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a
12:17.
Recompense no man evil.
b
12:17.
Provide things honest.
c
12:18-21.
Vengeance. Coals of fire.
d
13:1.
Be subject.
c
13:2 -4.
Revenger.
The sword.
d
13:5.
Be subject.
b
13:6.
Pay tribute.
a
13:7.
Render to all their dues.
`Vengeance is Mine' saith the Lord; vengeance is foreign to the redeemed. He
is enjoined `if it be possible' and as much as lies in him `to live peaceably
with All Men', not merely with fellow believers. Paul, as an apostle, speaks
of using the `rod' but never does he, as an apostle, nor does any bishop or
deacon ever use `the sword' as a symbol of his authority. When, therefore,
Paul says of the higher power `he beareth not the sword in vain', he refers
to the civil authorities.
`Each generation brings with it its own peculiar problems. These are
not solved for us in a ready -made fashion in Romans 13. The
principles, however, are given, and these must be applied in the light
of the truth as occasion demands' (Just and the Justifier).
The exhortations by both the apostles Peter and Paul must also be read
in the light of the days in which they were given.
`The enemies of the Christians, to enrage not only the magistrates
against them but all who had any regard to the interests of society,
represented them as atheists, and enemies of mankind, because they
would not comply with common idolatry, nor obey the heathen magistrates
in things contrary to their religion. They calumniated them also, as
movers of sedition, and as addicted to every species of wickedness'
(Macknight).
`Speaking evil ... evil spoken of' (1 Pet. 4:4,14).
`Speaking evil of dignities ... of things' (2 Pet. 2:10,12; Jude 8,10).
Ephesians 4:31 enjoins upon the believer to put away `clamour and evil
speaking', and `railing' is included in a series of evils that are contrary
to godliness (1 Tim. 6:4). When we read some of the `evil' that is spoken of
by Christian teachers against Dr. Bullinger, we also know that if those who
thus `blaspheme' were put on oath in a court of law, they would have to admit
that prejudice and not solid sober fact was the basis of their utterances.
Man may have defaced the image of God, but even after the flood, that image
in man made human life sacred (Gen. 9:6), and James who has much to say
against the wickedness that causes `all' to `offend' nevertheless reminds us
that man
is made `after the similitude of God' (Jas. 3:9). When mankind fell into
idolatry, they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and by degrading God,
they necessarily degraded themselves (Rom. 1:21 -28). Those who opposed the
apostle's teaching concerning justification by faith `blasphemed' him (Rom.
3:8). While we must use `great plainness of speech' when exposing or
refuting error, we should be ever on our guard lest the flesh take an
advantage of our zeal and cause us thus to `blaspheme'. When the apostle
discussed the scruples that some entertained concerning days and meats, clean
and unclean, he reminded those who were strong in faith, who `esteemed every