Romans Chapter 12 Vs, 9

 

Marks of the True Christian

Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Rom 12:9

be without dissimulation... Greek: anupokritos, undisguised, a real thing (2Cor. 6:6; 1Tim. 1:5; 2Tim. 1:5; Jas. 3:17; 1Pet. 1:22). means to be sincere or to not be a hypocrite. Christian love is to be shown purely and sincerely, without self-centeredness or guile.

The Christian’s conduct in the local church toward fellow believers is to be a volitional caring for others, loving faithfully despite the response received. The love is to be genuine and unfeigned.

Abhor that which... Hate, detest, and loathe all evil. We see from this then, that it is very important for our love to be sincere. Abhor means to detest or hate. This would be an extreme dislike for something or someone.

The supreme New Testament virtue, which centers completely on the needs and welfare of the one loved and does whatever necessary to meet those needs.

cleave to that... Be cemented or glued to the good. We can see from the following Scripture just how important it is to God for us to love our brothers and sisters in Christ and to love Him.

Heb. 1:9 “Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, [even] thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”

The passage from verses 9-21 provide a comprehensive and mandatory list of traits that characterize the Spirit filled life. Paul presents these characteristics under 4 categories:

(1) Personal duties (verse 9);

(2) Family duties (verses 10-13);

(3) Duties to others (verses 14-16);

(4) Duties to those who consider us enemies (verses17-21).

In social relationships

This section consists of a lengthy series of short exhortations or commands. The statements relate to a Christian’s relationships to other people, both saved and unsaved.

Paul began these specific exhortations with the key ingredient for success: Love must be sincere. This is God’s love, which has been ministered to believers by the Holy Spirit (Rom_5:5) and must be ministered by them to others in the Holy Spirit’s power. “Sincere” translates anypokritos (lit., “without hypocrisy”), also used of love (2Cor. 6:6; 1Pet. 1:22), of faith (1Tim. 1:5; 2Tim. 1:5), and of wisdom (Jas. 3:17).

This first command is followed by a pair of related basic commands — Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Many Bible students consider these two clauses as explanatory of the sincerity of love, translating the verse, “Let love be unfeigned, abhorring the evil and cleaving to the good.” Hating various forms of sin is frequently mentioned in Scripture (Psm. 97:10; 119:104, 119:128, 119:163; Pro. 8:13; 13:5; 28:16; Heb. 1:9; Rev. 2:6). Turning from evil is to accompany adhering to the good (cf. 1Pet. 3:11).