Today, we return to our study of Romans 13 where we are being shown how the servant of the Lord carries himself daily, especially in light of the fact that we all will spend eternity either in hell or in heaven. And, since what we do with the Lord Jesus and His gospel will determine where we spend eternity, we must be focused on sharing the gospel with the lost at every chance we get.
In v.11 of today's passage we read, "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed."
The Apostle Paul bases everything in today's passage on the words, "knowing the time." This means we currently live on the edge of eternity. And, since everyone's eternity is at stake, we will be motivated to love our
neighbor. When we walk with the Lord, we will always recognize opportunities that are there with the people that are around us, especially if they are not yet saved. If I am watching something on tv or YouTube, I like making it a habit of praying for those whom I am availed to at that moment. It doesn't take a whole lot of effort to develop the habit of talking to God on the behalf of these we see on our tvs. I pray that the Lord draw them to Himself like He did for me. This, in fact, is the the most important thing we can do for them.
The Apostle tells us "to awake out of sleep" which is an admonition to be alert to the most important issues of life. And, the most important issue is where we will spend eternity. We must operate from the standpoint of the fact that the night is all around us; people have been separated from God and are in the clutches of the evil one. In addition, the day that will usher in eternity is close and if people die without trusting Christ as their savior, they will spend eternity in hell.
The word "sleep" describes those moments when we are in a state of inactivity with a loss of consciousness and a decrease in responsiveness to what is really happening around us. We must be preoccupied with sharing the gospel with folks because we are obviously much closer to the end of time as we know it.
In v.12 of today's passage we read, "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 thrust of this verse is our recognition of that which is of eternal value as opposed to that which is worthless. The Apostle instructs us to do two things, in order to take the time to love the unlovely. First, "cast off the works of darkness," and, second, "put on the armor of light." This means in order for us to be effective in this galactic battle, we must be invested in our God-given armor of light. Essentially, our armor of light is the Lord Jesus Christ, and as long as we seek Him daily, we will be equipped to do battle on the behalf of the lost.
In v.13 of today's passage we read, "Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy."
This list of sins are passions that violate and abuse God's purpose and intention for us in this dark world. God's salvation instructs us to advance God's kingdom in this world. These sins invite destruction into our lives and they desensitize us to the importance of sharing the gospel with the lost. We should live in such a way that we accentuate the importance of living with eternities values in view.
The day represents the righteous kingdom of our God. Whether we understand it or not, we are engaged in a cosmic battle that has eternal ramifications. We are to live as the spiritual soldiers of God that we are.
In v.14 of today's passage we read, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts."
When we put on the Lord Jesus Christ, we activate our capacity to be servants and to love others, especially the lost. The Lord Jesus Christ put His hand on an unclean leper to heal him, even though the leper was highly contagious. When we put on the Lord Jesus Christ, we appropriate His power to help the helpless. Christ is His title and it refers to His work. Christ came to deliver us, to set us free. And when we put on Christ, we have an amazing power to free others from what they are going through.
Notice that Paul uses the full name of Christ, "the Lord Jesus Christ." I think he does this deliberately, because "Lord" stands for his power to rule, his authority, his power to change and alter events, and control history. When we put on the Lord Jesus Christ, we are putting on a power to operate and change events and affect people that we don't have without Him. His presence and power shows up in the lives of His submitted servants in exponential ways, enabling us to enter into the realm of eternity as we share the gospel with the lost.
The believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is clothed both positionally and practically. This means He has equipped us with His word and His Spirit to do battle. We are to be defined by God and not by sin. We were all created with two basic, yet profound needs. All of our desires and subsequent choices come back to these two basic needs, which are: 1) to be loved, and 2) to love. I present to you that the second is MORE necessary than the first. The first is essential, because we can not give what we do not have. Having said that, at the end of life we will realize that this life was truly about how we chose to love others.
The believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is clothed both positionally and practically. This means He has equipped us with His word and His Spirit to do battle. We are to be defined by God and not by sin. We were all created with two basic, yet profound needs. All of our desires and subsequent choices come back to these two basic needs, which are: 1) to be loved, and 2) to love. I present to you that the second is MORE necessary than the first. The first is essential, because we can not give what we do not have. Having said that, at the end of life we will realize that this life was truly about how we chose to love others.
