Romans 13.13a-The Christian Must Conduct His Or Her Life As One Who Exists In The Day
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday February 11, 2010
Romans: Romans 13:13a-The Christian Must Conduct His Or Her Life Properly As One Who Exists In The Day
Lesson # 455
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 13:13.
This evening we will begin a study of Romans 13:13, in which Paul exhorts his readers to unite with him in living their lives in a manner that is consistent with the fact that they belong to the future age and kingdom of Christ, avoiding drunken parties, licentious promiscuity and jealous contention.
Romans 13:13, “Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.”
“Let us behave” is the first person plural aorist active subjunctive form of the verb peripateo (peripatevw) (pe-ree-pa-teh-owe), which means “to conduct our lives” and is used in a figurative sense with reference to the lifestyle of Paul and his Christian readers in Rome.
“The day” 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.
Therefore, in Romans 13:13, Paul is exhorting his readers to conduct themselves as those who exist in the day positionally meaning they are to conduct themselves as those who are positionally resurrected with Christ and delivered from the sin nature, Satan and his cosmic system.
They are also to conduct themselves as those who exist in the day ultimately meaning they are to conduct themselves as those who will ultimately be resurrected and will be permanently delivered from the sin nature, Satan and his cosmic system at the rapture.
Paul employs the third person plural form of peripateo rather than the second person plural form because he is describing something that is true of all Christians including himself.
In the previous verses he uses the second person plural because he is exercising his authority as an apostle and teacher of the Word of God.
But here he is not since he wants to emphasize that conducting one’s life properly by appropriating by faith one’s union and identification with Christ in His death and resurrection should characterize all believers including himself.
The subjunctive mood of the verb peripateo is a “hortatory” or “volitive” subjunctive used by Paul to exhort his readers to unite with him in conducting their lives properly as those who are in the day.
This mood is used to grammaticalize potentiality indicating conducting one’s life properly as one who exists in a positional and ultimate sense in the day is a potential and not yet a reality for Paul and his readers.
It emphasizes their volitional responsibility in walking by faith in the Spirit’s revelation in the Word of God.
Paul uses the hortatory subjunctive rather than the imperative mood in that he wants to emphasize with his readers that conducting one’s life properly as one who exists in a positional and ultimate sense in the day should characterize every Christian as he or she eagerly anticipates the rapture.
The fact that Paul wrote this epistle under the inspiration of the Spirit indicates that he had already been doing this since to be inspired by the Spirit to write Scripture demands that such an action take place.
Furthermore, his statement in Romans 15:15 indicates that Paul’s readers had been performing this action.
Romans 13:13, “Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.”
“Properly” is the adverb of manner euschemonos (εὐσχημόνως) (ef-see-mo-noce), which is used with peripateo defining the manner in which Paul and his readers were to continue to conduct their lives before the rapture as that which is proper with the implication of their conduct being pleasing to the Father and the Son.
“As” is the relative adverb of manner hos (w($) (oce), which functions as a comparative particle introducing a comparison between Paul and his readers’ conduct prior to the rapture with their position in Christ and future destiny in Christ after the rapture.
Not translated but implied is the articular nominative masculine plural present active participle form of the verb eimi (ei)miv) (ee-me), which means, “to exist in a particular state or condition.”
The word is employed with prepositional phrase en hemera, which refers to the period in which the believer is resurrected with Christ and permanently delivered from the sin nature, Satan and his cosmic system.
Therefore, the verb eimi denotes Paul and his readers conducting their lives prior to the rapture as those who “exist in the state of being” in the day, i.e. resurrected with Christ and delivered from the sin nature and Satan and his cosmic system.
The present tense is a “gnomic present” indicating that the Christian “as an eternal spiritual truth” exists in a state of being positionally and ultimately resurrected with Christ and delivered from the sin nature, Satan and his cosmic system.
“In the day” is composed of the preposition en (e)n), “in” and the dative feminine singular form of the noun hemera (h(mevra) (ee-mer-ah), “the day.”
The noun hemera 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 the sin nature and 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.
Therefore, in Romans 13:13, Paul is exhorting his readers to unite with him in conducting their lives properly as those who, as an eternal spiritual truth, exist in “the day,” i.e. resurrected with Christ and delivered from the sin nature and Satan and his cosmic system.
The noun hemera is the object of the preposition en, which functions as a marker of a state or condition indicating that the Christian exists in a state or condition of being in the day, or in other words, resurrected with Christ and delivered from the sin nature, Satan and his cosmic system.
The condition in view is the Christian’s position in Christ and his future destiny in Christ, which begins at the rapture of the church when they will receive their resurrection body and will be delivered permanently from the sin nature and Satan and his cosmic system.
So Paul wants his readers to conduct their lives properly as those who, as an eternal spiritual truth, exist in the state of being “positionally” and “ultimately” resurrected with Christ and delivered from the sin nature, Satan and his cosmic system.
Therefore, this prepositional phrase speaks of the “positional” and “ultimate” stages of the believer’s sanctification and salvation.
The exhortation speaks of the “experiential” stage of the believer’s sanctification and salvation.
Both look at the Christian’s fellowship with God from different perspectives in that the former looks at fellowship from the perspective that fellowship for the believer is being set apart exclusively to do the Father’s will whereas the latter speaks from the perspective of his deliverance from the sin, Satan and his cosmic system.