Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ

Last week we talked about the Love that we must show others.

Now Paul focuses on the urgency of believers becoming more and more like their Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.

He (Christ) is the source and power of that Divinely required love.

The faithful, obedient, loving Christian grows spiritually by becoming increasingly like Jesus Christ.

As we clothe ourselves with Christ, His righteousness, truth, holiness, and love become more and more evident in our own lives.

His character becomes reflected in us.

The word Christian was first used by nonbelievers in Antioch of Syria.

It is the term little Christ.

As Christians, you should want to be identified with Christ and be like Him.

Wake Up!! (vv 11-12a)

Look what it says in verse 11 it is telling us that time is shorter, than we think.

Salvation is near now than when we were saved.

We are closer to the end now than in the beginning of our conversion.

Time is limited, opportunity is brief.

The time to heed and to obey is now.

There is no time for apathy, complacency, or indifference.

It has always been urgent and will always continue to be urgent until the Lord returns, when our opportunities for earthly faithfulness, obedience, and evangelism will end and judgment will fall.

We do not know and cannot know the hour of Christ’s coming.

But we know that it is some 2,000 years closer than when Paul wrote his letter to Rome.

We do not know how much sand remains in the top of the Lord’s “hour glass” of human history as we know it, but there is abundant evidence that not much time is left.

Nor do we know when our time on earth is over, we must use as much of it as we can to make a difference and lead others to Christ.

Throw Off (vv 12b-13)

The imagery here pictures a soldier who has been engaged in a night of drinking and other things that one can imagine, while still clad in the garments of his sin, has fallen into a drunken sleep.

But the dawn is approaching and the battle is at hand.

It is time to wake up, throw off the clothes of night, and put on the battle gear.

“Cast off” here carries the idea of forsaking, or renouncing, and in this context obviously refers to repentance from the deeds of darkness, a general term that includes all sins in which a believer may indulge.

The Lord is grieved by all sin, but the sins of His own children bring special grief to the Holy Spirit.

Eph. 4:30.

Ephesians 4:30 ESV

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

We are to throw off our old ways and prepare for battle everyday. (Kingdom man Quote)

Put On (v14)

As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, to put on the Lord Jesus Christ represents the continuing spiritual growth of those who have become children of God through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.

And as we grow in Christ, the old clothing of sinful thoughts and habits is continually being discarded, and His divine clothing of righteousness, truth, holiness, and love is being put on.

As the process of sanctification progresses, the Lord’s character becomes more and more our own character.

In that sense, the single purpose of a Christian is to continually put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

We grow from one level of Christ’s glory to another as we faithfully study and meditate on His Word, as we commune with Him in prayer, as we rely on His Holy Spirit, just as it says in Heb. 10:24–25.

Hebrews 10:24–25 ESV

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

The urgency of obeying this command to put on Christ was expressed some years ago in a poem which beautifully communicates the sentiment of many Christians:

When I stand at the judgment seat of Christ,and He shows me His plan for me,The plan of my life as it might have been,and I see how I blocked Him hereAnd checked Him there,and would not yield my will.Will there be grief in my Savior’s eyes,grief though He loves me still?He would have me rich,but I stand there poor,Stripped of all but His grace,while memory runs like a haunted thingDown a path I can’t retrace;then my desolate heartWill well nigh breakwith tears I cannot shed.I will cover my face with my empty hands,I will bow my uncrowned head.O Lord, of the years that are left to me,I give them to Thy hand.Take me and break me and mold meto the pattern Thou hast planned.