The Greatest Is Love, Romans 12:9-16
The Greatest Is Love audio
The Greatest Is Love
Romans 12:9-16 (p. 1764) November 19, 2017
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
Romans 12:9
Intro: 1) Paul’s “love chapters” are connected to use of gifts, not husbands/wives
2) for the rest of Romans, Paul is placing love in the context of
— the kairos moment à persecution, government, “this present time” (13:11), and conflict
— Paul is preparing us to “accept one another” when it is difficult
Defining “love”
Love must be sincere . . . .
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.
Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal,
but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Romans 12:10-11
- Love is THE WAY I USE MY SPIRITUAL GIFTS
- Love is ALWAYS TOWARD THE OTHER
- Love is MY LIVING SACRIFICE (go back to Romans 12:1-2!)
Love is a participle (sorry, dc talk)
Be joyful . . . . . Be patient . . . . Be faithful . . . .
Sharing . . . . Pursuing . . . .
Romans 12:12-14
- Love is first something I AM
- Love reflects the very HEART OF GOD
- Love requires PARTICIPATION = SHARING
Pursued and Pursuing
Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse.
Romans 12:13-14
- HOSPITALITY doesn’t just happen
- This love requires ME to reach out first
— Philippians 4:2-4 –> who is going to flinch, Euodia or Syntyche?
— Romans 5:1-8
Doug’s translation of Romans 12:9-16
Love [must be] genuine.
hating the evil,
being joined to the good,
lovingly affectionate in brotherly love to one another,
in honor [toward one another] outdoing one another,
in diligence not [being] troublesome,
in the spirit boiling over,
to the Lord being a slave,
in the hope rejoicing,
in the tribulation enduring,
in the prayer being consistent,
to the needs of the saints being a sharer,
[and] pursuing the love of the stranger.
Bless (or, “speak well of”) the one pursing [you].
Bless (or, “speak well of”) and stop cursing,
to rejoice with the one rejoicing,
to weep with the one weeping,
thinking the same thing toward one another,
not thinking highly
but to the humble being led together.
Stop becoming wise according to yourselves.
More study resources for Romans 12
Tim Browning’s message “Not Puffed Up” at https://www.
monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/mp3/076%20Romans%2012.03-08.pdf
Bob Deffinbaugh’s sermon “This Thing Called Love” at https://
bible.org/seriespage/30-thinking-straight-about-spiritual-gifts-romans-123-8
Ligon Duncan’s message “A Call to Humility” at https://www.fpcjackson.org/resource-library/sermons/a-call-to-humility-and-service
Michael Horton’s “Romans from 30,000 Feet” from “An Overview of the Book of Romans”, http://www.reformationtheology.com/2011/04/romans_from_30000_feet_by_mich.php
Sinclair Ferguson’s “The Great Exchanges” at http://www.ligonier.org/blog/great-exchanges-romans/
F.F. Bruce’s paraphrase of Romans at https://biblicalstudies.org.
uk/pdf/eq/1958-2_bruce.pdf or Paternoster Press (1965); Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free (Eerdmans, 1977); and The Epistle of Paul to the Romans (Eerdmans, 1963).
Tim Keller’s Romans For You (The Good Book, 2014).
William Hendriksen’s Romans in BNTC (Baker Books, 1980).
James Boice’s Romans, Volume 4, (Baker Books, 1991).
Earl Palmer’s Romans series notes “The Greatest Book”, Winter 2002, University Presbyterian Church, Seattle, Washington.