Put On The Lord Jesus Christ

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.”

When Paul urges believers to “Do this.” This pertains to what he said in chapters 12-13. He said that believers must present their bodies as a living sacrifice (12:1), Don’t be conformed to this world (12:2), How we minister to one another in the church (12:3-8), How must love one another (12:9-21). He said that believers must submit to governing authorities because they are instituted by God (13:1-5). Believers must pay their taxes (13:6-7), they must not owe anyone anything except to love one another and by doing so you have fulfilled the law. Paul cites the moral law that deals with our relationship with each other that says, “Do not commit adultery;” do not murder; do not steal; do not covet; and any other commandment.” For he says that they are “summed up by this commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself (13:8-10).

Why is Paul urging believers to these things? It is because believers need to know the time (not Chronos an extension of time or period of time, but time here is Kairos: a season, a special, critical, strategic period of time) in which we are living in, and we as believer must come to realize that “it is already the hour,” time is running out, and it is high time that we wake up out of our spiritual laziness of not having a concern to live in such a manner that is pleasing to God, and be immediately be ready to live faithfully in obedience to God. For our salvation is nearer to us than when we first believed in Jesus Christ.

Mark 13:37 “What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!”

1 Corinthians 15:34 “Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.”

Ephesians 5:14 “For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.””

1 Thessalonians 5:6 “so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.”

1 Peter 4:7 “The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.”

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

2 Peter 3:11 “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,”

1 John 2:18 “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.”

Revelation 3:3 “‘So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.”

Revelation 16:15 “(“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.”)”

You must understand that the New Testament communicates our salvation in three tenses:

past tense Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;”

present tense 1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 2 Corinthians 2:15 “For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;”

future tense Romans 5:9–10 “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

“Three phases of our salvation” coincides with the the three tenses of salvation.

Justification (past tense) We are saved from the penalty of sin.

Justification is the one-time judicial act of God whereby He forgives the sinner of all his sins—past, present, and future—and declares him righteous in His eyes (2 Cor 5:21), free from guilt and punishment (Romans 5:1-9, 17; 8:1, 29-30; 1 Cor 6:11). It is an immediate and instantaneous act of God upon the sinner’s confession and acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9).

Sanctification (present tense) We are being saved from the power of sin.

Sanctification means to be “set apart.”

Sanctification is an ongoing process of being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29).

Throughout our life we go through the process of sanctification (Phil 2:12-13 (not working for salvation, but living out your transformed life that Jesus has already accomplished); 2 Thess 2:13; Titus 2:11; 2 Pet 3:18).

We are being set a part by God

We are being set apart for God

We are being set apart from sin

We are being set apart unto a holy life (bearing the fruit of the Spirit)

We are becoming more like Jesus Christ through the empowering work of the Holy Spirit

Glorification (future tense) We are saved from the presence of sin.

Glorification is the final phase of salvation. It takes place when a believer:

Dies and enters God’s presence (2 Corinthians 5:8), or

when the believer is caught up in the Rapture (harpazo snatch, taken away) to be with Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).

This is when our bodies receive perfect body free from the presence of sin and corruption (1 Cor 15:51-53).

Paul is referring to this final phase of our salvation that is nearer to us than than when we first believed.

Every day we are drawing closer to the completion of our salvation rather it be by death or Jesus Christ return. Paul therefore warns us by saying these words. 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.”

The night is a reference to this evil age in which we are living. Galatians 1:4 “who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,”

And although we are currently living in the night of this evil age, Paul encourages us that “The night is almost gone, and the day is is near.”

This is reference to Jesus Christ return when He puts an end to this evil age of darkness. 2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”

1 John 2:8 “On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining.”

Revelation 1:3 “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.” Revelation 22:10 “And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.”

With this in mind Paul then gives a warning to believers on how we need to conduct ourselves as the day of Christ returns draws near. In the last clause of v.12

Romans 13:12–13 “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.

The night refers to our earthly life which plagued with spiritual darkness and danger. “The day is near” is when Jesus calls us to Himself during the Rapture. It will be a joyous “day” for us for we will walk and live in sinless light.

Since the night will be ending and the day of Christ draws near we need to lay aside the deeds (ergon “works”) of darkness, cast off evil behavior. The laying aside of deeds of darkness is the need to repent from sin.

1 Thessalonians 5:4–8 “But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded (self-controlled). Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.” NLT

Let us behave properly as in the day (as believers we are already in the day because of our faith in Jesus Christ.

To quote RC Sproul: Do not live as if Christ hasn’t come, as if the resurrection hasn’t taken place. We have tasted of the kingdom of God, we have tasted the power of Christ in our lives, so let’s stop doing the things that belong to the dark.

Others see the phrase “as in the day” eschatological the day of the Lord from Rom 13:12, so we ought to behave properly, (2 Peter 3:10-12), not in carousing (wild parties) and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife (quarreling) and jealousy” (2 Cor 12.20; Gal 5:19-20).

We must behave properly so considering these passages

Romans 8:12-14 “Therefore, dear brothers and sisters,* you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature,* you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children* of God.” NLT

Ephesians 4:22 “that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,”

Ephesians 5:11 “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;”

Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”

Colossians 3:5–10 “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—”

Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ , and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” We are to clothe ourselves daily in the righteousness of Jesus Christ (Gal 2:20; 3:27; 5:16-17, 24; Eph 4:24-26).