Rise and Shine

1/24/10 | Richard Van Dyke | Romans 13:11-14 | Listen
Series: Says Who?

In this passage of scripture Paul is talking about time (vs. 11); he’s saying that if we understand the present time, then there are three commands which we need to obey and they become the outline of our message. It's important that we realize that these commands are really connected to what Paul has talked about in the previous verses because he begins verse 11 with "And do this." We need to understand what the “this" is and it's clear that "this" relates to loving one another in verse 8 and loving your neighbor in verse 9. We are to love one another and love our neighbor because we understand what the future holds and that the future is coming ever closer.

Let's then examine the three commands. Command number one is to "wake up" (verse 11). From what are we to wake up and why should we wake up? We are to wake up from sleep which is defined as unresponsiveness, inactivity, lethargy. The Greek word here is our English word "hypnosis" - to be drowsy and in a daze. What do Christians look like who are lethargic? They may read their Bibles but not with much excitement or enthusiasm or application. They may pray but not with much earnestness or expectation. They may go to church but only as spectators and not as a properly working part of the Body that contributes to its growth. Surveys and studies indicate that Christians, especially in the US, have become unresponsive to God's Word and careless about their Christian life.

Why is he challenging believers to wake up? The answer is that our salvation is "nearer than it's ever been" (verse 11) and "the night is almost over and the day is almost here" (verse 12). What does me mean by that?

There are three dimensions or tenses to our salvation.

1. Past tense--justified--when we trusted Christ, God declared us "not guilty" (Romans 3:24; 4:25; 5:19; 8:1); that was accomplished once and for all the moment we were saved.

2. Present tense—sanctification--the process where God is setting us apart, making us holy, conforming us to the image of His Son ( I Thessalonians 5:23; 4:3; John 17:17). It's what he's doing now in our lives.

3. Future tense—glorification--that act when God gives us a brand new body that's not subject to sin, pain, or death (Romans 8:22 & 23, 30; 9:16; I John 3:2). The completion of our salvation is nearer now than the day we got saved. It's closer now than when Jesus secured it 2000 years ago.

So we are to wake up from our lethargy because the completion of our salvation is almost here.

His second command is to put off or throw aside some things (verses 12-14). He says the night is nearly over and the day is almost here. Night conveys the idea of darkness and darkness is a symbol of sin and evil and Satan who is called the prince of darkness. Night or darkness is representative of the time in which we live; it's been here ever since Adam sinned (John 3:19; Romans 1:21; Ephesians 5:8, 11; I Thessalonians 5:4-7).

Paul then gives us a sample list of the deeds of darkness in three pairs--what we'll call the party sins (orgies and drunkenness), sexual sins (sexual immorality and sensuality), and the social sins (strife and jealousy). He tells us that since the night is nearly over we are to put off these things. But how do we put these off? The answer seems to be in verse 14 "Make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires." There are certainly times when we fall into sin (Galatians 6:1) but many times we make provisions for sin, in other words we sin with forethought; we plan in advance. Thinking certain thoughts certainly awakens certain desires and Paul is saying "Don't let any thought in your head that would lead to a sinful desire and finally a sinful act." (James 1:14-15).

We’re not to make provision for the flesh. The flesh is that as yet unredeemed part of us, our humanness. While the old nature is dead (Romans 6:6-7), our new nature still lives in the same old body called the flesh (Galatians 5:16-17). Our struggles are between the flesh and the Holy Spirit.

So Paul continues -- put off the deeds of darkness because the night is almost gone and the day is almost here. What day is he talking about? Paul makes it very clear in I Thessalonians 5:1-8 that he's talking about the Day of the Lord, that time of God's judgment at the end of history (Matthew 24:36-44). Right now we're living in overlapping time periods: the time of God's forgiveness that began with Christ's death, and the old age of sin, guilt, sickness and death that began with Adam. Nothing is perfect yet but it will be when the day of God's judgment arrives and the components of the night will be totally and eternally gone.

Paul's third and final command is to put on the armor of light (verse 12) and put on the Lord Jesus Christ (verse 14). These two things are the same, but the practical question is: "How do I do that?" The Greeks understood this to mean "to imitate a person's example; to become like him; to live the way he lived and think the way he thought."

If we're going to "put on Christ" as I just described, then we have to know Christ and the way we get to know Him is through his written Word. When we study the Bible we need to see how Jesus acted, thought, spoke and related and then allow the Holy Spirit to change us and, as Paul said in II Corinthians 3:18, to move us from glory to glory, to be transformed into the image of Jesus.

Some of the things that can help us do this are the discipleship classes we offer called “In the Masters Steps” or the small groups that enhance our study and provide fellowship and caring support. Or you can help others grow by teaching a Sunday school class or serving in our youth ministries or Awana where you grow as you teach, and especially by leading your own family as you strive to connect your children to Jesus and equip them to be growing and faithful followers of His.

Our challenge today is clear. Given the fact that we understand God's redemptive history; given that we are in the end of the age and that man's day (night) is coming to an end; given that we understand the Messiah has come and will come again; given that the world is headed for a terrible tribulation and judgment, then it's time to wake up from our lethargy, put off the deeds of darkness and put on the Lord Jesus Christ.