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Written by Matthew M Thomas
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Wednesday, 24 August 2005 |
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Love is “without dissimulation.” [i.e., love operates without disguise of its true feelings.] Thus,
- Be the kind of people that hate evil
- Be the kind of people who are indissolubly joined to good
- Be the kind of people who hold familial affection [love] toward one another in brotherly love
- Be the kind of people who take the lead in [initiate] showing honor to one another
- Do not be the kind of people who are timid when it comes to putting forth effort
- [Instead] Be the kind of people who are excited enough [make enough effort] to boil [over] spiritually
- Be the kind of people who enslave themselves to the Lord
- Be the kind of people who are glad in hope
- Be the kind of people who persevere under pressure
- Be the kind of people who persist obstinately in prayer
- Be the kind of people who share in the needs/poverty/providing for the needs of the ones set apart for holy use [i.e., the followers of Jesus Christ at Rome – all the recipients of the letter]
- Be the kind of people that seek out being hospitable to foreigners/strangers/outsiders/travelers [literally, “persecute hospitality”]
[Note that all of that is one sentence in Greek]
[With the preceding in mind,]
- Bless those who persecute [you], bless and do not curse [them].
- Be delighted alongside those who are happy; cry alongside those who are crying.
- Be the kind of people who are united in how you think, not being the kind of people who see their position as higher than others but instead are willing to live the same kind of life, subject to the same things, that the lowest of the low live.
- Do not be overly wise compared to others. [Don’t be know-it-alls.]
- Do not be the kind of people who repay wrongdoing with wrongdoing, [instead] be the kind of people who care to do the kind of good that everyone recognizes as good.
- As much as it is possible for you [all of you together], be the kind of people that live at peace with all people: do not avenge yourselves, my dearly loved people, but give a place for The Wrath [see 1:18, ff], because it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Instead, “if your enemy is hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them a drink; for doing this you will pile up burning coals on their head.
- Do not be conquered by evil but use good to conquer evil.
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