Romans 12:20
On the contrary, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head."
On the contrary
This phrase introduces a stark contrast to the natural human inclination towards retaliation or revenge. In the Greek, "alla" is used, which is a strong adversative conjunction, emphasizing a shift from worldly behavior to a Christ-like response. This sets the stage for a radical departure from the norm, urging believers to adopt a counter-cultural approach rooted in love and grace.

If your enemy
The term "enemy" (Greek: "echthros") refers to someone who is hostile or opposed to you. In the historical context of the early church, Christians often faced persecution and hostility. This directive challenges believers to transcend personal animosity and societal divisions, reflecting the love of Christ even towards those who oppose them.

is hungry, feed him
The act of feeding (Greek: "psomizo") implies more than just providing food; it suggests nurturing and caring for the well-being of another. This echoes the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, where love for enemies is a hallmark of Christian discipleship. It calls for practical expressions of love that meet the physical needs of others, demonstrating the transformative power of the Gospel.

if he is thirsty, give him a drink
Providing a drink (Greek: "potizo") symbolizes meeting basic human needs and offering refreshment. In the arid climate of the ancient Near East, water was a precious resource, making this act one of significant kindness and generosity. It reflects the living water that Christ offers, inviting believers to be conduits of His grace and mercy.

For in so doing
This phrase underscores the purpose and result of the preceding actions. It suggests that these acts of kindness are not merely ends in themselves but serve a greater divine purpose. The Greek construction indicates a cause-and-effect relationship, where the believer's actions have spiritual and relational implications.

you will heap burning coals on his head
This metaphorical expression has roots in ancient customs and is often interpreted as a means of eliciting repentance or shame in the enemy. The imagery of "burning coals" (Greek: "anthrakas puros") can symbolize purification and transformation. Historically, it may refer to an Egyptian ritual where carrying coals signified contrition. In the biblical context, it suggests that acts of kindness can lead to a change of heart, aligning with God's redemptive purposes.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Paul the Apostle
The author of the Book of Romans, Paul was a key figure in the early Christian church, known for his missionary journeys and theological teachings.

2. The Roman Church
The recipients of the letter, the early Christian community in Rome, which was diverse and included both Jewish and Gentile believers.

3. Enemies
In this context, "enemies" refers to those who oppose or persecute believers, a common experience for early Christians.

4. Proverbs 25:21-22
The Old Testament source of the quote used by Paul, highlighting the continuity of biblical teaching on responding to enemies.

5. Burning Coals
A metaphorical expression with roots in ancient practices, possibly symbolizing repentance or divine judgment.
Teaching Points
Responding with Kindness
The command to feed and give drink to our enemies challenges us to respond with kindness rather than retaliation. This reflects the transformative power of the Gospel in our lives.

Heaping Burning Coals
The phrase "heaping burning coals" can be understood as a way to bring about conviction and potential repentance in the enemy, rather than seeking revenge.

Living Out the Gospel
By treating our enemies with love and kindness, we demonstrate the love of Christ and live out the Gospel in practical ways.

Trusting God's Justice
We are reminded to leave judgment to God, trusting that He will deal justly with all, while we are called to act in love.

Practical Acts of Love
Consider practical ways to show love to those who oppose you, such as acts of service, prayer, and seeking reconciliation.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Romans 12:20 challenge your natural response to those who oppose or hurt you?

2. In what ways can you practically "feed" or "give drink" to your enemies in your current context?

3. How does the concept of "heaping burning coals" help you understand the potential impact of responding with kindness?

4. How do Jesus' teachings in Matthew 5:44 complement Paul's instructions in Romans 12:20?

5. Reflect on a time when you responded to an enemy with kindness. What was the outcome, and how did it affect your faith journey?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Matthew 5:44
Jesus' teaching on loving enemies and praying for those who persecute you, which aligns with Paul's message in Romans 12:20.

Proverbs 25:21-22
The original Old Testament passage that Paul quotes, emphasizing the consistency of God's Word across both Testaments.

1 Peter 3:9
Peter's exhortation to repay evil with blessing, reinforcing the principle of overcoming evil with good.
Christian LoveT.F. Lockyer Romans 12:9-21
Christian SocialismR.M. Edgar Romans 12:9-21
The Christian's Duty to His Fellow-MenC.H. Irwin Romans 12:9-21
Avenge not YourselvesR. Wardlaw, D.D.Romans 12:19-21
Avenge not YourselvesBp. Heber.Romans 12:19-21
Charity and Kind Offices, the Best Conquest Over an EnemyD. Waterland, D.D.Romans 12:19-21
Evil OvercomeRomans 12:19-21
How to Conquer EvilG. H. James.Romans 12:19-21
How to Overcome an EnemyW. Tyson., J. B. Owen.Romans 12:19-21
Kindness to an Enemy IsJ. LythRomans 12:19-21
On Conduct Under WrongsJ. Grant, M.A., J. Lyth, D.D.Romans 12:19-21
On RevengeJ. Smedley, M.A.Romans 12:19-21
Overcome Evil with GoodC. H. Spurgeon.Romans 12:19-21
Overcoming Evil with GoodJ. Lyth, D.D.Romans 12:19-21
Overcoming Evil with GoodRomans 12:19-21
Revenge, a NobleJ. Trapp.Romans 12:19-21
Revenge, Punishment OfBp. Taylor.Romans 12:19-21
The Best WarfareR. Newton, D.D.Romans 12:19-21
The Christian and His AdversariesJ. G. Rogers, B.A.Romans 12:19-21
The Christian's Conduct Under InjuryJ. Lyth, D.D.Romans 12:19-21
The Great ConflictW. Jenkins, M.A.Romans 12:19-21
The Power of Good Over EvilBp. Boyd Carpenter.Romans 12:19-21
The Rule of the Christian WarfareHarry Jones, M.A.Romans 12:19-21
The Sinfulness of Private RevengeRomans 12:19-21
The Triumph of Christian LoveJ. Lyth, D. D.Romans 12:19-21
True Moral ConquestsD. Thomas, D.D.Romans 12:19-21
Value of Indirect EffortsHerbert Spencer.Romans 12:19-21
Vengeance Belongs to GodClerical LibraryRomans 12:19-21
Wrath Conquered by LoveD. A. Clark.Romans 12:19-21
People
Paul, Romans
Places
Rome
Topics
Burning, Coals, Contrary, Drink, Enemy, Feed, Fire, Hate, Heap, Heaping, Hunger, Hungereth, Hungry, Quench, Recompense, Thirst, Thirsteth, Thirsty
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Romans 12:20

     5157   head
     5501   reward, human
     6655   forgiveness, application
     8243   ethics, social
     8728   enemies, of Israel and Judah

Romans 12:9-21

     6690   mercy, response to God's

Romans 12:17-20

     8305   meekness

Romans 12:17-21

     4318   coal
     5495   revenge, and retaliation
     8765   grudge

Romans 12:18-21

     6718   reconciliation, believers

Romans 12:19-20

     8797   persecution, attitudes

Romans 12:19-21

     5931   resistance
     8828   spite

Romans 12:20-21

     8730   enemies, of believers
     8737   evil, responses to
     8786   opposition, to sin and evil

Library
A Reasonable Service
TEXT: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."--Romans 12:1. There is perhaps no chapter in the New Testament, certainly none in this epistle, with which we are more familiar than this one which is introduced by the text; and yet, however familiar we may be with the statements, if we read them carefully and study them honestly they must always come to us not only in the
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

January 16. "Prove what is that Good, and Acceptable and Perfect Will of God" (Rom. xii. 2).
"Prove what is that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Rom. xii. 2). There are three conditions in which the water in that engine may be. First, the boiler may be full and the water clean and clear; or, secondly, the boiler may not only be full but the water may be hot, very hot, hot enough to scald you, almost boiling; thirdly, it may be just one degree hotter and at the boiling point, giving forth its vapor in clouds of steam, pressing through the valves and driving the mighty piston
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

July 22. "He that Ministereth Let us Wait on Our Ministering" (Rom. xii. 7).
"He that ministereth let us wait on our ministering" (Rom. xii. 7). Beloved, are you ministering to Christ? Are you doing it with your hands? Are you doing it with your substance and with what you have? Is He getting the best of what is most real to you? Has He a place at your table? And when He does not come to fill the chair, is it free to His representative, His poor and humble children? Your words and wishes are cheap if they do not find expression in your actual gifts. Even Mary did not put
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

April 6. "As we have Many Members in one Body, So we Being Many are one Body in Christ" (Rom. xii. 4, 5).
"As we have many members in one body, so we being many are one body in Christ" (Rom. xii. 4, 5). Sometimes our communion with God is cut off, or interrupted because of something wrong with a brother, or some lack of unity in the body of Christ. We try to get at the Lord, but we cannot, because we are separated from some member of the Lord's body, or because there is not the freedom of His love flowing through every organic part. It does not need a blow upon the head to paralyze the brain; a blow
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

First Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Romans 12, 1-6. 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. 2 And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 3 For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Second Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Romans 12, 6-16. 6 And having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith; 7 or ministry, let us give ourselves to our ministry; or he that teacheth, to his teaching; 8 or he that exhorteth, to his exhorting; he that giveth, let him do it with liberality; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness. 9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Third Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Romans 12, 16-21. 16 Be not wise in your own conceits. 17 Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men. 19 Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord. 20 But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Sunday Before Lent
Text: First Corinthians 13. 1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

November the Twenty-Eighth How to Fight Evil
"Overcome evil with good." --ROMANS xii. 9-21. For how else can we cast out evil? Satan cannot cast out Satan. No one can clean a room with a filthy duster. The surgeon cannot cut out the disease if his instruments are defiled. While he removed one ill-growth he would sow the seed of another. It must be health which fights disease. It will demand a good temper to overcome the bad temper in my brother. And therefore I must cultivate a virtue if I would eradicate a vice. That applies to the state
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

The Sacrifice of the Body
'I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.'--ROMANS xii. 1. In the former part of this letter the Apostle has been building up a massive fabric of doctrine, which has stood the waste of centuries, and the assaults of enemies, and has been the home of devout souls. He now passes to speak of practice, and he binds the two halves of his letter indissolubly together by that significant
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

A Triplet of Graces
'Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.'--ROMANS xii. 11. Paul believed that Christian doctrine was meant to influence Christian practice; and therefore, after the fundamental and profound exhibition of the central truths of Christianity which occupies the earlier portion of this great Epistle, he tacks on, with a 'therefore' to his theological exposition, a series of plain, practical teachings. The place where conduct comes in the letter is profoundly significant, and, if
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Another Triplet of Graces
'Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer.'--ROMANS xii. 12. These three closely connected clauses occur, as you all know, in the midst of that outline of the Christian life with which the Apostle begins the practical part of this Epistle. Now, what he omits in this sketch of Christian duty seems to me quite as significant as what he inserts. It is very remarkable that in the twenty verses devoted to this subject, this is the only one which refers to the inner secrets
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Still Another Triplet
'Be of the same mind one toward another. Set not your mind on high things, but condescend to things that are lowly. Be not wise in your own conceits.'--Romans xii. 16 (R.V.). We have here again the same triple arrangement which has prevailed through a considerable portion of the context. These three exhortations are linked together by a verbal resemblance which can scarcely be preserved in translation. In the two former the same verb is employed: and in the third the word for 'wise' is cognate with
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Transfiguration
'Be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.'--ROMANS xii. 2. I had occasion to point out, in a sermon on the preceding verse, that the Apostle is, in this context, making the transition from the doctrinal to the practical part of his letter, and that he lays down broad principles, of which all his subsequent injunctions and exhortations are simply the filling up of the details.
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Sober Thinking
'For I say, through the grace that is given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.'--ROMANS xii. 3. It is hard to give advice without seeming to assume superiority; it is hard to take it, unless the giver identifies himself with the receiver, and shows that his counsel to others is a law for himself. Paul does so here, led by the delicate perception which
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Still Another Triplet
'Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. 14. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. 15. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.'--ROMANS xii. 13-15. In these verses we pass from the innermost region of communion with God into the wide field of duties in relation to men. The solitary secrecies of rejoicing hope, endurance, and prayer unbroken, are exchanged for the publicities of benevolence and sympathy. In the former verses the Christian
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Many and One
'For we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: 5. So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.'--ROMANS xii. 4, 5. To Paul there was the closest and most vital connection between the profoundest experiences of the Christian life and its plainest and most superficial duties. Here he lays one of his most mystical conceptions as the very foundation on which to rear the great structure of Christian conduct, and links on to one of
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Grace and Graces
'Having then gifts, differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; 7. Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he that teacheth, on teaching; 8. Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation; he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.'--ROMANS xii. 6-8. The Apostle here proceeds to build upon the great thought of the unity of believers in the
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Love that Can Hate
'Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. 10. In love of the brethren be tenderly affectioned one to another; in honour preferring one another.'--ROMANS xii. 9-10 (R.V.). Thus far the Apostle has been laying down very general precepts and principles of Christian morals. Starting with the one all-comprehensive thought of self-sacrifice as the very foundation of all goodness, of transformation as its method, and of the clear knowledge of our several powers
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

"Members one of Another. "
"So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another."--ROMANS xii. 5. There are some moral and spiritual truths which it seems to be almost impossible to impress upon the practical life of the world, although they meet with a sort of universal acceptance. Men agree with them, they re-echo them, they applaud them; they do everything, in fact, but exhibit them as the moving, inspiring, and guiding truths of their daily practice. And among these I fear we must still class
John Percival—Sermons at Rugby

Constant, Instant, Expectant
Prayer is to be exercised in all things, for from its position in the present context we are taught that it is not without prayer that we proceed to "distribute to the necessities of the saints." Because we have prayed for them we are ready to befriend them by deeds of love. If we have not been accustomed to pray for the brethren, we shall not be "given to hospitality"; much less shall we "bless them which persecute us." prayer is the life-blood of duty, the secret sap of holiness, the fountain of
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 25: 1879

Jowett -- Apostolic Optimism
John Henry Jowett, Congregational divine, was born at Barnard Castle, Durham, in 1864, and educated at Edinburgh and Oxford universities. In 1889 he was ordained to St. James's Congregational Church, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and in 1895 was called to his present pastorate of Carr's Lane Congregational Church, Birmingham, where he has taken rank among the leading preachers of Great Britain. He is the author of several important books. JOWETT Born in 1864 APOSTOLIC OPTIMISM[1] [Footnote 1: Reprinted by permission
Various—The World's Great Sermons, Volume 10

The True Nonconformist.
A Communion Sermon, Delivered Sept. 16, 1866, In The First Presbyterian Church, Troy, N. Y. Rom. xii, 2. "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." By itself, this command is ambiguous. Common sense testifies that, in very many things, every Christian must, more or less, conform to the world. Many of the world's customs are not only harmless, but salutary, beautiful,
Rev. Marvin R. Vincent.—Amusement: A Force in Christian Training

Second Address.
I beseech yon therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.--ROM. xii. 1,2. I have been thinking about the word in the text, "that"--"that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God." This advance in
Catherine Booth—Godliness

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