Be Fervent in Spirit, Serving the Lord; Rejoicing in Hope (Romans 12:10–12)

Rom. 12:10. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another.

Love and mutual respect are the basic dispositions by which Christian relations one to another are governed and maintained. Where they are strong, there is deep peace and lasting well-being. Love binds, and mutual respect drives away all that is base from loving bonds, which might somehow cloud them.

“Be kindly affectioned one to another.” As above, so here the Apostle does not write a commandment of love, but defines its quality. There he said that it must be sincere, genuine; and here he indicates how it can be such, defining its new qualities, namely affections kindred one to another. For “kindly affectioned,” φιλόστοργοι, – indicates properly familial love; and brotherly love chooses from the circle of familial love the fraternal. We are brothers also by nature, but rather brothers by spiritual life: born by one grace of the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus from one maternal womb – holy baptism; watered with the same waters of gifts of grace from one source – Chrismation; washed in one bath – in the tearful waters of the Sacrament of Repentance; fed with one incorruptible food from one Table – the Sacrament of the Most Pure Body and Blood of the Lord. In whom all this is truly and powerfully accomplished, they have themselves in the feelings of their heart as brothers, without special commands and reminders. And yet the Apostle reminds. For in life there is a continuous flow of diverse chance happenings, and around the heart (even in the reborn) a persistent swarm of alien movements clouds the bright countenance of brotherly love and disfigures its features. The Apostle dispels this fog, steadily telling each of us: see, you are brothers; relate to one another as blood brothers do. “Have a warm love for one another and a disposition befitting brothers” (blessed Theodoret). “You are brothers, you have come from one womb (that is, the baptismal font as Theophylact has it). Consequently, by this very fact you are already obligated to love one another. Your love should be not only sincere but strong, burning, ardent. What is the use if you love, even though sincerely, yet without warmth? Therefore the Apostle said: ‘be kindly affectioned,’ φιλόστοργοι, – that is, love warmly. Do not wait for another to show love to you; but run to him yourself and begin first. Then you will receive reward both for his love” (holy Chrysostom).

“In honour preferring one another.” Προηγούμενοι αλλήλους, – preferring one another, esteeming another above yourself, as more worthy, perfect, honorable – always holding in relation to others the last and most humble place. “Having shown the reason why we are obligated to love one another, the Apostle explains how our love can become unshakeable. Therefore he adds: ‘in honour preferring one another.’ For by this love is born and maintained. Nothing acquires us so many friends as striving to surpass a neighbor in honor. From this grows not only love, but also respect. As love comes from respect, so likewise respect comes from love” (holy Chrysostom). There are great Christians who know how to honor all above themselves, despite even the evident defects of some – and this not merely in appearance, but in the feeling of the heart. Such is God’s grace with them. To show honor to perfection is nothing marvelous; but to prefer a less perfect one or even one who has evident defects and disrespectful vices – this goes out of the natural order and is a direct work of God’s grace. And God’s grace does not accomplish such a lofty disposition all at once. Practice and self-compulsion with self-resistance are necessary. In the very seed of grace-filled life lies the feeling of contrition and self-abased humility. Life grows, and this feeling grows too. But the more it deepens, the higher in the eyes of the one progressing become all others. He sees in them the image of God, Christ the Lord, dwelling in them, and over their head the crown of the Kingdom prepared for them. Their defects and falls, in his opinion, are steps forward, as with the apostle Peter. They have fallen back a little now – tomorrow they will surpass all: for God is mighty to grant them this. Great wisdom at this – always to keep the countenance of every neighbor spotless or only casually besmirched. The experiences of life will teach all to those who wish and are zealous for perfection.

Rom. 12:11. Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.

He impresses what our zeal for pleasing God and salvation should be like. The one walks who drags his feet from one to another, but clearly shows that his soul is not set on where and why he is going. Whoever has his soul in the work being done is quick in movement, does not spare his strength, is wholly in tension. Such energy is undermined by laziness – one of the chief passions that does evil in a human. This the Apostle drives out, commanding to be not slothful. To be not slothful means: to be zealous for the work, to act quickly and with effort. But the Apostle enjoins not only quick movement, but also diligence in the work. Some act quickly but with no attention to the work, they hurry to dump the work off their hands as soon as possible, and it is done carelessly. This is another side of laziness, which does nothing. Against this the Apostle commands to do your deeds with all diligence, with all attention to the work, taking every care that the deed comes out perfectly as it should be. How wisely the Apostle joined the words: “not slothful in diligence!” So that someone might not think to justify his slowness by diligence, saying: one must do the work properly, he commands to be not slothful in diligence. And lest someone through that same laziness rush through the work, trying to get it done quickly and do it carelessly, he in diligence commands to be careful. From both sides he safeguards right and vigorous energy.

But what is the object of this non-slothful diligence? If we take these words in connection with what precedes, it will be deeds of love toward neighbors. Blessed Theophylact writes: “Since many seem to honor and love one another in heart, but do not stretch out their hands to them; the Apostle teaches to care for one another and to help others by deed itself.” He borrowed this statement from holy Chrysostom, who speaks more extensively in the same sense: “The Apostle requires of us not merely respect, but something even greater, saying: ‘not slothful in diligence.’ And this produces love, when alongside respect one renders services. For nothing compels love so much as respect and respectfulness. It is not enough to love, but we need also this, or rather, as this proceeds from love, so love becomes more ardent from it; each strengthens the other. Many though love one another heartily, yet would not give help to one another. Therefore the Apostle supports love from all sides.” – So also Oecumenius.

But nothing prevents us from recognizing as the object of non-slothful diligence generally the activity in the spirit of faith, all that is good, well-pleasing to God, and saving, into which will enter also deeds of love toward the brethren. For non-slothful diligence is required not in these deeds alone, but generally in all deeds of the Christian, which should be directed exclusively to pleasing God and presented to Him as service to Him. Ambrosiaster also writes: “In the words: ‘not slothful in diligence’ – the same is said as the prophet Jeremiah says: ‘Cursed’ is every one who ‘does the work’ of God ‘carelessly’ (Jer. 48:10). The slothful in deeds of pleasing God is without hope (he has neither boldness toward God now, nor can he expect anything bright in the future).” Blessed Theodoret also understands thus: “Be, says the Apostle, ‘not slothful in diligence,’ – showing living zeal for what is good and completely avoiding laziness.”

“Fervent in spirit,” – that is, be fervent in spirit. He indicates the source of non-slothful diligence. Whoever is fervent in spirit, all his deeds burn in his hands, that is, are done quickly and well; for they are done with all earnestness and zeal. “Notice, says holy Chrysostom, that the Apostle requires intensification in all things. He said: not only give, – but abundantly; not only lead, – but with diligence; not only perform deeds of mercy, – but with joy; not only be respectful, – but anticipate others in respect; not only love, – but love without pretense; not only abstain from evil, – but hate it; not only hold to good, – but cling to it; not only be friendly, – but with affection; not only be diligent, – but tirelessly; not only have spirit, – but burn with spirit, that is, be zealous and earnest.”

By spirit is meant that force or aspect of our inner life which is turned toward God, virtue, heaven, and eternity. In the fall it became weak and oppressed; but when grace comes, it quickens it, and the person begins to be zealous for the divine, holy, unearthly. To burn with spirit means: to be zealously ardent for pleasing God, salvation, and the acquisition of the Kingdom of Heaven. The soul may be zealous, but only for the arrangement of earthly existence; but toward the spiritual it is cold. And the whole person is cold toward it so long as the psychical aspect predominates in him. But when the spirit is awakened by grace, then it not only pursues the spiritual zealously, but directs all psychical, physical, family, and civic things toward it and spiritualizes them. We all received grace at Baptism and Chrismation. Therefore it should be that we burn with spirit, which is quickened by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Why then can we not say that we burn with spirit? Because we occupy ourselves more or exclusively with the psychical, the mundane, the civic; the spirit has withered, though it makes itself known. To kindle the spirit, one must recognize the unsatisfactoriness of the direction of our activity, chiefly toward the earthly and mundane – to deepen by reflection in contemplation of the divine, holy, heavenly, and eternal – and above all to begin to walk in the deeds spiritually so-called. And the spirit will ignite: for by all this the gift of grace living in us will be kindled. Thus our holy fathers and teachers interpret. Holy Chrysostom, having enumerated, as was set out above, the kinds of intensified activity, then adds: “If you will have all now listed, then you will draw the Spirit. And if the Spirit abide in you, He will make you diligent for all listed. When you are then aflame with the Spirit and love, then all will become easy for you. Do you not see how terrible an ox becomes when fire is set on its back? So will you become intolerable to the devil if you take up both these firebrands (that is, the grace of the Spirit and love).” Ambrosiaster writes: “To burn with spirit means: not to be in God’s work either lukewarm or cold, regarding which state holy John speaks in the Apocalypse: ‘Because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth’ (Rev. 3:16). If you wish to escape this, meditate on divine things. Continual meditation on this drives away sleep and imparts life-giving vigilance.” – More fully on this is the word of blessed Theodoret: “By spirit the Apostle meant the gift (of grace awakening our spirit) and commanded that our zeal supply it food, as wood supplies fire (understanding – meditation on the divine and spiritual deeds). The same he says also elsewhere: ‘Do not quench the Spirit’ (1 Thes. 5:19). It is quenched by things unworthy of grace; for, not having a pure eye of the mind, they do not receive its ray. So too for those spiritually blind, darkness comes even from light, and in the midst of day they serve darkness. Therefore the Apostle commands us to burn with spirit and have ardent love for the divine.”

“Serving the Lord,” – that is, be servants of the Lord, work for the Lord, not for anyone else, neither for yourself nor for the world. From this word, and throughout the next verse, the Apostle defines the direction of the burning spirit. Foremost in his consciousness and aspiration is the Lord, living union with Him, and all pleasing to Him, and not departing from His will in small or great, in word or deed or thought. By nature the spirit is divine; therefore when it awakens, it turns to God, clings to God, lives by God and wishes to live. In Christian faith a person is joined to this by the consciousness that he is bought with the priceless price of the Lord’s blood, and with this consciousness is inseparably bound the feeling of obligation to ceaselessly work for the One who bought him, and to Him alone. Therefore he directs all to this work, even “whether you eat” or “drink” (1 Cor. 10:31), remembering the Apostle’s instruction: “you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:20). By this mark everyone can infallibly determine whether his spirit has come to life and lives in him: if he zealously directs all his activity toward the Lord, then his spirit lives; if not – it does not live. And one must therefore take care to quicken it: the means lie at everyone’s hand.

Rom. 12:12. Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing steadfast in prayer.

Here are the signs of burning in the spirit! “Whoever burns with spirit, he works earnestly for the Master, expects to enjoy the hoped-for blessings and overcomes the temptations encountered, opposing their assaults with patience and ceaselessly calling upon divine grace for aid” (blessed Theodoret). “All this serves to support that fire (that is, burning in the spirit)” (holy Chrysostom).

“Rejoicing in hope.” From the first moment of the awakening of the spirit by grace, the consciousness and aspiration of a person passes from creation to God, from earthly to heavenly, from temporal to eternal. There, in that realm, is his treasure, and there is his heart also (Mt. 6:21). Here he expects nothing, all his hopes are on the other side. His heart falls away from earthly things, nothing here draws him, he expects nothing here, rejoices in nothing here. He rejoices in future goods in which he firmly expects to have a share. This transferring of goods and hopes of the heart is an essential feature of the awakened and burning spirit. It makes a person essentially a stranger on earth, seeking his country, the Jerusalem on high. All Christians, as those who have received grace, should be such. Therefore the Apostle prescribes to all also in another place: “If then you were raised with Christ” (that is, if you came to life in spirit by the grace of Christ), “seek those things which are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God: set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died” (that is, died to all earthly, created, temporal things), “and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Col. 3:1–3).

That the Apostle says: rejoice in hope – by this he impresses the certainty of gaining the hoped-for goods. Although they are still in the future, they are certainly ours. Therefore, counting them ours already, we can rejoice. And therefore he could say this to support zeal for good works, to which he obligated before. He assigned many labors; but as labor is sustained by the fruits of labor, and on earth good works should expect nothing, he fixes our attention on the contemplation of future goods from this work, which can make any labor unnoticed. Holy Chrysostom says: “Since the Apostle required money expenditures, bodily labors, patronage, diligence, teaching, and other efforts, then, beyond love and spirit, he anoints the laborer with hope. For a good hope makes the soul most courageous and ready for everything.”

“Patient in tribulation” – be patient in tribulation. Both affliction and patience are inseparable attributes of the burning or awakened spirit. The spirit awakened by grace inevitably encounters resistance both within the person himself and in the order of life flowing around him. Resistance generates attacks; attacks bring tribulation. Therefore the Savior said: “In the world you will have tribulation” (Jn. 16:33). “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (Jn. 15:19). Affliction is an inevitable companion of those living according to the spirit. – It was, it is, and it will always be so.

And patience in its true form – magnanimous, not “shaken by opposites” (Phil. 1:28), has place only in those in whom the grace-given spirit is strong. Where this is not, there self-pity predominates, which loves nothing afflictive and cannot be reconciled with it. Therefore there people bear the afflictive, but have no patience, but only suffer, murmur, condemn all and everything and burn with vengeance. Whoever burns with spirit does not spare himself and from the first moment of its awakening determines himself to all affliction, even to death; therefore he meets tribulations not as something alien (1 Pet. 4:12), but as natural and expected. The very magnanimity in this comes to him from the fact that he is one rejoicing in hope. He has transferred his hopes into another world; in this world he has no hope; therefore he never finds himself in a hopeless situation.

“Continuing in prayers.” As breathing is to the body, so prayer is natural to the spirit. Therefore, as soon as he comes alive by grace, he begins to sigh in prayer and breathes thus continually. His nature is such that he seeks God and rests in devotion at God’s right hand. All these are the elements of prayer. Therefore he is “continuing in prayer” when he comes alive and begins to burn. The Apostle pointed to the height of perfection in this matter when he spoke of the spirit in which the Holy Spirit dwells: “The Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Rom. 8:26). The Psalms depict the sighs of the spirit thus: “To You my heart has said, ‘Seek my face’; Your face, O Lord, I will seek.” (Ps. 26:8). “My soul thirsts for You” (Ps. 62:2)—“When will You come to me?” (Ps. 100:2). “In the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me” (Ps. 62:8, 9). “I will praise Your name…because You have delivered me from all my troubles” (Ps. 53:8, 9). “My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He will pluck my feet out of the net” (Ps. 24:15). “I lift my eyes to You, O You who dwell in heaven. Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He has mercy on us” (Ps. 122:1, 2). Yet it is not foreign to the Apostle’s intent in this place that we not neglect common prayer, but always be at them. For he said not: in prayer, unceasingly working in the spirit, but—in prayers, which take place in their times and are various. Whenever a common prayer takes place, hasten to it. And this also can be meant by the Apostle’s word: more often stand in prayer at home. As soon as you have the opportunity, stand and pray. Thus you will be continuing in prayers.