Chapter # 12 Paragraph # 4 Study # 13
August 2, 2020
Humble, Texas
(062)
1769 Translation:
20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
1901 ASV Translation:
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 upon his head.
21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
- I. The Second "Application" of Unhypocritical Love: One's "Attitude" Toward Others Continued.
- A. Prior studies of unhypocritical love.
- 1. The major thesis: Let love be without hypocrisy: 12:9a.
- 2. The first sub-thesis: Let this be true in respect to the saints: 12:9b-13.
- 3. Current Studies: The second sub-thesis: Let this be true in respect to the "enemies": 12:14-21.
- a. "At Issue": Unhypocritical Love, being rooted in a strong antagonism toward "the evil" (in oneself) and in a "welded unity" (of oneself) with "the good".
- b. Paul's opening command [See (051)].
- c. Paul's next command [See (053)].
- d. Paul's continuing instructions; a series of participles followed by a controlling verb. The controlling verb is ginomai and it puts the focus upon "not becoming", as one who "thinks", a person who compares himself/herself with others and comes out "superior".
- e. Paul's continuing instructions; another series of participles followed by a controlling verb. The controlling verb is didomi and it puts the focus upon "giving [God] the place for the execution of wrath" so that the "beloved" do not execute wrath for themselves upon those who have done them harm.
- B. Current instructions.
- 1. These are given under the deliberate thesis of "Beloved". An unhypocritical love can only arise from a fixed conviction of being loved.
- 2. The focus is upon the written revelation of inspired scripture regarding whose "place" it is to exercise "wrath".
- a. See (059).
- b. One of the particular written revelations is that "The Lord says", "...to Me [is] vengeance, I will recompense" (Deuteronomy 32:35). See (061).
- c. The other of the particular written revelations is "But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head" (Proverbs 25:21-22).
- 1) The alternative to "avenging yourself": alla .
- i. At issue is "vengeance".
- ii. The promise of "the Lord" is that He will address that issue. There is a terrifying reality to "the vengeance of The Lord" that is included in His "unhypocritical" Love. With men, there is a strong tendency to make "Love" exclusive of "vengeance", but He that is "Love" (1 John 4:8) is He Who said, "Vengeance is Mine; I will repay". It is not because of an absence of Love that men are destroyed in their wickedness (God gave His own Son to be a "Lamb that takes away [the consequences of] the sins of the world; thus, exercising His own personal "Love" for all men while they are His enemies and strong in their aggression against Him); rather, it is because of the presence of His Love that those who have wilfully exalted themselves against God and His creatures are destroyed ("Love" for His own means destruction for those who rise up in injurious aggression against them).
- iii. The strong adversative is in regard to taking one's own vengeance as an expression of "unhypocritical love", not ignoring Justice altogether and, thus, destroying "Love" altogether.
- 2) The conditions of "your enemy": hunger and thirst. Matthew 6:31 addresses these two as two-thirds of the issues of this present, physical, life and its most basic concerns. As "enemies", those who hunger and thirst are merely tasting the consequences of a life of foolish aggression against God and Love and Truth. There is to be no "sympathy" for these fools, but there is to be an active pursuit of at least some amelioration of these consequences for them in the name of grace and love (the tension for men in this type of instruction is very great, but it is not insurmountable).
- 3) The actions you take: feed him and give him a drink. This is, after all, the way God is currently acting in His creation (Luke 6:35).
- 4) But, the outcome will not ultimately be to his benefit without repentance: he will have coals of fire heaped upon his head by your action, "and the Lord will reward you" -- a part of Paul's quotation that he leaves off (Proverbs 25:22).
- i. The question is one of "unhypocritical love": Is it "loving" to "heap coals of fire upon someone's head"? Yes, in terms of "love for one's beloved"; no, in terms of "love for the enemies". It is not "love" to permit unending wickedness to be imposed upon one's beloved; "Love" must impose an end to that imposition.
- ii. Thus, the question is whether the "coals of fire" are indirect attributive vengeance as God's outpouring of wrath for evil doing, or are some form of "fiery cleansing" from such evil doing, such as is mentioned in multiple places in the Old Testament (e.g. Isaiah 6:6-7). The tensions of "Justice" and "Grace" allow for a "both/and" solution to this question. Sometimes "coals of fire" destroy altogether; but sometimes the experience of such retribution actually brings about the repentance that leads to Life.
- 3. The conclusion.
- a. Is focused in regard to "unhypocritical love" wherein one "hates" all manner of self-elevation and "is bonded to 'the good'".
- b. Has "conquering" in view: one is conquered; the other does the conquering.
- c. The issue: evil vs. good.
