do not take your spiritual foot off of the gas but instead stay strong and devoted to the path God has given for your life.
Don’t compare or whine or feel guilty about not doing things – do them, make them happen, be bold, stay true. Show up!

8.
To be lacking in zeal. I believe. I have spiritual fervor (inner strength), but I am still too timid and not zealous and bold enough in my witness to others. Why? Baggage: avoiding potential client at the cost of others eternal life.

In the previous verses, Paul discusses spiritual gifts.  He makes particular note that we are given spiritual gifts not as a reward or as something to place on a shelf, but as a tool to be used.  He runs through a handful of examples of spiritual gifts and, after each, implores the recipient to use the gift.

In the benediction at the end of the book of Hebrews, we are reminded that God both calls and equips us.  He equips us for everything good and calls us to do His will.  As one called in to service we have 2 roles and responsibilities. One is our individual role.  This is the specific responsibility that God has given us to use the equipping of the spiritual gift to carry out.  It may be teaching, preaching, prophecy, caring for someone who is sick, the poor, widows and ophans, as just a few examples.  But, as Paul said earlier in this chapter, while we each have our individual roles to play, we are also united as one body and as such we all have a shared calling and equipping.  We learn in the verses of Romans 12:9-21 that unified calling and mission is LOVE and we are equipped for this mission through the power and authority of the Holy Spirit.

This should not surprise us; that of all the attributes of God the one He places as prime in our life is Love.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son…”.  The greatest command is to “love the Lord your God with all you heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind and to love your neighbor as yourself.”

As one body, we dress in a uniform to the rest of the world.  That uniform includes the full armor of God, but the mission we share is a mission of Love, a life of love, united and empowered by the love of God.

My Answers:

3.
Love must be sincere – God’s love for us is sincere and it is through His mercy that we have faith and in faith offer ourselves to Him and His holiness as a living sacrifice

4.
Love is giving, not receiving. Love those things that honor God, but not evil. Be at peace in all things.
Society says to love everyone and allow them to perform evil without reproach or repercussion. Love is a token to trade and to receive and to bargain with.

5.
P8: Fear the Lord=Hate evil, pride, arrogance, evil behavior, perverse speech
P13: Righteous hate what is false but the wicked make themselves a stench and bring shame
E3: a time to love and a time to hate a time for war and a time for peace
I61: Lord loves justice; hates robbery and wrongdoing – God is faithful and true
A5: Hate evil, love good, maintain justice, seek God’s mercy
L14: If one does not hate mother, father, brothers, sisters and own life, cannot be my (Jesus) disciple