Rom 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. (17) Repay no one evil for evil... (18) If possible, as far as it depends on you, live in peace with all men (19) Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to the wrath of God... (20) But "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will heap coals of fire upon his head." (21) Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.
Regardless of how bad people may be toward us, our mouth should only express blessing, not cursing. How the Lord blessed us when we were His enemies! We should bless our enemies and persecutors in the same way. This also is an aspect of the life that follows the Lord's steps. Under the law it was eye for eye and tooth for tooth. Today we are not under law but under grace. We must not repay evil for evil, but rather repay good for evil, as the Lord has done to us. While we are practicing the church life with a normal human life, we should not avenge ourselves in any way. We should leave the whole situation in the sovereign hand of the Lord and give Him the place to do whatever He likes according to His sovereignty. Our love to them will be coals of fire heaped upon their heads to turn them to the Lord. The best way to calm our enemies is to give them something to eat and drink. Finally, we need to live in peace with all men, as far as it depends upon us to do so. Sometimes it is not possible to live in peace with all men because the other parties are not willing to have a life of peace. Therefore, Paul says that we should live in peace with all men "if possible."
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee. Life-study of Romans, pp. 319-320. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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