Wake Up & Get Dressed! – Romans 13:8-14

Practical exhortations of chapter 12 & 13 reach a climax with these final verses where the believer is passionately called to a life of holiness in light of Christ’s imminent return.

The practical exhortations to consecrated living (12:1-2) reach a climax in these verses, especially Vs. 11-14 where the call returns to a passionate call to holiness of a someone

This lesson: The believer is called to consecrated living in a further three areas

A Call to Kindness (Vs. 8-10)

The Responsibility to Love (Vs. 8a)

1. “owe no man anything” = context of previous verse needs to be considered where the Christian is commanded to discharge his debts. Believer is not totally prohibited from debts but rather the failure to fulfill those debts (e.g. according to the terms of a contract). We are not to continue owing people.
2. “but to love one another” = “The only thing we are allowed to owe is Divine love, that love produced in the heart of the yielded saint by the Holy Spirit, a love self-sacrificed in its essence, giving of itself for the benefit of the person loved.” (Wuest) Love to others is viewed as a debt that can never be fully discharged, thus requiring us to exercise it continually and abound grow in it.
   1. 1 Thess. 4:9-10 “But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more.”
   2. 2 Thess. 1:3 “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith growth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth.”

The Reason to Love (Vs. 8b-10)

1. Statement that love fulfills the law (8b)
2. Specifics of how love fulfills the law (9)
   1. “for this, thou shalt not…” = example commands come from second table of the law concerning our relationship to our fellow man
   2. “briefly comprehended” = summed up, gathered together in one (Lev. 19:18)
   3. “this saying” = All the law and the prophets hang on the two commands of love – love for God and love for our neighbor (Refer Matt. 22:37-40)
3. Summary of how love fulfills the law (10)
   1. ‘worketh’ = performs. Love does “not behave itself unseemly” (1 Cor. 13:5)
   2. ‘ill’ = evil, harm, badness
   3. ‘therefore’ = statement of love fulfilling the law (Vs. 8b) reaffirmed

A Call to Watchfulness (Vs. 11-12a)

The Instruction to Awaken (11a)

1. “knowing the time” = speaks of a mindset that is alert and discerning. “And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do…” (1 Chron. 12:32)
2. “high time” = like “the hour has come”
3. “awake out of sleep” = The believer is not to be spiritually dull and lazy
   1. ‘sleep’ = “a state of inactivity, with a loss of consciousness and a decrease in responsiveness to events taking place.” (Encyclopedia Britannica) If that accurately defines your nightly season of rest then that is a good thing but if that defines your spiritual walk, you are in a dangerous place!
   2. Many Christians are asleep and are happy to stay that way as Satan rocks their cradle. “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so…” (Jer. 5:31)

The Imminence of the Appearing (11b-12a)

1. “for now” = the motivation to be alert and awake
2. The definition of the imminent return of Christ:
   1. The word ‘imminent’ combines both certainty and uncertainty. When used of the coming of Christ, it means that his coming is a sure and certain event but the timing of that event is uncertain.
   2. An understanding of this truth creates a spirit of anticipation and expectancy. “On the certainty of the event, our faith is grounded: by the uncertainty of the time, our hope is stimulated, and our watchfulness aroused.” (Alford)
   3. Illustration: The Jewish wedding custom (Matt. 25:1-13)
   4. Note: if you place the rapture somewhere within the 7-year tribulation (e.g. middle or end), then it has the effect of making the believer look for the antichrist rather than Christ and you lose the truth of imminence.
3. Words describing imminence:
   1. “salvation nearer” = the final aspect of salvation which is glorification
   2. “than when we believed” = reference to the day of conversion. The coming of Christ is closer now than it was the day we got saved! Each day that passes is one day closer to His return!
   3. “night is far spent…day is at hand” = picture of night giving way to dawn. The day at hand is a reference to the day of Christ.

A Call to Holiness (Vs. 12b-14)

The Apostle Paul employs the familiar figure of exchanging one set of clothes for another (putting off & putting on).

Put of Darkness, Put On Light (Vs. 12b)

1. Paul’s appeal is linked to the hope of Christ’s imminent return. This is the case with many practical commands in the N.T. Examples:
   1. We are to live soberly, righteously & godly in light of the rapture (Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God…”)
   2. We are to provoke one another to love and to good works, being faithful to the fellowship life of the church as we see the day approaching (Heb. 10:24-25 “And let us consider one another…”
2. “cast of the works of darkness” = the sinful deeds of a sin- dominated world under the dominion of the evil one. The works that are typical of this present age. Reference to spiritual darkness.
   1. Note: It is interesting to note that the sins Paul will mention specifically in the next verse are typically carried out under cover of darkness (e.g. drunkenness & immorality).
   2. Job 24:13-17 “They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof. The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief. The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face. In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light. For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.” (Also John 3:19)
3. “put on the armour of light” = the weapons of spiritual light (See Eph. 6:10-20). The believer is a soldier and has been equipped with spiritual armour to face the enemy.

Put on Purity, Put Off Immorality (Vs. 13)

1. ‘honestly as in the day’ = more than just honesty in our words but a governing principle in our lives. English word means honorable and so decent. “Speaks of a lifestyle that is “appropriate” to those who live in the full light of day.” (Moo) The light of Christ in our lives shines in stark contrast to the darkness around us.
2. “rioting and drunkenness” = both words related. ‘rioting’ speaks of the wild feasts and drinking parties. ‘drunkenness’ speaks of intoxication with wine and strong drink.
3. “chambering and wantonness” = both words carry similar meaning and refer to immorality.
   1. ‘chambering’ literally means bed or bedroom and is used in a positive way to describe the marriage bed (Heb. 13:4). Translated ‘conceived’ in Rom. 9:10. Here it refers to illicit promiscuity and expresses a meaning similar to something like the way we use the phrase “sleeping around” today.
   2. ‘wantonness’ means unbridled lust. Often translated as ‘lasciviousness’ in the N.T. (e.g. Jude 1:4)
   3. Note: It is of interest to observe the strong emphasis upon “putting off” immoral sins in the N.T. E.G. 1 Thess. 4:3-5; Gal. 5:16-19; Eph. 4:17-19; Col. 3:5-6
4. “strife and envying” = contention and division that springs out of a spirit of jealousy.
   1. Examples: Secret resentment over someone’s position in a church ministry. Feeling itchy and niggly in the presence of a leader. Feeling threatened by someone else who appears more accomplished than you. A spirit of comparison.
   2. It is not often that the spirit of jealousy is expressed specifically (e.g. “The reason I am treating you like this is because I am jealous of you”) but it often is the hidden cause of division and contention in the local church.

Put on Christ, Put Off Compromise (Vs. 14)

1. “put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ” = we are to be clothed with the Lord Jesus. We are to strive for Christ likeness in every area of our lives.
2. “make not provision for the flesh” = ‘provision’ has the idea of forethought and speaks of preparation; measures taken beforehand for the supply of wants. (RWP) “We make provision for the body’s needs but not its lusts. Whatever, then, tends to excite our corrupt propensities ought to be avoided.” (Haldane)

Conclusion

1. Is there growth and progress in the area of loving others in our lives?
2. Are we awake, alert and active for the Lord or are we asleep?

Sermon 38 of 42 in Romans Series

Sermon Audio Id: 771830100