"Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good."
Romans 12 v 9
The list of charismatic gifts (spiritual gifts which have been freely given by God) in verses 6 - 8, is followed by a list of behavioral characteristics which are the mark of all believers whose lives have been presented to God. The list is headed by LOVE, and not only is mentioned first, but permeates the whole of chapters 12 and 13 (12v9; 12v10; 12v19; 13v8; 13v9; 13v10). Thus the primary characteristic of Christians in the operation of their gifts, and in the expression of godly character, is to be that of love to others. This agrees with the New Testament interpretation of the law, which was in two parts; "love God; love your neighbor as yourself". These two are mutually dependent; I cannot truly love my neighbor until I have first learned to love God; the evidence that I do love God will be expressed in love towards my neighbour. The same pattern is found in 1st Corinthians chapters 12 - 14 where the operation of the gifts of God's people are discussed; in the very heart of this exposition is the great chapter about the quality of love, which is described by Paul as "a more excellent way."
1st Corinthians 13 ends with this "And now abideth faith, hope & love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." Our whole service for God, must be marked by an attitude of love, and our lives should be lived in an atmosphere of love.There are four words in the Greek New Testament used for love ; 1. Philostorgos - love for the community to which I belong; could involve national or local or even large family entities. 2. Philadelphia - love for my siblings, brotherly love that which is expressed to my closest family. 3. Eros - physical love, sexual, the intimate love between two individuals. 4. Agape - sacrificial love, Divine love, love for even enemies, a supernatural love that can only come from God and in association with God. It is important we understand the words being used by the Divine author.
The word used here, and indeed used largely in the New Testament is Agape, the highest form of love in existence, love that does not demand a return, love that does not depend on natural attraction. To put it in simple language, Agape does not necessarily mean that I like a person, or their ways; it is an act of the will towards them that because of powerful, common bonds, that we share, we will love them no matter what. This is indeed the love of God, and the love He expects us to share with each other. "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and everyone that loveth Him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of Him." 1st John 5v1 It should be obvious to us that this kind of love is beyond nature and can only come from God. Later on, Paul will extend this supernatural love to be shown towards all human beings, not because they are in the family of God, but because they are from a creation point of view our neighbours. This love is to be extended towards them all (chapter 13v9).
Paul opens this section by saying that love must be "without dissimulation." The word used for this means unhypocritical . Hypocrisy in scripture means "play acting." appearing to someone's face to love them, but behind their back in fact to despise them. Love is not to be a sham, it is to be real. The word is widely used in the New Testament, and mainly it is rendered "unfeigned." This means "unmixed" and comes from the ancient profession of pottery, where, during production, if a flaw was discovered, they found a way to cover it up; so the final product was not pure but feigned. This word, with its powerful meaning can be found in 2nd Corinthians 6v6; 1st Timothy 1v5; 2nd Timothy 1v5; James 3v17; 1st Peter 1v22. Peter says in the last of these quotes "seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently." Our love to others is not to be fake, contrived, or two-faced - it is to be real. The next list of commands by Paul for the Christian life represents an exposition of this phrase "love without dissimulation." There are sixteen such commands from verses 9 - 16 and a further five at the end of the chapter in demonstrating our love to the world at large. An overall study of these features of a life of love would very much take us back to the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5,6 & 7, and these verses could be considered as Paul's version of it. These demands are very far reaching and are only possible with help from above.
Next we shall consider the wide range of the details.
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