Bless those who
persecute you;
bless and do not
curse.
Rejoice with those
who rejoice,
and weep with those who
weep.
Be of the same mind
toward
one another. Do not
set your mind
on high things, but
associate with
the humble. Do not be
wise in you
own opinion.
Repay no one evil for
evil. Have
regard for good things
in the sight
of all men.
Romans 12: 14–17
The Greek
word translated, “bless,” is not the same word Jesus used on the Sermon on the
Mount, for the Greek word; εύλογέω, means to speak well, or to praise, to make
happy, and is used to bless someone who is, as the Greek word, διώκοντας,
means, the one who are pursuing you, those who may be desiring to acquire you, those
who are malignity pursuing you to persecute you, and Paul makes this one thing
clear, we are not to curse them, and we are to speak good words to them. That is
not to say that we condone evil, or simply acquiesce to be persecuted, no,
rather we are to speak well of them so as not to put ourselves in an unnecessary
predicament. I will write more on this when I write on Romans 13, a place in
the Bible that definitely has different opinions by Christians. Are we to
rejoice with our persecutors? No! We rejoice with those who rejoice, and we
weep with those who are weeping. Why? Because we are to care for our brothers
and sisters, and we are to be the light of the world, and this light is spread
abroad to all, even to non-Christians. Here is a problem, I have it, and you
may too. Setting our minds on high things, for when we do this we lose sight of
the humble and leave them alone to deal with life alone. Or, we become wise in
our own opinions, those opinions that are not Scriptural. When we allow
ourselves to not put on the whole armor of God, to present our bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, and acceptable to God then we are one step away to repay evil with evil.
We are to set our eyes on things above and to do good towards all men,
especially those who are God’s children. This is a time when many Churches hang
banners that say peace and good will to all men, but for many this is only a
good saying and not practiced in their lives. I pray that this is not true of
you and me. We, as Christians have the obligation to live as Christians: “If
it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceable with all men” (Romans
12:18). Paul once again lays the responsibility for our action, our words
upon us; “as much as depends on you,” Therefore you decide how much to
say and do. So how are we to act? Paul writes: “Beloved, do not avenge
yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is
Mine, I will repay,’ (Deuteronomy 32:35), says the Lord. Therefore ‘If your
enemy is hungry, feed him, if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing
you will heap coals of fire on his head’ (Proverbs 25:21–22). Do not be
overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:18–21). Easy to
say, or write, but hard to put into practice, and without effort it will never
be anything more than a hardship. That is, if you do it for reasons other than
you are doing what Jesus Christ did, and by doing so, out of your faith in
Jesus Christ come works, a time that you being formed into the image of Jesus
Christ. It is by the grace of God, that fact that Jesus Christ is God and that
all things owe their being to His will and power and by Him all things are
ordered and move. Furthermore, especially at this time of the year when we set
aside time to celebrate His coming to earth to pay the debt owed to Him by
Himself. We ought to be driven to do what we have just discussed; that is, to
present ourselves acceptable to God, and this we do when we act in brotherly
love, to our family of God, and extending to those who are not of the family of
God. This great mystery of God, that the Word of God became man appearing in
our midst, and due to this fact we adore Him, and love Him, and are devoted to
Him. This growth in us may be slower for some and faster for others, but in all
cases, we are to be growing closer and closer to Him. The world may scorn Him,
as they often due at this time of year, even supplanting the word “Christmas,”
with “Xmas,” and even attempting to make laws to stop saying “Merry Christmas,”
or to have scenes of the birth of Jesus Christ displayed in public. We know
that the evil ones will do evil, but we will not be moved to take action
against them, any action outside of the law. We will bless them, say good
things to them and by doing so: “you will heap coals of fire on his head.’”
Don’t get caught up in the evil things, rather get caught up in the good, that
which we celebrate, the coming as promised the Messiah, the one who redeems,
the one who died for His children. This is a time of joy and we ought to be
joyful, no matte what comes, no matter what attempts to take away this joy. We
live, not for temporal things, rather we live for that which is eternal.
I will not
begin Romans Chapter 13 until after Christmas. This will be important to write
about, as there is much division over what Paul wrote, and I do not want to
take away from the joy of celebrating the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Thus says the LORD, the King
Of Israel,
and his Redeemer,
The LORD of hosts; ‘I am the First
And I am
the Last; besides Me
There is no God.
Isaiah 44:6
Live for Your Savior
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