Romans 13.12b-The Day Is Approaching For The Believer
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday February 4, 2010
Romans: Romans 13:12b-The Day Is Approaching For The Believer
Lesson # 453
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 13:8.
Yesterday we began a study of Romans 13:12 by noting the first of four statements made by the apostle Paul in this passage.
The first statement “The night is almost gone” teaches that the period in which the church age believer is not in his or her resurrection body and is living during a period of history in which Satan is the god of this world has drawn to a close.
This evening we will note the second statement “the day is near,” which emphasizes with Paul’s readers that the period of time when each and every one of them is living in their resurrection body and is permanently delivered from living in Satan’s cosmic system is approaching or is immanent.
This period begins for the believer with the rapture of the church and will never end and will go on throughout eternity future.
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.”
Romans 13:12, “The 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.”
“And” is the “emphatic” or “intensifying” use of the conjunction de (deV) (theh), which emphasizes the statement hemera engiken (ἡμέρα ἤγγικεν) (ee-ma-ra en-yee-ken), “the day is near,” which refers to the immanency of the period of time when each and every church age believer is living in his or her resurrection body.
That the word is emphatic is indicated in that this period in which the believer is in his resurrection body is the confident expectation of every church age believer, thus it was important to every believer and a source of encouragement.
This period is also important because immediately after receiving their resurrection body, the church age believer will stand before Christ at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church to determine if they merit rewards or not.
“The day” is the articular nominative feminine singular form of the noun hemera (h(mevra) (ee-ma-ra), which refers to the period of time when each and every church age believer is living in his or her resurrection body and is permanently delivered from living in Satan’s cosmic system.
This period begins for the believer with the rapture of the church and will never end and will go on throughout eternity future.
“The day” stands in contrast to “the night,” which refers to the period in which the believer is not in his or her resurrection body and is living during a period in which Satan is the god of this world.
“Is near” is the third person singular perfect active indicative form of the verb engizo (e)ggivzw) (en-yee-zoe), which means “to draw near, to approach.”
It is used in a intransitive and temporal sense of the immanency of the rapture of the church, which will begin the believer’s time of existing in a resurrection body and which time will never end.
So this second statement emphasizes the immanency of the rapture of the church.
It emphasizes the necessity of staying in fellowship with God since Christ could come back at any moment.
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.
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.
This second statement in Romans 13:12 is a 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).