Romans 12:9-13 "The Requirements of Genuine Love"

1:09So it's important to ask ourselves this morning and often: do people know that we are Jesus' disciples because of our love for each other? Last Sunday, we made the transition from the first major section of. Romans chapters 1 through 11 to the second major section of Romans chapters 12 through 16. And Paul taught us that based on the mercies of God, we must offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God. He said we should not be conformed to the world. We must not be conformed to the world, but we need to be transformed by the renewal of our minds. And that is because our beliefs impact our behavior. What we think determines how we live in this world.

2:12So how should Christians think? Paul said that we should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, but we should think of ourselves with sober judgment. And thinking of ourselves with sober judgment means that we believe that every Christian is an important part of the body of Christ. We all have different functions, different gifts that we bring to the table. But we are all important. Our gifts are important, and so we need to use them to build up the body of Christ.

2:49But of course, we are all still struggling with the sinful flesh. And that means that in the church, in the body of Christ, we're going to struggle with thinking of ourselves. More highly than we ought to think. We're tempted to think that we are more important than other believers. We're tempted to think that our gifts are more important than the gifts of other believers. We're tempted to think that we don't need other members of the body of Christ, and as a result, we fail to love each other as we've been called to do.

3:23So, the Apostle Paul follows his commands in verses 1 through 8 with what we find today in verses 9 through 13. These verses are all about genuine love and what genuine love requires. And so, here's what we're going to learn this morning: genuine love requires brotherly affection, genuine love requires a fervent spirit, and genuine love requires selfless generosity. So, let's pick up here in verse 9 with that first point: genuine love requires brotherly affection. Look at verse 9.

4:07Paul says, Let love be genuine. Now, in the Greek, that word genuine literally means without hypocrisy. What is a hypocrite? Well, a hypocrite is a pretender, a hypocrite is one who acts. So, in the ancient world, World. It's what they called people who put on a mask and walked on stage and pretended to be somebody that they were not. We call them actors. They called them hypocrites. A hypocrite is a pretender. And Paul says that Christians must not be pretenders when it comes to our love for one another in the church. Why is that?

4:59It almost doesn't need to be stated. It's because hypocrisy is evil. Hypocrisy is a failure to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. So in his ministry, Jesus passionately denounced hypocrisy time and time again. It is evil. And Paul says here, let love be genuine, abhor, hate what is evil. Because hypocrisy is evil, whenever we see it in ourselves, we cannot ignore it. We cannot shrug it off. We've got to hate it. We've got to hate any trace of hypocrisy in our lives when it comes to love for others, especially others in the body of Christ. And that's because God created them. God loves them. Jesus died for them. We are going to spend eternity with them in the new heaven. And the new earth. So our love cannot be hypocritical. It's got to be genuine. Genuine love is without hypocrisy. But that is a very hard thing to do, isn't it? To love each other genuinely? It's a very hard thing to do. Even now, you might be thinking of a fellow Christian or several Christians that you have a hard time loving.

6:29Maybe you find them obnoxious. They talk too much, or they talk about themselves too much. Perhaps it's the opposite. You try to initiate conversation with them, they don't offer you anything in return. It's like talking to the wall. Maybe you disagree with their theology. You don't like their position on this issue or that issue, or maybe how vocal they are about it. Speaking of vocal, maybe it's their politics. You don't like who they voted for or their views on this issue or that issue. You don't like what they post on social media. Though, of course, now you don't see that anymore because you're off social media.

7:20Maybe it's their spouse or their friends. Maybe it's the way they parent their children. It could be anything, but whatever it is, there is someone or someone. Christians that you can think of in the church that you have a hard time loving, and so you pretend. You put on the mask, you say the right things, you do the right things, but inside you don't have genuine love for them. New life Christians cannot do that. We cannot ignore or shrug off hypocrisy. We cannot rationalize it away, telling ourselves that everybody is a little bit of a hypocrite. We can't do that. Paul says, abhor, hate what is evil, and hypocrisy is evil. So, what must we do instead? Look what he says. Let love be genuine, abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good.

8:22Now, what does Paul mean? Well, think about the context here. In context, Paul is commanding us to genuinely love other Christians. Every Christian is imperfect. We are all in the middle of our own sanctification, slowly growing in holiness. We have new hearts. God's Spirit is within us, but we are still battling with the flesh. We are still battling with sin and evil. That's true of ourselves. It's true of other Christians. And so, when we look at others, what do we need to do? We need to abhor what is evil. We need to recognize sin and failure in them, but we also need to hold fast to what is good. We need to look for the good in them and seek to hold on to those things.

9:15Last Christmas, my daughter bought me a biography of Abraham Lincoln, which I loved. And one day, Lincoln looked at one of his political rivals and he said this, I do not like that man. I must get to know him better. Think about that. I do not like that man. I must get to know him better. Abe Lincoln was not a petty person. So if he didn't like someone, it was for a good reason. But he also realized that there must be some redeeming qualities in that man. There must be something good in him worth recognizing and holding fast to. So he resolved to get to know him better. So, friends, we should take a lesson from Lincoln. When we look at fellow believers and think, I do not like that person, we should resolve to get to know them better.

10:15But notice that Paul takes it much further than that. Look at verse 10. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in Showing honor. What does genuine love require? It requires brotherly affection. We are to love one another like brothers, like siblings, like family. I didn't have a brother, I had two twin sisters, but I played on lots of sports teams and things like that that have a brotherly kind of camaraderie about them. Maybe you have a brother. You know these things to be true. Brothers disagree, brothers argue, brothers fight from time to time.

11:05But brothers also spend a great deal of time together. They get to know each other and they love and appreciate each other. Brothers are there in the best of times and in the worst of times. And Paul teaches brothers should outdo one another in showing honor. In other words, there should be a godly competition among us to see who can speak most highly, to see who can serve the best, to see who can outdo the other person in showing honor with words and actions.

11:43Last Friday, Kendra and I went to polite coffee on our date day, and we were going out to the patio. And when we walked outside, Steve Turner and his brother were sitting there at one of the tables. You may know Jeff. Jeff works at the Baptist Student Ministry. And so I walked over and said, hi. To the guys, and we were talking with each other, and I made some kind of a comment about how blessed they are to have each other, not just brothers, but Christian brothers. And Steve said something along these lines: He said, I would not be who I am today if it weren't for Jeff's influence in my life.

12:23And I thought, wow, how special is that to see a Christian brother and a physical brother honoring his brother in that way? Friends, Paul says that's what it should be like in the church. We should be going out of our way, seeking to outdo each other in a godly competition to see how we can outdo others in showing honor. So, let me get really, really practical here. Maybe you find yourself in this spot where you are struggling to love other Christians in the church, to hold fast to what is good in them, to see those things, to love them with brotherly affection, and to outdo them in showing honor. If you find yourself in that spot, what should you do?

13:10Let me give you three things: pray for them, encourage them, and serve them. Pray, serve, and encourage. First, pray for those you struggle to love. It is very hard. To hate someone you pray for, Jesus loved and prayed for his enemies, and he commanded us to do the same. But, friends, no Christian is your enemy. Every Christian is your brother or your sister in Christ. So spend time praying for them, and you will feel that hatred, that dislike start to melt away. Second, encourage those you struggle to love. Encourage them. You know, in order to encourage someone, you've got to know them well enough to know what their strengths are, to know what their gifts are, and to tell them, here is how I see the grace of God at work in your life.

14:21You have to know those things to be able to name those things. Again, it is hard to hate people that you are actively trying to build up with your words, with a phone call or a text message or a quick handwritten note, whatever it might be. You encourage those people, you're going to start to love them. And then, third, serve those you struggle to love. Siblings need each other's help on a regular basis. And we show brotherly affection by seeking to bless each other with our service. Look at what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7.

15:00He said, so whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets. Look at Jesus' words. He doesn't say, whatever you wish that others would think about you, think those things about them. He says, whatever you wish that others would do for you, do that to them. This is about action. This is about work. Serve those you struggle to love. So pray for them, encourage them, and serve them. That is genuine love. Genuine love requires brotherly affection.

15:45Let's pick up now in verse 11, where we'll consider the second truth. Genuine love requires a fervent spirit. Look at verse 11. Do not be slothful in zeal. Be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord. Now, the second truth is that genuine love is fervent, and that word fervent means enthusiastic or excited. Now, new Christians are often described this way. You might remember your early days of being a Christian if you've been walking with the Lord for some time. Enthusiasm, excitement that marked those days. But for a lot of people, Of older believers, or for people who've been walking with Jesus for some time, we can't always be described that way as enthusiastic, as excited, as fervent.

16:41And so, what changed for us? Well, oftentimes, it's slothfulness or forgetfulness. Look again at verse 11. Paul says, Do not be slothful in zeal. When you've been walking with Jesus for a long time, you can get a little comfortable in your faith, a little lazy, a little slothful. And in context, where we get lazy is in our zeal for loving others with a brotherly affection. We get slothful in our zeal for outdoing one another in showing honor. Because loving people is hard. It requires mental energy and emotional energy and physical energy and spiritual energy. And especially for those of us who are more introverted, that just wears you out after a while.

17:41So the result is that we can become slothful. We can become lazy in zeal. We start to lose the energy and the will to serve other believers as we've been called to do. So what's the remedy for slothfulness? Look what Paul says, verse 11. Do not be slothful in zeal. Be fervent in spirit. That phrase could be translated, be boiling in spirit. Now, as most of you know, I don't know much about cooking, but I have been able to successfully boil water before.

18:20And I know that to boil water, you've got to put it over heat and keep it over heat until that water reaches 212 degrees. Now, the second you move that pot of water off of the heat source, it's going to start cooling down. And within seconds, it's not going to be boiling anymore. Within minutes, it's not going to be hot anymore. And in a little while, it'll be cold again. So if we're supposed to be fervent in spirit, boiling in spirit, how do we remain that way? We've got to stay close to the heat source. And I think that's why Paul ends verse 11 with that phrase, serve the Lord.

19:07Paul's logic seems to be: don't get slothful, don't get lazy in loving other believers, in your zeal for them. Be fervent in spirit. Keep that pot boiling. And the way to do that is by serving the Lord. Now, in Scripture, serving the Lord is a phrase that's Often associated with worship. So look at Psalm 100. Look at what David says and how he uses that phrase. He says, make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come into his presence with singing.

19:50So when we see that phrase, serve the Lord in Scripture, it can mean doing stuff for God, but more often than not, it's tied to worshiping the Lord. And so what I want you to see here is that when we are lacking in zeal for loving other Christians as we've been called to do, it is often a worship problem. That's why in the book of 1 John, love for God and love for others are so intimately tied together. If you see your love for others start to slip and wane, it's usually because your love for God has started to slip and wane. And when your love for God is increased, your love for his people increases as well.

20:38And so if we are going to not get slothful in our zeal for loving others, we've got to stay close to the heat source. We've got to serve the Lord, to worship God, to make sure that our worshipful lives are driving our love for other people. So that's That's one thing that keeps us from being fervent in spirit, slothfulness. Forgetfulness is the other. Look at verse 12. Paul says, rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer.

21:22So slothfulness is one stumbling block to being fervent in spirit. And forgetfulness is another. And you know, one thing that causes forgetfulness as much as anything else is tribulation. Tribulation is a word that means trial that involves suffering. Trials that involve suffering. Trials cause us to forget God and His promises, especially His promises about salvation and eternal life, the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. And when we forget those things, we become inwardly focused. Everything in our life begins to surround us, what we're going through, what we're feeling, our disappointments, our frustrations. And when you get inwardly focused, it's very hard to love other people with brotherly affection. It's very hard to outdo others in showing honor. It's very hard to show genuine love because we're wrapped up in what's happening to us. We're wrapped up in those trials, those tribulations that we are enduring, and we become forgetful. So, in those moments, what do we need? We need to remember the hope that we have because of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.

22:48We need to remember that this life is just a vapor, that all of our trials, no matter how very real they are, how very hard they are, how very difficult and disappointing they are, they are light and momentary in view of eternity. We need to remember those truths because when we do, we can rejoice in hope. This life is not all that there is. When we rejoice in hope, we can be patient in tribulation. And when we're patient in tribulation, we can trust God and be constant in prayer.

23:30So, you stack those things on each other, and you see when we start to forget God, this is what we need to do. We need to rejoice in hope so that we can be patient in tribulation, so that we'll be constant in prayer, so that we are keeping that pot boiling, so we're still fervent, so that we can serve other believers. See, this all comes back to love, love for others. But, friends, it starts with us, it starts with us. Inside. You can't give something that you don't have. And so it starts with that worship of the Lord. It starts with keeping that fire burning so that we have something to offer. A fervent spirit requires being on guard against slothfulness and forgetfulness.

24:20That allows us to genuinely love others. Let's look now at verse 13 and that final point. Genuine love requires selfless generosity. Verse 13. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. So this final truth is that genuine love requires selfless generosity. And Paul says selfless generosity manifests itself in two ways: contributing to the needs of others and seeking to show hospitality. So, first, we show selfless generosity by contributing to the needs of the saints. You are familiar with this word that's translated contribute. It's koineo. It means share or share in, implying that you are sharing your money or possessions with others based on the common fellowship that you enjoy.

25:30A beautiful picture of this in Acts chapter 4. Take a look on the screen. Now, the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul. And no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet. And it was distributed to each as any had need.

26:10What a description that is of the early church. They had such great unity, they were of one heart and soul. They knew everything belonged to God and they lived that way. They saw themselves as stewards, not as owners of their stuff. And the result was that there wasn't a needy person among them. You got to keep in mind, these people are poor. The early church did not have all that many wealthy people, and this is the ancient world. This is not modern America where the economy is humming and we've got money everywhere. It's not like that. So for them to say there wasn't a needy person among them was truly unusual. Not one person had a need that went unmet because the church was so. So eager to show selfless generosity by contributing to the needs of the saints. At New Life, you have done a fantastic job of meeting needs over the years. It's one of the great blessings of our life group structure here at New Life. Christians are living in fellowship and community with each other, and so they know each other's struggles. Because inevitably in this life, things come up.

27:30The water heater breaks, a car stops working, hours are cut, a job is lost. And time and time again, members of life groups have stepped in with money and resources and their time, willing hands. They pool those resources to help meet those needs as they arise. And when the need is too great for a life group, our wonderful deacons step in to serve. These men, faithful men who are full of the Spirit and wisdom, step in to meet needs by bringing godly leadership to situations that are often difficult and uncertain.

28:19And when necessary, they distribute money from our church's benevolence fund to make sure that there isn't a needy person among us. So understand, every dollar. You contribute to this church helps to ensure that there are no needs that go unmet here among us. You are contributing to the needs of the saints. And by doing that, you are showing selfless generosity to other Christians. So that's the first point that Paul makes. Second, we show selfless generosity by seeking to show hospitality.

28:56Now, that word translated hospitality means friend of strangers. Friend of strangers. So hospitality is often associated with opening your home to family and friends, and it is certainly that. But biblical hospitality is much more than that. It's welcoming people that you don't know or that you don't know very well into your home. People who are strangers, people who are foreigners, people who are new, people who are outside of the circle. And look at that command. Paul says, seek to show hospitality. He doesn't say, show hospitality whenever it's required, whenever you have to do it. He says, seek to show hospitality. Look for opportunities to open your home to people that you don't know.

29:50But here's the challenge. Many Christians don't seek to show hospitality. Why is that? For Many of us, the answer is pride. Pride keeps us from seeking to show hospitality to others. And that's because hospitality requires humility. You are inviting people, including especially people you don't know, into your home, the most private, intimate space in your life. We live there. And so that means that on any given day, there's stuff on the floor, dust on the furniture, clothes on the couch permanently, food stuck to the countertops, trash in recycling bins overflowing.

30:58If you've got kids, they may be screaming and crying. That might be true even if you don't have teenagers at home. Friends, we must never confuse entertaining, the secular concept of entertaining, with biblical hospitality. Entertaining focuses on the host and how the host looks. But biblical hospitality focuses on the guests. Some of the least hospitable places I have ever been are multi-million-dollar homes in West Plano where I grew up. Some of the most hospitable places I have ever been are tiny homes and apartments here in our community and around the world. People who have opened up their home to me or to me and my family. You know, a few years ago, I mentioned in a certain context that my family and I rarely get invited over for dinner. I think people just assume we're too busy, and that's fine. Well, Ben Dunning and his roommates heard me say this, and those college men invited me and my family over for dinner. And so we drove to their apartment. We walked up to the 37th floor.

32:28They made us an Asian dinner, and we sat knee to knee in their living room and enjoyed playing a game together and had a great night of fellowship. It was so much fun. See, here's the reality. If you don't start seeking to show hospitality now, wherever you're at, you may not ever begin showing hospitality at all. Because here's what. Will happen if you wait until you get married and have a place of your own, you'll decide that you don't have enough money.

33:11And if you wait until you have enough money, you'll decide that your house is too messy. And if you wait until later on, when your house is cleaner, you'll decide that you're too busy. There is never ever a convenient season to start showing hospitality. Hospitality, by nature and by definition, is inconvenient. You got to get everything ready for your guests, and then you've got to get everything set back after they leave. It's never, ever convenient, but it's not about us, it's about the people that we're trying to love and serve.

33:52Genuine love requires selfless generosity, and that means seeking to show hospitality. Well, friends, in these few verses, we've been able to think about genuine love and what it requires. And as we close, I want you to think about the fact that genuine love is possible only because God loved us first. The Apostle John said, We love because he first loved us. The love of God is the basis of our love for all other people, other Christians.

34:31And other non-Christians. You see, Jesus' love was genuine. It was completely without hypocrisy. He loved us truly from the heart. He did not pretend to love us. He hated what was evil. He hated sin and what sin had done to us, not just our lives here on earth, but our lives for eternity. And so out of genuine love, Jesus came. He took on flesh. He added humanity to his deity. He lived and served God the Father zealously, fervently, perfectly. He endured every trial, every temptation, and then he laid down his life as the ultimate act of genuine love.

35:23And as we've seen in Romans, Jesus did not lay down his life for us because we had earned his love. We did not get ourselves to the place where we had cleaned ourselves up enough where he said, now they're worth it. We didn't serve him well enough where he said, well, I really owe them something for all their efforts. No, Paul said earlier in Romans, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, but he also rose for us. Jesus did not stay dead. He stood up and he walked out of the tomb on the third day, victorious over sin and death. His love for us was so strong that he lived and died and rose again, that he did that for you and for me. And so, friends, if you haven't put your faith in Jesus Christ, then I want you to know that God always has and God always will love you genuinely. Not because you deserve it. Not because you have earned it or that you will earn it. You can't earn his love, so there's no need to try. All you need to do is receive the gift of Jesus' love by faith this morning. Do that today. Don't leave without putting your faith in Jesus, who loved you so much that he gave himself for you.

36:56Through faith in Christ, that is how you'll have the power to genuinely love other believers and to genuinely love others who don't yet know Jesus. And Christians, if you've already put your faith in Jesus, if you're already a believer this morning, I want to remind you that God gives us grace to obey every command in his word. So you might have heard today's sermon as a Christian and thought to yourself, this is just too hard. There are people, there are Christians that I just cannot love.

37:29But that's not true. God has given us all that we need by his grace and through the power of his Holy Spirit who fills us, who lives inside of us, so that we can obey these commands and honor the Lord. Friends, all you have to do is ask. Jesus said, ask and you will receive, and it will be given to you. So if you are struggling to genuinely love other Christians in your life, ask God for that help. Meditate on the gospel of grace. All that Jesus has done for you in spite of all your sin against him. See his genuine love poured out for you, and then, by God's grace, through the power of the Spirit, turn and love others as we've been called to do. Ask and you will receive. Let's pray.

38:20Father, we know that we are supposed to genuinely love others. And we also know that there is hypocrisy in us. We know that there are people in our lives that we have pretended to love because we don't feel it. There's nothing in us. There's nothing in them. There's no feelings there that would say, I want to show them love. And so we recognize this morning, God, that we need your supernatural power. You are called. Calling us to do something that is not humanly possible, and that is love the diverse group of people that is the body of Christ.

39:10Forgive us for circling up in our cliques. Forgive us for consciously avoiding people when we come to worship. Forgive us for not seeking to do good to other people when we can, when we could pray for them, when we could speak a word of encouragement to them, when we could serve them in some way. Forgive us for coddling a hard heart. I pray that you would break through today and soften us and help us to love each other genuinely with brotherly affection and a fervent spirit and selfless generosity.

40:00And God, I pray that there would be some here today who would see your selfless generosity in giving your one and only Son, and that they would turn to Jesus, the only person ever who is loved genuinely from the heart every moment of every day. I pray that they would receive his love this morning through faith. They would confess that Jesus is Lord, that they would believe in their hearts. That you raised him from the dead.

40:35God, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the high and holy standard that it calls us to. And we thank you for the grace that you give us to obey. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.