The very end of Romans 12 is in sight. There stands a massive ‘tree’ that provides shelter and shade; one that stretches its branches out in every direction, reaching to the sky and bending to the earth. I call it the “tree of triumph.”
The final verse in Romans 12 says simply, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
This world is full of trouble, evil, problems, and woes. Despite that we are not to be overcome by it. Jesus promised in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Jesus has overcome the evil of this world through the work of His cross. Now we are to be overcomers through our faith in Him. John wrote in 1 John 5:1-5: “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”
The triumph is our faith in the work of Christ on the cross that overcomes the evil of this world with good. This is good that flows from our love of God. This is good that flows from our desire to obey His commands. This is good that has a heart full of love, set in peace, with a gentle and quiet spirit that seeks not its own, but the best for all God’s children.
This is good which has the power of God working through it to overcome the evil of this life.