Marks of the True Christian (Romans 12:8-13)

As we look at the list of attitudes that Paul mentions in this passage we can make several comments. First, we need to remind ourselves that before a person can have these attitudes he must possess divine enablement and in order to have it he has to be converted. Without this change of heart, he cannot begin to live the Christian life.

Second, we can see that the list is comprehensive in that it contains features that will be expressed in all kinds of ways. For example, there are attitudes towards those inside the church and those outside the church, so we could say that the list contains details that will affect our worship and our witness.

Third, inevitably the list looks very challenging. Nevertheless we need to remind ourselves that Paul here is describing normal Christianity. He is not presenting a target that is out of reach, even although it will never be done to perfection. So we should look at them and say, ‘This is what God wants me to do.’ We could regard the various items as part of a prayer list that we could all engage in on a daily basis.

Fourth, it is obvious from the list that here we have a call to consistency because the various items in the list are not to be regarded as occasional. Instead they are permanent features that should mark us if we are Christians. Unless we have these features, we cannot say that we are genuine believers.

Genuine love

The items on the list are connected to our feelings as well as to our actions. I would suggest that the first item mentioned ‘genuine love’ is intended to cover all the rest – the phrase does not have a verb in the original text, so it is possible to read the words as a title of the passage because they would be indicating that the subsequent commands are connected to it. Paul speaks of Christian love frequently, with the best known being the passage in 1 Corinthians 13. But I think that we have a parallel passage here, one that mentions Christian aspirations and activities that reveal the existence of genuine love.

We know that the theme of love is a very common one and it interests all kinds of people. Love can be expressed in a huge variety of ways and on a wide range of levels. The Bible tells us that God is love and Jesus taught his disciples that they should love God and love their neighbours. Is there a difference between Christian love and other forms of love?

I suppose we should ask ourselves what a lack of genuine spiritual love would look like. One way to answer the question would be to consider Judas, one of the original band of twelve disciples. It is likely that he was drawn towards Jesus because he imagined that Jesus would somehow deliver the Israelites from the power of the Romans. If that was what motivated Judas, then we can see that a love that is only concerned with the issues of this world is not genuine spiritual love. Another individual who shows this sad reality is Demas who is described by Paul as having departed from the faith because he loved this present world. It was not that Demas had no affections. Indeed his affections were active. The problem was that his focus revealed that he did not possess genuine spiritual love.

The word that is translated ‘genuine’ is taken from the practice of actors who wore different masks depending on what role they were playing. For example, if they were acting out a comic role, they would wear a mask that indicated that is what they were doing. The obvious thing about such a mask is that it all depended on the audience. It is also the case that the audience knew that the mask was indicating pretence. We know that it is easy for us to wear a mask in front of Christians and imagine that we are conning them. Maybe we should remember that it is easy for an audience to identify an actor!

Abhorring and clinging (v. 9)

The apostle begins his list with what we may regard as a negative element when he says that we are to abhor what is evil. Yet he is probably telling us that evil of any kind will prevent genuine love if it is not treated with the correct attitude. So how do we know what to abhor?

I would suggest that the answer to that question is not difficult. We should abhor all ways by which the Ten Commandments are broken. Virtually everything in life can be assessed by the Ten Commandments and we should have no difficulty in identifying things that are wrong and which we should detest. Of course, we should note that Paul expects the Romans to have a very strong attitude towards what is evil – such things are to be loathed. We cannot be indifferent about or only have a slight dislike for such things. Instead a person with strong love will detest things that are evil, whatever they are.

In contrast, the Christians are to cling to what is good. Good here is the practice of godly principles. In everyday life we hold on to what is valuable because someone is trying to steal it; or we hold on to something important because the wind is liable to blow it away. Today we are under pressure to call evil good and to let go of what is truly good. If we give it away easily, it means that we do not value them and are willing to let God's standards go.

Affection and appreciation (v. 10)

Paul calls his readers to live out the fact that they have been adopted into God's family. We know that there is something wrong with a family that does not practice love. Usually, in a family there will devotion to one another. How do Christians express this attitude? No doubt, many answers could be given to this question, but Paul here gives one way when he writes that they should ‘outdo one another in showing honour’. This would have been challenging to the free members of the congregation as far as their attitudes to other members of the congregation, who were slaves, was concerned. Yet, when we think about it, we can also see it would be a challenge for those slaves to do the same.

In fact, Paul here is requiring something revolutionary, which is to show honour to people whoever they are, whether rich or poor, free or slave, old or young, male or female. Of course, there would be specific ways of showing honour depending on the roles and gifts of an individual. Yet the clear message is given that the attitude of each Christian has to be one of showing honour to every other believer. It would be hard to have a church fight when that was the common attitude.

Ardent service  (v. 11)

It looks as if the three details mentioned in verse 11 are connected to our expressions of devotion to the Lord. Perhaps Paul is stressing that it is easy to lose our zeal. The danger that Christians face is the dampening effects of idleness. Of course, idleness is an expression of laziness, but it also includes the element of indifference. The way to maintain zeal is to ensure that we have fervency of spirit. Our inner lives are to be marked by energy that comes from the Holy Spirit. When that is present, there will be service of the Lord.

This means that it is possible for us to work out what is wrong if we do not have a burning desire to engage in serving Jesus. He only has one kind of servant and that is active servants whose inner lives are aflame for him. We can imagine a servant engaged in an errand for a master he loved. He would be marked by carefulness to detail, by determination to complete it, by gratitude in having the opportunity to serve him, and by delight as he fulfilled it. There would not be a problem with him understanding his own identity, nor would others have a problem in working out who he was.

Adverse situations (v. 12)

The next trio of attitudes are connected to situations of difficulty and we can easily imagine a wide set of such circumstances. When they come along, how should we respond? Paul mentions three outlooks that should be easily seen. The first is ‘rejoice in hope’. As we know the idea behind hope in the New Testament is not a form of wishful thinking. Instead hope is connected to what Christians will receive when Jesus returns. There is nothing in the whole universe that can prevent Christians from obtaining what God has promised will be theirs when that time comes.

Paul reminds believers that they need to engage in forward-thinking, using the Bible as a telescope that sees in the distance what is ahead for them. And the effect of such an activity is joy. Thinking of the eternal world and its blessing should be done with rejoicing. This is our inheritance, we should say to ourselves.

Having said that should be an attitude in times of trouble does not mean that we should become escapists. Instead we have to have a proper response to each difficulty as it happens, and this response is that of perseverance. The obvious danger in times of trouble is that we will be tempted to give up the faith. Many have done so before us, and there will be lots of pressure on us today not to be so assertive regarding our faith. How do we cope with that temptation in times when we may face troubles? Paul says that during such times we persevere. How fast can we persevere? There is only one speed and it is moment by moment.

In order for us to have this combination of rejoicing in the future and persevering in the present, we need to be praying continually. Prayer is basic to the Christian life, but prayer should be intelligent. While there are many aspects to prayer and lots of petitions we can pray, I would say that we need at the present time the two details that Paul mentions here. We need to get our joy from the future and not from the present, and we need to have strength to walk one step at a time through the mire that surrounds us. Such joy and strength are supernatural and come to us through the discipline of prayer. 

Alertness to others (v. 13)

The early church lived in a time when social security and hotels did not exist. Since they do exist in our time, does that mean we can ignore verse 13? Obviously, the answer is no. Paul mentions two areas of concern: one is participating in the needs of Christians, whether local or elsewhere, and the other is providing hospitality to Christians on the move, perhaps on business or serving an ecclesiastical role such as Paul himself engaged in as an apostle.

It is interesting that Paul expected these two areas to be provided by all Christians. One reason for doing so would be that once again they would be expressing the reality of the divine family relationship, that they understood the importance of brotherly love. We should keep in mind that the needs are not only physical or financial. We can imagine how something like loneliness or desire for company would need to be dealt with by Christians, whether the recipients were residents or visitors.

So here are five marks of genuine love and if we have them we will be Christlike, and that should be our incentive for having them. Paul mentions further marks in the next set of verses and we will consider them next time.