The Spirit-Controlled Life - Part 5 (Romans 12:14-21)
INTRODUCTION:
We have spent the last four weeks going through Paul’s rapid-fire exhortations to us of the characteristics that are to be manifested in the life of a Christian. These characteristics are supernatural characteristics that can only be developed and manifested by an obedient, disciplined Christian who has surrendered and submitted everything and every part of their life to the will of God and to the control of God for the glory of God. These characteristics will be seen in the one who has subordinated himself to Jesus Christ, who in submission has bowed to Jesus Christ as Lord and Master of his life. The one who desires more than anything else to hear his Lord say to him, “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:21b, NASB95)[1] These characteristics are the result of a life justified by God through faith in Jesus Christ that in response has presented his body as a living and holy sacrifice to God in an act of overwhelming gratitude and worship. When we do this as a believer the indwelling Holy Spirit takes control and begins to produce these characteristics in us that are distinctively Christian and unmistakably supernatural.
We have looked at the first three categories of these characteristics and this morning we will look at the fourth and final category in this chapter. These categories are like ever-widening circles that include those to whom we are to manifest these characteristics. All of these characteristics hang on the first three mentioned in verse nine, love with the same love that Christ loved us, hate what is evil, cling to what is good. This morning the fourth circle widens to include the characteristics we are to manifest to those who would be called our enemies. Those who do not like us for whatever reason, those who would like to see us embarrassed, ridiculed, mistreated, insulted or worse. Those who desire to see evil overtake us. Let’s pray and then get into our passage for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Romans 12:14-21. I will read all of this section again, but we will be focusing this morning on verses 17-21. We will finish up this chapter this morning. Please stand if you are able in honor and respect for the reading of God’s Word.
Romans 12:14-21,
“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. ‘But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:14–21, NASB95)[2]
DUTIES OF THE SPIRIT-CONTROLLED LIFE – ENEMIES (Romans 12:17-21)
As we begin this next category that widens once again to include those who would call themselves our enemies, Paul exhorts us in how the Spirit-controlled Christian is to react toward them. What supernatural characteristics are we to have that are to be used in our lives in response to our enemies. What are our responsibilities as obedient, disciplined, Spirit-controlled Christians to those who are our personal enemies? Paul knows exactly how the natural man would react, so he exhorts us not to act as the natural man, but as a supernatural man indwelt by the Spirit of God.
Never return evil for evil (Romans 12:17a)
Paul begins this section with a very straightforward exhortation, “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone.” (Romans 12:17a, NASB95)[3] Paul had already spoken of this idea in verse 14 when he exhorted us to “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” (Romans 12:14, NASB95)[4] Here he expands on that exhortation and says that not only are we not to curse the one who persecutes us, but that curse should never result in an act of revenge, repaying evil for evil.
The Old Testament law that demanded an eye for and eye or a tooth for a tooth was not talking about personal revenge, but about civil justice. The main reason for that law was to prevent the severity of the punishment for the guilty person to be more severe than the crime itself. If you were guilty of destroying someone else’s eye, the severity of the punishment could not be any greater then you forfeiting one of your own eyes. Over the next few weeks, we are going to be looking at the role of government and our obedience or disobedience to it. Paul will teach us that government authority is “… an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.” (Romans 13:4b, NASB95)[5] But when we take matters into our own hands and seek personal revenge on someone who has wronged or mistreated us then we are paying back evil for evil and Paul writes that for the Spirit-controlled Christian there is no room for this, we are not to retaliate.
Paul had stated this same truth to the Thessalonian believers, he wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:15, “See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.” (1 Thessalonians 5:15, NASB95)[6] Peter said that same thing as Paul did, he wrote in 1 Peter 3:8-9, “To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.” (1 Peter 3:8–9, NASB95)[7] Paul in 1 Thessalonians and Peter in 1 Peter wrote that instead of evil for evil we are to give back good or blessing for evil. Which leads us into our next exhortation from Paul in the second half of verse 17 in Romans 12.
Respect what is right (Romans 12:17b)
Paul goes on in verse 17 to say, “Respect what is right in the sight of all men.” (Romans 12:17b, NASB95)[8] Paul is exhorting us to show genuine respect to all men and this includes those who are our enemies. By showing respect it will act as a protection for us by stopping us from doing what is natural and repaying evil for evil, we will do what is supernatural by doing what is right toward them. This word translated “respect” is a word that means “to provide” for someone. Paul writes that we are to provide what is right in the sight of all men, what is right is what is good. This word “respect” has more to its meaning then just providing, it also means “to take thought of.” In other words, to take thought in advance as to what you are going to do. You plan to do good; you premeditate your goodness so that you are not caught off guard. Think of it this way, when someone wrongs you in some way, if you are unprepared and caught off guard with no plan of how you will react, then you are going to react with evil for evil, you are going to do what’s natural. So, we must prepare in advance to do good when evil comes. When Paul writes “respect what is right” he is saying that we must discipline ourselves to prepare beforehand to respond to evil with what is good instead of what is bad. A disciplined life is an ordered life where we take thought to react by providing good. When we pre-plan and we are wronged in some way we are not left to react with our bare and raw emotions, but rather we have thought it through and have prepared in advance so that our response is goodness, mercy, grace.
This word translated “right” is a word that means basically good, proper, and honest. It speaks of being clearly and unmistakably right which Paul makes clear by saying it is right in the sight of all men. Paul is speaking of this characteristic being seen in an outward expression of goodness toward one who has outwardly expressed evil towards us. When we respond to our enemies with forgiveness, grace, mercy, and goodness it should commend us to them and to those who witness our reaction to the evil behavior towards us. Do not repay evil for evil, but be prepared to provide what is good, proper, and honest in the sight of all men.
Be at peace with everyone (Roman 12:18)
Paul goes on to exhort us to be at peace with all people, including our enemies. He writes in verse 18, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” (Romans 12:18, NASB95)[9] I love the way that Paul states this exhortation to be at peace with all people. Paul is saying, “ I want you to be at peace with everyone, but I recognize a few things, do it if it is at all possible.” There are some people who you cannot make peace with because peace is a two-way street, whether it is between nations or individuals. If one side does not want peace and you have tried everything to be at peace with them, but the hostility is still there, Paul says, it’s okay. Paul does this by qualifying his exhortation with “if possible.” He understands that it is not always possible and the Holy Spirit who inspired Paul to write these words understands that it is not always possible. As I stated it takes two to make peace, you do all you can to make peace, but in the end, it depends on the other person. Paul’s point is that our responsibility is to make certain that our side of the relationship is right, that we have truly done everything we can, and we truly desire to be at peace with all men, even those who are hostile towards us, even those the world would think are not deserving of it. What Paul is not saying is that we should compromise the truth to make peace, even though we should be willing to go to great lengths to build peace, it does not go so far that we are willing to deny God’s truth or transgress His standards clearly given in His Word. We are to make peace so far as it depends on us, but not to the point of compromising our belief as to what is true and right. Paul is calling us to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit in our lives and seek to be a peacemaker. To do this we must be willing to forgive, not hold a grudge and let go of any bitterness that we have towards all who might wrong us or harm us. Only when we have done this can we truly and honestly seek to be at peace with all men. Jesus said in the beatitudes in Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9, NASB95)[10] When we seek to be at peace with all men, we are a reflection of God who has offered His peace to all people.
Leave revenge to the Lord (Romans 12:19)
In these next two verses Paul reiterates what he has already said about blessing our enemies, about not paying back evil for evil, but instead to seek to be at peace. Paul reiterates this truth by telling us not to take our own revenge. This is the natural thing to do, we want to execute justice on the one who has wronged us. I remember an incident from when I was in high school, now I understand that is reaching back a few years now. I was enrolled in a home economics class and one of the projects in that class was to do some sort of sewing project. I chose to make a shirt and I was laboring away to get it sewn, but at the sewing machine in front of me sat a guy who took it upon himself to make my progress in making this shirt impossible and he thought my misery was quite amusing. Every time I would begin sewing and would be going along at a good pace, he would turn around and snip my thread with his scissors. I was not happy and could only imagine that one day I would get revenge and how sweet it would be. That day finally came, his bobbin ran out of thread and he did not know how to refill it. The teacher asked if I would show him how to do it. So, I showed him how to set up his machine to refill his bobbin and then told him all he needed to do was step on the switch and the machine would do the rest. What I failed to tell him, on purpose I might add, was that if you did not hold your finger on top of the spool of thread and you went to fast the spool would fly off the spindle and sail through the air unwinding thread and tangling it all up. That is exactly what happened, and that revenge that I thought would be so sweet and satisfying was not, and it only made my life more miserable as it became his quest to cut my thread whenever I started to sew. I had not blessed my persecutor, I had not provided him with good, I was not a peacemaker, instead by taking justice into my own hands I escalated the conflict. I needed these verses and especially this next one where Paul writes, “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19, NASB95)[11] Paul understands that to take revenge is natural, so he appeals to us as his beloved. My beloved don’t take justice into your own hands. The word translated “revenge” means “to punish someone for something.” Paul is saying, “Don’t go around punishing people for doing evil against you.” You are not called to do that, let God avenge those who do evil against you, leave room for the wrath of God, because His wrath and judgment are just and righteous. Paul then quotes God’s words from Deuteronomy 32:35, God says, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” (Romans 12:19b, NASB95)[12] We are called to be peacemakers, blessing and providing good to those who persecute us. Allow God to be the One who executes justice, He has promised to do it. God will deal with sin, no sinner who does not repent will escape his just punishment. God is a just God, and He will punish those who do evil against you.
Overcome evil with good (Romans 12:20-21)
Paul goes on to explain to us that not returning evil for evil does not fulfill our responsibility. For myself and I would venture to guess for you also the positive part of our responsibility is more difficult. To not seek vengeance does not require us to do anything. But to return good for evil requires us to being willing to do the good.
Instead of revenge, Paul tells us what we are to do, and he again quotes from the Old Testament, from Proverbs 25:21-22, he writes, “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” (Romans 12:20, NASB95)[13] Paul writes that instead of revenge, show your enemy grace and mercy by meeting his most basic needs. The result, Paul writes, will be like heaping burning coals on his head. A fascinating phrase, it comes from ancient Egypt. When a person in the Egyptian culture wanted to demonstrate public shame, or his public guilt, or when he wanted to show his remorse and repentance, he would carry on his head a pan of burning coals which were to represent the burning pain of shame that he carried in his heart. Paul says that when you show your enemy genuine love by your acts of mercy and grace, it is like heaping burning coals on his head for the evil he did against you. He will be shamed by your goodness in return for his evil. Instead of revenge, the supernatural life of the disciplined, obedient Spirit-controlled Christian calls for an attitude of grace and mercy for our enemies.
Paul concludes this chapter and this section on the Spirit-controlled life with this final thought, he writes, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21, NASB95)[14] This is Paul’s conclusion to the Spirit-controlled life, and it has to do with being an overcomer. The first phrase has two meanings when Paul writes, “Do not be overcome by evil…” First, we must not allow the evil that other people have done to us to overcome and overwhelm us. Second, we must not let ourselves be overcome by our own evil responses, by our repaying evil for evil, by exacting revenge and delivering our own evil justice to those who have done evil toward us. Understand that our own evil is exceedingly more damaging and harmful to us than the evil done to us by others.
Paul says, instead overcome evil with good, to do this is distinctively Christian and shows that we are controlled by the Spirit of God. The Greek word that is translated “overcome” is the word nikao, this is the word from which we get the word “Nike” Nike shoes adopted this Greek word because it means victory. Paul is saying be the victor, the conqueror, overcome evil by doing good. This is an amazing promise that Paul announces here, notice that it does not say to try and overcome evil with good but that you will overcome evil with good. Under the control of the Holy Spirit and by His power practice the supernatural characteristics that Paul has exhorted us to have in this passage and be the conqueror, the victor, the overcomer of evil.
Our Lord Jesus makes many promises to those who overcome. In the seven letters to the churches in Revelation 2-3 the Lord makes seven promises to those who overcome. In Revelation 2:7 He promises, “To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.” (Revelation 2:7, NASB95)[15] In Revelation 2:11 Jesus promises, “He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.” (Revelation 2:11, NASB95)[16] In Revelation 2:17 our Lord promises, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.” (Revelation 2:17, NASB95)[17] In Revelation 2:26-28 Jesus promises, “He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; and I will give him the morning star.” (Revelation 2:26–28, NASB95)[18] The Lord promises in Revelation 3:5, “‘He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” (Revelation 3:5, NASB95)[19] In Revelation 3:12 we who overcome are promised, “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.” (Revelation 3:12, NASB95)[20] And the last promise given by the Lord Jesus Christ in Revelation 3:21, “‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Revelation 3:21, NASB95)[21] Wonderful promises to us who live the disciplined, obedient Spirit-controlled life and overcome evil with good.
CONCLUSION:
We have come to the end of Romans 12 and in verses 9-21 which we have covered over the last five weeks Paul has described for us what the supernatural lifestyle of the Christian is to look like. This is the supernatural lifestyle of one who is an obedient, disciplined, Spirit-controlled Christian. In our humanness it is not the normal or natural lifestyle. It is definitely not the lifestyle of the unregenerate, the unsaved person. This should be the lifestyle of the one who has placed his faith in the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, the one who has contemplated the mercies of God, all that is his because of the sinless death and marvelous resurrection of Jesus Christ. All the spiritual blessings that are gloriously ours because Jesus paid the penalty of our sin through His death and triumphed over sin, death, and Satan through His resurrection; so that we are now forgiven, justified, reconciled to God, covered by Christ’s mantle of righteousness, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, our promised helper and counselor. As we understand the price that was paid for our salvation and justification, our spiritual act of worship should be complete surrender to the will of God and to the control of God for the glory of God. Are you willing to lay it all on the line, abandon yourself to the Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to take control of your life and transform your natural life into the supernatural life described for us in these 13 verses to the glory of God? This is the person God wants you to be, but it requires obedience, complete obedience to His Word, it requires surrender and subordination to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Master. It requires discipline to stay the course and beat back the natural desire and allow the supernatural to take over the natural. This supernatural living controlled by the Spirit of God is conforming our outer lives to our inner lives, living out the redeemed, purified, and holy nature we have in the Lord Jesus Christ, becoming in practice what we are in position as a new creation in Christ. This takes discipline, it is not easy, but it is utterly pleasing to God and brings Him glory and that is the purpose for which we were created.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[14]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[15]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[16]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[17]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[18]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[19]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[20]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[21]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.