Spiritual Love Is Proved Genuine By Our Actions

Yesterday I started wrapping up a series of posts titled “What Does Love Look Like?” If you missed it or are new to my blog it starts here. John says that he and the other disciples recognized Jesus as God because they saw the Father’s glory incarnated in Jesus. They saw His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14, NIV). Therefore I believe one of the ways the Bible defines love is love = grace + truth. Grace and truth are more than ideas, doctrines, and propositions that we need to know and understand. They are things that we are to live. Grace when it is lived out is how we respond to others, and truth when it is lived out is how we conduct ourselves toward others. Yesterday’s post, How It All Comes Together, showed how Jesus modeled that love for us. Today I want to talk about what Paul has to say about living a life of love in Romans 12:9-21.

Paul’s letters often follow a similar pattern. He begins with stating a problem or concern or point. In the case of Romans, that is stated in 1:17, For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

Then Paul addresses the point or concern biblically and theologically. For Romans, chapters 2-11 explores biblically and doctrinally why it is true and what it means that the righteous will live by faith.

He then concludes with practical application outlining how the biblical truths he has just explained should impact how we live. In Romans that starts with chapter 12 and goes through the first half of chapter 15. How do the righteous live by faith? Paul says in Romans 12:1-2 (NIV),

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The rest of chapter 12 is a fleshing out of what those two verses mean. Paul begins in verses 3-8 by saying that being living sacrifices for God means making use of our individual spiritual gifts for the good of the Body in humility; and in that humility we need to recognize the gifts God has given to each member and allow each member to freely use the gifts they were given.

In the next section, Romans 12:9-21 (NIV), Paul shows how as living sacrifices, love should be expressed to one another.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 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. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Notice that this passage does not really explain what love is, but talks about the fruit that love produces. He starts in verse 9 saying that love must be sincere. The Greek literally means “without hypocrisy.” Paul is saying your love needs to be genuine, the real thing, not some worldly counterfeit. He then gives six fruits that come from a genuinely divine love:

Spiritual love shows itself by hating what is evil and cling to what is good.
Spiritual love shows itself by a compassionate devotion to our Christian brothers and sisters. It is willing to share with people in need, rejoicing with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn, and being hospitable to one another.
Spiritual love shows itself through an attitude of humility, honoring one another above ourselves, and not discriminating against people of low position.
Spiritual love is accompanied by a zeal and spiritual fervor that rejoices in serving the Lord. It does so in times of hope and in times of suffering, and by being faithful in prayer.
Spiritual love is shown by a desire and a striving for peace with everyone.
Lastly, Spiritual love is shown by the goodness and grace which it shows to its enemies, remembering that it is God who will deal with carrying out judgment, not us.

Spiritual love is proved genuine by our actions. If you are living a life that is full of God’s grace and truth, it is going to show itself in your behavior. It is going to come out in what you say, how you act, and in how you respond to others.

It is going to show itself in how you conduct yourself in your relationships towards one another by incarnating God’s truth in goodness, righteousness, truthfulness, wisdom, and the fear of the Lord.

It is going to show itself in how you respond to others by incarnating God’s grace in humility, in confidence that you have because of God’s grace, in being a maker of peace, a giver of forgiveness, and in being thankful.

You cannot show these characteristics any other way than by acting them out in relationship with one another. As the Apostle John says in 1 John 3:18 (NIV), Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. Real love will show itself by its fruit. Love necessarily produces visible fruit.

Jesus makes this painfully clear in Matthew 7:16-23 (NIV). How will you recognize God’s people? He answers,

By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Jesus says the number one way to tell a genuine disciple is by what they do. Not by what they say. Not by their theology. By what they do. Anyone can talk the talk. Anyone can confess all the right things. Anyone can articulate good theology. But if what they do does not line up with what they say or claim to believe, Jesus says beware. If love is to be sincere, it will be seen in our actions.

Our actions show whether we are controlled by the sinful nature or by God’s Spirit. Paul says in Galatians 5:16-26 (NIV) that the difference in behavior is obvious.

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self–control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

The number one thing the Scripture tell us to look for to gain assurance that God loves us is that we are giving out that same love He is giving us in our relationships. God gives us His love so that we can live a life of love. If our love is sincere, it will prove itself by its actions.

Tomorrow I will finish wrapping it all up. I promise! =)