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“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.” (Romans 12.9).

Magnets have always fascinated kids. Even in today’s high tech world, give a kid a couple of magnets and he/she will be amused for hours. On top of the amusement factor, if the person is observant at all, she will come away with some experiential knowledge. One thing that is sure to be noticed is that there are opposing forces involved as well as forces that attract. Even if the child does not know that these forces are located at the opposite “poles” of the magnet, he will still see that the phenomenon exists. Magnets are similar to today’s focus verse. Our thoughts today will show that similarity and make some critical applications of the principles involved.

Look back now at the leadoff verse. In particular, Paul was writing about how love manifests itself. First, he notes that it is without hypocrisy. In other words, it is not two-faced, feigned, or fake. Where biblical love is involved, “What you see is what you get.” Now note the rest of the verse. The latter portion of the verse actually explains the first affirmation that love is without hypocrisy. “Love abhors evil.” It doesn’t just avoid evil; it literally detests evil. Such is the nature of love and so Paul affirms in this text.

Just as surely as love is a choice, so is our resolve to abhor evil. The word abhor in the original language has what we call tense, voice, and mood. The tense is present; that means that the action is or should occur at the present time from the perspective of the reader. The voice is active; that means that the action to be taken must be taken by the person being addressed; in other words, someone else will not do this for you. This voice is used in direct contrast with the passive voice (where the person being addressed does not take the action; he or she is acted upon by another). And finally, the mood is of abhor is participial. This simply means that the action is present and ongoing; it is not a one time act that is done and then forgotten about; it is a recurring action.

Abhorring evil is a full time job. Before it can be performed, evil must be recognized as a reality. In our culture, evil seems to be perceived as entirely relevant to what one thinks or believes about a subject. The Bible does not speak of evil in this manner. Evil is evil regardless of what one chooses to call it. Furthermore, evil is defined by God once and for all in the Bible. What was evil 2000 years ago is still evil and will be evil 2000 eons from now!

Now to the peculiar part of the focus text, the part that I likened to a magnet at the outset. Unlike the word abhor which is in the active voice, the word cling in our verse is in the passive voice. This means that no action is required on the part of the reader to cling to what is good. I conclude the following: It is impossible to abhor what is evil and NOT cling to what is good! If a pole of magnet # 1 is repelled by a pole of magnet # 2, it is certain that the magnets will attract if one of their poles is switched! The laws of science and physics make it such that this must be the case. Well, God’s spiritual laws make it such that one who deplores evil will automatically cling to that which is good. It can be no other way, and the effort that it takes to abhor evil is the same force that is required to cling to the good; no further action required!

Practical lessons: First, learn the true definition of evil from God. Secondly, once evil is defined, detest it will all your might. Finally, when we master this, we can only cling to what is good!

Questions:

1. What is hypocrisy? Is the concept of love consistent with hypocrisy? Why or why not?

2. If Evil is the North pole of a magnet, what is the South pole?

3. Can one abhor evil and fail to cling to what is good? Why or why not?

4. Who defines evil? Is that definition relevant to what you or I think about the matter, or is it absolute?

"The Way" from Kevin Pauley

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