Request your free, three-month trial to Tabletalk magazine. You’ll receive the print issue monthly and gain immediate digital access to decades of archives. This trial is risk-free. No credit card required.
Try Tabletalk NowAlready receive Tabletalk magazine every month?
Verify your email address to gain unlimited access.
The Apostle Paul is clear in his letter to the church in Rome: “‘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.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:20–21). Paul is quoting from Proverbs 25. Rome was a place filled with enemies of Christians doing evil to them. They hated Jesus and His followers.
We face the same hatred and evil today. The church’s calling hasn’t changed: to be a city on a hill that proclaims God’s glory to a lost world. Overcoming evil with good is a truly incredible way to do that, and churches have done just that over the centuries in the power of the Holy Spirit: standing for the gospel, for truth, and for holiness in a corrupt world while not avenging when wronged or harmed, turning the other cheek, and loving others, including our enemies. Paul wasn’t encouraging Christians to seek to harm their enemies in a roundabout way either but was encouraging them to overcome evil done to them with good works: to overcome evil with love and kindness, not aiming weapons to inflict damage; moving positively forward, not passively retreating. Our battle is spiritual.
Interestingly, this passage is set within the context of presenting our bodies as living sacrifices by the mercies of God. This act of sacrifice is holy and acceptable to the Father because it is Christlike: Christ has offered His body as a living sacrifice. Romans 12 touches on the body of Jesus, His church. We are many members, united in one body. We are to love each other with brotherly affection (v. 10) but also to abhor what is evil. We are to contribute to the needs of fellow Christians as we show caring hospitality and outdo each other in showing honor to one another. Then we read this in close succession: Repay no one evil for evil, never avenge yourselves, and overcome evil with good. This is important for mission: God’s kindness leads to repentance (2:4).
In Romans 13, Paul makes another incredible statement: “Owe nothing to anyone except love” (v. 8). Love is how a Christian fulfills God’s law. Love is the only way that we can possibly do what Paul tells us to do. Enjoying the love of God in our hearts means that we can love others, even those who want to do us harm. This is a very potent witness to the world and our culture. It’s opposite to our nature as sinners and to a culture that is at odds with love—a culture that says to cancel Christians, shut them down, and burn them. We are not to be like this; we are to be different.
Think of the church as a lampstand shining into the darkness: loving neighbors; blessing and not cursing; overflowing with love in practical ways; bearing witness through a conspicuous, patient, and unhurried goodness, because the church is growing into its Head—Christ. Paul says that we are to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, who poured Himself out in love, not gratify the desires of our flesh: “If you wrong me, I’m going to hit you back twice as hard!” This is gratifying the flesh, satisfying our old sinful natures. It is not the way of Jesus.
It’s easy to allow ourselves to become negative, critical, and passive, especially when we know that we’re in the right on an issue. People all too easily give up, disconnect, and retreat into a safe huddle and start hurling rocks. It’s far more costly to continue to engage lovingly, to stand firm, but also to be meek and humble.
In a sermon on Romans 12 titled “Behave like a Christian,” R.C. Sproul taught that overcoming evil with good means actively refusing vengeance and responding to malice with benevolence, echoing Romans 12:17–21. Dr. Sproul emphasized that Christians must not repay evil for evil but should display active, sacrificial love to “heap coals of fire” on an enemy’s head, overcoming negative, destructive actions through godliness.
So who are our enemies? This is a vitally important question that we can miss in the fog of war. It is those who are enemies of Christ and the church, not simply people who offend us online or who don’t perfectly align with our convictions. We don’t cancel or hurl abuse at enemies, let alone fellow believers. Where is the evil in our society today, and how do we overcome it? The ultimate victory over evil is not achieving power over enemies or beating them but combating evil through loving, gracious, good actions. Jesus tells us to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us (Luke 6:27). We were once enemies, and Christ died for us. He ultimately overcame the evil of death by becoming our atoning sacrifice. He overcame the greatest of evils with good, to make us righteous.
If we love only those who love us, then there’s no benefit for us in heaven, there’s nothing that separates us from unbelievers, and there’s no Christian witness. If we sacrificially give but expect nothing in return, then the Lord sees and rewards. If we are sons of God the Father, we must show that we are like the Son, merciful and kind to those who don’t deserve it. How we carry ourselves reflects on Him. We’re called to be ambassadors, not behavior enforcers. We are ambassadors in a foreign country representing the King of a very different kingdom. Our King makes His appeal through us: “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). We are the righteousness of God in the Lord Jesus; we have no righteousness of our own. We have this ministry of reconciliation, of overcoming and not being overcome.