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Throughout this passage I notice that there are a lot of opposites and contrasts. I also see a progression of intensity or a sharpening of focus on unselfishness and personal restraint. By the time I get to this section of verses the phrases are started out with the word never, which is a very strong and unequivocal word. Never pay back evil for evil – never take your own revenge.
I also notice that these verses are prepping us for what is coming in the next chapter which is how we are to relate to artificial social structures outside of the body of Christ. We cannot rightly determine how to relate to outside governing authority if we have not first been transformed deep in the heart as described in this chapter. Whenever chapter 13 is emphasized without the context of chapter 12 as a prerequisite the results are always external-based and will be mis-guided. But I will leave that discussion for later.
I will note however, that this verse about not paying back evil for evil directly parallels verse four in the next chapter, if you do what is evil, be afraid. There is strong incentive for not harboring resentful, bitter roots in the heart that will cause one to retaliate with evil whenever others commit evil against us. It may feel very right and justifiable in the moment but it will dishonor Christ just as Moses dishonored God by striking the rock in anger. What Moses did, though very wrong, was not viewed with as much concern by God as the spirit he portrayed while representing God. (Unfortunately, too many of us would have been inclined to exercise the rod on the people instead of just on the rock!)
If possible... This is a strong indication that being at peace with all men is not always possible. This is very clear in the life of Jesus who said He did not come to bring peace but a sword. However, it is all too easy to allow our enthusiasm for “truth” to ignore this admonition in our eagerness to wield a sword in the name of Jesus. But as Peter found out to his great embarrassment, the kind of sword we want to use is completely opposite to the type of sword Jesus had in mind.
The clear focus here is on avoiding conflict as far as our own abilities and actions are concerned. There is far too much unnecessary conflict between Christians and with others that is quite avoidable if far more attention were being paid to the condition of our spirit instead of our determination to be “right” at all costs. It may feel very righteous to think we are “right” on a topic or in a situation but in heaven's eyes reality looks dramatically different most of the time. For from heaven's viewpoint the condition and effects of our spirit is by far the more important aspect of our lives and the outward experiences are more the results of that spirit.
Our beliefs and doctrines are very important, but for very different reasons than we usually think. For many of us, we think that knowing the correct doctrines and tenets of religion are more important to God and to our salvation than the way we treat others who disagree with us or may be opposed to us. But this attitude is a most dangerous and highly deceptive state of mind. Doctrines are like bones inside of our body. They give strength, shape and anchor points and define to a great extent what we look like on the outside. But when we think that bones and doctrines are more important than anything else it is like dangling a skeleton out in public and declaring it to be the ultimate creation of God.
Skeletons are well known to be objects designed to create fear, not attraction. Halloween, one of the greatest holidays celebrating demonic-type activities and things related to death, commonly uses skeletons as symbols of adornment. Some Christians rightly abhor such blatant advertisements for Satan's kingdom but think nothing of ignoring their abrasive spirit while trying to impose their doctrines and preferences on anyone within reach. Skeletons seldom attract people to love the person who's bones are being displayed. And arguing about doctrines does little to attract people to love God from their heart.
But on the other hand, having the correct understanding of God's principles and ways are very effective in giving us anchor points that will keep us stable as we focus our hearts on cultivating a right spirit in our relationships with others. We need to have our minds filled with the truths from the Word of God if we ever expect to be able to live the kind of life described in these chapters. But even more importantly we must have our spirit submitted to and influenced by the sweet Spirit of Jesus who demonstrated perfectly how these instructions will affect a life wholly synchronized with the heart and mind of God.
Jesus demonstrated how to live at peace with all men to the greatest degree possible as far as it was up to Him. There were times when He would leave a town and go elsewhere because He was not very welcome there. He could have stayed and argued for God's ways and tried to convince people to change their minds, but He was more alert to the condition of His spirit than He was concerned for defending His own interests. He lived a live of totally selfless dedication to the reputation of God with no thought for His own reputation as an example of how we can live successfully like Him.
The following verses about not taking revenge but leaving things totally in the hands of God is an amplification of these present verses. This is because human ideas and urges involving revenge are always contaminated with sinful desires and bitterness and will always misrepresent the true character of God. As I have been reworking and adding to another web site for the past several days dedicated totally to understanding the true character of God in relation to the concepts of wrath, fire and the truth about hell, I have become even more aware of my need to pay careful attention to my spirit and be in perfect alignment with God's heart.
Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord. "BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD." (Romans 12:19-20)
God's version of wrath is so radically and surprisingly different than anything we have ever imagined that God tells us not to even try to do it ourselves. He instructs us to just leave it up to Him because He is the only one big enough to have the right spirit of mind and heart to do it correctly. But in fact, in doing that, in leaving it up to Him and letting go of our intense craving to get even with others, we are actually being molded into His image, being transformed into His likeness and are in fact, beginning to participate in His way of “doing wrath”.
Amazingly verse 20 is in fact, a description of God's wrath. It is one of the clearest texts in the whole Bible on the subject of God's wrath and if it was viewed as such would radically shake up the whole Christian world. For God is love and always will be love. God never runs out of patience, gets mad (the way humans get mad) and strikes out to hurt people from anger. God is not manipulated by triggers inside that cause Him to get defensive like we do, and His throne is not threatened by any of our nonsense or attacks on Him.
Jesus is the perfect revelation of the Father and if we want to know the truth about God's anger and wrath we must carefully analyze not only the actions but the spirit displayed by Jesus when under attack. Look carefully at all the times Jesus might have been tempted to take revenge and notice how often His disciples were eager to help Him do it. But the only times the Bible notes that Jesus got angry, His resulting actions emerging from that anger were acts of healing. Maybe that is why it is so important for us to leave vengeance up to God.
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