'Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for
things honourable in the light of all men. 18. If it
be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace
with all men.'--ROMANS xii. 17, 18 (R.V.).
The closing words of this chapter have a certain unity in that they
deal principally with a Christian's duty in the face of hostility and
antagonism. A previous injunction touched on the same subject in the
exhortation to bless the persecutors; but with that exception, all
the preceding verses have dealt with duties owing to those with whom
we stand in friendly relations. Such exhortations take no cognisance
of the special circumstances of the primitive Christians as 'lambs in
the midst of wolves'; and a large tract of Christian duty would be
undealt with, if we had not such directions for feelings and actions
in the face of hate and hurt. The general precept in our text is
expanded in a more complete form in the verses which follow the text,
and we may postpone its consideration until we have to deal with
them. It is one form of the application of the 'love without
hypocrisy' which has been previously recommended. The second of these
three precepts seems quite heterogeneous, but it may be noticed that
the word for 'evil' in the former and that for 'honourable,' in these
closely resemble each other in sound, and the connection of the two
clauses may be partially owing to that verbal resemblance; whilst we
may also discern a real link between the thoughts in the
consideration that we owe even to our enemies the exhibition of a
life which a prejudiced hostility will be forced to recognise as
good. The third of these exhortations prescribes unmoved persistence
in friendly regard to all men.
Dealing then, in this sermon only, with the second and third of these
precepts, and postponing the consideration of the first to the
following discourse, we have here the counsel that