I was searching my computer for something I thought I had started working on and came across a handout I had prepared a few years ago for a teaching on Christian Virtues. My reading of the Church Fathers had a tremendous impact on my teaching and preaching causing me to be much more practical. I began to teach on and emphasize Christian Virtues. This handout was from Romans 12 and I provided a literal translation of verses 9-21. For this post, I backed up to verse 5 because even though the subject matter changes, his style is very similar. This is pretty much how it looks in Greek. You can see how terse the language is:
5 so the many one body are in Christ, and each one members of one another
6 having then different gifts according to the grace given to us, whether prophecy according to the proportion of faith
7 or ministry, in the ministering; or the teaching, in the teaching
8 or he who is exhorting, in the exhorting; he who shares in simplicity, he who leads in diligence, he who shows mercy in cheerfulness
(I know that verses 1-4 are powerful and I don’t mean to overlook them, I’m starting at verse 5 because the style is similar to verses 9-21.) There is only one body of Christ. We being many are one body in Christ – the many make one. Being many we have different gifts and these gifts are ours based on the grace given to us. We are all one body, so no one is better than another; yet we are all different and have received different grace and gifts for the benefit of the whole. He mentions seven spiritual gifts (a quick comparison to 1 Corinthians 12 reveals that this is not an exhaustive list). This is an interesting section, there is no verb, so we have to supply the action: “If your gift is prophecy, [then prophesy] according to the proportion of faith” and so on with all the gifts. It seems that his emphasis is, If you have a gift, then exercise it!
In 9-21 he mentions several virtues that Christians are to have and this is the section I wanted to emphasize. Again, this is terse and concise. They already know about all these virtues so he simply states how they should live them. I have kept the articles (the love, the evil etc) to highlight his emphasis. We have to supply words or phrases to make a full thought in English (Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good etc.) but I like the energy of the literal translation:
9 the love, sincere
the evil, abhorring
in the good, cleaving to
10 in the love of brethren, loving one another
in the honor, preferring one another
11 in the earnestness, not lazy
in the spirit, fervent
in the Lord, serving
12 in the hope, rejoicing
in the tribulation, enduring
in the prayer, persevering
13 in the needs of the saints, participating
the hospitality pursuing
14 bless those persecuting you
bless, and curse not
15 rejoice with those who rejoice
and weep with those who weep
16 have the same mind to one another
not minding the high
but associating with the low
don’t be wise by yourselves
17 to no one evil for evil giving
think to do good before all men
18 if possible, from yourselves, with all men be at peace
19 not avenging yourselves, beloved
21 do not be overcome by the evil
but overcome by the good, the evil
What a great passage! First, notice how rich the spiritual life of these early believers was. Paul offers no explanation of a spiritual gift or virtue. He expects that they know about prophecy and hospitality, either by previous instruction or more likely by experience. Second, how practical. After discussing great matters of doctrine – sin, justification, sanctification, Israel and the Gospel etc – he gets down to how to live the Christian life. What a rich life he lays out for the believer. This is the normal Christian life! And this is just chapter 12. Chapters 13, 14, and 15 are just as rich. We like to emphasize and dwell on doctrine (You need to believe the right way concerning justification and sanctification et al) and experience (Have you believed? Have you yielded? And the Holy Spirit!), but this is very important as well. What will my life look like if I have been justified by faith in Christ? If I have yielded my members as servants to righteousness? If I am walking in the Spirit? Well, a lot like chapter 12!
This is exciting. Practical. Convicting. I can lay this out and compare my life to it: Is this me? Wow! Is this me?? What do I do if it is not? I better fix it, because this is what a Christian looks like!
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