NOTE:
This is a manuscript, and not a transcript of this message. The actual presentation of the message differed from the manuscript through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is possible, and even likely that there is material in this manuscript that was not included in the live presentation and that there was additional material in the live presentation that is not included in this manuscript.
ENGAGE
About a month and a half ago, I shared a post on Facebook in which I addressed some of the name calling and hateful rhetoric that is tearing our country apart right now. In that post I quoted this verse from 1 Peter:
Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
(1 Peter 3:8–9 ESV)
In my post I suggested that we, and especially those of us who call ourselves Christians, ought to apply this principle in our lives, particularly when it comes to those who disagree with us politically. A number of people shared that post on their own timelines and quite a few people also commented, almost all of them in a favorable manner. But one particular person, who I don’t even know, used that platform to do exactly what I was arguing against and basically argued that one political party was superior to the other and resorted to the same name calling and hateful rhetoric that I had written about. Needless to say, I think he missed the point of my post.
Now I’m not going to lie, my first reaction was to respond and ask this person if he had even read what I had written, but I’ve learned not to respond immediately in those situations. Fortunately, before I had even considered how I might respond, another of my friends had the perfect response: “[name deleted]. God bless you”. My only regret was that I hadn’t thought of that first.
TENSION
I’m pretty sure that I’m not the only one here this morning who has a natural tendency to seek revenge or to strike back at another person when I am attacked. But Jesus has a better way – a way that is certainly not practiced a whole lot in our world today, but one that is completely consistent with His nature. I’ll be honest with you, that way is not easy, but it is possible.
TRUTH
This morning, we’ll continue our study in Romans chapter 12. And since this morning’s passage builds on what we’ve already covered in that chapter, let me take a moment to review what we’ve learned so far.
Paul begins the chapter by appealing to his fellow disciples to offer their bodies as living sacrifices to God. And the way that they are to do that, and the way we also do that, is by not conforming to the ways of this world, and by allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us by renovating the way we think. And certainly applying what we’re going to learn this morning does require a whole new mindset.
Then last week, we saw that God provides every disciple with spiritual gifts that are to be used for the good of the entire body. And we determined that the church only functions as God desires when every single person is using their gifts. Obviously we have quite a few of you who are putting your gifts to work here at TFC. And I’m grateful for that. But honestly I was pretty disappointed that not even one person responded to the call to talk to me or one of the Elders about how to put your gifts to work here at TFC. The good thing is that it’s never too late to do that so that invitation remains open.
Paul is now going to address how disciples of Jesus are to relate to others – both those inside and outside the church.
[Read Romans 12:9-21]
In some ways, this section is so different from Paul’s usual writing style. In some of his letters, like Ephesians, he writes single sentences that comprise 10-15 verses in our English Bibles. But here, he writes several short, almost pithy exhortations with little or no explanation or elaboration. So there are two ways we could tackle this passage:
• We could address each of the 30 sayings one by one. That would require either a really long sermon or for us to break this into a number of messages and still not finish this chapter by the end of the year. One of the things I read this week suggested that it would be possible to use this as a checklist to evaluate our relationships each month since there would be roughly one for each day of the month.
• The more profitable approach, in my opinion, is to consider the passage as a whole and develop some principles based on the big idea we find here. If there are some of you who still prefer the first approach I am prepared to spend 30 minutes on just the first exhortation we find here, but I’m going to proceed based on the assumption that most of you prefer this second approach.
In Greek, the opening sentence of this section – “Let love be genuine” – doesn’t even contain a verb. It’s almost like Paul intended this to be a title or heading for this section. It literally means “love without hypocrisy”. I can’t imagine a topic that is more relevant for us today than that. In a culture where Christians are often mocked for their hypocrisy, the most effective witness we can have for the kingdom of God is to learn to love others, both inside and outside the church, without hypocrisy.
And then Paul “bookends” the rest of this section, in which he is going to explain how to do that, with the contrast between good and evil. In verse 9, he writes:
Abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good.
And then he closes this section with these words in verse 21:
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
So it seems to me that the structure of this section suggests that the way we love without hypocrisy is to abhor evil and embrace good which results in overcoming evil with good. And then everything else between those “bookends” gives us some practical guidance on how we are to do that.
In addition to those two bookends, the passage is structured as an ever-widening circle. The exhortation to abhor what is evil and hold fast is something I must do personally. Then Paul widens the circle to address my relationships with others in the body of Christ in verses 10-13. But even in that section, he has sprinkled in some personal commitments like rejoicing in hope and being constant in prayer.
Then, beginning in verse 14, he expands the circle even more to include all people, including those outside the church, and even those who persecute us for our faith. But even in that section, we find some personal attitudes that we are to cultivate. So this passage is quite comprehensive, with commands that impact our own attitudes as well as our actions toward those in the church and those outside the church.
But here is the problem with trying to apply those principles. None of us can do that on our own. I can certainly testify to that in my own life. It’s not easy to bless someone who has wronged me or even to do some of the things that seem a bit easier like honor others or show hospitality.
That’s why we have to consider this section in conjunction with the earlier part of the chapter, especially verses 1-2. And when we do that, here is the main idea that flows from this passage:
Overcoming evil with good
must be motivated and empowered by
my identity in Christ
There are a couple of reasons I’m not going to spend much time at all this morning talking about the individual commands we find in this passage:
• First, most of them really don’t require a lot of explanation. I’m pretty sure that is why Paul, who can often go into great detail, chooses not to do that here. I think we all have a pretty good idea what it means to love one another with brotherly affection or to show hospitality or to not be wise in our own sight or to leave revenge to God. We don’t need to study the underlying Greek words or go into some detailed word study to understand what those commands mean.
• As I mentioned a moment ago, our big problem isn’t knowing what we need to do, it’s actually being able to do it. And without first understanding our identity in Christ which allows us to place ourselves on the altar as living sacrifices, we are completely incapable of doing anything Paul commands here. We might be able to occasionally apply these principles, but we won’t be able to do it on a consistent basis.
So the way I am going to approach this passage this morning is to identify the two overarching themes that are present, show how Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of those themes and then end by talking about some practical implications for us.
TWO OVERARCHING THEMES
1. Self-sacrificial love
This is the primary theme in the first paragraph of this passage. While in English we only have one word for love, in Greek there are actually four primary words that each describe a different aspect of love. And Paul uses three of the four in this paragraph.
When he writes “Let love be genuine” he uses the Greek work agape, which most of us are probably at least somewhat familiar with. Paul has already used that word four times so far in his letter. In each case he has used that word to describe the love that God has toward us, which is certainly a self-sacrificial love. I’ll talk about that more in a moment.
Then in verse 10 Paul writes “Love one another…” This is the only time that particular verb is used in the Old Testament, but it’s used frequently in other Greek writings. It describes the kind of tender affection that is found within a family. It’s a natural love that is not based on desire or beauty or personality. That is the kind of love we are to have toward all disciples of Jesus because we are all part of the same family.
At the end of verse 10 Paul writes that we are to love one another “with brotherly affection”. There Paul uses the Greek word that is transliterated into English as Philadelphia – the city of brotherly love. It describes a fondness toward another person.
We often have a hard time in our culture understanding the kind of love that Paul writes about here. That is because we tend to think of love more in terms of a feeling, while the kind of love that Paul describes here, especially agape love, is more of a decision to put the needs of the other person ahead of our own.
The other problem we have is that we often tend to view love as conditional. So we love another person only if they treat us the way we want to be treated or if they will provide us with something in return.
If we want to understand how to love others the way that Paul exhorts us to do here, all we have to do is to look at Jesus. As Jesus remarked to His disciples shortly before He went to the cross:
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
(John 15:13 ESV)
Jesus loved us so much that he willingly laid down His own life for us. I can’t imagine a more self-sacrificial act than that. Jesus gave up His own life so that we could have His. Although He was sinless and had done nothing to deserve death, He put our need for forgiveness and righteousness ahead of His own desires. He suffered on our behalf, enduring beatings, torture, pain and death. He did that even while we were still enemies of God and He did it knowing that most people would still reject Him even after He had loved them like that.
I know that I’m incapable of loving anyone else like that on my own. However, for those of us who have become His disciples by putting our faith in Him, Jesus makes us into new creations who He empowers to love like that. As John writes:
We love because he first loved us.
(1 John 4:19 ESV)
And when we love others like that, people take notice, because it is so contrary to our human nature. And that gives us the opportunity to point them to the greatest act of love ever – the death and resurrection of Jesus.
2. Overcoming evil with good
Let’s face it, this is a real challenge. When we are wronged or hurt, our natural inclination is to respond in kind. You hurt me. I’ll hurt you back. And unfortunately, this behavior is consistently being reinforced in our culture by our leaders, which makes it even harder for us to teach our children that this is not how God want us to respond.
But once again, Jesus demonstrated this principle perfectly in His life. On the cross, Jesus overcame all kinds of evil. He overcame our rebellion and sin through His perfect life and His sacrifice. He repaid our sin, not with the wrath and condemnation we deserve, but with grace, mercy and forgiveness. He overcame death, ironically through His own death. And, in what Satan thought was his greatest hour, Jesus overcame him through His resurrection.
When He was wrongly accused, He chose not to defend Himself or to call down judgment upon His accusers, even though He had every right as well as the ability to do that. When He was beaten and ridiculed and nailed to a cross, He did not retaliate. Instead He asked His Father to forgive those who mistreated Him, thus fulfilling the words of the prophet Isaiah written hundreds of years earlier.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
(Isaiah 53:7 ESV)
When we overcome evil, not with evil, but with good, people take notice and God often uses that to radically change the lives of others. Here is a real life example.
[Show “The Power of Forgiveness” video]
I hope you can now understand better why…
Overcoming evil with good
must be motivated and empowered by
my identity in Christ
No matter how hard I might try to obey the 30 commands in this passage, I can’t do that in my own strength and power. So if that is true, then how can apply these principles in my life?
APPLICATION
HOW TO OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD
1. Meditate often on how Jesus loves me
English pastor and theologian Charles Bridges wrote this:
We are the disciples of him, who died for his enemies.
So that means if you are already a disciple of Jesus, you are the follower of one who died for you while you were still His enemy. That is something that we all need to be reminded of often. We need to constantly think about how Jesus sacrificially gave His life for us when there was absolutely nothing in it for Him.
And if you are not yet a disciple of Jesus, then your presence here this morning is part of His plan to pursue you so that through faith in Him, you can put an end to the evil in your life that separates you from God.
Unfortunately, we tend to dwell on the injustice that we’ve endured when we should be focused on the injustice that Jesus endured on our behalf. It is the realization of what Jesus has done for us and who we are in Him that motivates and empowers us to do the unnatural works that Paul calls us to do here.
2. Have a kingdom perspective
When we are wronged or hurt, we have a tendency to only see how that situation impacts us. But we need to remember that how we respond to those circumstances has the potential to have an impact on the kingdom of God.
So before I respond I need to take a step back and consider how my response might impact the kingdom of God. I need to consider whether I am willing to trust that God will execute His justice according to His perfect plan. And I need to consider whether my response is going to move the other person closer to faith in Jesus or push them further away.
God, as He often seems to do, put me to the test in this area this week, and unfortunately, I didn’t exactly pass with flying colors. I was at the gym and was using the leg press as part of my workout. While I was doing another exercise, I noticed another man taking the weights off the machine and replacing them with his weights, which were much lighter, just for the record. And then he removed my towel, which I had left on the machine so I wouldn’t sweat all over it, and proceeded to use the machine. While my response to him wasn’t all that spiteful, let’s just say I could have been more gracious. So when I see him at the gym next time, I’m going to have to apply these next two steps.
3. Ask Jesus to reveal where I’ve fallen short
We all need to ask, “Have I paid back evil with evil to anyone?” Is that the way I’ve treated my wife or my kids? Is that the way I’ve responded to others in my job? Have I done that to an annoying neighbor? Have I done that to someone else here at church? My guess is that just like God reminded me of the guy at the gym, He is likely going to bring to mind instances in our lives where we have done that. And when He does, we need to take this final step.
4. Take practical steps to make things right
Let’s look at just three.
• Don’t compromise the truth
In verse 18, Paul does give us one caveat:
If possible, so far as it depends on you…
Paul understands that even if we repay evil with good, the other person won’t always respond positively. But I think he is also reminding us here that we are not to compromise the truth we find in the Scriptures in an attempt to make peace.
Genuine love means that we have the best interests of the other person in mind. And what is always best is for that person to live according to the truth we find in the Bible. So one of the most unloving things we can do is to ignore or excuse their sin.
• Seek forgiveness when necessary
The first thing I need to do is to ask for God’s forgiveness. But that is usually not enough. When possible, I also need to seek the forgiveness of the person that I have treated in a way that is not consistent with what we’ve learned today.
• Do something good for the other person
Paul is not merely calling us to practice self-control and refrain from retaliation when we are provoked. He tells us that we also need to take some positive action that will meet the needs of the other person. He says that when we do that we will “heap burning coals on the head” of the other person.
That is a really interesting phrase that Paul borrows from Proverbs 25:22. And there are a number of different ideas about exactly what Paul means by that here. But whatever is meant, the context makes it clear that the ultimate goal of doing something good for the other person is so they will come to understand their need to a Savior and to put their trust in Jesus.
So what would qualify as “hot coals”? Maybe something as simple as a kind word, like the “God bless you” response that my friend posted on Facebook. Perhaps it’s taking someone a meal, or putting in a good word for someone at work, or weeding your neighbor’s yard. The list is pretty much endless
Overcoming evil with good
must be motivated and empowered by
my identity in Christ
INSPIRATION
Some of you may be thinking that is all great in theory, but it just won’t work in practice. You might be thinking that if you don’t fight back people are going to walk all over you. And you know what, that might very well be the case. But we need to remember that the people that God puts into our lives, both those inside and outside the church, are not enemies to be defeated, but rather people that He is created and who He desires to respond positively to the gospel.
Our goal should not be to win the battle, because in doing so we may very well lose the war. The stakes are way too high to allow that to happen.
ACTION
As we respond to God this morning, I obviously want to encourage all of us to consider the four steps that we just talked about. Most of those steps need to be taken individually and will look a bit different for each of us. But the one thing we can all do is to meditate on Jesus’ love for us. So after we respond to God with our offering, we’re going to display some passages about Jesus’ love. I want to encourage you to use those passages to help you meditate on that love and then once you’ve done that to consider how God might want you to apply the other three steps.
For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(Romans 5:7–8 ESV)
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3:16 ESV)
the LORD appeared to him from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
(Jeremiah 31:3 ESV)
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
(John 15:9 ESV)
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
(Galatians 2:20 ESV)
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
(Ephesians 2:4–5 ESV)
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:38–39 ESV)
Discussion questions for Bible Roundtable
1. Of all the things that Paul could have said love should be, why do you think he chose “genuine” (literally “without hypocrisy”)?
2. Paul writes about “good” and “evil”. How can we determine what is “good” and what is “evil”?
3. What does it mean to “abhor evil”? Do you think most Christians actually do that well? What are some practical things we can do to apply that principle?
4. What are some ways that ways that we might be tempted to return evil for evil without even recognizing that we are doing that? What steps can we take to prevent that?
5. How would you respond to someone who says “If I don’t fight back, the other person is going to walk all over me”?
