Section 7
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 prac ticing 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