In Romans 12:20 Paul says, “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 loving our enemies. Our love to them will be coals of fire heaped upon their heads to turn them to the Lord. It may be that by feeding our enemies and giving them a drink, we may, at least to some extent, move and turn their hearts and gain them for the Lord’s sake.
Romans 12:21 says, “Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.” To be conquered by evil is to repay evil with evil (v. 17). Suppose someone treats us evilly, and we treat him evilly in return. This indicates that we have been conquered by evil. We should not be like this. Instead, we should conquer evil with good. This means that if someone treats us evilly, we should treat him well in return. This is to conquer evil with good.
The Lord Jesus charged us to pray for those who persecute us (Matt. 5:44). This is a wonderful attitude to hold toward our persecutors. Stephen had such an attitude. When he was being stoned, even unto death, he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). Stephen prayed for his persecutors in the same way as his Lord, whom he loved and lived (Luke 23:34).
Not only should we pray for our persecutors; we should also bless them (Rom. 12:14). It is even more difficult to bless a persecutor than to pray for him. Nevertheless, through the divine dispensing this was Paul’s experience. Therefore, he could say, “Reviled we bless” (1 Cor. 4:12). First Peter 3:9 says, “Not rendering evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing one another, because you were called to this, that you might inherit blessing.” We have been called to bless others; hence, as a blessed people, we should always bless others so that we might inherit blessing. What we bless others with, we will inherit ourselves (Matt. 10:13; 7:2).
After charging us to bless those who persecute us, Paul goes on to say, “Bless and do not curse” (Rom. 12:14). It is very difficult for us not to curse a person who is persecuting us. Even if we would not curse him with our mouth, we may be cursing him deep within us. Therefore, in order to bless our persecutors and not curse them, we need to be saturated with the processed Triune God through His dispensing.
We also need to pursue peace with all men. Hebrews 12:14 says, “Pursue peace with all men.” To pursue in this verse means “to chase, even to chase vigorously.” In having the best attitude toward others, we need to pursue peace, to chase peace vigorously. We should not fight with anyone. Rather, we should pursue peace with all men. This means that we endeavor to keep a peaceful situation with everyone by living in peace with all men.
Romans 12:18 says, “If possible, as far as it depends on you, live in peace with all men.” We need to live in peace with others, as far as it depends on us to do so. Sometimes it is not possible to live in peace with all men, because others are not willing to have a life of peace. There is nothing we can do in such a situation. This is the reason Paul says that we should live in peace with all men “if possible.” As far as it depends on us, we should do our best to live in peace with everyone.
We are in the church, but the church is among human society. Hence, it is crucial that we have the best attitude toward others. We first need to be subject to the government through the dispensing of the processed Triune God. Authority is from God, and those in authority are appointed by God as servants of God to the believers for their good. We need to recognize this fact and not resist them. We should pay taxes and customs to them since they are God’s officers. We should also learn to subject ourselves to authorities, fear and honor them, and maintain a good relationship with the government. We do not do these things by ethical teachings, by philosophical instructions, or by our natural life and ability but through our experience of the dispensing of the processed Triune God. We should also learn, for the Lord’s sake, that is, for the expression and glorification of God, to be subject to all human institutions according to the will of God. Furthermore, we should love our enemies and do good to those who hate us. This is the highest standard of morality. If we would fulfill these requirements, we must be born of God to be a God-man, a person saturated with God and mingled with Him. As those born of God, we have His life and nature. Hence, we are spontaneously able to love our enemies even as God our Father loves them. Since His love has been dispensed into us, the love with which we love our enemies is the love of God our Father. We love our enemies by feeding them and giving them a drink, thus turning them to the Lord. If someone treats us evilly, we should treat him well in return. This is to conquer evil with good.
In addition, we have to pray for those who persecute us. Stephen had such an attitude. He was the same as the Lord, whom he loved and lived. Not only so, we should also bless our persecutors. We have been called to bless others, so we, as a blessed people, should always bless others so that we might inherit blessing. It is very difficult for us not to curse a person who is persecuting us. Therefore, we need to be saturated with the processed Triune God through His dispensing. We also need to pursue peace with all men, endeavoring to keep a peaceful situation with everyone by living in peace with all men. Sometimes it is not possible for us to live in peace with all men, because others are not willing to have a life of peace. However, as far as it depends on us, we should do our best to live in peace with everyone.