What Does “Gospel Living” Look Like?

Love Your Enemies Paul’s vision of the Christian life is not one of loving only other believers and withdrawing from the world (cf. 1 Cor. 5:10). His gospel has profound implications for how we relate to people and entities outside the church. Here, we look at Paul’s instructions about gospel living in the world. Paul covers three topics in Romans 12–16: He calls on the Roman Christians to love their enemies (Rom. 12:14, 17–21), submit to human government (Rom. 13:1–7), and promote the gospel (Rom. 15:8–16:16). In line with the practice of reading Romans cumulatively, I will make frequent reference to other passages in the letter to get the full picture of gospel living in the world. Romans 12:14 introduces the subject of loving your enemies: “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.” However, in Romans 12:15–16 Paul gives further instruction on love between brothers and sisters in Christ, before providing motivation for loving your enemies in Romans 12:17–21.1 While some argue that Romans 12:15–16 also concerns behavior toward outsiders, the use of the reflexive pronoun, allelōn, points to community harmony being in view: “Live in harmony with one another” (Rom....