Romans 13.11a-Paul Commands Romans To Continue Loving Their Neighbor Because They Were Well Aware Of The Significance Of The Time They Were Living In
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday January 28, 2010
Romans: Romans 13:11a-Paul Commands Romans To Continue Loving Their Neighbor Because They Were Well Aware Of The Significance Of The Period Of History They Were Living In
Lesson # 449
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 13:8.
This evening we will study Romans 13:11a in which Paul teaches his readers that they are to continue obeying the command to love your neighbor as they would themselves because they are well aware of the significance of the period of history in which they were living in.
They, like us here in the twenty-first century were living in the church age immediately preceding the imminent return of Christ at the rapture.
Paul teaches in this passage that it is now already the moment for each and every one of them to be awake spiritually because their permanent deliverance from the sin nature, Satan and his cosmic system at the rapture of the church is now nearer to taking place than when they first became believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 13:8, “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.”
Romans 13:9, “For this, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,’ and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’”
Romans 13:10, “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
Romans 13:11, “Do 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.”
“Do this” refers to obedience to the command to love one’s neighbor as oneself that is to be the direct result or response to Paul’s teaching in Romans 13:8-10.
Paul’s statements in Romans 1:8 and 15:14-15 indicate that the Roman believers’ were in fact practicing obeying this command to love their neighbor as themselves by the power of the Spirit in fulfillment of the Law.
Therefore, Paul is simply giving his readers a reminder to continue doing what they were doing and was designed to protect their fellowship with God and each other and their testimony among the unsaved.
“Knowing the time” is composed of the nominative masculine second person plural perfect active participle form of the verb oida (oi‚da) (ee-tha), “knowing” and the articular accusative masculine singular form of the noun kairos (kairov$) (ker-roce), “the time.”
The verb oida means “to be aware of” a particular period of history as indicated by the noun kairos, “the time.”
The noun kairos means “the significance of this particular period of history characterized by urgency and opportunity, demanding immediate action” on the part of the Roman believers.
The specific period of history in view in our passage is the period of the church age that precedes the return of Christ at the rapture of the church, which is imminent.
This period of history is significant to the believer and characterized by opportunity for him since it is an opportunity for him to gain rewards at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church.
It is characterized by urgency since the rapture of the church is imminent and is immediately followed by the Bema Seat when the believer will have to give an account to the Lord for his post-conversion life.
The immediate, specific and appropriate conduct that is demanded of the believer is staying spiritually awake, i.e. in fellowship with God.
This is accomplished by confessing any sins when necessary to be restored to fellowship and maintaining that fellowship by obeying the Word of God and in particular obeying the command to love your neighbor as yourself.
This is all referred to in the statement “that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.”
The verb oida is a “participle of cause” indicating Paul’s readers must continue practicing the command to love your neighbor as yourself “because” they were well aware of the significance of this particular period of history characterized by urgency and opportunity for them, demanding immediate action on their part.
Due to the fact that Christ’s return at the rapture and the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church is imminent, the believer must live his or her life in fellowship with God.
Obeying this command will result in rewards at the Bema Seat for the believer.
The “immanency” of the rapture supports the “pre-tribulation” view since 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 teaches that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night meaning that it will take place unexpectedly.
The only way the day of the Lord could break unexpectedly upon the world is to have it begin immediately after the rapture of the church, which is “imminent” meaning that the rapture could happen at any time.
Supporting the “imminent” return of Christ is that our Lord in John 14:1-3 does not mention any intervening events between preparing a place for His disciples in His Father’s house and receiving them to Himself.
There are several Scriptures, which teach the church to expect Christ to come back at any moment (Romans 13:12; James 5:9; Philippians 4:5; Hebrews 10:25; Revelation 1:3; 22:7, 20).
The purpose of such immanency is that the church may be in a constant state of expectancy, always looking for and waiting for the coming of her Lord from heaven.
Not only is the hope of His return a source of comfort and encouragement to the believer, but also it is a very definite incentive for service and for holy living.
This is what Paul is saying in Romans 13:11-14.
This is what John is also saying in 1 John 3:2-3.
1 John 3:2-3, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is and everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
The believer will be rewarded for living in light of the imminent return of Christ at the rapture of the church.
Every moment that the church believer lives, is an opportunity to bring glory to God and receive rewards for loving one’s neighbor as oneself.
The “overcomer” church age believer or in other words those who were faithful till death or the rapture will receive rewards at the “Bema Seat Evaluation” of the church, which takes place immediately after the rapture of the church.
It is called by theologians, “The Bema Seat Evaluation” or “Judgment” since the expression is taken from the Greek noun bema.
This judgment takes place immediately after the rapture of the church and is actually an “evaluation” of the church age believer’s life after salvation to determine if they merit rewards or not (Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 John 2:24).
“Judgment Seat” in Romans 14:10, 2 Corinthians 5:10 is the noun bema, which was taken from Isthmian games where the contestants would compete for the prize under the careful scrutiny of judges who would make sure that every rule of the contest was obeyed.
Just as the victorious Grecian athlete appeared before the Bema to receive his perishable award, so the Christian will appear before Christ’s Bema to receive his imperishable award.
The Bema Seat is not a place and time when the Lord will mete out punishment for sins committed by the child of God but rather, it is a place where rewards will be given or lost depending on how a believer has lived his life for the Lord.
In Romans 13:11, the noun kairos is also reminder to Paul’s readers of their stewardship of time (Luke 9:11-26; cf. Psalm 90:12; Galatians 6:9-10; Ephesians 5:15-16; 1 Peter 1:17-18; 1 Peter 4:1-2).
The Scriptures teach that there are at least four areas of stewardship: (1) The stewardship of time—redeeming it for eternity. (2) The stewardship of talents—discovering and developing our spiritual gifts and natural talents for the blessing of others and for God’s glory. (3) The stewardship of God’s truth—multiplying ourselves through evangelism and discipleship. (4) The stewardship of our treasures—laying up treasures in heaven through financial faithfulness.
Therefore, in Romans 13:11, Paul is commanding his readers to continue practicing the command to love your neighbor as yourself because they were well aware of the significance of the particular period of history in which they lived, namely preceding the return of Christ at the rapture, which imminent.
This period for the Christian is characterized by urgency and opportunity, in that the rapture is imminent and therefore, they must make the most of their opportunity now to gain rewards and bring glory to God.
It also demands immediate specific and appropriate conduct on their part in that they must keep short accounts with God by confessing their sins to be restored to fellowship and obey the Word of God and specifically obeying the command to love your neighbor as yourself in order to maintain that fellowship.
Every moment that the church age believer lives, is an opportunity to bring glory to God and receive rewards for loving one’s neighbor as oneself.