Romans 12:16-21

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position [or willing to do menial work]. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is Mine to avenge; I will repay" [Deuteronomy 32:35], says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head" [Proverbs 25:21-22]. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Live in harmony with everyone would be better rendered, “Be as one mind with each other.” Believers need to agree together, to cherish the same views, to be unanimous. There must be no discord or disagreement. “Who is in favor of glorifying God?” Everyone agrees. “Who wants to follow Christ and fight the good fight of faith?” Everyone steps forward and says, “I DO!” “Who hates sin and error?” Everyone answers, “We do!” This is the kind of agreement that needs to exist among believers. We must not pursue different ends and aims. This does not mean that there can never be honest and peaceful disagreements about points of doctrines as we grow in the Lord and wrestle with God’s truth. None of us understand God’s truth as we ought. See Philippians 2:5; the more we agree with Christ, the more we will agree with each other. When there is disagreement regarding truth, then it is because one of the two parties (or both) do not agree with Christ (they are either willfully or ignorantly out of harmony with the God of truth and the truth of God on a particular issue). If we hold the same view as God does, then we will agree with each other.

Paul again demands humility, as it is a basic Christian attribute, especially in terms of relating to other believers who might not be as esteemed as you. Do you have trouble mingling with unattractive Christians? How about Christians of other skin colors or languages? Blind or deaf Christians? Paul demands that we have the same concern for all the brethren. It doesn’t mean that we don’t have closer friends than others, but it means that we guard against the spirit of favoritism within the congregation. Furthermore, we mustn’t be conceited, thinking too highly off ourselves. We shouldn’t be ashamed or unwilling to do the “dirty” work in any given setting. In fact, Paul’s language here suggests that we should not merely avoid avoiding the dirty work, but that we should step forward and do it with pleasure and a good attitude. See Matthew 5:16; the humble mind strives to win over everyone, that God’s name would be praised and glorified. John Piper quotes Martin Luther on this topic:

Alas, must I rock the baby, wash its diapers, make
its bed, smell its stench, stay up nights with it, take care of it when it
cries, heal its rashes and sores? …What then does Christian faith say to this?
It opens its eyes, looks upon all these insignificant, distasteful, and despised
duties in the Spirit, and is aware that they are all adorned with divine
approval as with the costliest gold and jewels. It says, ‘O God, because I am
certain that thou hast created me as a man and hast from my body begotten this
child, I also know for a certainty that it meets with thy perfect pleasure. I
confess to thee that I am not worthy to rock the little babe or wash its
diapers, or to be entrusted with the care of the child and its mother. How is it
that I, without any merit, have come to this distinction of being certain that I
am serving thy creature and thy most precious will? O how gladly will I do so,
though the duties should be even more insignificant and despised. Neither frost
nor heat, neither drudgery nor labor, will distress or dissuade me, for I am
certain that it is thus pleasing in thy sight’ …God, with all his angels and
creatures is smiling—not because the father is washing diapers, but because he
is doing so in Christian faith.

We are only what we are by the grace of God. Apart from Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5).

And to finish up chapter 12, Paul switches gears a little bit and explains how we should relate to the world. He’s explained briefly how we should relate to other Christians. Now he wants us to realize that our relationship to the world, the way the world perceives our quality of life, is fundamental to our witness to the world. The basic principle is this: “Do to others what you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7:12). It’s hard to live by, but by rejecting revenge, pursuing peace, living for good, and overcoming evil with good, we sum up Paul’s teaching, as well as the whole Law and the prophets, as Jesus said. Paul is concerned that our personal relationships, our kindness and our goodness and the qualities of compassion and mercy, forbearance, and non-retaliation, would show through in the way that we relate to the world so that the world thinks for a few fleeting moments, “Christians really are different.” We should do things that even Pagans understand as morally good. We should pursue peace with the world, but Paul acknowledges that it’s not always possible. So don’t be the instigator. Don’t pick a fight. And when there is a fight, don’t fight fire with fire; fight fire with water. Overcome evil with good.

Lastly, let God issue punishment while you overcome evil with good. “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). Rather than seek revenge on those who persecute you, do good to them! That is unbearable treatment. And Paul quotes Proverbs 25 making it appear that this is your revenge. But we should avoid the mentality that you’re getting back at them. Though doing good is the most effective thing you could do, don’t look at that as revenge. See Proverbs 24:17-18. Consider Jesus asking the Father to forgive those crucifying Him. Consider Stephen praying for those stoning him. Consider the sons of martyred missionaries revisiting those who killed their fathers not to seek revenge, but to come in love with the message of forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ.

The motive for overcoming evil with good is found in Christ. He overcomes our evil with good in two ways, and Paul has labored to explain them both: First, He dies for our sins and is raised from the dead, thereby justifying us. Second, He always intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father and provides the indwelling of the Holy Spirit thereby sanctifying us. As we said in Romans 1-8, Jesus is the basis of both our justification and our sanctification. He is overcoming our evil with good. And thus, we should strive to do the same.

God’s right to punish evildoers in anger (the emotional response) and wrath (the justly controlled focus of anger directly applied) has drawn questions from those thinking that God is merciful. How can a merciful God exert His wrath on mankind in eternal hell? And we’ve talked about that in Romans 9 especially. God owes justice, but He never owes mercy. His response of justice is always justly measured out; His mercy is given in different measures to different people. And there is nothing wrong with that. But how does God work out is vengeance in this world? We might expect Paul to explain how that works, and so we learn in chapter 13 that God works through the government to justly issue judgment in the world. We’ll learn more about that next time.