Imagine deciding to eat healthy. When you go to the grocery store, you stay in the outside aisles, buying lots of fruit, fresh produce, and meat. It fits with your goal of taking care of your body. You are not a fanatic about it, but you want to be faithful and do a good job of maintaining your health.

But then you stop in the chip aisle. There are a few kinds of chips you really enjoy, and they’re on sale, so you grab them and throw them into the shopping cart. You figure, “I’m not going to eat them. I’m just putting them away in the closet.”

You take them home with the best intentions. You resolve not to touch them. But you know that if you buy food you like and take it home, you will eventually eat it. You will have made provision for unhealthy habits that you are trying to cut out of your life, and it will cause you to fail.

Eating chips is fine, of course, as an occasional treat. But you cannot pretend that you are not going to eat chips if you decide to buy them and stock them in your cupboard.

The same applies to sin.

In Romans 13:14, Paul gives us a two-part strategy for fighting sin. “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

First, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. This means living in light of our union with him. It means understanding who are in Jesus and living in light of that reality. Just as you put on clothes, put on Jesus every day and act like the person you are in him.

But the second part of the strategy is just as important: “Make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

This means refusing to plan, arrange, or create opportunities for sinful impulses to grow. It is not only about the choices we make in the moment of sin. It is also about dealing with the conditions that feed our destructive desires.

In other words, Paul is saying, do not just fight sin in the moment. Step back a little and refuse to set up the circumstances that would make sin possible.

The battle against sin does not only happen in the moment. It also happens when we avoid situations, circumstances, and opportunities that might lead us into sin.

We are used to preparing for almost everything. We prepare our clothes, our food, our vacations, and more. Paul is saying that whatever you do, do not prepare to sin. Instead, actively take steps to cut temptation out of your life. Deliberately arrange your life so that sinful desires are harder to satisfy. Avoid certain environments. Put a filter on your phone. Cancel that streaming service. Throw away those books. Cut out influences that tempt you toward sin.

Even if you are okay most of the time in these circumstances, if they leave you vulnerable some of the time, they are simply not worth it.

The battle against sin is not only fought at the moment of temptation. It is also fought at the moment of preparation. Just as you would not claim to eat healthily while stocking your pantry with chips, do not claim to be fighting sin while filling your life with opportunities to be tempted.

Make no provision. Deal with sin and with the possibility of sin before you are even tempted to sin. It is not the only strategy for fighting sin, but it is an important one that we cannot afford to ignore.

Big Idea: Love deeply, live urgently, and live in the light.

Sometimes the Christian life feels complicated. There’s so much to know, and there’s so much to do. Sometimes it feels like we’re surrounded by clutter and noise, and it’s hard to figure out what really matters.

If you ever feel like you’re trying to keep track of what matters most with all there is to know and all there is to do in the Christian life, today’s passage will help you. Three things matter most: love deeply, live urgently, and live in the light.

Love Deeply (13:8-10)

Verse 8 outlines the main obligation we have to everyone we meet: to people inside the church and people outside the church, to people we like and dislike, to our friends and to our enemies.

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

Paul’s just said we have one basic obligation to the government: to be subject to the authorities God has placed over us. After telling us what we owe the government, Paul gives the one obligation we owe everyone: love.

We need to understand the first part of the verse. It doesn’t forbid debt altogether. You could literally translate it as, “Let no debt remain outstanding.” The first half of the verse doesn't forbid debt. It means never leave a debt unpaid.

But there’s one debt you’ll never be able to repay others, and that’s the love that you owe to them. You’ll never be able to turn to someone you know and say, “You know what? I’ve done all the loving I need to do. I’m all paid up now.” You will always owe everyone you meet a debt of love. Love is your highest and most permanent obligation that you owe to everyone.

And here’s the thing: Paul says twice, in verses 8 and 10, that love is the fulfillment of the law. In other words, the person who loves their neighbor has satisfied what the law demands. Love isn’t abstract. It’s not just a feeling. It’s very practical. Love is shown by how we keep the law in our interactions with each other.

We have a tendency to see the law as a bunch of negatives. Don’t do this, don’t do that. That’s because the law was given to us as a set of commands of what not to do. But the purpose of these negatives is positive. The purpose is to show us how to love each other.

This is what Paul explains in verses 9 and 10:

For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Paul lists five commandments from the Ten Commandments. He explains the purpose of each of these commands. They are ways to love others. Love refuses to do what will harm others.

• Adultery devastates lives, families, and the fabric of society. Not committing adultery is a way to love your neighbor.
• Murder is taking someone’s life. If we are called to love others, we certainly will not murder another person, even with our words.
• Stealing is taking what belongs to others. Stealing is outright theft, but it’s also stealing when we cut corners at work, engage in dishonest business practices, or exploit others. If we love others, we will respect the property rights of others, and we won’t take what isn’t ours.
• Coveting is an internal, hidden attitude of the heart that wants what God has not given. It makes us insensitive to the needs of others and jealous of others. If we loved others, we would want good things for them rather than wanting what they have. Love doesn’t covet what others have.

What do we owe everyone we meet? Love. How do we love others? By behaving rightly toward them. What does this look like? The Ten Commandments. As R.C. Sproul put it:

When the Bible says I am to love my neighbor, it means I am to be considerate to my neighbor. It has to do with action; what I say, what I do with my money, what I do with my body, what I do that may bring harm and injury to another person. I am to care about other people. Christians are to be the most caring, considerate, and neighborly people in the world.

What matters most? Love deeply. Secondly:

Live Urgently (13:11-12a)

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand.

Paul’s message: wake up! There’s an urgency to this passage. Paul has no time for a lazy, lethargic, non-aggressive, passive Christian life. That is an unacceptable way to live the Christian life. Paul wants to give us a sense of urgency, like an alarm clock that cannot be ignored.

In other words, we don’t have the option to live like our lives don’t matter. We can’t just live our lives wasting our time on things without eternal significance.

Don’t misunderstand what Paul is saying. Paul is not saying that you should obsess about the end times, although a lot of us probably should think about Jesus’ return more than we do. He’s not telling us to focus on the future; he’s telling us to focus on right now.

And here’s what he says about right now. Time is running out. Every day that passes is one day closer to the return of Jesus Christ. We live at a critical moment in salvation history; our Lord will soon return. Live as if Jesus could return at any moment. Your time is limited; it’s slipping away every moment. The need is great, and Jesus is coming back soon. There is much work to do. That gives us a sense of urgency for how we live our Christian lives. Don’t live your life as a sleepy Christian. Live with a sense of urgency.

If you knew you only had a short time to live, how would that change how you live? Here’s the reality: you do only have a short time to live. Knowing that brings clarity to our choices. It changes where we invest our time and money, and what we consider important. Your time here is limited; live by focusing on what matters most in the short time you have.

What matters most? Love others, and live urgently. But there’s one more thing Paul tells us.

Live in the Light (13:12b-14)

So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

If Jesus’ return really is coming soon, that should affect how we live today. Specifically, we should do two things: we should cast off the works of darkness, and we should put on the armor of light.

Put Off

What are the works of darkness we should put off? Paul mentions three pairs of sins that are the opposite of loving God and others. They are nighttime activities that have no place in the day that is dawning.

• Orgies and drunkenness. This is a picture of drunken individuals having a so-called good time. We’re to set aside this kind of behavior.
• Sexual Immorality and sensuality. This is to participate in the sexual immorality that’s all around us. Paul says this kind of behavior has no place in the Christian’s life, and we’re to put it off too.
• Quarreling and Jealousy. It’s not just partying and sexual immorality that are problems; it’s living as a quarrelsome and jealous individual.

This list of sins isn’t random. The combination of sexual sin, drinking, and parties was apparently common in the Greco-Roman world. This was everyday life in Rome. Paul was targeting the specific moral landscape his readers inhabited and reminded Christians that they’re called to live differently.

It makes me wonder what Paul would write to us today. What are the particular sins of Toronto that we’re called to cast off? What would he say about cannabis stores, sports betting, what’s on our streaming services, and the opportunities for immorality that are just a swipe away? Put them off, Paul says.

Put On

And then put on the armor of light. I think Paul describes what this means in verse 14: “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

This is one of the most profound verses for understanding how to live a godly life. It has two parts.

First, put on Christ. If you are a Christian, you have already put on Jesus Christ. You are united with Christ in his life, death, resurrection, and glorification. Your life is connected to his, so you receive all the benefits of salvation — grace, new life, being saved, eternal life, being made right, growing in holiness, and being glorified — as your own. You are joined to him. You have put him on already.

But now you need to live like that every day. One preacher (Ray Stedman) said:

When I get up in the morning I put on my clothes, intending them to be part of me all day, to go where I go and do what I do. They cover me and make me presentable to others. That is the purpose of clothes. In the same way, the apostle is saying to us, “Put on Jesus Christ when you get up in the morning. Make him a part of your life that day. Intend that he go with you everywhere you go, and that he act through you in everything you do. Call upon his resources. Live your life IN CHRIST.

Put on Christ. Live every day in ongoing communion with him. Don’t live a moment apart from him. Believer, it’s not enough to avoid sin; you have to replace sin with something better, and that something better is Christ.

This is so important! Paul doesn’t just tell us to strip off drunkenness, sexual sin, and jealousy and then stand there with nothing. This would leave a vacuum that’s ready to be filled by something else. Instead, Paul tells us to fill this vacuum with Christ. As Christ becomes more beautiful to us, the works of darkness lose their grip. We don’t simply resist them; we outgrow our appetite for them because we’ve found something better. Rules alone can’t hold back desire. A new affection can.

Put on Christ. And then make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. If you invited me to your house for a meal, you might ask what I like to eat. You might go to the store and buy ingredients for a meal, so that when I came over, you would have food ready to serve me. That’s making provisions for having somebody over to your house, and that’s a good thing.

But Paul says: don’t do this for sin. As Tony Merida says:

To “make no provision for the flesh” means to say no to any thought that may lead you to sin; avoid even the desire for it. Do not plan to sin. Do not daydream about sin. Do not seek comfort in sin. Do not flirt with sin. Specifically, in light of this passage, do not entertain the idea that a wild night of drunkenness and partying will cure your loneliness, sadness, or boredom. As a married person, do not entertain the idea that committing adultery will satisfy your unfulfilled romantic desires. As a person frustrated with your current situation, do not entertain the thought of growing jealous of others. As a bitter person, do not begin quarreling with others.
Make no provision for the flesh. Instead, direct your mind to the promises of God in Scripture. Direct your mind to the beauty of Christ!

Figure out how sin usually enters your life, and deliberately structure your life to avoid temptation. Structure your life so it’s hard for sin to get in.

This is what’s important. This is what matters most. Love deeply, live urgently, and live in the light.

If we’re honest, that can feel like a lot. Some of us feel like we haven’t paid the debt of love we owe to others. We have been sleepy when we should have been awake. We’ve made provision for the flesh more times than we’d like to admit.

One person has lived these words perfectly. He has paid the debt of love in full. He has never sinned. He went to the cross and paid a debt that belonged to us. He owed nothing, and yet he paid everything.

In 386, a man in his early 30s was struggling with sin. He believed the truths of the gospel, but he still struggled with sin. One day, he sat in his garden and cried out to God: “How long, O Lord? Why not now? Why not this hour an end to my uncleanness?"

Suddenly, he heard a child’s voice, possibly from next door: “Take up and read!” He took this as a sign from God. He opened his Bible, and he read these verses that mentioned the very sins he struggled with most.

He writes of what happened at that exact moment:

I neither wished nor needed to read further. For immediately at the end of this sentence, by a light as it were of serenity infused into my heart, all the darkness of doubt vanished away.

This passage named his sin; it gave him the alternative (Christ); it woke him up.

That man’s name was Augustine, who became a North African pastor and one of the most influential thinkers in Christian history. What a picture of grace. He had spent years trying to become virtuous. And yet his transformation did not come from himself; it came as he surrendered his self-reliance and looked to Jesus Christ.

You can do the same today. What matters most? Love deeply, live urgently, and live in the light.

Curated links for your weekend reading:

Sexual Intimacy in Marriage: Should You Schedule Time for Sex?

But what priority should Andrew and Lisa give to sexual intimacy in their marriage?

7 Keys for Thriving in Lifelong Ministry

If we want to avoid the all-too-common pitfalls of burnout, scandal, and disillusionment, we must follow seven keys to pastoral perseverance rooted in Scripture and biblical wisdom.

The Power of Life and Death: Four Kinds of Speech

Upon reflection, I’ve become convinced that all our speech, every word uttered, every conversation basically belongs in one of four categories.

New Bible Translation Removes "Begotten", Omits Lord's Prayer Doxology, Questions Trinity, Doubts Virgin Birth

Concerns are mounting about a new Bible translation being smuggled into Scotland, that has been produced on the continent by a Mr William Tyndale.

Four Things for Small Churches to Remember

It is very easy to look at other bigger, apparently more successful churches and think that is what most people’s ministry looks like.

Reformed Doesn’t Mean Robotic: A Case for Expressive Worship

Over time, I began to assume that theological maturity required physical restraint.

My column at The Gospel Coalition Canada: Sin’s Hidden Cost

Either way, the message is clear: sin costs.

I read quite a few predictions of doom over the weekend, including some from self-professed tech optimists. Supposedly, some infrastructure in the United States is under attack. The idea is that AI is becoming too powerful and will overwhelm whatever safeguards we have in place to protect things like our water systems and electricity.

The proposed solution is to prepare for the disaster by buying generators, solar panels for generators, and stockpiling water and other basic supplies. However, the authors acknowledge that there is little we can do to truly protect ourselves from the danger.

Are the threats real? I do not know. But I do know that Christians do not need to worry for two reasons.

We’ve Been Here Before

No, we have not seen a tech apocalypse. But if you read the history of Israel and the prophets, you realize that God’s people have often been on the brink of disaster.

One of the main themes of Isaiah is this: when it looks like your world is falling apart and your security is very much in question, whom will you trust? Isaiah’s audience panicked and failed this test because they refused to trust the Lord. But Isaiah’s answer is clear: the Lord is our only confidence. We can never create our own self-salvation strategies. The only realistic solution is to trust in God.

International unrest? Imminent threats? The collapse of prosperity and stability? God’s people have faced these dangers before, and God has shown us where to turn.

God Is Strong Enough for the Worst We Will Ever Face

Engineers design structures to withstand more forces than they’re expected to face. They don’t build them for normal stresses; they build them for disasters that may never come. Still, there’s a limit to what these structures can handle.

God cannot only handle all the stresses of the world, but he can handle the complete collapse of the world, and he will never fail.

God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
(Psalm 46:1-3)

The Psalmist imagines the worst that could happen to the world, — the earth collapsing, mountains falling to the sea, waters churning — and then places his confident hope in God. When everything that we thought was stable collapses, we can reassure ourselves that God remains stable and available to us as a refuge.

I have been thinking a lot about this lately. The world is very much in turmoil. I have been alive a long time now, and it has been a while since I have seen this level of alarm about world events and the impending collapse of civilization. I have lived a good part of my life through a relatively peaceful time that no longer exists.

But we do not need to fear. We have been here before, and no matter what happens, we have a confident hope. Therefore, we do not have to be afraid.

Big Idea: Submit to imperfect governments by paying taxes and showing honor, because God appointed them, they serve our good, and our conscience requires it.

There are plenty of reasons to struggle with the government. Taxes, for one. The average Canadian family works from January until early June just to pay its taxes for the year. There are numerous issues: disagreements over policies, distrust from broken promises, government overreach, and a belief that our votes don’t matter. Sometimes it’s hard to find anyone you like on the ballot, and if you do, they usually don’t get elected. It’s hard not to feel disillusioned with the government.

This is why Romans 13:1 hits so hard: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.”

One commentator (J. C. O’Neill ) writes, “These seven verses have caused more unhappiness and misery in the Christian East and West than any other seven verses in the New Testament.” That’s probably not true, but they have caused confusion and controversy. Many of us have lived through it.

This passage would have been no less shocking when Paul wrote it. Paul probably wrote this letter in the good years of Nero’s reign. But even in these good years, Rome was filled with unrest because of taxation and governance. Just years earlier, many of the Jewish believers who read this letter had been expelled from Rome. They would have experienced insult, abuse, and loss of property. Violence against lower classes and enslaved persons remained common.

So it’s not like this command was easy then and is difficult now. What Paul wrote was hard then, and it continues to be hard for us today.

What God Commands (13:1, 5)

Let’s take a closer look at the command itself. Again, here it is: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.”

Notice a few things. Paul says, “every person.” This is a command to all the believers in Rome. This applies to everyone: with no exceptions, not even for heavenly citizens.

Here’s the command that every person should take: they are to be subject. This is more than outward obedience. It has the idea of ordering yourself under an authority; to take a posture of alignment with governing powers rather than resistance to them. It means cooperation and respect even when we feel tension with those in authority over us, even when we disagree with the actions they are taking.

It’s important to note that this does not mean absolute submission and unquestioned obedience. There are legitimate reasons not to obey or submit to the government. There are times when civil disobedience is not only appropriate but required in order to be faithful to Jesus. As Peter said in Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than men.”

However, those times are few and far between. They are not the norm for the believer. When government exceeds the limits of its jurisdiction, we may disobey, but then we must do so respectfully and be prepared to face the consequences. And it can never be simply because we have a problem with the idea of government authority. Unless God’s commands conflict with civil authority’s demands, be subject to the governing authorities.

If we didn’t get the point, Paul repeats the instruction in verse 5: “Therefore one must be in subjection…”

Why We Submit (13:1b-5)

Many of us are going to struggle with this, so it’s important to see why Paul says what he does. Note that Paul does not argue that we must submit to government authority because all government authorities are good. They’re not.

Paul had already lived under two notoriously bad emperors. Paul had already lived under rulers who gave him little reason to trust Rome. Caligula ruled from AD 37 to 41. He was cruel and unpredictable. He dressed like a goddess and wanted people to worship him. He also ordered his statue to be put in the Jerusalem temple. Claudius, his successor, presided over a court of executions and expelled the Jews from Rome, uprooting believers like Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:2). As Paul wrote this letter, Nero was in the good phase of his government, but there were already problems. And it would get worse. The dark Nero came just a bit later. Within a few years of Paul writing these instructions, Nero had his mother murdered and launched the first imperial persecution against Christians, including Paul. This command is not conditional upon the worthiness of the government authorities.

Paul was not living under a democracy but under an authoritarian, totalitarian regime. His society knew nothing of inalienable rights or religious freedom. Paul lived in an age when many emperors dared to claim deity. These were not the best leaders. And yet Paul says to submit to governing authorities, even when they are far from perfect. Their godliness or ungodliness is not the determining factor.

Why be subject to governing authorities? Three reasons, according to Paul.

Because their authority comes from God (13:1b-2)

If the source of Nero’s authority came from Nero, we could say, “We don’t like your authority, Nero. We’re going to opt out.” But government authority doesn’t come from the government itself. A government’s authority comes from God. Read verses 1b-2:

For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

The reason for submission is that governing authorities have been instituted by God. This is part of what theologians call God's common grace for the world. God has not left the world completely to itself. Government, like marriage, is designed and given by God for the good of humanity, even though no institution is perfect. The authority of governments comes from God. Every government serves at God’s pleasure.

This has two implications.

First, governments will have to answer to God. Their authority comes from God, and they will one day have to answer to God. God removes kings and sets up kings (Daniel 2:21). Jesus himself told Pilate, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.” This doesn’t mean that all government authorities use that authority well, but it does mean the source of their authority is ultimately God.

No ruler’s tenure is permanent or beyond divine judgment. Governmental authority is delegated, not absolute. Rulers answer to God for how they exercise power, and divine accountability transcends earthly tenure.

But there’s another implication that Paul mentions: if we resist government authority, we’re not just resisting them; we’re resisting God. Do you want to resist a particular government? I get it. Just remember that you’re not only resisting them; you’re also resisting God, because God is the source of their authority.

Be subject to governing authorities because their authority comes from God. There’s a second reason to be subject to governing authorities:

Because their role serves our good (13:3-4)

For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

Why did God establish government? Because government serves a particular purpose. Here is what government is supposed to do: to punish bad behavior and to encourage good behavior.

The primary goal of government is to preserve and protect human life. Leaders are supposed to punish evil and reward good to promote a just society. They are called "servants of God" or "ministers of God" who serve humanity. Friends, law and order is far better than anarchy and chaos. I am grateful for building codes, traffic laws, protection services, infrastructure, the justice system, and soldiers. We need good laws, civil and social order, and defense from enemies outside our country and evildoers within. We need them to establish, exercise, and maintain justice. John Calvin got it right: “Magistrates may learn from this the nature of their calling. They are not to rule on their own account, but for the public good. Nor do they have unbridled power, but power that is restricted to the welfare of their subjects.” That is God’s intent for government.

Governments do not always do this well. One day the sword of the government fell on someone who had done nothing wrong. Pilate, a governing authority, examined Jesus, found no fault in him, and sent him to the cross anyway. And yet God used even this for our salvation, so Christ could die the death we deserve so that we could become sons and daughters of God.

Paul knows that governments don’t always get it right. Sometimes they get it very wrong. But they are there for a reason: because God has placed them in a position of authority for the good of society and for our good.

Why be subject to governing authorities? Because their authority comes from God, and because their role serves our good. There’s one more reason to be subject to governing authorities:

Because our conscience requires it (13:5)

Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.

We will answer to God one day for how we obey this command. But even now, we should be subject for the sake of our consciences. Subjecting ourselves is right. Conscience is an internal awareness of whether one’s actions align with moral rightness. Paul wants believers to see that obeying the government is what God wants. We understand what is right, and we know that God set up the government to carry out his rules.

What should we do? Be subject to governing authorities. Why? Because their authority comes from God, because their role serves our good, and because our conscience requires it. There’s only one more question, and it’s an important one.

What This Looks Like (13:6-7)

Paul tells us exactly what this looks like.

For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Paul gives us two examples of what this looks like:

Pay taxes and customs

Pay them because you owe them. This mirrors Jesus’ teaching to render to Caesar what is Caesar’s (Mark 12:17). The authorities are ministers of God attending to the good of society. They need to be paid for their job.

Remember that Paul wrote this at a volatile time because of taxation. Special taxes became a hot topic in Rome when Paul wrote this letter. Noncitizen Jews who came back to Rome in or after AD 54 might have had to pay these taxes, while Roman citizens did not. There were so many taxes: a poll tax, land taxes, royalties on farm produce, and duties on imports and exports. Just like today.

He reframes tax payment as participation in God’s ordained governance instead of validating grievances about unfair taxation, arguing that taxes help the government fulfill its function.

Taxes paid for roads and government work, but they also helped Roman armies and temples for worshiping the emperor, which would have bothered Christians. Yet Paul insists that believers pay anyway.

Pay your parking. Don’t cheat on your taxes. Declare what you import. Pay what you owe to the government. Second:

Show respect and honor

This may be harder than paying taxes. “Pay… respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.”

During COVID, a lot of us were upset with the government. It was a time when it was really easy to mock government leaders and make fun of them. One day I heard a sermon from a friend on this verse, and it really challenged me. God does not call us to mock our leaders. He doesn’t call us to obey them grudgingly. He calls us to a posture of genuine regard for the office and the person holding it. We may disagree, but we may not treat them with contempt.

We could play a role here. Pray for your elected officials. Write a letter or email to a local official that leads with respect before disagreement. Don’t mock government leaders on social media, even when you’re really tempted. Show honor to those who serve God and society in this important role.

Let’s see if we can put this all together. Submit to imperfect governments by paying taxes and showing honor, because God appointed them, they serve our good, and our conscience requires it.

I told you this was a hard message. I don’t want to take away from anything Paul has said. But let me close with some good news.

Every Christian who has read and obeyed this passage has found it hard. But there will be a day when it won’t be hard, not just because our hearts will have changed, but also because the government will have changed. There is a day when we will not be part of the Dominion of Canada but the eternal dominion of the One who gave his life for us, and will rule us justly. On that day, we will not find it hard to submit to his Kingly authority.

Our hope is not a change of earthly government; it’s the coming of that King. Until then, we must follow the leaders God has put in charge, but our true loyalty is to Jesus. We show our respect for Him by respecting them.

Curated links for your weekend reading:

Why I Keep Taking My Mother To Church

In recent weeks and months, my husband, my mother and I have claimed the last pew of the sanctuary, given its proximity to the foyer where we park her walker.

How Can Heaven Be Better Than Earth If We Are Married On Earth But Unmarried In Heaven?

I don’t think we are the only ones who find it hard to take joy in Jesus’s words that “in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Matthew 22:30).

Resist the Voyeuristic Spirit of the Age

How should Christians respond to a mass-media environment where temptations to unedifying voyeurism are everywhere?

The True Voice of Aslan

The announcement that Greta Gerwig has cast Meryl Streep to provide the voice of Aslan in the upcoming film adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew has generated no small amount of controversy.

What Conversion Looks Like In Messy People (Like Me) - 9Marks

Mez McConnell points out that the fruit of conversion looks different in everyone’s life, particularly for those who come out of difficult, or “messy,” backgrounds.

Concupiscence: Are Our Unholy Desires Sinful?

Concupiscence is a word neither well known today nor well understood.

Learning From King David’s Midlife Failure

How could such a thing happen to a man who seemed to have it all together, who had successfully passed through the temptations of his younger years, who seemed to have everything a minister could want?

Letter To a Young Preacher

I found great joy in preaching God’s Word—even though Sundays seemed to come every three days.

Every Christian is caught in a battle with sin. Sometimes it feels like a losing battle. It is one that will continue for the rest of our lives until Jesus returns.

How do we fight sin? There are many answers, but Romans 13:14 gives us two actions we can take.

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ

If you are a believer, you are already in Jesus Christ. Your life is intertwined with his. His death has become your death. His resurrection has become your resurrection. His glorification has become your glorification. All the benefits of salvation are yours through Jesus Christ.

This is an objective reality. It is already true in your life if you truly are a believer in Jesus Christ.

But there is something you can and should do every day to live in light of this reality. Ray Stedman writes about what this looks like:

When I get up in the morning I put on my clothes, intending them to be part of me all day, to go where I go and do what I do. They cover me and make me presentable to others. That is the purpose of clothes. In the same way, the apostle is saying to us, “Put on Jesus Christ when you get up in the morning. Make him a part of your life that day. Intend that he go with you everywhere you go, and that he act through you in everything you do. Call upon his resources. Live your life IN CHRIST.

This is more profound than you might think. Sin leaves a vacuum. If we do not fill that vacuum with something good, it will be filled with sin. That is why the battle against sin is largely won not by focusing on sin, but by focusing on Christ and putting Him on in our lives. We do this so that Jesus becomes more beautiful and delightful to us than anything else.

Thomas Chalmers called this “the expulsive power of a new affection:”

The love of the world cannot be expunged by a mere demonstration of the world’s worthlessness. But may it not be supplanted by the love of that which is more worthy than itself?…
The only way to dispossess it of an old affection, is by the expulsive power of a new one.

The best way to kill sin is by the power of a superior pleasure. The place to begin in fighting sin is not to fight sin. It’s to begin by treasuring Jesus Christ and to live in communion with him.

Make No Provision for the Flesh

Imagine having someone over for dinner. You ask them if they have any food allergies or preferences. You go shopping, and before they arrive, you prepare a nice meal for them. This is called making provisions for friends, and it is a good thing. In fact, it is what you should do if you have company over.

But it is a bad thing when it comes to sin. You should prepare for friends coming over, but you should never make preparations for sin. Instead of preparing for sin, we should refuse to make any provision for it.

This means we need to learn how sin operates. We need to know how it reaches its tentacles into our bodies, hearts, and minds. Then we need to take proactive action to ensure there is nothing that makes sin welcome in our lives.

Before you’re tempted, take action to get rid of things that allow sin to pay a visit. Cancel the streaming service. Install filters on your computer. Avoid that person or situation. Refuse to make any provision for sin in your life.

We all struggle with sin and fight against it. Fighting sin takes two things: treasuring Christ more dearly and proactively refusing to make any provision for sin in our lives.

As you fight sin, replace it with a greater love. As you anticipate temptation, proactively take steps so that it has no room to introduce sin into your life. These are two effective ways we can continue to fight the temptations we will inevitably face.

Curated links for your weekend reading:

AI Makes Sermon Prep Effortless. That’s the Problem.

Any time you ask AI to replace essential study and prayer, you’ll deprive both yourself and your hearers of what’s necessary for faithful and effective preaching.

Exercising Dominion After Generative Artificial Intelligence

Rightly contained, AI can aid humans in exercising dominion.

In a World of More, We Need a Theology of Enough

The goalposts never stop moving.

Jesus Frees You from the Comparison Trap

When our hearts reach for worth apart from Christ, we grasp only the destructive whirlwind of our own worldly efforts.

Calibrate Your Conscience

The conscience protects us and keeps us away from sin.

What Is Happening in the Biblical Counseling Movement?

What has been unfolding within the biblical counseling movement amounts to a grassroots conflict over the identity and discipline of biblical counseling.

My post at Gospel for Life: You Don’t Have to Read Your Bible

When we approach our time with God out of hunger, desire, and delight, and a sense of privilege that we get to spend time with God, something shifts.

For the past couple of months, I’ve been reading Bill Bryson’s book, A Short History of Nearly Everything. I didn’t know what to expect when I started reading it, but it covers a wide range of scientific topics: astronomy, geology, dinosaurs and fossils, the periodic table, physics (relativity, the atom, quantum mechanics), genetics, the origin of life, and more. I’m reading the original version; I just noticed that an updated edition just came out.

In every topic Bryson covers, it goes something like this: the world is amazing. We understand only a small part of it, and what we do understand is so unbelievable that it almost defies explanation. All of this shouldn’t exist and shouldn’t be so amazing, but it does exist and it boggles the mind.

For example, here’s what I read last night:

The bottom line is that life is amazing and gratifying, perhaps even miraculous… To be sure, many of the details of life’s beginnings remain pretty imponderable.

And so it goes with almost every topic. Bryson stands amazed at it all: that you exist at all, that space is so vast and atoms are so small; that the earth is so well suited to life; that our cells are so unbelievably complex; that despite our scientific advances, we still understand so little.

Near the end, he expresses amazement not only that all of this exists, but that we may be the only creatures capable of understanding it enough to be amazed by all of it.

Bryson does not write this book as a believer. Yet, as I read it, I find it to be one of the most worshipful books I have ever read. The point of the book is simple: this world is amazing, impossibly amazing. What we experience every day defies explanation. As I read this book, I often feel myself thinking of the words of the psalmist:

O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all…
(Psalm 104:24)

If we opened our eyes, we would be filled with wonder and praise. Rather than thinking that science explains everything, science opens our eyes to how much we do not understand.

I do not get through many pages each night before I fall asleep, but I have found it to be a very enjoyable way to end my day. So often, I am only aware of the ordinariness of life, the day-by-day existence in a difficult and sometimes grey world. This book, written by an unbeliever, has become a way for me to awaken to the wonder around me and to praise the Creator behind everything he has made. The world truly is amazing. God has given us so much.

If you want a book that will awaken your wonder at the beauty of what God has created, I highly recommend this book. Even if you’re not into science, and even if you don't agree with everything he writes, it will introduce you to some fascinating topics that will entertain and amaze you. I think it will lead you into worship too.

Big Idea: When faith brings hostility, bless, pursue peace, and leave justice to God.

Imagine someone taking a real dislike to you at work. You try to be a good coworker: friendly, competent, and kind. You don’t preach, but you’ve set some boundaries. You don’t join in when coworkers trash others. You excuse yourself when jokes get crude. When someone asks what you did over the weekend, you casually mention that you went to church. You quietly pray over your lunch sometimes without drawing much attention to yourself.

But one of your coworkers just doesn’t like you. At first it’s subtle. You first noticed this when you saw him smirking as you were saying something in a meeting. But it’s been other things. You heard him calling you a saint to a coworker, and he didn’t mean it in a good way. He takes little digs at you in meetings for being better than everyone else. After a while, you start to notice that others are starting to treat you differently too, including your boss.

It’s hard. You often find yourself going home feeling misunderstood and angry. You want to retaliate. You want to expose him. You want to turn the room against him the way he just turned the room against you. You start composing the speech in your head that will show everyone who he is. Or you consider going quiet and cold, keeping things “professional,” but letting him feel the distance. You can almost taste the satisfaction.

What should you do? Paul tells you in this passage: When faith brings hostility, bless, pursue peace, and leave justice to God.

The Problem You Can Expect to Face

We’re in the practical section of the book of Romans. For 11 chapters, Paul has been explaining the gospel in all of its fullness. Now, Paul is explaining how the gospel changes how we live, and for the first time, Paul talks about our relationship with people outside of the faith.

Here’s the assumption he makes: you will face persecution. Believers must expect animosity and opposition from those who do not believe. Rather than treating opposition as abnormal, Paul treats it as a normal consequence of living differently from the surrounding culture.

Christian: you will endure tribulation. You will be persecuted. People will do evil to you. Some will treat you as an enemy. No matter how hard you try, there are some people with whom it is impossible to make peace.

You probably won’t end up in prison because of your faith in Christ. When people learn you are a Christian, or when you have different views on sexuality, marriage, forgiveness, or truth, you might be called “one of those Christians.” You may become the butt of jokes and stereotypes.

A gospel-shaped life will eventually feel strange to a world running on a very different set of values and beliefs. And when that friction comes, Romans 12 gives us three actions we should take in response.

Three Actions

In verses 14 to 21, Paul gives a set of commands that are fairly loosely structured. Some have to do with our relationship in the world; some have to do with our relationships in the church. This week we’re going to cover what Paul says about relating to people in the world, especially those who are hostile.

Here’s what to do when you face opposition from unbelievers. Three things.

Bless Persecutors (12:14)

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. (Romans 12:14)

When someone mistreats you or bullies you, it’s tempting to respond in kind. That’s what comes naturally to us. We respond to goodness with goodness, love with love, hostility with hostility.

But Paul says something else. He says that we should respond in a completely unnatural way and wish them well with kind words instead. Respond with love to those who hate us and with goodness to those who do evil to us.

The word “bless” means to speak well of. He doesn’t just tell us to avoid negative actions toward those who mistreat us; he tells us to take the positive step of blessing them. Pray for them by name at night. Send a kind email. Speak a word of genuine affirmation about them in a meeting.

This goes completely against the way we normally operate. Paul calls us to react in a completely different way than how the world operates, a completely different way than we normally would. It reminds us of the instructions that Jesus gave:

You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48)

Our motive, according to both Paul and Jesus, isn’t to treat others the way that they treat us. Our motive is to seek everyone’s good no matter how they treat us. Think about your worst enemy. What do you want to happen to them? You should want God to bless them so they come to know Jesus too. If this is what you want God to do for them, what should you do to them? You should bless them too. Seek everyone’s good, even the good of your enemies.

This is what the first Christian martyr, Stephen, did. As they killed him, he prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). It’s not only how Stephen acted; it’s how Jesus acted to us. God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

How should we respond when people mistreat us? Bless them. God’s love empowers us to seek the good of even our worst enemies. When we remember how Jesus loved the very people who crucified him, as well as those whose sins put him on the cross, we’ll seek their good rather than seeking revenge.

Instead of cursing those who persecute you, bless them.

But that’s not all. Here’s the second action Paul gives us when responding to hostile unbelievers:

Live Peaceably (12:17-18)

We’re going to get back to verses 15 and 16 next week, because they deal with our relationships within the church. But look at what Paul says about how we should act in the world in verses 17 and 18:

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Paul repeats what he’s already said: repay no one evil for evil. Now he adds another layer: give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. Notice what Paul says: “give thought.” This won’t happen by accident. Paul is asking us to do some proactive planning. Just like you would study for an exam or prepare for a presentation, give some thought about how you can act in a way that unbelievers would consider honorable. Plan words that will heal instead of wound, actions that will bless rather than put people down. Your public behavior should be above criticism, even by people who don’t know Jesus.

Then Paul says to do everything you can to avoid conflict. In other words, one of the marks of a Christian is “a winsome and friendly spirit that delights in peace and harmony, not arguments and division” (Thomas Schreiner). Paul calls us to move towards others, not away from them. Of course, sometimes others will have a problem with you, but we should aim to live in such a way that we’re not picking fights with others. Christians should be easy to get along with.

This takes careful thought in a hostile world. How can you be a student, a coworker, a neighbor who is known to be a good person who’s easy to get along with? Aim to be a dependable, honorable, low-maintenance person in your relationship with unbelievers.

What should you do when you face opposition from unbelievers? Bless them, and live as peaceably as you can. There’s one more step you can take:

Trust God (12:19-21)

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

There’s only one way we can do this, and it’s to stop trying to get justice for ourselves, and we trust God with justice instead.

If we make it our job to avenge ourselves when we’re wronged, we end up in big trouble. We take on a job only God can do. Because we possess limited information and understanding, and because our personal wounds cloud our judgment, we inevitably get it wrong. Not only that, but we become enslaved to bitterness, obsessed with getting what is right. We end up in danger of ungodly anger.

The alternative: surrendering the outcome to God’s perfect justice rather than corrupting it through our own wounded hands. He sees everything. His justice never fails and never errs—unlike fallible humans. God knows all things, sees all things, and has all power. He is a perfectly just God, who will not ultimately allow evil to go unpunished. We can therefore trust him to avenge any evil that people may do to us. We are to “leave room for God’s wrath.” If we try to exact revenge ourselves, we transgress onto territory that God has reserved for himself.

So trust God. He will do a better job of dispensing justice than you will. In the meantime, do good to those who hurt you. The result is that you will heap burning coals on their heads. By this, it seems that Paul is saying that your kind response may produce shame and conviction in the heart of the wrongdoer, potentially leading them to conversion.

Verse 21 wraps it up. The way to respond to evil is not with evil. That never works. The way to respond to evil is with good. How do you conquer evil in the world? By doing what Paul says here: bless persecutors, live peaceably, trust God. It’s the only effective way to respond to evil in the world.

When someone treats us poorly, it’s easy to respond the same way. They go to war; we go to war. That feels natural, but it’s not the way of Jesus.

What did Jesus do? When people rebelled, he didn’t rush to destroy them. When Adam sinned, God promised a Savior. And when we were still sinners, Jesus didn’t come to condemn us; he came to save us.

When he was insulted, he didn’t insult back. When he suffered, he didn’t threaten. He trusted the Father, who judges justly. And through his death and resurrection, he overcame evil with good, defeating sin and death and offering us forgiveness and life.

Now we get to follow his example.

When following Jesus brings hostility, don’t fight back. Bless your persecutors, pursue peace, and trust God, overcoming evil with good. That’s how he calls us to live in a hostile world.

Curated links for your weekend reading:

The Ineffectiveness Of AI Preaching

Preachers will be drawn to AI as Gollum is drawn to the Ring.

AI Beats Us At Our Own Game

If the robots are beating us at our own game, it’s only because we’ve been playing the wrong one.

Why Translation Must Have Fingerprints

For some, TFR is an obvious win: People can read obscure texts (for free), most of which were previously only in other languages.

We Must Commit To The Functional Centrality Of The Gospel

We need the gospel to do its work.

God Is More Happy Than Harsh

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us,” wrote A.W. Tozer in the opening lines of his classic The Knowledge of the Holy.

No One Will Remember You In 100 Years

I have good news for you: no one will remember you in a hundred years.

What Makes Preaching Good?

Preaching remains central to the life of the church.

My column at TGC Canada: Giving Away Our Best For The Kingdom

Just over three years into pastoring Knollwood Baptist Church in London, Ontario, Nate Klahsen was ready to leave ministry altogether.

One of the hardest parts of being a pastor is the growing list of hurts you will experience.

Most pastors begin ministry with a lot of hope. They have dreams about what it will be like to pastor, the lives that will change, and the things they will see God do. But eventually, every pastor faces the hard parts of ministry: criticism, people who are disappointed, unmet expectations, broken relationships, and people leaving the church.

Brandon Cox, a pastor in northwest Arkansas, observed that pastors lose 5–7 significant relationships per year, compared with 5–7 over a lifetime for most people. I don’t think this observation is based on any scientific studies, but at least one other pastor writes, “That has 100% been my experience.”

Archibald Hart observed:

The multiplicity of people they minister to invariably creates a multitude of hurts. The pastor is open to being criticized, offended, and hurt by every one. The more people a person is responsible for, the greater is the potential for hurt.

I am not saying that pastors have it harder than everyone else. In fact, pastoring is a privilege. But it comes with unique pressures, and being hurt is one of them.

How do we deal with the accumulation of pain?

Expect It

I think many pastors could read 2 Corinthians and 2 Timothy more often to get a clearer picture of what ministry is really like. Do not have unrealistic expectations. You can be the best pastor, which you probably will not be, and you will still experience criticism and lose friendships. As a general rule, 10% of people won’t like anything you do. It will hurt. It happened to Paul, and it will happen to you as well. Expect it.

Live in the Psalms

Many of us are not good at naming our emotions or knowing what to do with them. The Psalms give us language for bringing our hurts to God. John Calvin called the Psalms "an anatomy of all the parts of the soul." Every human emotion is represented in the Psalms, providing a God-given vocabulary for our inner experience. He said, “There's not an emotion of which anyone can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror."

I recently heard Jason Kovacs say that he reads several Psalms every day and then finds a couple of verses he wants to meditate on. He journals about them and thinks about how they apply to his life and his soul. It is a good practice for anyone, and especially for pastors who need to learn how to manage the disappointment and hurt they will inevitably face.

Live in the Psalms. Mine them for truth, but also for ways to bring your anxiety, discouragement, and grief to God. The Psalms are a gift that will help us understand the full range of human emotions and handle them faithfully.

Lead With Others

One of the best ways I know to manage what is hard in ministry is to share it with others. If you do not have a plurality of elders serving with you, you do not know what you are missing. It is such a privilege to share these burdens and concerns with others who understand, and to support them as well.

Forgive

In the end, we need to forgive. Forgiveness helps us fight bitterness. A refusal to forgive is a serious failure in our obedience. We must forgive.

One of the things that can hurt a pastor most, and cripple a pastor’s ministry most, is a refusal to forgive. It is going to happen. We are going to be disappointed. We are going to be hurt. The accumulation of these hurts will take a toll.

Pastor, you will get hurt. But you can’t let those hurts accumulate without dealing with them in a healthy way. For God’s sake, learn how to handle disappointment so you can cling to the Lord and fulfill your ministry.

Keep serving. Fight cynicism. Work at staying healthy. Ask God and others for help. Love others with genuine love and serve the Lord faithfully despite the many disappointments you will inevitably face.

Curated links for your weekend reading:

Reflections On 20 Years Of Blogging

Just a month after that discouraging turn of events, I decided not to wait for an outlet.

Where Have All the Funerals Gone?

Today, funerals are starting to feel like weddings of old, with clergy needing to bring Jesus to an otherwise secular affair.

Give Up Your Ladders To Nowhere

Ladders to nowhere are ladders to death.

Don't Burn Out the Best

Most volunteers don’t burn out because they’re doing too much.

The Case Against Video Preaching

Every Sunday across America significant portions of Christians show up to a church gathering only to receive the preaching of God’s word via a disembodied pastor on a screen.

The More You Use AI, The More You’ll Be Replaced By It

A thought I’ve been noodling on lately is how the more we use AI, the more likely we are to be replaced by it.

AI Promises Intimacy But Delivers Isolation

Turkle’s main concern is relational deskilling—we’re forgetting how to talk to each other.

Dear Writer, Please Stop Writing

Dear Writer, Please Stop Writing or, trying to make sense of this world.

A couple of thoughts have come together that helped me recently. They have given me insight into how we need to think about discipleship in our particular time and context.

First, Romans 12:2. We’re familiar with it. It says, “Do not be conformed to this world.” When Paul says “world,” he’s talking about our present age. Each age has a set of perspectives, values, priorities, logic, rationality, and behaviors that seem normal. We will adopt them we will unless we take deliberate action to resist them. The problem is that these ways of thinking are so familiar to us that we don’t even know they’re shaping us. We often simply absorb the beliefs and values of our day and make them our own without even realizing it. Paul warns us against doing this, but it takes deliberate action to identify these beliefs and values and to resist them.

What is interesting about this passage is that the beliefs and values of our age will differ from those in other places and times. I live in Canada in 2026, which is very different from other places and even from my own place not so long ago. This means I need to be able to identify and resist the values and thought patterns that are likely to shape me in Toronto in 2026. I need to understand how they are forming me to think in ways that draw me from the way God wants me to think.

I was already thinking about this when I interviewed Jen Pollock Michel about her excellent new book A Rule for the Rest of Us (see my review). Jen used to live in Toronto and has since moved to Cincinnati. I asked her what she would say to those of us who continue to live in Toronto about how to live faithfully here. I did not know how she would answer, but her response was perceptive and incredibly helpful.

Jen said that living in Toronto presents specific challenges because the city’s structure is designed to keep people busy, lonely, and time-pressured. To live in Toronto is to feel like you can’t keep up and that you’re failing. Jen suggested that we take intentional steps to combat this: acknowledge our limits, create disciplines that fit our context, and prioritize community through eating meals, praying, taking walks, and worshiping together with others.

In other words, Jen spoke as someone who knows Toronto — she lived here for 11 years — but now lives somewhere else, and is able to speak to the ways that we’re tempted to conform to our present age. She gave us some tips on how to refuse conformity to the Toronto way of thinking.

Meditating on Romans 12:1–2 and then hearing Jen speak a few days later was so helpful for me. What do I need in order to follow God faithfully? I need to be aware of the ways the world is shaping me and refuse to be conformed to what will keep me from serving God faithfully.

In my context, that means being careful about the ways I am tempted to live an overly busy life, one in which I never measure up to the world’s standards. Instead, I need to be defined by the practices God has prescribed for my life and by the identity he has given me through his Son.

This has given me a lot to think about, and I am grateful that God, in his providence, brought these two things together so that I could consider how to apply them to my soul.

Big Idea: Because of what God has done for us in Jesus, God calls us to a genuine, costly love for one another.

I thought we were done with the hard part of Romans. We’ve been through some of the deepest doctrine. We’ve dealt with some of the thorniest theological issues. But that’s not the hard part of Romans; the part we’re in now is the hard part.

In Romans 1 to 11, it’s all about what God has done. In the first 11 chapters, there are exactly six commands in just two passages. Just six commands in 315 verses. Romans 1 to 11 isn’t about what we must do; it’s about what God has done for us in Jesus.

But now all that changes. In Romans 12, Paul opens up the floodgates with a flood of imperatives and tells us how we must live in response to the gospel.

The passage we’re looking at today is short, but it contains 13 different commands. Paul has shifted from telling us about what God has done, and he’s now telling us what we must do because of what God has done.

So we’re going to get practical in this passage. But it’s hard because this just looks like a shopping list of commands. Not only that, but these commands are hard to obey. And yet what we have here in this passage is the very heart of Christianity. This is what it means to live the Christian life.

The Foundational Principle

In the original, verses 9-13 are one, long sentence with one overarching idea. First you get the main idea, and then you get what it looks like in real life. So here’s the main idea that Paul is going to unpack in the rest of the passage: “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good."

This sets the agenda for the rest of the passage. This passage is about genuine love and also the love of goodness. In fact, verse 21 repeats the instruction to hate evil and hold fast to good. This is the controlling principle of this passage: God seeks people who will abhor evil and hold fast to what is good, and the way to do this is through genuine love.

What does it mean that our love should be genuine?

Paul is observing that we can pretend to love other people. In fact, everything that he is going to say in the next few verses is about avoiding pretend love. You can act as if you love others without really loving them, but it will be paper-thin, and it won’t result in the kind of community that reflects the gospel.

There are two approaches to relationships in the church. One is to pretend that we care. It’s when we show up here and smile politely at each other and play the role of loving brothers and sisters. It can look like love on the surface with all the right words and gestures. It can look like surface-level niceness and politeness that costs nothing and keeps people at a safe distance. It’s acting in a way that doesn’t match what’s going on inside.

That’s not what Paul is talking about. It’s impossible to love someone if you’re only pretending. Paul is calling us to the real thing: to genuine, costly, heart-level love for each other. It is, as John Owen writes, about being knit together by the strongest bonds of affection, delighting in and esteeming each other, and being ready to act to meet the temporal, spiritual, and eternal good of others. This is the “principal grace and duty that is required among, and expected from, the saints of God, especially as they are engaged in church fellowship.”

I told you we are in the most challenging part of Romans. Sometimes we think it’s enough to show up in church and politely smile and greet others while we keep them at a distance. We’re pleasant. We’re polite. But we’re not really invested.

That is not what biblical community looks like. Paul calls us to drop the mask, to move beyond surface politeness, and to love people from the heart. That is the foundational principle for the kind of relationship that is an appropriate response to the gospel. Jesus has loved you sincerely; now move beyond surface niceness to genuine, heartfelt, costly love.

What This Looks Like

Okay, Paul, what does genuine love look like within the church? Paul describes it in verses 10 to 13. This is what genuine love looks like in three main categories. There’s a progression here. Begin with attitudes; move to disciplines; then finally work these out through some external actions.

Attitudes

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. (12:10-11)

How do we love others genuinely? It begins by cultivating the right attitudes. In particular, Paul mentions three attitudes.

Treat each other like family

It means loving each other with genuine affection that mimics the love that family has for one another. Picture a loving, close-knit, mutually supportive family. Think about the kind of relationships that exist within the best earthly families. That’s how we’re meant to think of each other.

This destroys the idea that we like each other without really loving each other. I love how John Piper puts it. It means having:

…the comfortable at-homeness you feel with a favorite old sweater or a 13-year-old dog, or the chair you’ve sat in for decades, or a friend that you feel so easy with there’s not the slightest thought of self-consciousness about keeping the conversation going or worrying about times of silence.
…It’s the affection of a family that comes with long familiarity and deep bonds. Of course you can have squabbles and get mad, but let some bully pick on your brother, and the family affection shows a powerful side. Or let one of the family members get a life-threatening sickness or even die, and there will be a kind of tears that do not come for others.

Treat your fellow believers like family. But that’s not all. It also looks like another attitude.

Honor each other

Ray Ortlund Jr. calls this one of the most under-obeyed commands in Scripture.

The Roman world was a shame-honor society. Gaining and keeping honor was everything. Your public reputation showed in every part of life. It decided who invited you to dinner, where you sat at the table, what job you had, and how others viewed you and your family. It decided everything about you and your family. It showed who worked with you, who looked out for you, who married into your family, who gave you chances, or who stayed away from you. To lose honor could mean losing access to relationships, resources, and even safety.

Paul flips all of that upside down and tells them that, rather than competing for honor, believers are to compete to give honor to one another. It means that the only kind of competition we allow in the church is the competition to out-honor each other. You’re going to try to honor me? I’m not going to let that happen. I’m going to honor you even more. As Ortlund observes, this is the only place in Scripture where God tells us to become competitive with each other. Instead of competing for status, power, or criticism, we are called to a "happily competitive" race to see who can lift up and encourage others the most. Who doesn’t want that?

There’s one more attitude Paul talks about.

Do this with zeal

Don’t do this reluctantly or half-heartedly. Really do it. “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.”

Paul knows that people are hard to love this way. Our hearts are quick to get tired. It’s easy to get discouraged. And so he uses a word that is related to the idea of boiling. Don’t let your love get cold; don’t lose steam. Keep your love at a steady boil because you’re doing all of this for the Lord.

What does genuine love look like? Real love in the church starts with a mindset that sees fellow believers as family. It works hard to honor them and serves the Lord with warm enthusiasm instead of being half-hearted. Are you cultivating this kind of genuine love for each other? This is how God has treated us; it’s the attitude that God is calling us to cultivate toward others in the church as well.

Those are the attitudes Paul gives us. But he doesn’t stop there. Remember: attitudes, disciplines, and actions. Paul’s given us attitudes; now let’s look at the disciplines he gives us.

Disciplines

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (12:12)

Paul knows that this kind of love won’t come easily, so he gives us three spiritual disciplines that will help sustain it.

Rejoice in hope

When Paul talks about hope, he’s usually talking about the blessed hope of glory we will have when we appear before the presence of God one day. When you look at your brothers and sisters, don’t see them as they are now; see them as who they will be then. View your brothers and sisters, as well as yourself and your current circumstances, in light of that day.

Maintain patience during suffering

Right now, it’s hard. It’s always been this way. How do we get through difficult times? Patience. Our suffering is temporary; our hope isn’t. It is hard to love in a world that is full of trials among people who are far from perfect. Endure. Be patient. Your trials will end. Faith, hope, and love will endure.

Persist in prayer

We can’t love like this on our own. We need to tap into a power that is greater than ours. Paul tells us to stubbornly endure in prayer. We won’t be able to do this without God’s help, so pray, and then pray all over again.

The big picture: love genuinely. The attitude: treat fellow believers like family, treating them with honor and keeping your love at a boil. The disciplines: rejoice in what’s coming, stay patient in today’s suffering, and pray for God’s help.

We’ve looked at attitudes and disciplines. Now we get to the actions.

Actions

Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. (12:13)

You can’t jump right to the actions. You need the attitudes and disciplines first. They make the actions possible. But the whole purpose of the attitudes and disciplines is to get to the actions.

So here are the two actions Paul calls us to take: generosity and hospitality.

Be generous

Paul talks about meeting each other’s needs when they face difficult circumstances. This includes financial help but goes much farther. If someone is mourning, mourn with them. If someone is lonely or abandoned, keep them company.

Be hospitable

One way to show generosity to others is to show hospitality. In Paul’s day, there were no hotels and restaurants. Traveling missionaries and ordinary believers relied on others opening up their homes to them. Paul says to pursue hospitality. Look for ways to open your home to others and meet their needs. Use your home to bless others inside and outside of the church.

Let’s pull this all together. Here’s what Paul is telling us. Because of what God has done for us in Jesus, God calls us to a genuine, costly love for each other. It’s a love that’s cultivates zealous family love. It’s a love that competes to see who can out-honor the other. It’s a love that’s sustained by hope, patience, and prayer. And it’s a love that expresses itself in tangible generosity and hospitality.

Friends, we have the gospel doctrine of Romans 1-11. Paul is telling us that this isn’t enough. Our beliefs should lead us to a specific culture. This is shown by how we treat each other, how we pray for one another, and how we help each other and share our lives. It’s shown by a holy, never-ending competition to outdo each other in showing honor.

As I think about all of this, I’m a little overwhelmed. I’m overwhelmed by the challenge of living this way. I know I don’t have what it takes. I’m overwhelmed by what this could look like. I’ve tasted this kind of love in the church, and it’s an amazing thing. But I’m mostly overwhelmed that this is how Jesus loved us. Jesus did not pretend to love us; he loved us more sincerely than anyone ever will. He loved us sacrificially. He didn’t worry about his honor; he suffered the most shameful death possible. He made us his family. He has shown us extreme generosity and will welcome us in his home.

And we get to be a church that reflects that love. Look around you. This is what God is calling us to be. It’s also who he is empowering us to be. And when you find a church that loves this way, there’s really nothing like it.