Romans 12 Clemency, Charismata, Character III

Romans 12 is largely controlled by the first two verses, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." I called this Clemency or the mercy of God. Next I looked at our reasonable worship through Charismata or the gifts. Today, the renewed mind and its impact on our character.

Romans 12:9-21 Character or Christian Virtues

9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

In 9-21 he mentions several virtues that Christians are to have. Once again, this is terse and concise. They already know about all these virtues, so he simply states how they should live them. Here is a literal translation of this passage. There no verbs until v 19, so 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.). I like the energy of the literal translation. I have kept the articles (the love, the evil etc) to highlight his emphasis:

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      rejoicing with those who rejoice
          and weeping 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

          but rather give place unto wrath: 

          for it is written, Vengeance is mine; 

         I will repay, saith the Lord.

21      do not be overcome by the evil

          but overcome by the good, the evil
 

I don’t really know what to add to this except, Amen. Let’s be doers of the word, and not hearers only.