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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rom_13:11-14
11Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. 12The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
Rom_13:11
NASB "do this"
NKJV "and do this"
NRSV "Besides this"
TEV "You must do this"
NJB "Besides"
This is a way of linking what follows (Rom_13:11-14) with what precedes (Rom_13:9-10). Be doers of the word, not just hearers (cf. Jas_1:22-23; Jas_1:25)! Love must be put into action.
▣ "knowing the time" This is a perfect active participle. This term for time (kairos) was used in the sense of a special period of time, not regular chronological time (chronos). Believers must live in (1) the light of the any-moment return of Christ and (2) the new age has dawned.
▣ "that it is already the hour" This metaphor, "the hour" (used often in John's Gospel), refers to a special moment (similar to kairos) in God's redemptive plan (cf. Rom_3:26; 1Co_7:29; 1Co_10:11; Jas_5:8; 1Pe_4:7; 2Pe_3:9-13; 1Jn_2:18; Rev_1:3; Rev_22:10). It is used both of the times of Jesus' crucifixion and return.
▣ "sleep" This term is used here metaphorically of moral and spiritual laxity (cf. Eph_5:8-14; 1Th_5:6). Words only have meaning in a specific context. Be careful of a fixed definition. All words have several possible meanings (semantical field).
▣ "for now salvation is nearer" Salvation is an initial decision and a process (see Special Topic at Rom_10:14). Salvation will not be complete until believers have their new bodies (cf. 1Jn_3:2; 1Th_4:13-18; Heb_9:28; 1Pe_1:5). Theologically this is called "glorification" (Rom_8:30). It is the hope of every generation of Christians to expect the Lord back in his or her lifetime (cf. Luk_21:28). Paul was no exception (cf. 1Th_4:15).
▣ "than when we believed" Christianity begins with a decision (instantaneous justification and sanctification), but must result in a godly lifestyle (progressive sanctification, see Special Topic at Rom_6:4) and ends in Christlikeness (glorification). One must accept God's offer in Christ (cf. Joh_1:12; Joh_3:16; Rom_10:9-13). This initial decision is not the end, but the beginning!
Rom_13:12 "The night is almost gone" This refers to the present evil age which is already being destroyed and replaced (cf. 1Co_7:29-31; 1Co_10:11; Jas_5:8; Eph_5:8; Eph_5:14; 1Jn_4:7; 2 John 2:17-18; Rev_1:3; Rev_22:10). See Special Topic at Rom_12:2. Paul, and especially John, use the contrast between dark and light, as did the Dead Sea Scrolls.
▣ "the day is at hand" This is a perfect active indicative. These are the last days (cf. Php_4:5; Jas_5:9). We have been in the last days since Jesus' incarnation. They will last until His glorious return. All believers since the first century are surprised by such a long delay in Christ's return. However, the new age has dawned in Christ.
This note on the nearness of Christ's return is taken from the "Crucial Introduction" to my commentary on Revelation. See it free online at hyperlink.
"SIXTH TENSION (imminent return of Christ vs. the delayed Parousia)
Most believers have been taught that Jesus is coming soon, suddenly, and unexpectedly (cf. Mat_10:23; Mat_24:27; Mat_24:34; Mat_24:44; Mar_9:1; Mar_13:30). But every expectant generation of believers so far has been wrong! The soonness (immediacy) of Jesus' return is a powerful promised hope of every generation, but a reality to only one (and that one a persecuted one). Believers must live as if He were coming tomorrow, but plan and implement the Great Commission (cf. Mat_28:19-20) if He tarries.
Some passages in the Gospels (cf. Mar_13:10; Luk_17:2; Luk_18:8) and I and 2 Thessalonians are based on a delayed Second Coming (Parousia). There are some historical events that must happen first:
1.world-wide evangelization (cf. Mat_24:15; Mar_13:10)
2.the revelation of "the man of Sin" (cf. Mat_24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2; Revelation 13)
3.the great persecution (cf. Mat_24:21; Mat_24:24; Revelation 13)
There is a purposeful ambiguity (cf. Mat_24:42-51; Mar_13:32-36)! Live everyday as if it were your last but plan and train for future ministry!"
▣ "lay aside. . .put on" These are aorist middle subjunctives, which give a note of contingency. The implication is "you yourselves lay aside. . .put on once for all or decisively." Both God and mankind are active in both justification (repentance and faith) and sanctification (godly living). This clothing metaphor is very common in Paul's writings. Believers are to take off their sleeping clothes and put on their battle array (cf. Eph_4:22-25; Col_3:10; Col_3:12; Col_3:14). We are Christian soldiers preparing for the daily spiritual battle (cf. Eph_6:10-18). See note in NIDNTT, vol. 1, pp. 315-316.
▣ "the armor of light" This is probably an allusion to Isa_59:17. Believers must decisively put on the armor and weapons of righteousness (cf. 2Co_6:7; 2Co_10:4; Eph_6:11; Eph_6:13; 1Th_5:8). God's armor is available to believers but they must
1. recognize their need
2. recognize God's provision
3. personally and intentionally implement it into their daily thought and life
There is a daily spiritual battle! See Clinton F. Arnold, Three Crucial Questions About Spiritual Warfare.
Rom_13:13 "Let us behave properly" This is an aorist active subjunctive, literally, literally "walk." This was a Hebrew idiom for lifestyle (cf. Eph_4:1; Eph_4:17; Eph_5:2; Eph_5:15). Paul uses it over 33 times.
The list of sins in this verse are made up of three pairs of two terms. The terms have some semantic overlap. It is possible they are meant to be synonyms. See hyperlink at Rom_1:28-32.
These terms may relate to the tension between believing Jews and Gentiles in the Roman church. The new Gentile believers may have been continuing (1) some of their immoral pagan worship practices or (2) acting arrogantly against the returning believing Jewish leaders who had left briefly because of Nero's edict which banned all Jewish rites in Rome.
▣ "not in carousing and drunkenness" This referred to sexual immorality which was linked in pagan religious rituals to drunkenness. In the list of the sins of the flesh in Gal_5:21, these terms are also listed side by side.
▣ "not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality" This pair seems to overlap the first pair. The second term is used extensively in the NT (cf. Mar_7:22; 2Co_12:21; Gal_5:19; Eph_4:19; 1Pe_4:3; 2Pe_2:7). If the first pair focuses on drunkenness, this pair focuses on sexual immorality, even a socially uncontrolled abandonment to sensuality.
▣ "not in strife and jealousy" These terms speak of strife between people (cf. Gal_5:20). This may have been the result of the inappropriate conduct of the first two pairs. If these are addressed to Christians (cf. 1Co_3:3; Col_3:8), they reflect some of the pagan religious practices which must stop in believers' lives. However, in context this verse is a contrast to believers, so in that sense, it would be a warning.
Rom_13:14 "put on the Lord Jesus Christ" This metaphor relates to the royal robe of King Jesus now placed on the shoulders of believers (positional sanctification). Some scholars see it as an allusion to baptismal clothing. This clothing metaphor is first mentioned in Rom_13:12. It is a way of showing believers' new position in Christ. It also emphasized the fact that believers must implement their new lifestyle choices (progressive sanctification) because of their new position in Christ (cf. Eph_4:22; Eph_4:24; Col_3:8). In Gal_3:27 this truth is expressed as a statement of fact, indicative; here it is expressed as an imperative (aorist middle), a command.
This tension between the indicative statement and the imperative is the tension between our position in Christ and our striving to possess that position (see Special Topic at Rom_6:4). We are "saints" (holy ones) at the moment of salvation, but we are admonished to be "holy." This is the biblical paradox of a full and free salvation in Christ and the clarion call for Christlikeness!
▣ "make no provision" This is a present middle imperative with the negative particle. This grammatical form usually means to stop an act already in process. This seems to imply that some Christians in Rome were living inappropriate moral lives. This may have been a carry over from their pagan worship practices.
It is difficult to explain the NT teachings about carnal Christianity. The NT authors present mankind's condition in black and white terms. A carnal Christian is a contradiction in terms. Yet it is a reality of our "already" but "not yet" lives. Paul categorized humanity into three groups (1Co_2:14 to 1Co_3:1):
1. natural men (lost humanity), Rom_2:14
2. spiritual men (saved humanity), Rom_3:1
3. men of flesh (carnal Christians or baby Christians), Rom_3:1
▣ "the flesh in regard to its lusts" Paul knew all too well the continuing dangers of our fallen Adamic nature (cf. Romans 7; Eph_2:3), but Jesus gives us the power and desire to live for God (cf. Romans 6). It is an ongoing struggle (cf. Rom_8:5-7; 1Jn_3:6-9). See Special Topic: Flesh (sarx) at Rom_1:3.
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