We must also live a normal life in relation to our persecutors and enemies.
We should bless those who persecute us and not curse them (v. 14). Regardless of how bad people may be toward us, our mouth should only express blessing, not cursing. How the Lord blessed us when we were His enemies! We should bless our enemies and persecutors in the same way. This also is an aspect of the life that follows the Lord’s steps.
We should repay no one evil for evil (v. 17). Under the law it was eye for eye and tooth for tooth. Today we are not under law but under grace. We must not repay evil for evil, but rather repay good for evil, as the Lord has done to us.
Furthermore, we should not avenge ourselves, but give place to the wrath of God; for vengeance belongs to the Lord (v. 19). While we are practicing the church life with a normal human life, we should not avenge ourselves in any way. We should be willing to suffer people’s wrongdoing and the loss of everything. We should leave the whole situation in the sovereign hand of the Lord and give Him the place to do whatever He likes according to His sovereignty.
In verse 20 Paul says, “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will heap coals of fire upon his head.” This is actually loving our enemies. Our love to them will be coals of fire heaped upon their heads to turn them to the Lord. The best way to calm our enemies is to give them something to eat and drink. Thus, Paul commands us, “Do not be conquered by the evil, but conquer the evil with the good” (v. 21).
Finally, we need to live in peace with all men, as far as it depends upon us to do so (v. 18). Sometimes it is not possible to live in peace with all men because the other parties are not willing to have a life of peace. In such a situation, there is nothing that we can do. Therefore, Paul says that we should live in peace with all men “if possible.”
In general, we must take “forethought for things honorable in the sight of all men” (v. 17). We must be very thoughtful before all men about honorable things, and we must be thoughtful beforehand. In order to keep from offending people we should not oppose anything that is honorable. However, we should not care for these honorable things in a blind way lest we be distracted from the Lord’s way. Since we are not only living before God but also before men, we need to take forethought for things honorable in the sight of men. Second Corinthians 8:21 says, “We take forethought for things honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men” (Gk.).