Romans 12:19-21: Blessed are the Peacemakers: Part Four

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Introduction:

Paul now draws his teaching on loving our enemies in this section to a close. Usually when we come to the end of a discussion on a thing we leave the important things, and summarising statements to the end. That is exactly what Paul does here in Romans 12:19-21,

‘Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.’

The idea of loving our enemies is a very important one. If you were drawing a discussion on this matter to a close and you wanted to leave the church with three key ideas as a conclusion what three things would you choose to emphasise? Here are Paul’s three. He tells us what we are, who God is, and what our duty is. We are the beloved of God; God is the holy judge, and a summarising way to sum up all of our actions of love towards our enemies is, to overcome evil with good.

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