Hold Fast and Overcome
In my sermon on Sunday I referenced a passage in Romans 12 a few times. It’s an amazing and challenging passage that I’ve been reflecting on a lot over the last couple weeks, so I thought I would share some of my thoughts here.
Romans 12:9-21
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
20 To the contrary, “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.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
I know this text has a lot of commands and that can be overwhelming, but they are all so good! And each of them is transformative for our lives. I don’t want to single any of them out as more important, so instead, I want to offer some categories for how to think about these and put them into practice in your life.
Hold Fast And Overcome
The first way to view this passage is to notice that it is bookended by two contrasts for how we are to relate to good and evil:
We are to “Abhor evil, hold fast to what is good,” (v.9)
And “not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (v. 21).
How do we do this? That is what the verses in between these bookends are all about. I think it’s helpful to group each of these commands into one of these two categories:
1. Hold Fast To What Is Good
We are to “hold fast to what is good.” When we do this it will take the form of joy, generosity, and humility.
Joy: We are to love “with brother affection” (10). This affection is the joy you find in another person; you rejoice over who God has made them to be. We cling to the good that is within our brothers and sisters in Christ. Similarly, the text tells us to “rejoice with those who rejoice [and] weep with those who weep” (15). Be so invested in others that their joy is your joy and their sorrow is your sorrow. But this sorrow is not without hope. Paul tells us to “rejoice in hope” (12). No matter what our circumstances, we can have joy in our hope found in Christ.
Generosity: As we hold fast to what is good, it will make us generous; generous with our encouragement (10b), generous with our energy (11), and generous with our resources (13). As we follow Christ we will be an unusually generous people, marked by giving ourselves away and holding fast to what is good.
Humility: Our holding fast to what is good will look like humility because we will abhor the evil of pride and “never be wise in your own sight.” We will “not be haughty, but associate with the lowly” (16). We can never view other people as lesser than us. We are all bearers of the image of God and co-heirs with Christ. But our humility will also manifest itself as being “patient in tribulation” because we will not be entitled to everything going our way, but we will be “constant in prayer” (12) because we know that we are utterly dependent upon God in all things.
2. Overcome Evil With Good
This second category is where things get a little more radical. Christ calls us to a different way of being in the world and reacting to conflict that requires an upside-down view of what is fair.
We are to:
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. (14)
Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. (17)
Never avenge yourselves… if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink (19-20)
So often we feel justified in avenging ourselves when wronged. But this is not the way of Christ. Paul tells us how we can live out this radically loving lifestyle. He says “leave it to the wrath of God” (19). We live by faith in God’s promises. When we feel wronged and taken advantage of, we are to choose the way of love and trust Christ to be the judge.
This way of living is more powerful than we give it credit for. This is how we “overcome evil with good” (21).
Love Of Brother, Stranger, And Enemy
Another lens through which we can view this passage is that of love. Love for brother, stranger, and enemy. The passage moves from love of brother at the beginning to love of stranger in the middle, and love of enemy at the end.
We are to love our brother, particularly our brothers and sisters in Christ. This love is to be genuine and affectionate (9,10); and I love how he says the only competition we ought to be in with one another is trying to honor each other more! (10)
We also are called to love strangers; that is what the word “hospitality” means in verse 13. It’s the greek work philoxenia. We open up our lives not only to those who are like us but also to those who do not share our faith, nationality, race, etc… And what’s more is this passage challenges us to love even our enemies; feeding them and living peaceably with all (18,20).
Reflective Questions:
Is my life reflecting joy, generosity, and humility? How might I become more joyful, generous, and humble, and cling to what is good?
When conflicts arise in my relationships am I conquered by evil or do I conquer evil with good? What am I trusting in as I deal with conflict?
Is my faith worked out in love of brother, stranger, and even enemy? Identify some relationships in each category and how you might apply the commands of this passage.