Every now and then I stroll through Romans 12 to make sure that my heart, mind, and life are on the right track. I spent a while on my walk in verse 9. “Detest evil; cling to what is good.” [HCSB]
We are to cling (cleave) stick like glue to what is good. And what is good are all those things that originate from God and flow to believers through faith.
I finished my stroll in the final verse. “Do not be conquered [overcomed] by evil, but conquer [overcome] evil with good.” [vs 21 HCSB]
There is that word “good” [agathos] again. And it follows an interesting quote from Proverbs 25 about when we are kind to our hungry and thirsty enemy, it is like “heaping fiery coals on his head.”
There are many ideas about what that means, including it being a metaphor for ancient customs. However, I think we get hung up on the “fiery coals” and forget the “conquering or overcoming evil” part.
Anyone can payback evil for evil. We see that all the time in our world. If Christians operate under that principle, we look no different from the world. Jesus said we are to love our enemies—and that sets us on a different path. Our “payback” to our enemies is all those “good things” we ourselves received from God. Mercy. Grace. Love. Forgiveness. Compassion. Kindness.
That is the only way to overcome evil. Vengeance must be left in the hands of our God.
