Overcome Evil with Good
Bless and Do Not Curse
In earlier chapters, Paul has presented careful theological argument which primarily dealt with what we should not do: we must not depend on the law, on anything of our own making, or of any effort on our part to achieve salvation. Salvation is an act of God, and not of men (9:16). Even in the context of this argument, however, Paul has been careful to reject any notion that, since there is no way to achieve salvation by our own action, our own actions do not matter at all. To those who would say that our sin only serves to glorify the grace of God, Paul responds with complete dismissal (3:8; 6:1-2). In these later chapters, Paul begins to deal very practically with the question of how we should respond to grace. In the earlier passages of Chapter 12, Paul stresses the need of the church for a unity that is based on mutual respect. We are one body with many members. This metaphor suggests not only that we respect the abilities of others, but that we have proper respect for our own abilities.
In the chapters to come, Paul will deal with the relationship of the Christian to the authorities here on earth, and will return again to instruction for interaction in the Christian community. In the present passage, Paul deals with our reaction to those, either within or without that community, who would seek to do us harm. Either to stress the importance of what he is telling us, or to forestall any notion of diluting or otherwise misunderstanding his instruction, Paul tells in both the positive and the negative that we must bless, not curse, those who persecute us.
Blessings and courses are, of course, only words. Even though we might still have a difficult time pronouncing a blessing on those who would injure us, we know that any serious interpretation of this passage requires us to go beyond words to action. Indeed, the parallel with the words of Christ in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5:38-48) is quite clear. When one would ask us to go a mile with them, we must offer to go two; when one would take the shirt off our back, we must offer our coat, as well. We cannot simply pronounce a blessing on our enemies; we must actively be a blessing to them.
Burning Coals
In support of his argument, Paul – who did not have the Gospels to quote – quotes both from Deuteronomy 32:35, where God exclusively reserves vengeance, and from Proverbs 25:21-22, where we are told that aiding our enemies will not only make us deserving of reward from God, but that it will “heap burning coals” upon their heads. We must wonder why, if our aim is to heap coals on their heads, we are forbidden to act spitefully to them in the first place.
Whatever the meaning of that phrase in Proverbs, we cannot understand the instruction from Paul (and Proverbs by way of Paul) as a theologically-sound, Biblically-approved method of repaying our enemies for the wrong they have done to us (or that we perceive they have done to us). Instead, Paul’s discourse is moving from faith (our acceptance of the grace of God) to religion, which is the practice of our faith.
For Paul, religion was a very practical matter. It was not a matter of race (4:13) ritual (2:29) or code (7:6). It is, instead, the way we treat each other (13:8-10). In this, he not only has the agreement of James (James 1:27), but is also in complete agreement with our Lord, who both announced his ministry (Luke 4:16-21) and claimed his mastery (Luke 7:18-23) by healing the sick and defending the poor. This ministry is also what our Lord requires of us: a ministry that is defined by a cup of cold water (Matthew 10:40-42) or by a kind word or deed (Matthew 25:31-46).
Overcome Evil with Good
Paul ends this passage with what on the face of it is a very strange command: do not overcome evil with evil, but overcome evil with good. In this world, it certainly seems as though evil has all the tools techniques for success. Nice guys, it seems, finish last, but the one who is willing to do what it takes will be richly rewarded. We must carefully consider how we can come to a meaningful, functional understanding of this command.
First, we must understand that the command is not a recipe for domination any more than the command to be good to our enemies is an acceptable means of destroying those enemies (except in recognition that a friend is no longer an enemy). The command to do good is not directed at them, but at us.
We must also consider that we do not define success, but God does, and God’s definition of success must be accepted on faith. It is a definition in which the first is last and the last is first (Matthew 20:20-28) and in which our Lord, and the eve of his betrayal, even as his disciples were deserting him and his enemies were massing to capture him, proclaimed “I have overcome the world!” (John 16:32-33)
