Back to Basics Part 2

Romans 12:9 NKJV Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.

It’s complicated…that phrase could be used to describe most of modern-day life. But our walk with Jesus was never meant to be complicated. We fill our lives and churches with all kinds of distractions, making life complicated, and end up missing the most important things. However, this is not a new challenge. Paul told the church at Corinth, “I am afraid that your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3).

There are basics in our Christian life that are nonnegotiable. These fundamentals can be grouped in three areas: doctrine, devotion, and discipline. Essential doctrines are what we believe about God. These unchanging truths include no one is righteous but God (Romans 3:10), Jesus was born of a virgin (Matthew 1:23), Jesus was sent as the atoning sacrifice to redeem our lives (1 John 2:2), Jesus lived without sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), Jesus died and rose again to conquer death and redeem our lives (1 Peter 2:24), Jesus will return to catch away his bride (John 14:1-3), God is good (Psalm 34:8), God is love (1 John 4:16), God is pursuing a love relationship with you (John 15:16), and God promises to never leave or abandon us (Deuteronomy 31:8). 

The basics of our spiritual devotion are to align our hearts with God, to reveal who God is, and how He views everything in the world. This includes worship, prayer, and filling our lives with God’s Word. God alone is worthy of our worship. Psalm 95:6-7 states, “Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.” During worship we are acknowledging who God is (our Maker, the Creator of heaven and earth) and that we belong to Him and are under His watchful care. Prayer is our lifeline to God and His provision, the path to a deep, personal relationship as we “cast all of our cares on Him because He cares for us” (1 Peter 5:7). Reading and meditating on God’s word is a constant reminder that God is faithful and establishes deep roots that produce fruitfulness even in times of drought (Psalm 1:1-3).

Romans 12:9 encapsulates the basics and simplicity of becoming a disciple, living a Christ-centered life, and our life journey with the Lord. When the Pharisee asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, they were not simply referring to the 10 commandments. There were more than 600 different commandments in the law, and Jesus reduced all of them to two commands woven together by a single word…love. Love God and love one another. “Let love be without hypocrisy” means, ‘Do we express our love sincerely, without hidden agendas, or is our love self-serving, looking only to meet our own needs?’ The love of God is always focused on serving and meeting the needs of others.

Love is not merely accepting or affirming everything; it involves discernment that recognizes and rejects evil. To abhor means to detest intensely. We must cultivate a distaste for anything that breaks God’s heart. Evil can masquerade itself in many forms, often slipping in under the guise of being normal or socially acceptable. Paul compels us to stand firm, to discern right from wrong, and to take a strong stance against evil in all its forms. To cleave means to glue oneself to or to adhere closely to something. As believers, we are called to hold tightly to goodness, the kind that emanates only from God Himself. Psalm 115:9 “trust and take refuge in the Lord! Be confident in Him, cling to Him, rely on His word!”

It is time to return to the basics: loving without hypocrisy, rejecting all forms of evil, and clinging to what is good.

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Gary and Sandy Anthony

1 Peter 4:8-9 NASB Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint.

1 Peter 1:22 NASB Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart.

1 John 4:7-8 NASB Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

1 John 4:20 NASB If someone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

1 Timothy 1:5 NASB But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

Psalms 34:14 NASB Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.

Psalms 5:4 NASB For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; No evil dwells with You.

1 Peter 3:10-11 NASB The one who desires life, to love and see good days, Must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. He must turn away from evil and do good; He must seek peace and pursue it.

Amos 5:14 NIV Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good.

Psalms 97:10 NIV Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

Psalms 119:163 AMP I hate and detest falsehood, But I love Your Word.

Proverbs 6:16-19 GNT There are seven things that the Lord hates and cannot tolerate: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that kill innocent people, a mind that thinks up wicked plans, feet that hurry off to do evil, a witness who tells one lie after another, and someone who stirs up trouble among friends.

Proverbs 12:22 NIV The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.

Galatians 6:9-10 NIV Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Philippians 4:8 NIV Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 NIV Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.

Psalms 119:31 AMP I cling tightly to Your testimonies; O Lord, do not put me to shame!

Joshua 23:6, 8-11 NLT So be very careful to follow everything Moses wrote in the Book of Instruction. Do not deviate from it, turning either to the right or to the left. Cling tightly to the Lord your God as you have done until now. For the Lord has driven out great and powerful nations for you, and no one has yet been able to defeat you. Each one of you will put to flight a thousand of the enemy, for the Lord your God fights for you, just as he has promised. So be very careful to love the Lord your God.