Romans 12.21-Paul Commands Romans To Continue Not Being Overcome By Satan But To Continue To Overcome Him By Means Of Divine Good
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday November 29, 2009
Romans: Romans 12:21-Paul Commands Romans To Continue Not Being Overcome By Satan But To Continue To Overcome Him By Divine Good
Lesson # 429
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 12:21.
This morning we will complete our study of Romans chapter twelve by noting verse 21 in which Paul commands the Romans to not be overcome by the evil one, Satan but overcome him with good.
Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
As he has done throughout Romans 12:9-20, here in Romans 12:21, the apostle Paul employs the figure of “asyndeton.”
This figure appears with the series of prohibitions and commands that appear in rapid succession in Romans 12:9-21.
He does not use a connective between each of the commands and prohibitions he employs in this paragraph.
Paul does this because he wants his readers to carefully meditate upon each of the commands and prohibitions that he issues in this paragraph so as to protect their fellowship with God, each other and their testimony before the unsaved.
“Do not be overcome by evil” is composed of the negative particle me (mhv) (may), “not” and the second person singular present passive imperative form of the verb nikao (nikavw) (nik-ah-o), “do…be overcome” which is followed by the preposition hupo (u(pov) (hoop-o), “by” and the articular genitive neuter singular form of the adjective kakos (kakov$) (kak-os), “evil.”
Now, in Romans 12:21, the verb nikao means “to overcome” and appears twice, once in a prohibition to not be overcome by the evil one, Satan and once in a command to overcome Satan with good.
The verb’s meaning is negated by the negative particle me, “not.”
Together, they form a prohibition.
The Roman believers are of course the subject of this prohibition.
In Romans 12:21, adjective kakos appears twice and in both instances, the word means “the evil one” and refers to Satan and not to the practice of sin by the enemies of the Roman believers.
Usually, in the Greek New Testament, the articular form of the adjective poneros is used for Satan (Matthew 13:38; John 17:15; Ephesians 6;16; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 1 John 2:13-14).
That Satan is in view when Paul uses kakos in Romans 12:21 is indicated by the fact that the word is in the genitive case and is the object of the preposition hupo.
This preposition with the genitive case is used in the Greek New Testament to indicate the person who is ultimately responsible for an action and who may or may not be involved.
Also indicating that kakos refers to Satan is the word’s articular construction, which converts the adjective into a substantive.
The article is also monadic meaning that it is referring to the devil who is one of a kind, or in other words, he is the one and only devil.
Further indicating that kakos refers to Satan and not the evil practiced by the enemies of Paul’s readers is that Paul employs agathos as the object of the preposition en in the command to follow.
This prepositional phrase is instrumental.
If kakos in the prohibition was referring to the evil practiced by the Christian’s enemy then Paul would have used the preposition en instead of hupo.
However, he uses hupo to emphasize personal agency, thus indicating that the articular form of the adjective kakos is referring to a personality, which of course is Satan.
Therefore, in this prohibition in Romans 12:21, Paul wants his readers to continue to not being overcome by the evil one, Satan.
He employs me and not ouk since the latter is much stronger than the former and would indicate that his readers were being overcome by Satan.
Thus, by employing me instead of ouk, he does not believe that his readers were being overcome by Satan.
Therefore, the particle me indicates that this has not taken place but is used with the verb nikao to prohibit Paul’s readers in the future from being overcome by Satan.
Also, further indicating that the prohibition here in Romans 12:21 does not imply that the Roman believers were being overcome by Satan is that the present imperative form of the verb nikao with the negative particle me has the force of a general precept.
It makes no comment about whether the action is going on or not.
Thus, Paul’s readers were “not” presently disobeying this prohibition.
Furthermore, Paul’s statements in Romans 1:8 and 15:14-15 indicate that the Roman believers were not being overcome by Satan.
Thus, his teachings in this epistle would serve as a reminder to them.
Therefore, as he has been doing throughout Romans 12:9-20, Paul is simply performing preventive maintenance by employing this prohibition in Romans 12:21.
He is in effect warning the believers in Rome to not be overcome by Satan.
Thus, he is simply stating a general precept for his readers to follow in the future that would protect their fellowship with God.
Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
“But overcome evil with good” is emphasizing a strong contrast between being overcome by Satan with that of overcoming him by means of divine good.
“Overcome evil” is the second person singular present active imperative form of the verb nikao (nikavw) (nik-ah-o), “overcome” and the articular accusative neuter singular form of the adjective kakos (kakov$) (kak-os), “evil.”
The verb nikao once again means “to overcome” and the adjective kakos once again means “the evil one” and is referring to Satan.
Therefore, these two words are used in a command for the Roman believers to overcome Satan by means of divine good.
This is a “customary present imperative,” which denotes that the Roman believers must continue to make it their habit of overcoming Satan by means of divine good.
Paul’s statements in Romans 1:8 and 15:14-15 imply that they were doing just that.
“With good” is composed of the preposition en (e)n), “with” and the articular dative neuter singular form of the adjective agathos (a)gaqov$) (ag-ath-os), “good.”
The adjective agathos is describing an action performed by the believer after his conversion that is in accordance with the Father’s will.
It describes this action as being “intrinsically valuable, intrinsically good, inherently good in quality but with the idea of good which is also profitable, useful, benefiting others, benevolent.”
This action is described as agathos because it is in accordance with the will of the Father.
It is good in that it fulfills the purpose of Christ’s crucifixion, spiritual and physical deaths, His resurrection and session as well as the purpose of the various ministries performed by the Holy Spirit on the believer’s behalf.
It is good in that it fulfills the Father’s eternal purpose for the believer electing and predestinating them.
It is good in that it fulfills the purpose for which the Father delivered the justified sinner from the sin nature, personal sins, Satan and his cosmic system, i.e. salvation.
It is good in that it fulfills the purpose for which the Father set apart him to do His will exclusively, sanctification.
Therefore, agathos in Romans 12:21 is referring to “divine good” or that which is divine in quality and character because it is produced by the believer by means of the power of the Holy Spirit.
God will reward the believer for producing divine good and He will not reward the believer who produces human good (1 Cor. 3:11-14).
The preposition en functions as a marker of means and the noun agathos as a dative instrumental of means indicating that Paul is commanding the Roman believers to overcome Satan “by means of” divine good.
So Paul completes Romans chapter twelve in Romans 12:21 by issuing a prohibition and command.
In the prohibition, he wants them to continue making it their habit to not be overcome by Satan and on the heels of this he commands them to continue to make it their habit to overcome Satan by means of divine good.