How can you not?

The brethren at Rome were told to “repay no one evil for evil,” (Rom. 12:17). How should Christians react when someone commits an evil against us? If someone breaks into our home, are we to let them ransack the place and hurt us? What is this verse teaching?

The key to understanding this verse is to focus on the word evil. If someone does something evil to us, we are not going to do the same to them. However, let us not confuse evil with that which is lawful. As an example: God said, in times past, if someone murders another, then the murderer is to be put to death (Num. 35:16). Is this two evils? The answer is no. One is an evil, and it was called murder. The other was not a murder, it was justice.

What about Christians though? It is not wrong to call 911 or subdue an intruder. Repaying evil for evil would be to lose control and “take the law into our own hands.” It would be wanting to harm the person in retribution. It is not evil to demand justice, and we need to recognize the difference in order to understand our own relationship with our heavenly Father. Those who think a punishment is the same as the crime do not understand what evil is.

Consider what Jesus did not do while hanging on the cross. “When He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten…” (I Pet. 2:23). Our Lord did not stoop to the level of his foes. He kept His composure and prayed for them. This does not mean their evil was overlooked though. Note that the apostles told those who crucified Jesus to repent (Acts 2:36-38).

Obviously, a desire for earthly justice can overflow and become sinful.  Regardless of what happens on the earth, we must remember that vengeance belongs to the Lord (Rom. 12:19). We must remember that having the approval of our brethren is not the same as having God’s approval. The only way to please God is to walk by faith (Heb. 11:6). Beware of repaying evil for evil.

                                                                                                                                                                                                             Chuck