The list of ethical imperatives can be summed up by verse 21 of Romans. ‘Overcome evil with Good’.
This is precisely what God has done in Christ and for Christians to embody this approach is a genuine indicator of their transformation by inward renewal.
The Christians in Rome were bitterly divided when Paul wrote to them. So he wrote that there was only one thing worth competing about and that was who could be the kindest.
“Out-do one another in showing honour “, he wrote.
So the instructions he sent are very positive. The transformation brought about by salvation is not demonstrated merely by what is not done, but by what is actually done.
Paul does not forbid something without giving something positive to do instead (read verses 9, 11, 16, 17 and 21 of Romans 12:9-21)
Generally speaking the instructions start with how to behave towards friends and move towards the more difficult question of how to treat those who are enemies. It is in this second area that evil is most clearly overcome with good, where blessing is returned for persecution in the hope of redeeming the enemy.
Paul is writing to a congregation of new Christians, of many races and all social levels, trying to progress from the vendetta —ridden society all around them.
So Paul tells the Romans “never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay’, says the Lord.”
Getting your own back is called “tit for tat” and it has been said that the inevitable end to a universal policy of tit for tat will be when we are all dead.
This hint of God’s eventual judgment provides a context for Christian behaviour. The advice by Paul to the Romans is very practical, but easier said than done. But because they are Christians they are willing to take up their cross and try.
Eventually people around them will notice the way these Christians behave and realize that the way of retaliation does not work. Even if repaying evil with good has no immediate redemptive effect upon the enemy. Christians who do it overcome evil with good within themselves and can therefore stand secure in the judgment which the unrepentant enemy will be suitably repaid by the ultimate Power of Good.
Today’s society is very different from that of the Romans two millennium ago, but the lessons they learnt are still appropriate today. There are many who think that if somebody annoys them revenge is an appropriate response. Yet wrongdoers won’t change if we tell them off, only if we Christians set them an example of a better way. And that depends on you.
Everybody who goes to church is scrutinized by their neighbours, to see if there are still traces of evil in our words and our lives. If we even once seek revenge on somebody who has hurt us in any way, then we will undo the effect of all these centuries of Christian example. The teaching of Jesus about how we should live will only change society if it is proclaimed by the loving example of Christians and that means,
‘Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.’
AMEN
Reverend Edwina Wallace