Hate The Sin, Love With Truth

Love without hypocrisy sounds simple—until you try to live it. We walk through Romans to explore how to hate evil, cling to good, and love people with the same mercy God showed us while we were still sinners. Pastor Carl unpacks spiritual gifts with practical clarity—prophecy in proportion to faith, teaching that aligns with lived conviction, leadership that refuses to quit, and mercy delivered with cheer—so service becomes a response to grace rather than a search for applause.

From there, we tackle one of the hardest calls of the Christian life: blessing those who persecute us. We name sin plainly without demeaning people, resist the pull of revenge, and practice the shocking strategy of overcoming evil with good. That looks like rejoicing in hope, being patient in tribulation, staying steadfast in prayer, and “killing them with kindness” by meeting needs—even when emotions run hot. Humility anchors the community as we consider others above ourselves, weep with the hurting, celebrate wins, and refuse to be “wise in our own opinion.”

We also wrestle with life under authority. Scripture urges us to live peaceably and respect governing structures that God uses for the common good, while acknowledging the conscience questions that arise when rulers stray from righteousness. The thread through it all is trust—trusting God with justice, with timing, and with hearts, including our own. If you’re ready to trade outrage for faithful action, this message offers a clear, hopeful path shaped by the gospel.

Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs courage today, and leave a review to help others find the teaching. Then tell us: where do you see good overcoming evil this week?

Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com.

Chapters

• 26:00 Marker 01

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:05

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

SPEAKER_00: 0:13

Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_02: 0:20

Hate the sin, abhor what is evil, point it out, but say, but there is hope, there is forgiveness, there is freedom from this captivity that you're in. Cling to what is good, the cross is good, forgiveness is good, the gospel is good. Let's point people to Jesus. That's where we find true love. Love is not just accepting the sin, it's abhorring evil.

SPEAKER_00: 0:48

You've probably heard the saying, don't hate the player, hate the game. There is some biblical truth to that when it comes to sin. Similarly, we are to hate sin and not the sinner. In today's message, Pastor Carl will share that when you cling to God and his truth, he will lead you to love people in the midst of their sin, just like he loved you in your sin. The Bible says, while you were still sinners, Christ died for you. Meaning God knew you would sin against him, and he still chose to die for you. And now, here's Pastor Carl.

SPEAKER_02: 1:28

Sometimes prophecy involves, you know, prophetic utterances about a future event that will happen, a special insight that you won't get, but it's generally this bold proclamation of where we are, where we're going, and warnings, warnings, warnings. If you are to be a prophet of sorts, teachers and prophets tend to have similar giftings. But if if if God has called you to be a prophet, and you are saying things just because they sound exciting and powerful, but if you're not believing it in your innermost being, it comes out in a way that that sounds artificial and not right. If you are going to go out and declare to the world, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and you don't believe it, it's not going to be effective. So when you prophesy, prophesy in proportion to your faith. What has God convicted you of? Share that. Or of ministry. Let us use it in our ministering. Just coming alongside and uh like the ministry of the deacon, encouraging one another, meeting practical needs of one another, praying for one another. If God has given you that gift, go out and use it. Use it and be sincere and let the Lord work in and through you. He who teaches in his teaching, again, being consistent in what he has taught you, teaching that to others, so that it is the Lord doing the work in and through you. He who exhorts in exhortation, he who gives with liberality. That's one of the places where we talk about liberalism in the Bible. You give liberally, because our God has given liberally. If the sin of the world was this much, how much did it cover when he was on the cross? This much. He has given us much more than we need. He who leads, lead with diligence. Oftentimes when you're leading a bunch of sheep, you get frustrated and you give up. Paul's saying, don't give up, be diligent. Continue to do what you know is right, what the Lord has convicted you of, what the Lord has gifted you with, what he has empowered you with. Don't give up. Don't do your work based on what other people do or don't do, or respond or don't respond to what you're doing. Do it based on what the Lord has given you to do. Because he understands he's been rejected. People didn't understand him when he came, they still don't understand him today. But he hasn't given up. He's diligent to proclaim the word, to get the word out, to use you and me and his service to declare the truth. Don't give up. Lead with diligence. And he who shows mercy with cheerfulness. The mercy, the grace of God is kind. There's something about the joy of the Lord that is our strength. If God has given you the gift of ministry, of mercy, exercise that gift with cheerfulness because you see the Lord at work and he's good. Verse 9. Let love be without hypocrisy, abhor what is evil, and cling to what is good. I believe this thought from Paul comes as a result of writing a letter to the Corinthian church, which believed that they are walking in God's grace and his mercy, and they were glorifying God by accepting sin. I believe there was a man who was having sexual relations with his mother-in-law, and they were celebrating the freedom that they had in Christ in this. And it's like, no. Christ has come to save us from sin. We're to abhor what is evil. It's not good. It's not something to celebrate. But the Lord in his grace has called us out of it. This old saying that you've heard is accurate. Hate the sin, but love the sinner. But the sinners feel like you hate them when you point it out. Hate the sin. Abhor what is evil. Point it out. But say, but there is hope. There is forgiveness. There is freedom from this captivity that you're in. Cling to what is good. The cross is good. Forgiveness is good. The gospel is good. Let's point people to Jesus. That's where we find true love. Love is not just accepting the sin, it's abhorring evil, clinging to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another in brotherly love, in honor, giving preference to one another. It's not about you, it's about the grace of God. And because God came and became a man and he served us, we are to serve others. He considered others more important than himself, so he took our place on the cross. And so we too do the same thing. Consider others more important than them than you. Be kindly affectionate, have concern, have love for one another. Not always pointing fingers, giving preference to one another, not uh lagging in diligence. Again, we need to follow through. It's hard to love some people, isn't it? It's hard to consider others more important than yourselves when they just take advantage of you. Paul also talks about being willing to be wronged in another place. Be fervent in the spirit, not in your flesh. Let the Lord work in and through you, serving the Lord, because when you're serving others and considering others more important than yourself, you're actually serving the Lord. Rejoicing in hope. I'm doing this because I know the Lord is at work and he's coming back. And I can't wait. We can look at all the bad things that are happening in this world, and we we need to, we need to be aware, uh, be aware of the signs of the times. But we need to keep looking to Jesus and rejoicing in the hope that he's allowed us to be here at this time to be used by him. Patient in tribulation. Well, let's just skip that one. That's a little too far, isn't it? No, he's saying, be patient in tribulation. Look to Jesus. Look at his example for us on the cross. He endured patiently that tribulation, that torture, that crucifixion. Continuing steadfastly in prayer. Again, you can't do this in your own strength. You can't do these things that Paul is calling us to do in our flesh. It has to be the grace of God working in our lives. We need to be ever in communion with the Lord. And so be in prayer. Even if the prayer is help, Lord, help, Lord. Distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. This is how the body of Christ should be working: helping, encouraging, building up one another, welcoming, so that we together might glorify God in the truth of the gospel. Verse 14, bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. That's a tough one. There are a lot of Christians in social media and and and other Christian news sources that kind of miss this part. We've taken to the the Donald Trump school of uh what's the word I'm looking for? Just talking bad about people. Potty mouth stuff, right? Now this is not a commentary on on Donald Trump and how God may have used him and may use him again someday, but it is a call to the body of Christ. If you are a believer in Christ, it's not, it's not, it doesn't glorify God when we call people names and when we insult people. Or to bless. They can insult us, but we can say, God bless you. The Lord loves you, and the Lord has a plan for your life. Instead, much of the body of Christ says, well, just go to hell. Isn't that against everything that we believe? Isn't that against everything that the Lord has given us by his grace, by his mercy? No. You don't have to go to hell. You could come to heaven with us because we have a Savior that loves us so much that he's made a way where there was no way. But we need to trust him. We need to put aside our desires, our flesh, pick up our cross and follow after him. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. As we do lives together in the body of Christ, good things are gonna happen, bad things are gonna happen. And we come alongside each other in both of those situations. I'm praying for you, brother. That's a tough time. I've been there before, too. Oh, I'm so glad you got that promotion. Wonderful, praise the Lord. We're doing life together. Be of the same mind toward one another. And what's the same mind? Having the mind of Christ. Glorifying the Lord, lifting up Jesus in our lives. He takes us in different directions, but it's all about Him. And it's not about us. It's about serving, it's about loving, encouraging, it's about clinging to the grace of God that He's given us. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. I have been to seminary and I've studied all the intricacies of the Word of God. And I know things about the Word that the everyday small person does not know. That's not what he's calling us to. Paul could be saying that. Because Paul does know the word. Paul knows the word, he knows the law, he knows the way the systems of the world work, he has doctrines galore. But he's humbled himself, he's brought himself down. He's an everyday guy. And that's what the Lord calls us to be. In fact, that's what the Lord did. He knows everything, doesn't he? He's the creator of all things. And he came to earth to live life with us. For 33 years, and specifically for three years with his disciples, he did life together. He washed feet. He worked hard in ministering to others. He was wiped out. If there was anyone who could stand up and say, you need to listen to me, it would be Jesus. But he preached, not only through words, but through deeds. He's our example, and Paul's just bringing it up. Don't be wise in your own opinion. We sure have a lot of opinions today and a lot of tweets. I don't know what they call a tweet now. It's no longer Twitter, but it's X, and they call it something else. But you make these posts, they have to be really short and poignant, but usually they're like, meh. You know. So listen to this. What do you think of this? We need to be careful not to be wise in our own opinion, putting other people down. But align ourselves with the Word of God. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. The Lord is at work. Yes, we're in a sinful world. Yes, we got problems. Yes, your neighbor does stupid things, and you're the best neighbor ever. Yeah, I understand that. But why did Jesus come? Because he came to die for sinners. He came to make us one with him. And he's at work today. The darkness is getting darker, but the light is getting brighter. Don't take things personally. You are a soldier in the army of Christ to do work on his behalf. And look at the good that he's doing around you as we point out and abhor evil and sin. It's a thing that we it's hard to put our head around, especially in our flesh. If it's possible, as much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Look, it's about your attitude. But your attitude does not guarantee the attitude of others will change. Hopefully it will influence them and God will be able to get a hold of their hearts. But hey, as much as it depends on you, don't do stupid things to give people a reason to be mad at you. But there's some you just can't get along anyway. But you keep blessing them and you go on in your own way. I mean, the Lord talked about, you know, dusting off the feet of the dust off of your feet in towns that they didn't accept you. Just move on. Not everybody is going to grab a hold of the message. But as long as it depends on you, don't be like some of those people who just insult people and insult people and insult people. Bless. And if you can't live at peace with someone, move on. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. Boy, that is definitely a fleshly thing to get even. Somebody has done something to me, and I'm going to show them. I'm going to give it back to them and see what they think it's like. That's an attitude of the flesh. And frankly, we cannot exact revenge in a godly way. That's why we say vengeance needs to be left to the Lord, because He's the only one that can do it in a totally, holy, and righteous fashion. The Lord deal with you. I'm not going to try to get even with you. The Lord. The Lord deal with you. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head. What a picture, huh? You're gonna kill him with kindness, is another way to put it. You know, you can't do this in your own strength. You can't do this in your own flesh because your flesh wants to lash out. Okay, my flesh wants to lash out. My flesh was serves you right. But that's not what the Lord did for us, is it? And that's not what we're called to do. And again, we're called to do this in a way that we move out of the way. And we allow the Lord to do it in and through us because He can do it and we can't. So bless others in the name of the Lord, in the power of the Spirit, because we have laid down our lives as a sacrifice to the Lord. We said, Lord, you purchased me, I'm all yours. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good. There is evil in this world, and it's growing more and more evil, it seems, every day. But we won't be overcome by evil if we're walking in the Spirit. In fact, it won't be a defensive thing, but it's an offensive thing. We can overcome evil with good. And what is good? The gospel is good. The Lord is good. And even if you torture me, I'm gonna declare the goodness of God because He loves you. That is not something that comes. Naturally, is it? That is something that is totally supernatural. And that brings us to chapter 13. Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. People are put in positions not only in the church, but in the world at large. For different reasons that only the wisdom of the Lord can fully understand. Sometimes we can understand why people were put in positions and others weren't. But sometimes we'll never figure that out until later. So we're to realize that God is at work all around us. And so as much as it depends on you, live peaceable with one another, and this includes being submissive to the governing authorities. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God. And those who resist will bring judgment upon themselves. If you break the rules, you're going to get punished. If you speed, you'll get a ticket. For the rulers are not a terror for good works, but to evil. Now, if those that are appointed by God in these positions are actually doing their work unto the Lord, or at least recognizing and honoring the law for the law, then the case is in general, look, they're not here to give you a hard time, they're here to keep the peace. To make sure that you're walking by the rules for the good of all of society. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what's good. And you will have praise for the same. Just don't mess up. Just do what you're supposed to do. Don't drink and drive. Don't beat your wife. You'll be all right. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is God's minister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Now, sometimes that's hard to put our heads around because there's some people in authority that do not see themselves as ministers of God, but they're ministers of their own power and authority, and they're going to get whoever they get because they are benefiting it and they're growing in it. But in general, we need to understand that God has set up these systems and these uh positions of authority in order to encourage goodness and to punish evil. Because in a society, goodness needs to be exalted and evil needs to be crushed. But when we live in a world where we've rejected God, things get turned upside down, don't they? Therefore, you must be subject not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake. If you want to be right with God, you need to obey the governing authorities. Now, much like the Proverbs, um, these are generalities. Are there ever times where we are not to obey governing authorities? Are there ever times where those that are in authority are not walking in the way that they should in representing God? And we looked at a movie a couple of weeks ago, The Hiding Place, that that showed that issue that they were wrestling with, the Tin Boom family. Is disobeying the governing authorities lying to governing authorities more important?

SPEAKER_00: 24:02

If life is on the line, that's Pastor Carl of the Mountain Cross. We are a group of believers located in Waynesville, North Carolina. We simply teach through the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter. If something you heard today in the book of Romans has you asking some questions, would you get in touch with us? On our website, we have a contact and prayer form that you can fill out. Just go to themountaincross.com and fill out the form. Someone will get in touch with you soon. If this ministry has been a blessing to you and you'd like to find a way to partner with us in the ministry, there's a donate tab on our website where you can give a financial contribution. It's safe and secure for you to give online. We appreciate any donations. Once again, the website to go to is themountaincross.com. The Mountain Cross meets every Sunday morning at 10 a.m. at Smoky Mountain Cinema. We'd be delighted for you to join us there this weekend. In addition to Sunday mornings, we host a Faith Film Night every first Monday of the month. This is a great way to connect with others in the community and to be immersed in content that is spiritually encouraging. To learn more, just search for Faith Film Night on Facebook, and we'll see you at the movies. Thanks for listening today. That brings us to the close of our program, but we look forward to the next time. Come on up to the mountain with us again tomorrow as we seek to learn more from the Lord through His Word. Come on Up is sponsored by the Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.