Living as Believers

Intro.: [AGS]: There was a season in my marriage where LC lived in Atlanta in order to complete an internship for her Bachelor’s Degree. Each weekend, she would come home. I longed for her to be home, and I anticipated her return with much excitement. I cleaned the house; I made sure dishes were clean; I made sure that when she got home, she could focus on being home and not worry about the other things she would otherwise be focused on and distracted by. The key, though, is that in anticipation for her return- I did some things to prepare for her coming. [TS]: The text records Paul urging the believers to live in a certain way that anticipated the return of Christ and glorified Him most. [RS]: As believers, you and I ought to also live in a manner that glorifies Christ most. Our lives should be evidence that we anticipate His return and live in a way He would be pleased with- resisting evil and glorifying Him.

TS: Let us examine together the instructions given to believers in this passage:

Alternate Paraphrases/Translations:

Dr. Taylor: “And all the duties of a virtuous and holy life we should the more carefully and zealously perform, considering the nature and shortness of the present season of life; which will convince us that it is now high time to rouse and shake off sleep, and apply with vigilance and vigour to the duties of our Christian life; for that eternal salvation, which is the object of our Christian faith and hope, and the great motive of our religion, is every day nearer to us than when we first entered into the profession of Christianity.” (Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible with a Commentary and Critical Notes, New Edition., vol. 6 (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife Corporation, 2014), 147–148.)

The MSG “But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!”

Believers should live awake and alert to the coming of Jesus. [v. 11]

The time for Jesus’ return is closer day by day, being nearer than when we first believed.

In anticipation of His return, our lives ought to demonstrate actions consistent with the Gospel we profess belief in.

“The doctrine in these verses (11-14), therefore, is that a deep conviction of the nearness of eternity will prompt to an upright life in the intercourse of man with man.” [1]

Believers should live wearing the armor of light. [v. 12]

Believers are equipped with battle weapons to ward off evil, as defined specifically in Eph. 6:11-17.

We ought to cast off the ways of the evil one, known to and desired by our natural, sinful flesh, and to embrace and put on the battle weapons given to us to ward off the enemy.

Believers should live honorable lives. [v. 13]

We should live in a manner that if all the deeds of our lives were exposed to all people, we would not be ashamed.

Specifically, Paul targets behaviors common to those he wrote to:

carousing: disorderly, obnoxious behavior usually practiced in a group to celebrate and worship pagan gods.

drunkenness: the shameful act, usually accompanying carousing, which involved overindulging in alcohol resulting in disgraceful actions.

sexual impurity and promiscuity: Desiring the forbidden bed. Communicating engaging this act without caring who notices.

quarreling and jealousy: living in contention with others and unhealthily desiring what others have

Such behaviors should not be identified as a part of the believer’s life.

Believers should live glorifying Christ and not their own flesh. [v. 14]

Believers are to strive to imitate Christ, following in their own lives the pattern of Jesus’ life. [1 Pt. 2:21]

“Thus to put on the Lord Jesus means to take him as a pattern and guide, to imitate his example, to obey his precepts, to become like him, &c. in all respects the Lord Jesus was unlike what had been specified in the previous verse. He was temperate, chaste, pure, peaceable, and meek; and to put him on was to imitate him in these respects.” [3]

TAKEAWAYS:

[1] Does the way I live support that I am aware of and prepared for Jesus’ imminent return?

[2] Does my life support that I have put off the deeds of the flesh and embraced the power of Christ?

[3] Does my life glorify Christ or me more?

Bibliography:

[1] Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: Romans, ed. Robert Frew (London: Blackie & Son, 1884–1885), 292–293.

[2] William Barclay, “The Letter to the Romans” in The New Daily Study Bible (Louisville, KY: The Westminster John Knox Press, 2017), 210-211.

[3] Albert Barnes, 295.

Consulted Resources:

[1] Edwin A. Blum, “Romans,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017).

[2] Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible with a Commentary and Critical Notes, New Edition., vol. 6 (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife Corporation, 2014).

[3] Warren W. Wiersbe, “Romans” in Be Right: How to be Right with God, Yourself, and Others (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2008).

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