My understanding of that verse is that by doing good to your enemy it will either cause him great guilt or God will punish him. While coals may have been a precious commodity as you stated, the passage says coals of fire! Notice God in the verse before that states that he is the one that will perform vengeance.
King James Version…
Romans 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Romans 12:20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Romans 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Contemporary English Version…
Romans 12:19 Dear friends, don’t try to get even. Let God take revenge. In the Scriptures the Lord says, “I am the one to take revenge and pay them back.”
Romans 12:20 The Scriptures also say, “If your enemies are hungry, give them something to eat. And if they are thirsty, give them something to drink. This will be the same as piling burning coals on their heads.”
Romans 12:21 Don’t let evil defeat you, but defeat evil with good.
I see what you are saying. Thank you for the other scripture regarding God’s vengeance. To me, the scripture is clearly about blessing and responding to our enemy in love and good, not revenge. Yes, coal is fire for warmth and cooking food which would be a great blessing if you didn’t have it.
Mattew 5:44
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Romans 12:14
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
Yes that is what we as Christians are supposed to do, but the coal fire represents what will happen to our enemys either caused by his conscious or by God taking revenge for us.
We don’t have to agree on that. I just wanted to make it clear that we do agree regarding what we as Christians should do.
Do all of your Christians friends and relatives believe in the Trinity? I was shocked to find out that my close relative who claims to be a Christian does not believe in the Trinity. I showed her several Bible verses, but she still refuses to believe. If she does not believe in the Trinity, that means she believes in a different Jesus, which means she is not saved! This is a big deal.
You may want to find out for sure if those who you think are Christians believe in the Trinity.
