"Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good."
Romans 12:9 NASB1995
Translators seem to have a bit of a challenge with this verse. Here is Strongs original Greek word and how it can be translated. You may notice in the pronunciation of the Greek word the relation in sound to our word “hypocrites”.
Ἀνυπόκριτος / Anupokritos / an-oo-pok'-ree-tos (Greek)
From G1 (as a negative particle) and a presumed derivative of G5271; undissembled, that is, sincere: - without dissimulation or hypocrisy, unfeigned. (Strongs)
Definitions:
Feign - to fake / Unfeigned - genuine, sincere, real
Dissimulation - concealment of one’s thoughts, feelings, or character; pretense
Hypocrisy - pretense - an attempt to make something that is not the case appear true
Also, in the New American Standard translation, you might notice the word “Let” and “be” in italics. This means they were added by the translators to help the flow/understanding of translating from Greek to English. Without them, the text would simply read, “Love without hypocrisy”. Older translations like the KJV use “dissimulation” instead of “hypocrisy” and the YLT uses “unfeigned” (see definitions above). All work, and are perfectly in line with the idea behind the original Greek word.
Christian love is real love because it is loving real. It is not just said, but seen and known. It is real because it is alive in action. It is real because it comes from the heart and is moved by the proper motivation. Christian love is not fake. It is not concealed. It is not just for appearances. It is true, authentic, genuine, and sincere. This is the command: Love real. One of the first best ways to do that is to know and abhor what is evil and know and cling to what is good… and do it.
As we do that, we will come to know God and cling to Him. We will come to know His word and cling to that. We will come to know His gospel and cling to that. We will come to know Jesus and cling to Him. We will come to know God’s people and cling to them. We will come to know the truth and cling to it. We will come to know God’s blessings and cling to them. We will come to know God’s love and cling to it. And in all that, we will love God more. All of that will help us in our daily walk as Christians to: Love real.
When you look to Jesus you see the perfect manifestation of this. The is no more real love than the love of Jesus and no one has loved real like Jesus. Not perfectly so. You look to everything Jesus said and did and you don’t see an atom of hypocrisy in any of it. In all sincere humility, kindness, and care, He gave Himself. He served and He sacrificed. He gave Himself for any and for all… who would love real. Do you? Are you? Are you each day? Love real, and in so doing, show the world the real love of being a Christian.
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