But the believer has resources not possessed by the worldling. Because he has received grace he is able to give grace. Because he has every good gift already promised to him by God, and because he believes the promise, he knows he will lose nothing by doing good to those who harm him. God’s grace has rendered them powerless to do us any real harm, for all that they take from us will be given back to us by the Lord with many inexpressible blessings besides. We are therefore content to let their malice act as it will, for we are beyond the reach of their hatred. All good things that we have are kept for us in heaven by Christ, and they cannot touch them. This world has become a realm in which they can be allowed to exercise their hatred towards us with no real effect, and in which we can afford to respond with grace to all that is done to us. And wonderfully this gracious response can become part of our testimony to them, which in some cases the Lord will use to do an even greater good and to bring them into the kingdom of heaven. They will be led by the Spirit to be ashamed of what they have done and to see how Christians behave, and how unjustified is their hatred, and to repent of it. The wisdom of God has surrounded the evil that they do to achieve his gracious purposes, and to gather in his elect.
The unbelieving world is at war with God, and we fight this war on God’s behalf not by being like them, but by continuing to imitate our heavenly Father. His patience is inexhaustible until the time when he ends their period of grace, and we are not to end it on his behalf until he does so. We overcome them with righteous conduct, for we must continue to keep his commandments at the same time as we try to win them for Christ. In dealing with the wicked the Lord never resorts to injustice, unreasonableness, or dishonest means, and we must be the same. This battle against the powers of darkness must be fought and won without any compromise with evil. God will reward such conduct. God will not reward you if you're courteous only to a friend, because there's friendship coming back for you. God will not reward you if you are helpful only to a friend. God will reward you if you are courteous and helpful to an enemy. He will supremely reward you in glory, but we are entitled to say that he will also reward you on earth. He will make you instrumental; he will bless you; he will not take away from you the sense of his presence and his nearness. If you love his commands and you honour him, you will be the believer who is blessed.