Sharing Life and Christ

Let love be genuine [by] abhorring what is evil; [by] holding fast to what is good. Romans 12:9 Full disclosure up front.   I have adjusted the above verse from ESV to translate the participles following the [by] as two means of genuine love.   ESV reads: “Let love be genuine.   Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.”   I wanted to translate to show a stronger connection between the three clauses than is translated in the ESV. Paul has rounded the final corner of his magnum opus to the church in Rome at the beginning of Ch. 12 when he appeals to the readers to present themselves to God as instruments of righteousness and to be transformed by the renewing of their minds.   He then goes on to describe how each member of the body of Christ is given a particular gift from the Spirit to serve the whole.   It’s no wonder then that he pivots from the various gifts (Romans 12:3-8) to the ethic of love in 12:9-21.   I understand him to have two groups i...