Romans 13 verses 11 through 14. Walk in the light, not in darkness. Verse 11," And you know the time that it is now high time to wake from sleep." For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. It is now high time to wake from sleep. Here Paul is speaking of spiritual lethargy.
Origen calls it the sleep of the soul, saying," If the soul does not do the things of God at the proper time, but is lethargic instead, it will rightly be said to be asleep." Paul had earlier exhorted the Thessalonians," Let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us watch and be sober. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. As each of us grows older, the time when we will leave this world and enter the next world grows closer.
Therefore, assuming we are walking faithfully with Christ, our ultimate salvation is always nearer than when we first believed. Chrysostom writes," Paul means, as time advances, the season of our present life is wasting away. So the beginning of the future life grows nearer. Therefore, if you are prepared and have done everything He has commanded, the day of your earthly death is salvation to you. However, if you have not been faithful, this will not be so.
With that in mind, we must shake off any spiritual drowsiness and press forward even more vigorously. Chrysostom refers to Paul's illustration of runners in a race. As they see the finish line approaching, the runners put on an extra burst of energy, even though they are tired. And Ambrosiaster comments," It is clear that those who live righteously after baptism and are zealous for love are not far from the reward of the promised resurrection." Romans chapter 13:12," The night is far spent, the day is at hand.
Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. The night is far spent. The day is at hand." Origen writes," The light is already here, and it is time to rise from sleep. The night has passed. That is the time when ignorance reigns over men. With the thinning darkness and the approach of the Sun of righteousness, the day of wakefulness is already imminent.
Theodoret adds," For the Sun of righteousness has arisen, and he has enlightened the whole world with the rays of divine knowledge. Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light." Jesus taught," This is the judgment that the light has come into the world, and men love the darkness rather than the light. For their works were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works would be exposed.
But he who does, what is true, comes to the light, that his works may be revealed that they have been done in God. Paul had told the Thessalonians," Those who sleep sleep in the night, and those who are drunk are drunk in the night." Most crimes occur at night, and night is often the primary time of sin.
In the parallel passage in 1 Thessalonians, Paul explains the armor of light as follows:" Since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation." With this armor, we can walk in the teachings of Christ and resist the devil.
Polycarp writes," Let us arm ourselves with the armor of righteousness, and let us first teach the need to walk in the commandments of the Lord."" Let us walk uprightly, as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in immorality and wantonness, not in strife and envying." Paul continues to contrast the works of the night and the works of the day. Theodoret comments, Paul explains spiritual matters by turning to natural things. Those who embrace a life of sin commit such sin in the night.
Yet during the daytime, they put on the appearance of disciplined conduct. From the description Paul gives of the works of darkness, the early Christians recognized that he was particularly describing the wanton banquets of the pagans. Theodoret writes," For in their feasts, some are inclined to act lewdly. They defile their tongues with obscene songs." All these things are caused by drunkenness. For drunkenness is the parent of wantonness and the teacher of strife and quarrels.
The early Christian work, Discourse to the Greeks, describes such banquets. I have come to hate your public gatherings, for there is excessive banqueting accompanied by seductive flutes that provoke lustful movements. There are useless and luxurious perfuming and crowning with garlands. With such a mass of evils, you banish shame. In its place, you fill your minds with evil and are carried away by excess drinking. You indulge in wicked and insane immorality as if it were an ordinary practice.
Clement of Alexandria provides an even more detailed description of these pagan banquets, contrasting them with Christian love feasts. In our love feasts, let the wild celebrations of the pagan holiday season have no part, nor should there be the senseless nightlong parties of the world that delight in wine drinking. Their wild celebrations end up as drunken stupors with everyone freely confiding the troubles of their love affairs.
But love affairs and drunkenness are both contrary to reason and therefore do not belong to our sort of celebrations. As for all-night drinking parties, they go hand-in-hand with holiday celebrations. And in their wine drinking, they promote drunkenness and promiscuity. Their banquets are brazen celebrations that work deeds of shame. The exciting rhythm of flutes and harps, choruses and dances, Egyptian castanets, and other entertainments get out of control and become indecent.
Verse 14," But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its desires." When Paul tells us to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, he does not mean that Jesus is someone we can temporarily put on and take off.
Chrysostom writes," In saying, put on, he commands us to be encircled by Him on every side." Similarly, in another place, he says," But if Christ is in you, and again, that Christ may dwell in your hearts." Romans 8:10, Ephesians 3:17." For Christ would have our soul be a dwelling place for him. He wants to envelop us as a garment that covers our body. In that manner, He can be all things to us, both on the inside and the outside.
There is no other way to live the Christ life than to allow Christ to totally envelop us. We initially put on Christ at the time of our conversion and baptism. However, we can soil the garment Christ gave us at that time. Theodoret comments," Not that we should receive another baptism, but that we should take care of the garment by which we have already been clothed." Ambrosiaster sees a connection between the words of Paul and the illustration Jesus gave of the wedding feast and the man without a wedding garment.
He writes," Those who put on Christ must separate themselves from all sin and wickedness, lest they be discovered without a new garment at the wedding banquet and be cast out into the darkness in disgrace. If they do not separate themselves, they have put on their old clothes over those new garments with which they were clothed in Christ. Having stripped off the old self, they should continue in newness of life and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its desires. Here, Paul is talking about fleshly desires.
For it is not wrong for Christians to moderately provide for their physical needs. Chrysostom writes," Paul does not forbid making provision for the flesh. Rather, he forbids doing so with a view to fulfill its desires. For example, we fulfill its desires by going beyond the things necessary." Chrysostom continues to form a clearer picture of what it means to make provision for the flesh, to fulfill its desires.
Just think of the drunkards, the gluttons, those who pride themselves in dress, those who are effeminate, and those who live a soft and luxurious life. Applying this principle to dress, Clement of Alexandria writes," The proper dress of the temperate man is what is plain, becoming, and clean. Let the women wear a plain and becoming robe. It can be softer than what is appropriate for a man, yet it should not be immodest or luxuriant.
And let all garments be suited to a person's age, person, figure, nature, and pursuits. For the divine apostle most beautifully counsels us to put on Jesus Christ and make no provision for the desires of the flesh. Conclusion of the great argument. Paul now brings his great argument to a close. He has thoroughly developed each of his six key points. Point one. All mankind lies guilty before God and needs salvation. Point two, the law of Moses is unable to save or justify Jews, let alone Gentiles.
Neither circumcision nor obedience to the law of Moses are necessary any longer. Point three, all humans, Jews and Gentiles alike, are saved and justified only by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Point four, there is no partiality with God. Jews and Gentiles stand as equals before Him. Believing Jews and believing Gentiles together make up the new Israel of God. Point 5. God has not been unfair to the Jews in bestowing grace and salvation on the Gentiles.
Whether we are Jews or Gentiles, after our initial salvation by grace through faith, God requires us to walk faithfully with Christ, producing godly fruit for the remainder of our lives. However, we do not do this solely on our own strength, for we have the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. As I have mentioned, Paul's great argument is lengthy, and it is easy to lose track of his theme. Nevertheless, even though his argument encompasses more than 8,000 words, Paul stays true to the six points above.
He never strays from them. Rather, he constantly goes back and reinforces these six points as he moves through his argument. In chapter 1, he began with his first key point, and here in chapter 13, he ends with his sixth key point.