Text- Romans 12:9-21
Title- Overcoming Evil With Good
Romans 12:9-21 9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; 11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, 13 contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. 19 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. 20 "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." 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
I. In Your Life- 9
a. Love without hypocrisy
b. Hate evil
c. Hold to what is good
II. In Your Church-10-13
a. Be devoted to each other
b. Give preference to one another
c. Faithfully, fervently serve
d. Persevere and pray during tribulation
e. Assist the saints
III. In Your Relationships- 14-16
a. Bless those who persecute you
b. Empathize with people
c. Practice humility
IV. With Your Enemies- 17-21
a. Be in the right
b. Seek peace
c. Don’t seek revenge
VBS- Background checks
Update on facility
In some ways preaching through the first 11 chapters of Romans was the tough part and these last few chapters are the easy part. Those first 11 chapters are so full of deep theological concepts and important ideas to understand. It was necessary for me to take extra time to study and prepare and dig deep so that we all understood and related to the text.
But the section we are into now is a piece of cake. Really all I have to do is just read it and then say- “do it”. If only it where that easy. But honestly, the concepts that we have looked at so far in chapter 12 are pretty simple to understand, the tough part is living it out.
One of the major theological themes that we investigated in the first part of Romans was the doctrine of sanctification. Sanctification is simply a big fancy word for cleaning up your mess. Sanctification means to become more godly. It is the process that we all enter into upon becoming believers in Jesus Christ.
Good works or good behaviors are not necessary to gain salvation, but they are a natural outflow of a true salvation. If we have truly made a commitment to give our lives over to God; if we have humbled ourselves before Him, than growth and maturity and real change will take place in our lives. Sanctification is all about overcoming the old evil nature, with the new good one.
Chapter 12 of Romans is really where Paul explains in specific detail how we are to accomplish this task. It is where Paul outlines what it is that we need to do in order to successfully overcome evil.
In verses 1-2 Paul says, “OK, in light of all of God’s mercies, present your bodies to Him as a living, breathing, sacrifice. Give yourself to Him” He says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Since you know all these great things that God has done for you, don’t hesitate to give Him your all. Be committed to Him.
Last week we say how Paul outlined this great antidote to our pride. As believers we need to replace pride with love and service. When we think rightly about ourselves, seek unity with others, and serve faithfully we begin to grow in our love for others.
Today is a continuation of that same theme. Sanctification involves deeper commitment, it involves squashing your pride, and it involves overcoming evil with Good. All of these things are so tough to do in a sin filled world. Honestly there are times when it seems like a futile battle.
All around us we see evil every day. Homosexuality is not just condoned, but celebrated. Unborn babies are killed every day. Crime and greed and ugliness are the only things we ever see on the news. At times it feels like evil is overcoming good all around us. But our responsibility as believers is to work hard at overcoming evil with good.
Here’s how… Romans 12:9-21…
The theme verse here is verse 21. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Don’t let all the yucky stuff around you seep into your life. Don’t compromise what you know is right. Don’t allow the erosion of our cultural morals break down your faithfulness. Instead, work at overcoming that evil with good.
This is not an easy task. So much of what we see on TV is evil. So much of the movies are slanted towards evil. What we read, what we hear, what we see all around us is evil. We become desensitized to it. When you hear filthy language every day, after awhile it no longer bothers you. Soon you even find yourselves using those words. When evil surrounds us it is easy for us to begin to conform to it. It overcomes us. It overwhelms us. But we have to work hard at overcoming this trend.
In this passage Paul offers some practical instruction for how we are to overcome evil with good. It all starts in your own life.
Verse 9 starts with the instruction, “let love be without hypocrisy”. The first place to start is by making sure that your love is not fake. Love is the utmost virtue. It is the heart of the greatest commandment. It is the first of the fruit of the Spirit. In 1 Corinthians Paul says that out of faith, hope, and love, love is the greatest. Love is foundational to our Christian lives.
Often those who have not been transformed by the saving power of Christ don’t really understand what true love is. For many people love is just a squishy feeling. For some love is an obsession. For some love is whatever makes them happy right now. Love is generally very conditional, very temporary, and very shallow.
The word for love here is “agape”. It is that selfless, unconditional kind of love. It is a love that is willing to put others first. It is a love that is a choice and a commitment, not a feeling. Please don’t miss this truth. Don’t gloss over this point. Paul is not talking about feelings, but actions. He isn’t talking about liking people, but loving them.
If love was primarily a feeling than what Paul is asking us to do here would be a complete impossibility…. If he was asking us to have warm squishy feelings about people without being hypocritical or fake about it that would be a futile task. Frankly, there are some people that we just don’t like very much- right? Not anyone in this room, but out there somewhere.
All of us are confronted with people from time to time that we simply couldn’t have feelings of love towards without being total hypocrites. Sometimes we don’t even have those warm squishy feelings for our own family. So how does Paul expect us to love without hypocrisy when in reality we don’t even really like some people sometimes?
The answer lies in our understanding of what Paul means by love. Love is an action, not a feeling. If Paul is asking us to always have positive feelings for others, it is an impossibility. However, if Paul is asking us to act lovingly towards others it is something that we have the power to do. We do have the power to talk lovingly about others, serve lovingly, and act lovingly.
Don’t encourage and uplift someone with one side of your face and then badmouth them with the other. Don’t serve some one with one hand and then slap them with the other. Don’t embrace someone with one arm and stab them in the back with the other. Make sure that your behavior is consistent, and consistently loving.
Love everyone without even a hint of phoniness or hypocrisy.
Next he says, “abhor what is evil”. This means that we need to develop a healthy hatred for things that are evil. Don’t become comfortable with evil. Don’t become desensitized to it. Always maintain a hatred for anything that is anti-God.
Are there things that have crept into your life that are simply evil? Has your speech, your behavior, or what you watch become offensive to God. Are you comfortable around evil or do you hate the same things that God hates?
Don’t play with fire or dabble with sin. Maintain a healthy hatred for it.
Along with hating evil we are to cling to what is good. Those things in your life that you know are positive and uplifting and good should be held in a place of priority in your life.
If you where to make a list of all the good things in your life what would make the list?
- Church- Ok church is a good thing. How much time do you spend here? A couple of hours a week? Don’t sacrifice that time for anything. Cling fast to it. Hold tight to it. Don’t let anything else in your life replace your time in fellowship with other believers. Don’t view church as a take-it-or-leave-it thing. Hold tight to it.
- Bible Study- Time in God’s word is also a good thing. Cling to it. Make time for it every week. Don’t let TV or sleep or other things get in the way. Pick up your Bible and hold fast to it all week long. If you have a tough time reading the Bible throughout the week than join one of the Bible studies that we have.
- Prayer- Prayer is also a good thing. Hold fast to it. Don’t neglect that important tool. Of all the great resources that we have available to us, prayer is probably one of the most under-utilized ones. Hold fast to a consistent prayer life.
- Fellowship with other believers is also a very good thing. When you socialize with and hang out with other people who share your values and morals it helps us to maintain a high standard. Cling fast to your Christian friends.
Are you making a point to cling to these things? Are we stuck like glue to these things? Are these merely weekend activities or are these the kinds of activities that we devote our time and attention to?
If we are going to be effective at overcoming evil with good than it has to begin with a personal choice to hate those things that are evil and a devotion to everything that is good in our lives.
Next Paul describes the need to overcome evil with good in your own church. Look at 10-13…
First of all, be devoted to one another in brotherly love. In other words, have a deep abiding affection for each other. Treat each other as beloved members of your family. Don’t just view the person sitting next to you as a fellow Christian, but as a fellow brother or sister. Treat them the same way you would treat your own family. Sometimes you might want to kill them, but you are always there for each other.
Back in the olden days churches used to have what was known as a church covenant. It was kind of like a contract that people would sign upon joining the church. It was a commitment on their part to remain faithful to each other. To join together under a common faith for the purpose of glorifying God.
That practice has kind of gone by the wayside for a number of reasons, but I think there is still great value in all of us understanding that we aren’t just joining a social club or taking Bible classes, we are making a commitment to be devoted to one another as a family. We are willing to stick together through thick and thin.
Also Paul instructs us to give preference to one another in honor. This really corresponds to what we talked about last week. Sometimes we will be required to set aside our own personal preferences for the sake of others. Instead of always going around demanding more from others, be willing to give. Be willing to let others go first. Even if you feel like you deserve the honor and the respect because of your age or position in the church, be willing to defer that honor to others.
I have to admit that one of my personal pet peeves is people who walk around with a constant sense of righteous indignation. The was a couple that Camille and I interacted with in seminary who were constantly being wronged by someone, constantly demanding satisfaction, constantly claiming some kind of moral high ground, constantly demanding their own way.
Paul wants us to constantly give other people preference. Let them go first. Chill out about stuff. Give the honor up to others, even if you think you deserve it.
This is accomplished through faithful, fervent service. It says, “not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord”
When it comes to diligence and faithfulness, don’t lag behind. Don’t bring up the rear. Be out in front. There is a statistic that says that in the average church 10% of the people do 90% of the work. Don’t settle for that. Don’t be content to allow others to constantly serve you and your kids and your family. Step up to the plate and help out. The church has been designed by God to work as a co-op. We all lend a hand and work together to get the job done.
Not lagging behind in diligence is just a nice way of saying don’t be lazy. When it comes to your service of the Lord in the church, don’t be lazy. Likewise, be fervent in spirit is another way of saying, don’t be apathetic. It seems like some people just don’t care. Their attitude is one of boredom. When it comes to serving God, have that right attitude.
I’m going to ask a tough question… you don’t have to answer it out loud. Have you been lazy and apathetic when it comes to service in the church? If your honest answer is yes then you need to come see me. I’ll make sure you get plugged in. You won’t be lagging behind for long.
Lastly, one way you can help overcome evil with good is through assisting the saints. This simply means to help each other out. Help each other financially, help each other physically. When we moved into our new house a bunch of you came over and helped us clean and paint. You helped us out a ton. I have been blessed with opportunities to help some of you out with different projects. Lean on each other for help.
So overcoming evil with good starts in your own personal life, it plays it self out in obvious ways within the church, and next it needs to happen in all your relationships. Look at 14-16 again…
So far everything up to this point has been pretty simple. We need to avoid evil and cling to good, OK that makes sense. I need to be loving to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, yeah, I can do that better. But now Paul takes things outside. Now he starts to give us instructions on how we deal with people outside the church. People who we might not get along with too well.
The first instruction is to bless those who persecute you. Bless them and do not curse them. Be honest, how many of you have ever prayed, “Dear God, please give that person who wronged me a bad case of shingles”? When someone hurts us our natural response is to want to hurt them. But instead we are to bless them.
We are to bless them and not curse them. We are to pray for them, speak well of them, maybe even want the best for them. This is just plain weird. The ability to bless those who have wronged you is a superhuman gift. It is not natural. It is supernatural.
Hatred and malice and bitterness are not to be characteristics of Christians. Instead we are to be marked with grace and forgiveness and love and gentleness. Give this a try this week. The next time someone wrongs you, and I’m sure it will happen, instead of expressing your feelings with a finger, stop and pray for them.
Next, Paul wants us to be able to empathize with people. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Empathy is the ability to enter into the emotions and feeling of others. It is more than sympathy. It is an ability to genuinely join them in their joy or in their sorrow. Paul wants us to be people who actually care about others.
We need to be able to come alongside those who are hurting and give them comfort. We need to be able to relate well with the world around us.
Finally, we need to practice humility. Paul says be of the same mind with others, don’t be arrogant, be willing to associate with the lowly, don’t be a smarty-pants (that’s my paraphrase)
We spent all last week talking about the dangers of pride. Don’t act in an arrogant way towards others. I could spend more time here, but I think we all clearly understand this, we just need to do it.
The final way in which we can overcome evil with good is in our interactions with our enemies. Look at 17-20…
First of all, make every effort to be in the right. Never pay back evil for evil. Your mom was right, two wrongs don’t make a right. Have a healthy respect for what is right. Always take the high road. Always be the bigger man or woman. Always do right by people, even when they do you wrong.
We have two little girls, and often my little niece is in the mix. All it takes is for one of them to get frustrated and start pulling hair, and immediately the other one will grab a handful of hair, and then they will trade slaps, and then usually follow it all up with a set of heartfelt raspberries at each other.
We are not to trade jabs with people. We are not to trade evil for evil. We are to show love even in the face of evil. In other words, seek peace with all men. If at all possible, as much as it is within your ability, seek out peace. Paul understands that peace isn’t always going to be possible because some people are just plain evil and selfish and mean. But we as believers have a responsibility to strive for peace. Conflict shouldn’t be a result of our actions.
Do you have enemies? Are there relationships that are in a constant state of conflict? Are there situations that just make your stomach ache when you think about them? Have you done everything you can to seek out peace? Have you humbled yourself, offered a truce, or been willing to talk things out? As much as it is up to you, strive for peace with all men.
Finally, Paul caps this off by reminding us not to seek out revenge. Revenge is another one of those natural reflexes that we feel when we are wronged. We want to do something to get back at the person who hurt us. There is something sick, yet cathartic about getting revenge on someone.
I read a story about a clerk at a department store who was ringing up a ladies purchases. As the lady reached into her purse to get her wallet the cashier noticed a large remote control sticking out. The cashier asked, “Do you always take you remote shopping?” The lady replied, “No, but my husband refused to come shopping with me, and I figured this was the most evil thing I could do to him legally.”
That’s just cold. Hopefully I didn’t give any of you ladies any ideas. You guys should probably go out and buy a universal remote as a back up just in case.
If your enemy is hungry, don’t eat a sandwich in front of them, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them a drink. Instead of trying to punish them , help them. It says that when we respond with love to someone’s hatred it will “heap burning coals on their head”. This is a reference to a custom where someone would walk around with a plate of hot coals on their head as a sign of shame and contrition.
The idea is that your love will make them realize how shameful their hatred is. It will reveal their pettiness. Don’t lower yourself to the level of hatred and revenge, no matter how good it might feel. Leave vengeance up to God. If you’ve read any of the OT you know that God doesn’t mess around. He will take care of business for you.
In every single area of your life you need to be actively striving to overcome evil with good. We need to be replacing bad stuff with good stuff wherever we go. We need to spread positive attitudes, encouragement, love, grace, patience, forgiveness, and humility to everyone who comes into contact with us.
It starts with a change in your personal life, then it flows into your service in the church, then it overflows out to your other relationships, and it even comes out in your responses to people who give you a hard time.
As you go out from here today don’t be overcome by the evil you come into contact with, but overcome that evil with good.
