Overcoming Evil with Good

Romans 12:19-21

Scripture: Romans 12:19-21 (ESV)

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Devotion:

Paul finishes off chapter 12 of Romans by revisiting a theme he has hinted at a number of times. Our natural reaction, when someone wrongs us, is to pay them back. It's a natural response—we want justice, and we want it on our terms. We have a tendency to take matters into our own hands, to mete out justice as a vigilante, which only perpetuates the cycle of retaliation and bitterness. We end up like the Montagues and Capulets in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Killing and being killed in return.

But because we are Jesus followers, Paul reminds us that we are to live differently. We live with a different worldview all together. Instead of seeking revenge, we're called to leave justice where it actually belongs - with God. We are called to trust that God will handle matters fairly and in his timing. We are to break the cycle of revenge that characterizes much of human history.

To do this we need to know two things:

Firstly, we need to know that God will actually avenge. Vengeance does belong to the Lord. That means that every wrong, every sin, will always be avenged. No hurt that has been done to you will be overlooked. God is perfectly just and so justice will reign. Every sin will require a payment.

Secondly, we need to remember that God sovereignly chooses who receives the vengeance.

Many people will receive that vengeance themselves. They will stand before Jesus who will judge them and ultimately send them to the fire that has been prepared for them.

Others, those who have come to believe in Jesus, have already had God’s vengeance for sin paid for in Jesus. Jesus has already received the punishment for sin on our behalf.

Now what this means is that we can actually leave vengeance to the Lord. If someone has hurt us, God will avenge us either by putting that person’s sin on Jesus, or through their own judgement on judgement day. But that is God’s prerogative. He will avenge, but he will decide how and on whom.

So how are we to live in the mean time? “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink…” In the mean time we are to love our enemies, just like Jesus loved us as his enemies.

Prayer: