Sermon series: BEHAVING LIKE A CHRISTIAN

Subject: The Importance of Love in the Body of Christ

Romans 12:9
"[Let your] love be sincere (a real thing.)"

LESSON

"After the first two verses of Romans 12, which establish the principles by which sound doctrine is to be applied to godly living, Paul has begun to write about the church.
His words are not abstract theologizing; He is thinking of the people who make up the church, and his words have to do first with the humility that allows each to assess himself with sober judgment, and second with the knowledge that God has given spiritual gifts to all members of the church and that these must be exercised faithfully for the benefit of all.
This line of thought continues in what follows, although in verse 9 the apostle moves from his discussion of spiritual gifts, which are of various sorts and appear in various individuals, to virtues that must be seen in all who call themselves Christian.
Characteristically, Paul begins with the subject of love.
This same sequence from a discussion of spiritual gifts to discussion of love, is found in 1 Corinthians, though on a larger scale.
Ah! What a beautiful description of love!
"If I [can] speak in the tongues of men and [even] of angels, but have not love [that reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion such as is inspired by God's love for and in us], I am only a noisy gong, or a clanging cymbal.
And if I have prophetic powers (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), and understand all the secret truths and mysteries and possess all knowledge, and if I have [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but have not love (God's love in me) I am nothing (a useless nobody). Even if I dole out all that I have [to the poor in providing] food, and if I surrender my body to be burned or in order that I may glory, but have not love (God's love in me), I gain nothing.
Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.
It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-

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seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].
It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.
Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].
Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]. As for prophecy (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), it will be fulfilled and pass away: as for tongues, they will be destroyed and cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away [it will lose its value and be superseded by truth." (1 Corinthians 13 Amplified)
In our Romans 12:9 text, Paul says two things about love.
First, true love is genuine. "Love must be sincere." Second, love must be discriminating. "Hate what is evil; cling to what is good."
The word SINCERE is a word based on the Latin words, SINE CERA, meaning without wax, and it refers to the ancient practice of using wax to hide cracks in inferior pottery so the vessel could be sold for a higher price than it could be otherwise. Quality ware was stamped SINE CERA, to show that it had not been doctored with wax. In regard to people, this says that a sincere person is one who is not hiding his true nature by hypocritical words or actions.
In the Greek text the word translated SINCERE is ANUPOKRITOS, the latter part of which has given us the word HYPOCRITICAL, which is used to describe speech which is insincere. ANUPOKRITOS means without a mask, and it refers to the way in which, in the Greek theater, actors would carry tragic, comic, or melodramatic masks to signal the role they were playing. When Paul tells us that love is to be sincere, he is saying that those who love are not to play a role but rather are to be genuine. In other words, we are to get off the stage and drop the masks. But that is not easy. John Calvin remarks in his treatment of Romans 12:9 that "it is difficult to express how ingenious almost all men are in counterfeiting a love which they do not really possess. They deceive not only others, but also themselves, while they persuade themselves that they have a true love for those whom they not only treat with neglect, but also in fact reject."

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In the 1 Corinthian 13 passage, you will note that Paul has fifteen things to say about LOVE. Let's briefly observe them:
(1) LOVE IS PATIENT. Drummond says that this is "the normal attitude of love." This is because people are difficult, exasperating, and slow. Love understands this and so waits patiently. It knows that God is patient and that He has been wonderfully patient with us!
(2) LOVE IS KIND. The world is filled with hurting, suffering people. Love knows this and does what it can to help, uplift, serve, encourage, and otherwise embrace them in their misery. It is quick to speak an encouraging word, quick to offer everyone a willing, outstretched hand.
(3) LOVE DOES NOT ENVY. The first two descriptions of love have been positive. Here is the first of eight negative statements saying what love is not and does not do. Love is not jealous. It is glad when other people win honors, achieve fame, strike it rich, and are praised. This is because love knows God and is content with the life God has given. Only a believer can be truly happy when others are preferred before himself.
(4) LOVE DOES NOT BOAST. The world is filled with boasters, people who in one way or another are calling attention to who they are, how important they are, and how much they have achieved. Love does not do this, because love does not think highly of itself and because it is glad when others are exalted. A wise man once said, "There is no limit to what a man can achieve if he is not worried about who gets the credit." This is love!
(5) LOVE IS NOT PROUD. The opposite of pride is humility, and love is humble. Love does not have inflated ideas of itself. Love is gracious.
(6) LOVE IS NOT RUDE. The opposite of rudeness is courtesy, and love has good manner. It thinks of others. It holds its tongue and waits for others to speak. Love listens. Love does not dominate a social setting and will not blurt out things that wound another person.
(7) LOVE IS NOT SELF-SEEKING. The world looks at something and asks, "What's in it for me?" Love does not seek for self, because it is not thinking of self, Love thinks of the one it loves. Jesus did not seek His own advantage when He came to earth to save us. Rather, He made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant...He humbled Himself and became obedient to death--even the death on a cross." (Philippians 2:7-8)

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(8) LOVE IS NOT EASILY ANGERED.
"For embittering life, for breaking up communities, for destroying the most sacred relationships, for devastating homes, for withering up men and women, for taking the bottom off childhood; in short, for sheer gratuitous misery-producing power [anger] stands alone," says Henry Drummond. But love is not easily angered. It does not have a short fuse. It is not irritable, not easily provoked. It is not touchy. Love is patient and kind.
(9) LOVE KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONGS.
Some people have a knack for bringing up mistakes we have made and wounds we have inflicted even decades afterwards. Love forgets these wrongs. It does not compile statistics. It is not resentful. It is not vindictive.
(10) LOVE DOES NOT DELIGHT IN EVIL.
"Love is not amused by wrongdoing. It is not attracted by vice. It does not find trash intriguing, even when it is dressed up for prime time television or published in glossy magazines. Dishonest schemes do not please it. Love hates wickedness.
(11) LOVE REJOICES WITH THE TRUTH.
This is the other half of the only two-part description in this paragraph. It shows that the evil Paul is thinking of when he says "does not delight in evil" is chiefly the evil that tells lies. Love loves truth, above all the truth that is God's. Love loves the Bible. It delights to speak about it.
(12) LOVES ALWAYS PROTECTS.
The last four descriptions say what love always does. First, it always protects the other person. It sides with the weak. It rallies around the one who has been oppressed, attacked, abused, hurt, slandered, or otherwise made a victim. Love protects children, because it knows that "the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."(Matthew 19:14)
(13) LOVE ALWAYS TRUSTS.
Love is never suspicious. Love is not trying to see under the surface or pry out the hidden motives of another. Love is not stupid or gullible, but it always thinks the best. It is the quality that brings out the best in other people. A mother shows love when she tells her struggling son that she believes in him, or her discouraged daughter that she knows she will do well.
(14) LOVE ALWAYS HOPES.
Love does not stop loving because it is not loved in return or because it is deceived. Love hopes for the best, and it forgives not once or even seven times, but seventy times seven. Love is not even counting.
(15) LOVE ALWAYS PERSEVERES.
Love never gives up. Love outlasts everything!

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Our text in Romans 12:9 says: "[Let your] love be sincere (a real thing)."
Possibly one of the most extensive treatments on the subject of LOVE is the letters written by John in the closing portion of our Bible.
1 John 2:1-11
"My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But whosoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. Brethren, I write no new commandments to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.
Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes."
In this passage, John tells us that LOVE is perfected in keeping the word of God at the very heart of our living. Obedience is linked not merely with knowing God but with loving Him.
There are three views on the meaning of THE LOVE OF GOD. It may refer to (1) God's love for people, (2) a godly kind of love, or (3) a person's love for God.
It could be that all three are included in John's statement. For example: (1) As Christians obey God, they are showing their appreciation to God for what He has done; thus, they show that God's love has "reached perfection" in them. (2) As Christians obey God's Word, they continue to understand what God wants them to do; thus they display His kind of love to others. Their ability to show this love has "reached per-

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fection" because of their close relationship with Him. (3) As Christians obey God, they are showing their love for God. By their constant obedience, they are reaching perfection in that love.
True love for God will result in loving our fellow man.
Verse 7 in the New Living Translation, the translation reads: "Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment, for it is an old one you have always had, right from the beginning. This commandment--to love one another--is the same message you heard before."
This is a second way to discern genuine believers. Not only do they commit themselves to obeying God (2:3), but they also have deep and sincere love for fellow believers. The commandment to love others is both old and new. For the Jews, the command to love others was as old as the Pentateuch. Leviticus 19:18 reads:
"You shall not take revenge or bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord."
At the last Supper, Jesus told His disciples, "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love one another" (John 13:34). Jesus called the commandment new because He interpreted it in a radically new way. The newness of Jesus’ command focused on the practice of love. Because believers’ hearts had been changed by experiencing the love of Jesus, they must reach out to all others who have been changed by that same love. Jesus had made the commandment to love one another because love would be the disciples’ mark of distinction: "By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35)
Verse 9 reads: "Whoever says, "I am in the light," while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness."
The first thing which strikes us about this passage is the way in which John sees personal relationships in terms of black and white. In regard to our brother man, it is a case of either love or hate; as John sees it, there is no such thing as neutrality in personal relationships. As Westcott put it: "Indifference is impossible, there is no twilight in the spiritual world."
John was perfectly right when he drew his sharp distinction between light and dark, love and hate, without shades and halfway stages. Our brother cannot be disregarded: he is part of the landscape of life. The question is...HOW DO WE REGARD OUR BROTHER?

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We may regard our brother as NEGLIGIBLE. We can make all our plans without taking him into our calculations at all. We can live on the assumption that his need and his sorrow and his welfare and his salvation have nothing to do with us. A man may be so self-centered--often quite unconsciously--that in his world no one matters except himself.
We may regard our brother man with CONTEMPT. We may treat him as a fool in comparison with our intellectual attainment and as one whose opinions are to be brushed aside. We may regard him much as the Greeks regarded slaves, a necessary lesser breed, useful enough for menial duties of life, but not to be compared with themselves.
We may regard our brother man as a NUISANCE. We may feel that law and convention have given him a certain claim on us, but that claim is nothing more than an unfortunate necessity. Thus a man may regard any gift he has to make to charity and any tax he has to pay for social welfare as regrettable. Some in their heart of hearts regard those who are in poverty or in sickness and those who are under-privileged as mere nuisances.
We may regard our brother man as an ENEMY. If we regard competition as the principle of life, that is bound to be so. Every other man in the same profession or trade is a potential competitor and, therefore, a potential enemy.
John has something further to say. If we love our brother, we are walking in the light and there is nothing in us which causes us to stumble. That is to say, love enables us to make progress in the spiritual life and hatred makes progress impossible. When we think of it, that is perfectly obvious. If God is love and if the new commandment of Christ is love, then love brings us nearer to men and to God and hatred separates us from men and from God! No man can rightly direct his own life when hatred dominates him.
Again, let us look at some of the other things that John had to say about LOVE in his brief letters:
Chapter 3:11
"For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,
not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.
Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death."

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"Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in Him?" (1 John 3:11-17)
"And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.
Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us." (1 John 3:23-24)
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." (1 John 4:7-11)
Our New Testament is filled with admonitions to love one another.
John 13:34
"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another."
John 15:17
"I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another."
Romans 13:8
"Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law."
1 Peter 1:22
"Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart."
2 John 5
"But now, dear lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning, let us love one another."
So our message today is very clear! Because God has so wonderfully displayed His love in sending His Son who died for us, we ought to love one another. This is the distinctive mark of a true disciple of Christ, in that we love one another.