a.

The First Exhortation: Let Love Be Genuine

So our focus first is on the first exhortation in Romans 12:9, Let
love be genuine. Literally: Let love be without hypocrisy. In a
sense we begin a new section here at verse 9, and in a sense we
dont.
We do in this sense. Verses 4-8 have been about the use of our
spiritual gifts, and now Paul turns from the focus on gifts to the focus
on the more general way of love in the church. This is just what he
did in 1 Corinthians 12-13. Recall that 1 Corinthians 12 is all about
spiritual gifts. But then Paul says at the end of chapter 12 in 1
Corinthians 12:31, But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will
show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men
and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging
cymbal. So Paul moves from spiritual gifts to the more general and
more excellent way of love. He does that in 1 Corinthians, and he
does it here.
But in another sense this is not a new section, because Paul is still
unfolding what it means to have a transformed mind from verse 2
and what it looks like when we are not thinking more highly of
ourselves than we ought but are thinking highly of Christ with the
measure of faith that we have as verse 3 says.
In fact, I am not sure Paul felt that there should be any pause at all
between the list in verses 6-8 and exhortation for love in verse 9.
Remember, Paul was saying in verse 8 that contributing should be
generous, and leadership should be zealous, and mercy should be
cheerful. And now he simply adds, Love should be without hypocrisy.
Think of it. Of all the things he could have said that love should be
(Let love be great, earnest, joyful, constant, bold, etc.) he says, Let
love be without hypocrisy. Why is that even on his mind? I think its
on his mind because it is the dead opposite of verse 3. Verse 3 says
not to think of ourselves too highly, but to think with faith, that is, to
think with our minds and hearts looking away to Christ for our peace
and satisfaction. Verse 3 is about a wonderful self-forgetfulness in

the service of Christ. And the exact opposite of that is hypocrisy.

Why? Because the hypocrite is totally concerned about himself. How
will I appear? is his driving question. How can I create a good
impression of me? is the consuming desire.
So Paul has not left his theme. By the mercies of God in Christ he is
working for transformed minds that are not conformed to this age
but are renewed, and that means first and foremost do not make
much of themselves but make much of Christ. There is a lifestyle
that shows the worth of Christ-exaltation over the worth of selfexaltation. That is what he is after. And now he is calling for it
generally in love. Let love be without hypocrisy.
So lets linger here and meditate on what hypocrisy is and why
people do it, and what love would look like without it.

b. Two Manifestations of Hypocrisy

What is it? Hypocrisy shows itself in two ways.

1 .One is that it tries to make the outside look better than

the inside. We put forward what looks like a loving behavior that
does not really signify what we feel insidejust as Paul said in1
Corinthians 13:3, If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my
body to be burned,but have not love, I gain nothing. So you can do
some remarkable external acts of sacrifice and not have love.
The classic statement of this form of hypocrisy is Matthew
15:7 where Jesus said, You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of
you, when he said: This people honors me with their lips, but their
heart is far from me. External lip-praise was not accompanied by
internal heart-praise. Jesus called this hypocrisy.
Few things brought down his wrath like hypocrisy. For example,
inMatthew 23:25, 27 he said, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but

inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. . . . Woe to you,

scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed
tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead
peoples bones and all uncleanness.
So the first way that hypocrisy shows itself is when we hide
internal sin by putting up a moral, external front.
Heres the other way that hypocrisy shows itself.
2. We hide our own flaws (sometimes even from ourselves)
by drawing attention to other peoples flaws so that ours
dont show up so clearly. This I would suggest is found most
frequently in marriage troubles. But not only there. For example,
in Luke 6:42 Jesus said, How can you say to your brother, Brother,
let me take out the speck that is in your eye, when you yourself do
not see the log that is in your own eye? Youhypocrite, first take the
log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the
speck that is in your brother's eye.
So Paul is saying: real love doesnt act this way. Let love be without
hypocrisy. It isnt love if it is hypocrisy. He said in 1 Corinthians
13:6 that love rejoices with the truth. But hypocrisy is all about
falsehood, concealment, deceit, cloaking, misleading, hiding.
Hypocrisy is the opposite of loving the truth. So it is the opposite of
love. So, Paul says, Let love be without hypocrisy. Let it be genuine.

c. Two Aims of Hypocrisy

So we have seen two ways hypocrisy shows itself. Now ponder
where this evil comes from. What is going on? Why do people do
this? Why do we do it? There are at least two aims of hypocrisy that
I see in the New Testament.
1. First, there is the aim to get and keep the praise and
approval of other people. Hypocrisy is driven by the craving for
other people to make much of us. For example, in Matthew
6:2 Jesus said, When you give to the needy, sound no trumpet

before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the

streets,that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they
have received their reward. And in verse 5 he says, And when you
pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and
pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be
seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
In other words, they craved the reward of mens approval and
praise. They got it, and that is all they got. Love is not like that, Paul
says. It is not hypocritical. It does not crave the praise of men. It is
has been set free from that bondage. In fact, that is close to the
essence of love: It doesnt think highly of itselfit doesnt think
much about itself at all. It is riveted on Christ and all that God is for
us in him. The command to love without hypocrisy is really a
command to know Christ and love Christ and find your satisfaction
in Christ so that you do not crave the praise of men any more.
But there is another evil that hypocrisy sometimes aims at. Most
commonly we think of hypocrisy aiming at the praise of others. So
there is a kind of posturing and posing. But there is

2. a more subtle aim, namely, to cover sins that may have

nothing to do with how we are posturing and posing.
For example, in Luke 13 Jesus heals a woman who had been bent
over for 18 years. It was the Sabbath. So the ruler of the synagogue
was angry and said, There are six days in which work ought to be
done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath
day. Then the Lord Jesus answered him, You hypocrites! Does not
each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the
manger and lead it away to water it? (vv. 14-15).
Jesus called this mans zeal for the Sabbath hypocrisy. Why? It
wasnt so much that he was seeking the praise of men. He was a
hypocrite because his religious zeal was hiding something. What
was this man concealing? Does not each of you on the Sabbath
untie his ox or his donkey . . . and lead it away to water it? Bottom

line: money! (See Luke 16:14.) You dont give a rip about this
woman! But you care about your ox and your donkey! Your zeal for
the Lords day is sheer hypocrisy.
.