ROMANS—NOTE ON Romans 12:20 burning coals. See Proverbs 25:21. Most interpreters think Paul is teaching that Christians must do good to people so that the others will feel ashamed and repent. That sense is possible. But in the OT the concept of “burning coals” always represents punishment (see Psalms 11:6). Thus another interpretation is that Paul is repeating the thought of Romans 12:19: Christians are to do good to wrongdoers, whom God will punish on the last day if they refuse to repent. Overcoming evil with good includes acts of kindness toward evildoers. It may sometimes include the “good” (Romans 13:4) of the civil government stopping evil through the use of force (military or police). See Romans 13:3. See note on Prov. 25:21–22.

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