Romans 12:6-6

⁶ Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; ⁷ if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; ⁸ the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. 

⁹ Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. ¹⁰ Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

On January 22^nd 1973, the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling on the case Roe vs. Wadewhich legalized on-demand abortion in all fifty states of our country. It remains a sad day for our nation. Eleven years after that ruling, President Regan made January 22^nd National Sanctity of Human Life Day. Many churches in our country have made the third Sunday of January, which is today, Life Sunday. So today, we are going to do that in the sermon by mainly focusing on v. 9 of this text.

Our translation makes it sound like v.9 has three commands, “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” But actually, in the Greek, there aren’t any commands or imperatives. In fact, there isn’t even a single verb in v. 9. It is fairly common for Greek to not include a verb, especially when the verb is ‘is.’ When that happens, a verb needs to be supplied. The translators of the ESV have decided to translate participles as imperative verbs or commands, but there is a more natural way to translate the sentence and keep the sense truer to the original Greek. If we were using the Wellumson translation, v. 9 would read, “Love without hypocrisy is abhorring what is evil, holding fast to what is good.” What Paul seems to be doing here is giving a description of love similar to how he does in 1 Cor. 13. And how he describes love gives us a lot to consider.

First of all, hypocritical love is not really love. There are times when someone puts on a show of care and compassion for others, but they are doing it simply in an effort to make themselves look good. The term that often gets used for that today is “virtue signaling.” If the only reason you are being kind to someone is to make yourself look good, it is not loving. It is motivated by selfish ambition. So, Paul here tells us what unhypocritical love looks like.

The strange thing about love that this text teaches is that true, unhypocritical love is that it abhors what is evil. That’s the first description of love – it hates evil. Normally, we think love and hatred are opposites, but Scripture teaches us that genuine love must hate evil. So, I ask you, “Is there evil in this world?” Ok. Then to be a loving person, you must hate what is evil. Now, if there was a universe where there was no evil, then there would be no need for love to hate anything. But to really love means abhorring and hating evil things. That means you can’t be a wishy-washy person and be a loving person. That isn’t possible. Love isn’t always smooth and easy.

Hating and abhorring evil is the way that God has loved us. God’s love has a holy hatred of evil and sin. God be praised that His hatred of evil is perfectly coupled with His mercy. God could have hated evil and simply wiped out the whole human race at any point. But because of His mercy God hasn’t done that. And because of what Christ has done, He will not. Not ever. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, God has hated evil; poured out His complete wrath and abhorrence of evil; and still forgiven you of all your sin. And that – that is true love. Love in its purest form. God’s hatred of evil is what has put a stop to evil and still delivered us from evil and sin. And, dear saints, we are called by Scripture to love as God loves (Jn. 13:34, 15:9). And if we are to love as God loves, that means we are to hate and abhor evil things.

But also, if we love as God loves, we cannot only hate the things that are evil. Love also must hold fast and cling to what is good. What that means for today as we recognize Life Sunday is this: As Christians, we hold fast to the goodness and sacredness of life that God gives. Life is a good gift from God. Life is a good gift of God in the womb and throughout the life of each individual, for the pre-born, infants, children, teenagers, adults, the elderly, and those receiving hospice care. Life is a good gift from God for those with Down Syndrome, cancer, and ALS. And Christians affirm that. We stand for life from conception to natural death because God is the author and giver of life. We hold fast to God’s good gift of life as we abhor and hate abortion, doctor-assisted suicide, and euthanasia.

Satan attacks life. Jesus Himself says that the devil was a murderer from the beginning (Jn. 8:44). The devil has always hated human life because humans are created in the image of God, but Satan hates humans even more now because God has become one of us in Christ. In every fetus, the devil is reminded of the Christ Child. That is why Satan loves abortion. Through abortion, the devil attacks God’s gift of life. So, we need to say it as plainly as possible. Christians abhor abortion, and Christians love God’s good gift of life.

Now, all of this means, Christian, that you have been called by God to walk a tightrope, so to speak. You are to love the single mother, the pregnant teenager, the woman who has had an abortion, the abortionist, and the politicians and judges who enable and further the culture of death. You are to love each of them unhypocritically. And Eph. 6:12 gives us insight into this calling. Eph. 6:12 says that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Our struggle is not against any people who have flesh and blood. God Himself did not hate people; instead, He sent Jesus to die for the sins of all people. By Jesus’ work on the cross, God has dealt with the evil within every person. If a person has flesh and blood, your struggle is not against them. You are to love them. And that does mean calling sin what it is. But you show every person love every chance you get. Paul will go on to say at the end of Ro. 12, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink…. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer was absolutely right when he said, “The will of God is that men should defeat their enemies by loving them.”

Again, this is what Christ has done for you. Christ is your Savior and has identified with you in every area of your life (Heb. 2:15, 17). And while you were still a sinner and enemy of God, Christ died for you (Ro. 5:8). He shed His holy and precious blood to forgive you of all your sin, and He is about to give His forgiving, life-giving blood to you once again.

So, dear saints, God would have us hate and abhor abortion. We pray for an end to it. Pray for the Supreme Court today as they prepare to make another ruling on abortion. Pray that they would recognize God’s gift of life. But even beyond that, we don’t simply pray for an end to abortion in our nation. We pray that even the thought of abortion would be abhorrent to every person in the world. We pray that every heart would be changed to honor and hold fast to God’s good gift of life. And while we pray, we rejoice in hope, contribute to the needs of the saints, show hospitality to all, and we bless. Bless those who persecute you. And we pray for God’s love to shine through us every moment. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.