Abhor

Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
—Romans 12:9 (NIV)

For most of my life, I approached this verse as a call to action. A mirror of sorts, to test my effectiveness at living in victory over sin.

Each time I would encounter it, I would reassess my progress in living a holy life. My grades in this evaluation were never encouraging. What I found in my experience was more in line with Romans 7,

I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. —Romans 7:15

So, I reasoned that my problem was that I didn’t hate evil enough. I mean, sin is fun. Right? I somehow needed to change my mind about sin and evil. I needed to learn how to hate evil.

I don’t know that I ever heard sermons that actually supported that understanding; but I’m pretty sure I never heard anything that challenged it.

Then one day, while reading the English Standard Version of the Bible, there is was again,

Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. —Romans 12:9 (ESV)

The different terms jumped out at me. They seemed somehow significant. So I did one of my rare deep dives into the Greek to see if there was something here that I had missed.

What I found brought both tremendous relief and a serious challenge.

The word translated “abhor” is apostugountes.

Stugeō alone means to hate or detest. The prefix apo intensifies it — it carries the sense of turning away from with revulsion. Recoiling from. Being repelled by.

This isn't the Greek word for mild disapproval. It's the strongest available language for visceral, instinctive hatred.

Hatred, however, can be intellectual — a reasoned rejection, or an act of the will. Abhorrence, on the other hand, is not a decision you make. You abhor something the way you recoil from a smell that turns your stomach. It's pre-cognitive. Instinctive. The reaction precedes the reasoning.

Paul is describing a transformation of moral instinct — not just a change of mind about what is wrong, but a renovation of the gut-level response to it.

Kollōmenoi — translated "hold fast" — literally means to be glued to, to cleave to, to be bonded. This is a connection that, once established, cannot be broken.

The pairing of the two terms is intentional and precise:

Abhor describes the maximum repulsion from evil, while hold fast describes the maximum grip on good.

What Paul is describing is not a balanced, moderate, careful navigation between good and evil — weighing options thoughtfully. He's describing a person whose moral compass has been so thoroughly reoriented that evil produces an involuntary recoil and good produces an unbreakable bond.

This verse describes the fruit of genuine sanctification — not effort that produces righteousness, but transformation that produces instinct. The person described here doesn't avoid evil through gritted teeth and willpower. They are repelled by it.

This is not a call to memorize verses, and keep your nose to the grindstone. What Paul is calling us to is a devotion to the Word of God. A devotion that keeps our hearts saturated in truth. This is what the Psalmist is alluding to when he prays,

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you… Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day… Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path… —Psalm 119:15, 97, 105

When His Word is our delight; when we devote ourselves to knowing His Word and His heart, then the rules lose their grip and His Spirit takes over. We don’t avoid evil, we become repelled by it. We don’t hold tight to good, we are bonded to it.

That's a different thing entirely.