Romans 12:9-21
9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not lag in zeal; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer. 13Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be arrogant, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”20 Instead, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink, for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Today, our reading comes from Romans 12, where we see Paul’s tackle the topic of the life of the believer, but more than that, a life and faith marked and imbued by love. The passage section is titled, “The Marks of a True Christian”, and it speaks about living a life shaped and transformed by the love of Christ.
Paul states that love must be sincere and genuine, he juxtaposes this with the hypocritical or shallow interpretation of love; a love that says the right things, but superficially does little to transform the life of the Christian. For Paul, and much of the early church, love was not merely a pithy emotion or statement, but was understood in part as a verb, actions and activities embraced and lived out to demonstrate the love had for an individual. N.T. Wright observes in Paul for Everyone: Romans, Part 2, “For Paul, ‘love’ is more about what people do than about how they feel. In fact, in the early church ‘love’ was often connected quite directly to helping other people out in their various needs, not least financial, rather than necessarily to having war feelings towards them. As a Christian, it is possible, not least through prayer, to decide firmly that one is going to help someone in need, whether or not you particularly like them.”[1]
Paul is utilizing the Greek word agape as his understanding of love, which he argues is not only unconditional, no strings attached, but requires believers to go to great extent to show this love to their brothers and sisters in Christ. As James Edwards puts it in the Romans: New International Biblical Commentary, “Agape on the other hand, commits itself to the good of the other regardless of cost to self.”[2]
Above and beyond just merely being kind and compassionate, Paul talks about love in the sense that it expresses the full conversion of the believer, evidenced by the great love that they show. Our pericope comes directly after a passage expressing the new life of the believers and the gifts and talents, they have to serve the Body. Then, we see, the marks of genuine faith. It is not merely an intellectual or philosophical or even a moral exercise, but about a conversion and transformation of life in and through the love of Christ, which then witnesses to and is an ambassador of that love to others. Unlike the passage that comes before it, though, where we see specific gifts and talents for specific people, Paul is asserting that these marks of faith, this love, is meant to be embraced by ALL believers. It speaks about how believers are meant to interact and live in the public spaces and communities, which is meant to be through the radical lens of God’s love.
Something striking about this passage is that it requires activity rather than passive and genteel love, it is radically set against punitive retaliation. It beckons the believer throughout, “do not repay”, “do not curse”, do not “hate”, and even asserts, do not think that “vengeance” or payback is ours to achieve. Instead, Paul lays out a radical plan, love and compassion are our role to play. One caveat that must be made. This is not making the case for injustice to run rampant. This not a calling to be soft on evil or wrongdoing. What this is saying is akin to what Dr. Martin Luther King asserts in Strength to Love, “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”[3]
Therefore, our passage concludes with a strong call, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (v.21) Paul is making a radical point that to embrace agape, to embrace the way of God, seeks not to return evil for evil. He is not harkening back to the lex talionis that calls for equal retribution, an eye for an eye. Edwards quotes Pelagius, who said, “The enemy has overcome us when makes us like himself.”[4] Instead, Paul lays out that the most Christlike attitude that one can embrace is to return love in the face of evil. It is reminiscent of something my mom used to say, “be the bigger person, don’t stoop to their level.” But as if this thought was taken to the extreme and encourages not merely ignoring evil people or deeds, but instead seeks to love the person as a counteraction. This is not only radical, but revolutionary. Edwards concludes his thoughts stating, “The essential victory over evil is the work of love. And this is no imaginary victory. Overcoming evil with good is the most revolutionary force in the world. Love cannot fail because it represents the sovereign will of God.”[5]
What does this mean for us? It means, that it is not enough to talk about faith, love, or even grace. It is meant to be embraced by each believer. The love of God is not some intellectual pursuit instead, for Paul, was supposed to have a marked impact in the life of the believer. This means that we live transformed, we live radically compassionate and caring lives that seeks to show the agape love we have for others, embracing the two greatest commandments of loving God and loving our neighbors. And this means loving even in the face of difficulty and evil. Because as Dr. King observes, “We never get rid of an enemy by meeting hate with hate; we get rid of an enemy by getting rid of enmity. By its very nature, hate destroys and tears down; by its very nature, love creates and builds up. Love transforms with redemptive power.”[6] We do not overcome evil or our enemies by adding to it but by flipping the script with love. Therefore, the mark of a true Christian is a life changed and transformed by the agape, unconditional love of Christ, which we seek not to horde that love but to express and lavish on others.
[1] N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: Romans: Part Two, (London: SPCK, 2004), 77.
[2] James R. Edwards, Romans: New International Biblical Commentary, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2007), 293.
[3] Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King, Strength to Love, The King Legacy Series (Boston: Beacon Press, 2019), 37.
[4] Edwards, 299.
[5] Edwards, 299.
[6] King, 38.
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