Summary of passage: Do what is right. Don’t seek retribution. Be at peace with all. Let God handle judgment/revenge. Be kind to your enemies. Overcome evil with good.
Questions:
13) Part personal Question. My answer: Too many to list. People will smear others on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. Gossip, libel, lies, deceit, and any other physical abuse such as hitting to the extreme of killing. Any evil man can dream of he will do. Now that I’m older I let things go a lot. I just don’t have the energy for revenge and I know God will do it much better than I ever could. I usually let my anger simmer and then in a few days life moves me on and all is forgotten.
14) Joseph pops to mind first. He did not kill his brothers when he could have after they sold him into slavery and then showed up years later when they were starving. He embraced them instead and saved them and their families from starvation and for posterity. And of course, God. The Bible is full of God showing mercy. We all should be dead. But in God’s mercy, He forgives.
15) Feed your enemy. Give them something to drink. Love your enemy. God will avenge and repay for the wrongs done.
16) There is only one way: with God and Jesus’ help. Only through them and by them. Studying God’s Word. Practicing God’s Word. Praying every day to be more like Jesus. Having communion with other believers. Asking others for prayer to strengthen you in your daily life (Prayer Requests!!). Keeping yourself out of tempting situations where you know you will most likely sin. Staying apart from this world while living in it.
Conclusions: More advice from Paul on Godly-living. Love Question 16. We are paralyzed without God. We can’t do anything without Him. This includes living out Paul’s commands.
End Notes: Matthew 5:38-45. We are to love our enemies and treat well those who treat us badly.
Note Paul’s caveat: If it is possible. It may not always be possible since we cannot control others. But he says do your part.
If you trust God, then you know it’s not necessary to avenge. God will handle it.
Do good to your enemies. “Heaping burning coals on his head” most likely refers to a “burning conviction” that our kindness places on our enemy. It may bring about his repentance. Or, some think it refers to the practice of lending coals from a fire to help a neighbor start their own – an appreciated act of kindness.
Either way we see that we can destroy our enemy by making him our friend.
Great read on God’s vengeance and the heaping coals HERE