Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Evil must not defeat, master or shape a person, but is to be conquered by answering it with good and doing good in return. This victory comes by following Christ, who subdued opposition not by force or authority but by going about doing good, meeting insult and injury with meekness, and by the power of pure, selfless love that transforms hearts where argument fails. When ill-treated, falsely accused or opposed, even in defense of truth, there is to be no retaliation, anger, reviling or humiliating word, but patience, forbearance, kindness, blessing of persecutors and practical help to an enemy in need. Such a course requires a mind wholly surrendered to God and guarded by the Holy Spirit, kept clear, pure and humble, with self dying and put away, so that good work is possible and the life is conformed to Christ the Pattern. In daily life this is sincere love lived out in pure, sympathetic words, diligence, patience, sharing joy and sorrow, refusing a stumbling block, and putting on Christ in a transformed mind that proves God's good and perfect will.
Setting in Romans Twelve
The verse belongs to the whole of Romans 12, which is very instructive history for all churches and instruction of high value. It calls the work of God to be carried on a higher plane of action, where all who hold position in the church act as shepherds representing the great Shepherd. It forbids masterly, dominating, ruling power over the people, charging what they shall do and shall not do, because that dominating work is a strange and dangerous element, not of God, another gospel, not the righteousness of Christ, and a spoil to the church, and no more such ruling can be allowed.
Romans 12:1-21 gives practical instruction that must be brought into daily life, and living it makes true believers while daily character contradicting it shows faith is spurious. It means having put on Christ and being transformed by the renewing of the mind, and proving by personal experience the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. In practice it requires pure, clean words full of sympathy, tenderness and love, and also at times words of reproof and sharp rebuke, because those out of the way need more than soft words to bring them back. Moral renovation must take place in every heart or souls will perish, with the Holy Spirit working as sanctifier, reprover and comforter, honoring family religion and holiness and walking before God as Enoch did, which ministers and writers are to use to prepare a people to meet God.
In its context the verse means living out sincere love and kindness, remaining diligent and patient, sharing others' joys and sorrows, and blessing rather than cursing persecutors. The variety of gifts are to be brought into building the temple of the Lord, each finding its proper place to grow into a holy temple. Members are not to shut themselves within themselves, but to love one another as brethren, to be kind and courteous, and to put no stumbling block or occasion to fall in a brother's way.
Romans 12:17-21 teaches that Christians must not retaliate when wrongly accused or spoken against, but should refuse provocation, speak no retaliating word, and live peaceably with others. By patience, forbearance, and overcoming selfish and wrongful tendencies they overcome evil with good and preserve a victory they would lose by answering unwisely.
Meaning of the Command
Evil is not to defeat a person, nor to master, control, or shape him, but is itself to be defeated by doing good and answering evil with good. This is definite, practical instruction to take to heart and to carry out in daily life.
The verse gives the rule for how Christians are to conduct themselves toward one another as members of the heavenly family, helping and strengthening one another by overcoming as Christ overcame. In this way no one need walk in darkness, but all may be overcomers and may join together in helping others to overcome and to win heaven.
Good conquers evil, and evil does not overcome Christ the Leader, who never has been and never can be overcome by evil. Christ makes the person a conqueror over evil, and the victory rests in His care. That victory is seen in Bethlehem and the cross, where evil blights and mars while God's love restores, and where every blessing is a gift of redemption. It is seen also in nature, where thorns and weeds represent evil while birdsong, blossoms, rain, sunshine, and other signs of life reveal God's goodness.
Conquering evil by doing good means no revenge and kindness to enemies, and it requires a mind kept free from everything depressing, not perverted but clear, pure, clean and healthy, understanding the will of the Lord. Such victory comes only when the mind is at all times strictly guarded and kept under God's control and controlled by the Holy Spirit, wholly surrendered to God to be sanctified through the truth, which makes good work possible and lifts to a much higher standard. Victory comes only through a refined, softened, humble spirit conformed to Christ Jesus as the Pattern, with self dying and warred against in and through Jesus. This means putting away complaints, murmuring and petting of self, and living in truthfulness, honesty and faithfulness in all ways, especially in example before children. The work must be done now, earnestly, between God and the soul, because Christ died to redeem and to make like Himself, and those who do not thus overcome will not be clothed among the white-robed in heaven, while those who do may be victors.
Christ's Way to Victory
Evil is overcome with good by following Christ's example, for He brings opposition into subjection not by force of argument or command but by going about doing good and teaching the things belonging to peace. He stirs up no strife and resents no personal injury, meeting insults, false accusations, and cruel scourging from enemies with meek submission. His life and character are the practical way to do good and overcome evil.
Evil is overcome not by force or authority but by the power of pure, active, quiet, selfless love, which does good and nothing else. Love can succeed and transform sinful hearts and overcome great evils where argument and authority fail, because force without love makes people resist more strongly. Jesus used the wisdom and strength of love to bring resistance and authority under His rule.
Contact with evil does not require being overcome by it, for Christ makes it possible to answer evil with good and to develop a character like His. In the home this means showing patience, forbearance, forgiveness, compassion, and true love instead of giving way to a perverse disposition. Kindness and gentleness are not weakness but are part of doing right and growing into Christ's character. Children too can learn to resist temptation and overcome evil by good by looking to God for strength, praying to Him, and using an elevating and ennobling influence. United with God, they can resist even the strongest temptation and receive the overcomer's reward.
When difficulties, temptation, trials, and suffering stir strong feelings, believers are to follow Christ's way rather than respond in anger or struggle against evil on its own ground or in their own strength. They overcome evil with good by trusting Christ to master temptation and to work for them and give strength for the conflict. They leave in God's hands what they must do or suffer, refusing unChristlike words and actions. Learning Christ's meekness and lowliness while wearing His yoke, they can meet what they suffer without letting evil rule the spirit.
Answering Wrong with Good
When ill-treated, wrongly accused, or met with angry words, evil must not be allowed to win by drawing out anger or retaliation in return, for to answer in anger is to let another's evil provoke into evil and take control of the response. The command is to remain tender and forbearing, at times answering with silence rather than angry speech, and to keep the mind fixed on God's promises while meeting wrong with good.
Suspicion, injustice, persecution, unadvised speech and opposition are to be met with humility, kindness, courtesy and true heavenly courtesy rather than retaliation, hostility or withdrawal, even when they come from fellow believers who make the work hard while thinking they do right. Overcoming in this way honors God, is not weakness, and always pays, because the church militant is not the church triumphant and much should not be expected from men. It is done by refusing to avenge oneself and refusing to repay evil for evil, by blessing persecutors and living peaceably as far as possible, and by treating even suspicious and unjust people with kindness and feeding and helping an enemy in need with practical care.
Evil is overcome by answering it with good rather than returning malice or injury, for kindness toward enemies is the noblest revenge, while retaliation only gratifies the selfish heart and makes enemies more bitter. Those who work with God reflect Christ's Spirit by blessing others through kind words, encouragement for the fainthearted, and sympathy for the afflicted. When provoked, keeping silent rather than answering in anger is a painful discipline, yet it expresses the kindness and forbearance of God's children and helps them follow Christ.
In disputes among fellow workers passion and mistreatment injure Christian experience and misrepresent Christ, but matters can be handled in a benevolent, unselfish, considerate way that strengthens rather than hinders one another, which becomes possible by dying to self and letting Christ's influence rule. Kind, considerate treatment, even special acts of kindness toward those who have acted unjustly, can expose wrongdoing more deeply than direct accusation, bringing shame and a clearer view of conduct while preserving influence for concern for their souls.
When truth is opposed, falsified and slighted and Christ is insulted, messengers must not be overcome by indignation into reviling, accusation, condemnation, bitterness, overbearing words or offensive manner. In public defense of truth they are to stay under Christ's control, cool, calm, deliberate, bold and decided, trusting the Lord in trial, uttering no word of triumph, no calculated word to humiliate an opponent however foolish and inconsistent, and no word that increases bitterness, confusion or defeat. Overcoming evil with good there means caution, self-control, calmness, dignity, wisdom, considerateness, meekness and tenderness, with a heart full of love, kindness and pity toward enemies, leaving no means untried to save them and doing them good when possible, remembering Jesus died for them as well as for believers.
It means letting truth shine in simplicity and setting eternal realities before opposers, speaking truth in love and leaving results with Jesus while angels watch. The opposer's soul is as valuable as one's own, purchased by the blood of God's only begotten Son and God's property to be dealt with wisely, so instead of reviling revilers one should pray silently for God to touch the heart of one opposing truth to his own ruin and manifest the Spirit learned from being with Jesus. That tenderness frequently softens and subdues the heart, convinces souls that Christ's Spirit is present, and keeps doors open to truth that unwise zeal and harsh defense would close.
Evil encountered in religious controversy is to be overcome with good rather than human passion, sharp and ungenerous words, humiliation, or hard attacks on an opponent, for sharp words turn back to injure the speaker. All controversies are to be shunned because they seldom advance the truth, and opponents are to be convinced of the truth as it is in Jesus and met with meekness of wisdom, pity and the love of Christ, while the Lord Himself takes in hand those who are unreasonable and wicked and deceiving. Evil is not overcome by returning evil for evil, but kind actions should answer mischief, malice and harm, with Christ as the pattern for this response, while harmony must never be purchased by sacrificing principle and truth.
Toward evil workers the command means doing Christ's work by answering wrong with kindness, despising sin while loving the souls for whom Christ paid the price of His blood and feeling only tender pitying love as Jesus feels toward fallen humanity. It forbids even hatred toward an evil worker, and forbids revenge, ill will, bitterness, envy, jealousy, evil surmising, and any unrighteous act or word. Hatred warps judgment, quenches the Spirit, banishes true happiness, destroys peace of soul, gives Satan advantage, makes a person a transgressor of God's law, injures the soul, is registered in heaven against them, and stands as an act done to Jesus in the person of His saints.
Keeping the command with a will in harmony with God's will, in righteousness of life, purity of character, benevolence of heart, right action toward God and fellow men, love to God and fellow men, and obedience in the character of Christ gives true happiness, peace and rest in Christ and brings the great power of God, for nothing short of perfection of character meets the standard of God's law. It means enduring pressure and submitting to wrong and bearing the suffering part of religion for Christ's sake rather than sinning against God by taking desperate, unlawful, doubtful measures to disentangle from an embarrassing situation and taking one's interests out of His hands into one's own. It means sharing in Christ's sufferings by enduring to have one's name cast out as evil, to be falsely accused, and to suffer loss of temporal interests, remembering Jesus bore all this and not fainting at tribulation, and refusing bitterness and estrangement from Jesus and instead trusting in His love.
Living It Daily
God's workers are to be cheerful and look on the bright side, living together in unity, sympathy, kindness and unselfish love, meeting evil with good instead of being overcome by it. The verse lays down principles requiring careful study and doing as doers of the Word in small matters as well as large. Men appointed by God will not be sustained unless they practice them. Neglect brings positive danger, for Satan works by every device to weaken, to exalt self in human opinion, and so to gain power over the person. God, high and lifted up, uses people as His instruments while they work humbly seeking wisdom from Him.
There is no such thing as too much self-denial, too much self-sacrifice, and too much overcoming evil with good, for the call is to unlimited self-denial and self-sacrifice in doing good. This means solidly and firmly resisting every little indulgence of the taste for frivolous things and all inclinations to gratify it. It means making decided changes and turning all money, even pennies and shillings, into channels that glorify God so there is more money to use for God. Such resistance brings a decided Christian experience.
Young men and women are to decide to become trustworthy and faithful and resolute to stand for the right in every circumstance. They are to form correct habits by seeking the company of those sound in morals and aiming at what is good, and to use the precious hours of probation to remove every defect from character in order to obtain the future life and be useful in this life. Good character is capital of more value than gold or silver, unaffected by panics or failures, bringing rich returns when earthly possessions are swept away. Integrity, firmness and perseverance clothe their possessor with irresistible power that makes strong to do good, strong to resist evil, and strong to bear adversity. When intense interest to accomplish a great work and difficulties in opening new fields press hard, refusing to let the enemy triumph through unwise labor or questionable action is overcoming evil with good. It is walking humbly with God so apparent defeat is turned into victory, putting all practical methods into execution without taking any wrong course to secure means. It is guarding spirit, words, business affairs and actions with utmost carefulness so no one can truthfully criticize or misinterpret them to hurt ministerial labor and injure God's cause, and so good is not evil spoken of.
Evil must not defeat, master or shape a person, but is to be conquered by answering it with good and doing good in return. This victory comes by following Christ, who subdued opposition not by force or authority but by going about doing good, meeting insult and injury with meekness, and by the power of pure, selfless love that transforms hearts where argument fails. When ill-treated, falsely accused or opposed, even in defense of truth, there is to be no retaliation, anger, reviling or humiliating word, but patience, forbearance, kindness, blessing of persecutors and practical help to an enemy in need. Such a course requires a mind wholly surrendered to God and guarded by the Holy Spirit, kept clear, pure and humble, with self dying and put away, so that good work is possible and the life is conformed to Christ the Pattern. In daily life this is sincere love lived out in pure, sympathetic words, diligence, patience, sharing joy and sorrow, refusing a stumbling block, and putting on Christ in a transformed mind that proves God's good and perfect will.
Setting in Romans Twelve
The verse belongs to the whole of Romans 12, which is very instructive history for all churches and instruction of high value. It calls the work of God to be carried on a higher plane of action, where all who hold position in the church act as shepherds representing the great Shepherd. It forbids masterly, dominating, ruling power over the people, charging what they shall do and shall not do, because that dominating work is a strange and dangerous element, not of God, another gospel, not the righteousness of Christ, and a spoil to the church, and no more such ruling can be allowed.
Romans 12:1-21 gives practical instruction that must be brought into daily life, and living it makes true believers while daily character contradicting it shows faith is spurious. It means having put on Christ and being transformed by the renewing of the mind, and proving by personal experience the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. In practice it requires pure, clean words full of sympathy, tenderness and love, and also at times words of reproof and sharp rebuke, because those out of the way need more than soft words to bring them back. Moral renovation must take place in every heart or souls will perish, with the Holy Spirit working as sanctifier, reprover and comforter, honoring family religion and holiness and walking before God as Enoch did, which ministers and writers are to use to prepare a people to meet God.
In its context the verse means living out sincere love and kindness, remaining diligent and patient, sharing others' joys and sorrows, and blessing rather than cursing persecutors. The variety of gifts are to be brought into building the temple of the Lord, each finding its proper place to grow into a holy temple. Members are not to shut themselves within themselves, but to love one another as brethren, to be kind and courteous, and to put no stumbling block or occasion to fall in a brother's way.
Romans 12:17-21 teaches that Christians must not retaliate when wrongly accused or spoken against, but should refuse provocation, speak no retaliating word, and live peaceably with others. By patience, forbearance, and overcoming selfish and wrongful tendencies they overcome evil with good and preserve a victory they would lose by answering unwisely.
Meaning of the Command
Evil is not to defeat a person, nor to master, control, or shape him, but is itself to be defeated by doing good and answering evil with good. This is definite, practical instruction to take to heart and to carry out in daily life.
The verse gives the rule for how Christians are to conduct themselves toward one another as members of the heavenly family, helping and strengthening one another by overcoming as Christ overcame. In this way no one need walk in darkness, but all may be overcomers and may join together in helping others to overcome and to win heaven.
Good conquers evil, and evil does not overcome Christ the Leader, who never has been and never can be overcome by evil. Christ makes the person a conqueror over evil, and the victory rests in His care. That victory is seen in Bethlehem and the cross, where evil blights and mars while God's love restores, and where every blessing is a gift of redemption. It is seen also in nature, where thorns and weeds represent evil while birdsong, blossoms, rain, sunshine, and other signs of life reveal God's goodness.
Conquering evil by doing good means no revenge and kindness to enemies, and it requires a mind kept free from everything depressing, not perverted but clear, pure, clean and healthy, understanding the will of the Lord. Such victory comes only when the mind is at all times strictly guarded and kept under God's control and controlled by the Holy Spirit, wholly surrendered to God to be sanctified through the truth, which makes good work possible and lifts to a much higher standard. Victory comes only through a refined, softened, humble spirit conformed to Christ Jesus as the Pattern, with self dying and warred against in and through Jesus. This means putting away complaints, murmuring and petting of self, and living in truthfulness, honesty and faithfulness in all ways, especially in example before children. The work must be done now, earnestly, between God and the soul, because Christ died to redeem and to make like Himself, and those who do not thus overcome will not be clothed among the white-robed in heaven, while those who do may be victors.
Christ's Way to Victory
Evil is overcome with good by following Christ's example, for He brings opposition into subjection not by force of argument or command but by going about doing good and teaching the things belonging to peace. He stirs up no strife and resents no personal injury, meeting insults, false accusations, and cruel scourging from enemies with meek submission. His life and character are the practical way to do good and overcome evil.
Evil is overcome not by force or authority but by the power of pure, active, quiet, selfless love, which does good and nothing else. Love can succeed and transform sinful hearts and overcome great evils where argument and authority fail, because force without love makes people resist more strongly. Jesus used the wisdom and strength of love to bring resistance and authority under His rule.
Contact with evil does not require being overcome by it, for Christ makes it possible to answer evil with good and to develop a character like His. In the home this means showing patience, forbearance, forgiveness, compassion, and true love instead of giving way to a perverse disposition. Kindness and gentleness are not weakness but are part of doing right and growing into Christ's character. Children too can learn to resist temptation and overcome evil by good by looking to God for strength, praying to Him, and using an elevating and ennobling influence. United with God, they can resist even the strongest temptation and receive the overcomer's reward.
When difficulties, temptation, trials, and suffering stir strong feelings, believers are to follow Christ's way rather than respond in anger or struggle against evil on its own ground or in their own strength. They overcome evil with good by trusting Christ to master temptation and to work for them and give strength for the conflict. They leave in God's hands what they must do or suffer, refusing unChristlike words and actions. Learning Christ's meekness and lowliness while wearing His yoke, they can meet what they suffer without letting evil rule the spirit.
Answering Wrong with Good
When ill-treated, wrongly accused, or met with angry words, evil must not be allowed to win by drawing out anger or retaliation in return, for to answer in anger is to let another's evil provoke into evil and take control of the response. The command is to remain tender and forbearing, at times answering with silence rather than angry speech, and to keep the mind fixed on God's promises while meeting wrong with good.
Suspicion, injustice, persecution, unadvised speech and opposition are to be met with humility, kindness, courtesy and true heavenly courtesy rather than retaliation, hostility or withdrawal, even when they come from fellow believers who make the work hard while thinking they do right. Overcoming in this way honors God, is not weakness, and always pays, because the church militant is not the church triumphant and much should not be expected from men. It is done by refusing to avenge oneself and refusing to repay evil for evil, by blessing persecutors and living peaceably as far as possible, and by treating even suspicious and unjust people with kindness and feeding and helping an enemy in need with practical care.
Evil is overcome by answering it with good rather than returning malice or injury, for kindness toward enemies is the noblest revenge, while retaliation only gratifies the selfish heart and makes enemies more bitter. Those who work with God reflect Christ's Spirit by blessing others through kind words, encouragement for the fainthearted, and sympathy for the afflicted. When provoked, keeping silent rather than answering in anger is a painful discipline, yet it expresses the kindness and forbearance of God's children and helps them follow Christ.
In disputes among fellow workers passion and mistreatment injure Christian experience and misrepresent Christ, but matters can be handled in a benevolent, unselfish, considerate way that strengthens rather than hinders one another, which becomes possible by dying to self and letting Christ's influence rule. Kind, considerate treatment, even special acts of kindness toward those who have acted unjustly, can expose wrongdoing more deeply than direct accusation, bringing shame and a clearer view of conduct while preserving influence for concern for their souls.
When truth is opposed, falsified and slighted and Christ is insulted, messengers must not be overcome by indignation into reviling, accusation, condemnation, bitterness, overbearing words or offensive manner. In public defense of truth they are to stay under Christ's control, cool, calm, deliberate, bold and decided, trusting the Lord in trial, uttering no word of triumph, no calculated word to humiliate an opponent however foolish and inconsistent, and no word that increases bitterness, confusion or defeat. Overcoming evil with good there means caution, self-control, calmness, dignity, wisdom, considerateness, meekness and tenderness, with a heart full of love, kindness and pity toward enemies, leaving no means untried to save them and doing them good when possible, remembering Jesus died for them as well as for believers.
It means letting truth shine in simplicity and setting eternal realities before opposers, speaking truth in love and leaving results with Jesus while angels watch. The opposer's soul is as valuable as one's own, purchased by the blood of God's only begotten Son and God's property to be dealt with wisely, so instead of reviling revilers one should pray silently for God to touch the heart of one opposing truth to his own ruin and manifest the Spirit learned from being with Jesus. That tenderness frequently softens and subdues the heart, convinces souls that Christ's Spirit is present, and keeps doors open to truth that unwise zeal and harsh defense would close.
Evil encountered in religious controversy is to be overcome with good rather than human passion, sharp and ungenerous words, humiliation, or hard attacks on an opponent, for sharp words turn back to injure the speaker. All controversies are to be shunned because they seldom advance the truth, and opponents are to be convinced of the truth as it is in Jesus and met with meekness of wisdom, pity and the love of Christ, while the Lord Himself takes in hand those who are unreasonable and wicked and deceiving. Evil is not overcome by returning evil for evil, but kind actions should answer mischief, malice and harm, with Christ as the pattern for this response, while harmony must never be purchased by sacrificing principle and truth.
Toward evil workers the command means doing Christ's work by answering wrong with kindness, despising sin while loving the souls for whom Christ paid the price of His blood and feeling only tender pitying love as Jesus feels toward fallen humanity. It forbids even hatred toward an evil worker, and forbids revenge, ill will, bitterness, envy, jealousy, evil surmising, and any unrighteous act or word. Hatred warps judgment, quenches the Spirit, banishes true happiness, destroys peace of soul, gives Satan advantage, makes a person a transgressor of God's law, injures the soul, is registered in heaven against them, and stands as an act done to Jesus in the person of His saints.
Keeping the command with a will in harmony with God's will, in righteousness of life, purity of character, benevolence of heart, right action toward God and fellow men, love to God and fellow men, and obedience in the character of Christ gives true happiness, peace and rest in Christ and brings the great power of God, for nothing short of perfection of character meets the standard of God's law. It means enduring pressure and submitting to wrong and bearing the suffering part of religion for Christ's sake rather than sinning against God by taking desperate, unlawful, doubtful measures to disentangle from an embarrassing situation and taking one's interests out of His hands into one's own. It means sharing in Christ's sufferings by enduring to have one's name cast out as evil, to be falsely accused, and to suffer loss of temporal interests, remembering Jesus bore all this and not fainting at tribulation, and refusing bitterness and estrangement from Jesus and instead trusting in His love.
Living It Daily
God's workers are to be cheerful and look on the bright side, living together in unity, sympathy, kindness and unselfish love, meeting evil with good instead of being overcome by it. The verse lays down principles requiring careful study and doing as doers of the Word in small matters as well as large. Men appointed by God will not be sustained unless they practice them. Neglect brings positive danger, for Satan works by every device to weaken, to exalt self in human opinion, and so to gain power over the person. God, high and lifted up, uses people as His instruments while they work humbly seeking wisdom from Him.
There is no such thing as too much self-denial, too much self-sacrifice, and too much overcoming evil with good, for the call is to unlimited self-denial and self-sacrifice in doing good. This means solidly and firmly resisting every little indulgence of the taste for frivolous things and all inclinations to gratify it. It means making decided changes and turning all money, even pennies and shillings, into channels that glorify God so there is more money to use for God. Such resistance brings a decided Christian experience.
Young men and women are to decide to become trustworthy and faithful and resolute to stand for the right in every circumstance. They are to form correct habits by seeking the company of those sound in morals and aiming at what is good, and to use the precious hours of probation to remove every defect from character in order to obtain the future life and be useful in this life. Good character is capital of more value than gold or silver, unaffected by panics or failures, bringing rich returns when earthly possessions are swept away. Integrity, firmness and perseverance clothe their possessor with irresistible power that makes strong to do good, strong to resist evil, and strong to bear adversity. When intense interest to accomplish a great work and difficulties in opening new fields press hard, refusing to let the enemy triumph through unwise labor or questionable action is overcoming evil with good. It is walking humbly with God so apparent defeat is turned into victory, putting all practical methods into execution without taking any wrong course to secure means. It is guarding spirit, words, business affairs and actions with utmost carefulness so no one can truthfully criticize or misinterpret them to hurt ministerial labor and injure God's cause, and so good is not evil spoken of.