Title first (Romans 12:9-13)
Contents
♣ Introductory words
“There is no lie in love; hate the evil and be of the good. Be kind to one another in love and respect one another first; do not be lazy in diligence, but serve the Lord with zeal. Rejoice in hope, be patient in affliction, be steadfast in prayer, provide for the needs of the saints, and strive to provide hospitality.”
A seminary student was always nervous and worked tirelessly to become holy and good according to God's word. Because of it, his mouth was always firmly shut, and all his nerves to abstain from sin and to do good were at a standstill. He was willing to be good at any cost.
The seminary student on some occasion came to know the gift of the Holy Spirit. He realized true faith through the experience of the Holy Spirit. He said, “It's unbelievably good! Up until now, my life has been a battlefield. To do good, he was tense and constantly fighting evil. But now I have accepted it!” He was no longer forced to be holy or good by his own strength. I was freed and I was happy.
Faith is acceptance. Trying to force it will cause more side effects. It's not like 'whatever it is' or 'indifferent'. It is accepting God's truth and love as they are. Then it is only God who works and manifests in me. That is, when believers receive God's love, their hearts melt and they begin to love God fervently, and further, treat their neighbors with love and concern.
The text of this hour deals with the virtues of life for one another in the church. Various themes appear here, but the common and fundamental one is ‘belong to the good with love without falsehood, but do each other first’.
As I have said many times, the principle of God's recompense is 'as you do'. In 1 Samuel 2:30, the second half of the Old Testament, it is said, “Those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me I will despise.” come together, and at that time I will repay each one according to what he has done.”
Therefore, believers do not live a life of faith while looking at others. Nor is it waiting for someone else to do it first. Whether it is praying, serving the Lord with zeal, giving or receiving food, or living a joyful life, everything we do as a person who has been loved by God comes first. Whether other people do it or not, I do it silently while looking at the reward the Lord has prepared.
Then, let's look at the meaning of the words in the text.
First, let’s look at ‘love without lies’ that encompasses the entire text. ‘Love’ here is agape ( γ πη), which refers to divine love in the broadest sense. In addition to that, I added ‘truth without adornment’. In other words, it is premised on the premise that all actions that occur between the saints should be done with true love without adornment, like God's love. And he tells us to actively hate evil and unite with what is good. This is a command to the deeds of saints.
Now let's move on to the detailed virtues.
“Love one another and love one another” “Brother” refers to “brothers and sisters who share blood”, and “love” (philadelphia, φιλαδελφ α, love between brothers and sisters) and “fraternity” (philostorgoy, φιλ στοργοι, between blood and blood) love), these two words represent the love between family members. That is, it refers to the love between the members of the church. The love between the saints must be the love of blood and flesh.
“Respect each other first” means to acknowledge and appreciate the other person. It is not because of the person or ability of the other person that the saints should recognize and appreciate each other like this. It is only because God loved him and gave him the redemptive grace of Christ and made him a child. Therefore, apart from all human conditions, believers must acknowledge and exalt each other.
The word ‘lazy’ in “don’t be lazy” means ‘to procrastinate with care, worry, or shame’. This word, “with zeal,” is interpretatively missing the word pneuma, meaning “spirit” in the original language. If we interpret it with that meaning, it means ‘having zeal with the Holy Spirit’.
“Rejoice in hope” The “hope” here has an eschatological meaning. The words “endure in tribulation” and “endure” mean “do not bow down” or “endure to the end.” And “if you put all your effort into prayer” and “if you always put forth your best effort” means “with all your heart”. Putting these three parts together, it says, “As the end draws nearer, look forward to hope, and devote yourself to prayer while being joyful and patient.”
“Supply the needs of the saints” The meaning of these words is “not only to help each other in need and need of the saints, but also to share in the difficulties.” The word “supply” has not only the meaning of “giving” but also the meaning of “participating”.
The phrase “do your best to treat people with your hands” means to make every effort to continue to treat guests and strangers. The reason we have to do this is because the saints are one family and they are all travelers to their hometown of heaven.
This is God's request for the saints living in the end times
First, you must receive a lot of the love that God provides. In other words, it is to realize the deep love of God revealed through Jesus Christ. This love begins to build up from the moment we accept Jesus as our Savior. The deeper you get to know the Lord, the deeper your love will be. We must treat the Lord and the saints on the basis of the Lord's sincere love, given without payment. The love interest is to maintain the love and interest of the brothers and sisters who share blood among the saints.
As such, the members' love for each other is essential for the members to achieve a victorious life in the world until they reach the kingdom of God.
In order to show love to the world and to love them, a deep bond of love must first be formed within the members.
When you throw a stone on the still water, the waves spread out in concentric circles. So is the spread of the love of Christ. At the center of the concentric circle of love is the Lord, then the saints, and then it spreads out into the world. It was the same with Jesus' prayer in John 17. The Lord leads first for himself, and then to the disciples, and then through the disciples, the believers, and then all the saints.
Let our church, which is leaping toward the goal of 2001, become one through deep love and devotion among the members like this. And I pray in the name of the Lord that the church overflowing with that love overflows and saturates the world.