The Christian's Counter-Attack

Instructions

Will you take your Bible and turn to Romans 12:17-21? Please search the Scriptures with us. Don’t be afraid to use your index.

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Capture

A man is shot and killed in public.

His work, his life, his voice—extinguished in a moment of hate.

His wife becomes a widow.

Then his widow steps onto a stage before hundreds of thousands and does the unthinkable.

She looks into the camera and speaks to her husband's murderer:

"I forgive him."

It's an act so counter-cultural, so radically different, that it forces the world to ask: what was that?

Significance

We live in the era of the clapback. The public takedown.

Our world doesn't tolerate revenge; it celebrates it.

Getting even isn't a temptation—it's a virtue.

Into that cauldron of score-settling and bitterness, Erica Kirk spoke a word from another world—a glimpse into a different kingdom with a completely different set of rules.

What Erica Kirk did in forgiving her husband Charlie's assassin is not political strategy or weakness.

It's a raw, costly demonstration of the transformed life Paul describes in Romans 12.

Context

Paul has been building his case methodically. He started with the glorious "mercies of God" in Romans 1-11, the unmerited grace of God that saved us. That grace, he says in Romans 12, produces a transformed life. He's shown us what that looks like with God (a living sacrifice), ourselves (sober judgment), and the church (genuine love). But now Paul brings this transformed life out of the sanctuary and into the street. He moves from how we treat brothers and sisters to how we treat our enemies. This is where the rubber of our theology meets the road of a hostile world. This is where being a living sacrifice gets costly.

The Question

How does a living sacrifice defeat evil in a world that demands retaliation?

Bible Verse

Romans 12:17–18 CSB

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. 18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Explanation

Paul gives us God's three-part strategy for the Christian’s counter-attack:

1. The Mandate: Refuse All Retaliation (vv. 17-18)

God's Non-Negotiable Command

Let's be honest—repaying evil for evil is the default setting of the human heart.

When someone hurts you, the instinct is to hurt them back.

It feels right. It feels just.

And this retaliation isn't always physical.

More often, it's slander about the coworker who betrayed you, the cold shoulder to the family member who wounded you, the bitter text messages fire off, the grudge you nurse secretly, replaying the offenses, fantasizing about settling the score.

You call it "venting"; God calls it vengeance.

The word for "repay" (apodidontes) means to give back, to settle a debt.

Paul says when someone wrongs you, you're forbidden from trying to balance the ledger by paying them back in the same currency of evil.

And, the command is universal: "anyone."

Not just strangers—anyone includes that that coworker who undermines you, that family member who pushes your buttons, that church member who gossips about you.

And why is this command so absolute?

Origen, one of the early church fathers, makes a piercing point: the person who repays evil is actually more guilty than the person who started it, because "the one who repays evil...has already admitted that he knew it was wrong to do it."

When you retaliate, you knowingly choose sin.

When you repay evil for evil, you don't defeat evil—you multiply it. You become what you're fighting against.

Instead, "give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes."

This isn't people-pleasing—it's character that even your enemies respect.

The Proactive Pursuit of Peace

"Live at peace with everyone."

Notice the qualifications: "if possible" and "as far as it depends on you."

Paul isn't naive—he knows some people are determined to be at war.

Some folks wake up looking for a fight.

And Paul knows it takes two to make peace.

But Paul is also crystal clear: the disruption of peace should never originate from you.

Your can’t control their response, but you can control yours.

As Origen noted: "Our mind should always be ready for peace, and the blame for discord should lie with the other side, not with us."

Your responsibility is to be the de-escalator, the peacemaker.

You are to be a peace-pursuer, not a pot-stirrer.

Peace is a treasure worth pursuing, even when it costs you your pride.

2. The Motivation: Revenge Is God’s (v. 19)

Romans 12:19 CSB

19 Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.

Give Place to God’s Wrath

"Friends"

Paul uses that term of endearment because he knows how difficult this command is.

The desire for vengeance coils deep in our fallen nature.

Paul uses the specific Greek word for "avenge" (ekdikeō)—it's a legal term meaning to exact justice, to carry out a sentence.

When someone hurts you, every fiber screams for justice, and that's good.

So why are we commanded to absorb the hit?

Paul gives the reason: "leave room for God’s wrath"

"Leave room" means step aside, get out of the way.

Then Paul quotes Deuteronomy 32:35:

Deuteronomy 32:35 CSB

35 Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay. In time their foot will slip, for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”

Paul is saying, "You are not the judge. Stand down."

John Calvin writes that when we leap to take vengeance, we "intrude into what belongs to God, and suffer not God to perform his own office."

When you take revenge, you're elbowing God off His throne.

You're telling the sovereign Judge, "Move over. You're not handling this fast enough. I'll take it from here."

See, God isn't saying vengeance is wrong—He's saying it belongs to Him. Why?

Again, Calvin wrote: "It requires perfect knowledge of the true evil of an action, which no one has who cannot read the heart.”

You're trying to do a job for which you are utterly unqualified.

God's claim to vengeance isn't divine ego—it's a declaration of divine competence.

Only God has all the facts. Only God knows the heart. Only God can punish without sinning in the process.

And, there's difference between personal revenge and public justice.

You can pursue justice through proper channels without seeking personal vengeance.

The question isn't whether justice matters—it's who gets to execute it.

You can afford to forgive your enemy because you've entrusted them to God's perfect judgment.

Justice will be done. Every wrong will be righted.

But it will be done by the only one qualified—the one who is perfectly just and sees every heart's motive.

Your job isn't to be the executioner; your job is to trust the Judge.

3. The Method: Overwhelm with Goodness (vv. 20-21)

Romans 12:20–21 CSB

20 But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head. 21 Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

The Radical Act of Service

This is the brilliant final step. It's not enough to not retaliate. Ultimate victory comes when you go on the offensive with goodness.

Paul quotes Proverbs 25:21–22

Proverbs 25:21–22 CSB

21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, 22 for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.

The world says, "If your enemy is hungry, let him starve."

But God's kingdom says meet your enemy's most basic needs.

Don't just tolerate your enemy; serve him.

Notice the proactive nature.

You don't wait for groveling. You see his need and meet it with radical, unexpected kindness.

You overwhelm his evil with your good.

Heaping Coals of Fire

"For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head."

This isn't some kind of secret spiritual revenge—that would contradict everything Paul just said.

The coals aren't punishment; they're the burning shame of conscience.

Jerome captured it: "You are curing him of his vices and burning out his malice, in order to bring him to repentance."

Your unexpected kindness is meant to melt a hard heart and awaken a dormant conscience.

When someone expects retaliation and receives kindness, it exposes their evil, creates conviction, and opens doors for repentance.

Your kindness becomes God's tool to transform your enemy.

The Ultimate Victory

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

You're either going to overcome or be overcome—there's no neutral ground.

When you retaliate, evil wins because it creates another evildoer—you.

When you respond with good, you defeat evil by transforming it.

To repay evil with evil means you've been conquered—your enemy dragged you to his level.

But when you absorb evil and return proactive good, you've won the truest victory.

Take-Home Truth

God feeds His foes; feed yours.

How is such supernatural response possible?

Only because of the gospel.

Matthew 5:44–45 CSB

44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

While you were rebelling, He fed you, gave you breath, showered you with blessings.

Knowing He would be betrayed, mocked, beaten, and murdered.

He could have called legions of angels for vengeance.

Matthew 26:53 CSB

53 Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and he will provide me here and now with more than twelve legions of angels?

How did He respond?

1 Peter 2:23 CSB

23 when he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.

He swallowed the poison of our sin and said:

Luke 23:34 CSB

34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided his clothes and cast lots.

Octavius Winslow said: "So completely was Jesus bent upon saving sinners by the sacrifice of Himself, that He created the tree upon which He was to die, and nurtured from infancy the men who were to nail Him to the accursed wood!"

The only reason you can forgive your enemies is because God first forgave you when you were His enemy.

Romans 5:10 CSB

10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.

You were a rebel. I was a traitor. We stood in opposition to a holy God.

And He didn't repay us evil for evil.

He overcame our evil with the ultimate good—the blood of His own Son.

He conquered your enmity with goodness.

He heaped coals of conviction on your head until you surrendered.

Even now, He gives you food and drink—His body and blood for salvation.

The power to live these verses comes from being so overwhelmed by God's mercy when you were His enemy that you cannot help but show that same mercy to your own.

You were the enemy that God fed. You were the thirsty foe to whom He gave living water.

The grace you're called to show is the grace you've already received.

Summons

Right now, a global conversation reveals the stark contrast between the world's operating system and the kingdom's.

A young woman from a Muslim background who no longer identifies as Muslim— tweeted about Erica Kirk: "I was profoundly moved... I cannot fathom the strength it takes... the grace it takes to forgive the very person who destroyed your world... if this is what Christianity truly embodies, then I am envious."

But another voice—a Muslim woman wrote: "I feel very sad... that she thinks she has to forgive the murder of her husband... That's unnatural and unconscionable... Thank God In Islam, one does not have to forgive murderers."

But here’s what she’s missing:

Erica gives forgiveness, the government gives the justice, and God gets the glory.

The same goes for you.

Today you must choose: cling to the cycle of retaliation that feels natural, or bow to the Savior who broke that cycle and calls you to something supernatural?

Remember: You were God's enemy, and He didn't repay your rebellion with immediate wrath.

He repaid your evil with the sacrifice of His only Son.

The same grace that conquered your heart can empower you to conquer evil with good.

Paul presses you: leave it to God. Do you trust Him enough to let the offense go, knowing He holds the gavel?

Erica Kirk stood before millions and broke the cycle. Where do you need to do the same?

Repent, Believe, and Be Baptized

Maybe you're here and realize you've never been reconciled to God. You're still His enemy, living under His righteous wrath. The gospel is that while you were His enemy, Christ died for you.

Spurgeon said: “Ungodly man, if thou art ever to be saved, thou must draw nigh to God in prayer. Go to him at this moment, just where thou art sitting, and confess all thy sin to him; there is no need for thee to utter a word that any of us can hear, for God can read the language of thy heart.”

"Dear Jesus, I confess I'm a sinner deserving judgment. I cannot save myself. But I believe You died for my sins and rose to give me eternal life. I place my soul in Your hands! Forgive me, come into my life, and grant everlasting life. Help me live for You! Amen."

Baptism is a visible expression of faith and a public declaration of your commitment to follow Christ. To sign up for baptism, text BELIEVE to 706-525-5351 or visit www.mtcarmeldemorest.com/baptism for further guidance and information.

A Prayer to Overcome Evil with Good

Father, we confess that our first instinct when wronged is revenge. We want to get even. Forgive us for holding grudges, nursing anger, and taking Your job as judge.

Help us entrust every hurt into Your sovereign hands, knowing You are the only righteous Judge. Give us supernatural love for those who wound us. Give us courage to not just tolerate our enemies, but actively serve them, feed them, love them, and pray for them.

Help us remember we were Your enemies until Your goodness conquered our rebellion. In Jesus' strong name, Amen.