Sometimes it seems like the Old Testament is full of stories of vengeance, with the Hebrew people destroying those who worship false gods, then foreign lands destroying the nation of Israel when they wander from the truth. We see so many of the Psalms asking for God to destroy the writer's enemies, to punish them for the pain they have caused. It becomes so bad sometimes that we leave the Old Testament for the New Testament so we can read about love instead of reading about vengeance.

However, that thought is an incomplete truth, just as the psalmist's prayer for the destruction of his enemies is not necessarily answered by Heaven's archers and swordsmen. Paul, writing to Christians living in the decadent center of a pagan empire, wanted them to understand how justice and vengeance truly should work from God's perspective. This had to be a timely warning for them. They saw first hand how those in power were rich and opportunistic while so many in their Christian family were poor and oppressed. This warning came from a writer who had many reasons to want God to avenge the wrongs done against him. Paul's message certainly sounds different from those of the psalmists—but then again, his message is more consistent with their's than we might think.

Notice the essence of the advice he gives: do good to those who do bad to us, and trust God in making justice for wrongs in God's time. Paul provided strong historical references for his advice: the quotation assuring us that vengeance is the Lord's comes from the Books of the Law, in Deuteronomy 32:35, and the quotation about returning good for evil comes from Proverbs 25:21-22. This wasn't new at all!

What is new is the context of this kind of response after Jesus' death and resurrection. Paul called on them and us to live powerfully in the genuine agape love that comes directly from Jesus Christ, and which we are blessed to share with others. It is in that response that we have the power to act on the advice given in Proverbs. It is in that response that we turn over to God the act of settling wrongs, knowing that the God of both justice and mercy has shown us great mercy.

Yes, there still will be times for vengeance, and those will come in God's perfect will and at God's timetable. If we see evidence of God's justice at all, we may not even recognize it. We will certainly not understand it, for only God knows what is in the minds and hearts of all people. Instead, we are to let go of our desire to see "justice" come about as we would wish it to be, and we are to embrace love and good with zeal, perseverence, rejoicing, and a confident hope.