Romans 13:8-14 "Cast Off Darkness & Put On Christ"

Let’s Pray!

Good morning, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Thank you for joining us today in our chapter and verse journey through the book of Romans.

Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 13. Romans 13:8-14… closing out Chapter 13 today.

Romans can be simply divided in two sections… doctrine and application.

In Romans chapters 1-11 we looked at the doctrinal portion of Paul’s epistle… and as we turned the page to Chapter 12… we have been looking at the applications.

In Romans 12 Paul addressed Christian Conduct… and moving to Romans 13 Paul addressed Christian Conduct towards Government.

Simply speaking… government is an institution appointed by God, therefore we are to submit to government lest we fight the authority God appointed.

The exception is when Government oversteps and demands we obey government over God.

In this case… civil disobedience is permitted… as Peter said to the Jewish High Council in Acts 5:29 “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

You rebellious sorts really perked up last week when I gave all those examples of people who disobeyed their rulers.

But praise God for those bold saints… who at personal risk said, “NO!” I will NOT commit murder, idolatry, break God’s law… and NO I will not stop preaching in Jesus’ name.

The day has already come when Christian churches around the world… and even here in the USA… have been forced into bold defiance.

Pray for “all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence” (1 Tim 2:2)

We should pray for our government leaders because they can make it easier or more difficult for us to share the gospel, and gather in freedom..

But, no matter what laws… policies… and leaders are in office… one thing government CANNOT do FOR US is to lift Jesus’ wonderful command to us to preach the gospel (Mark 16:15) and make disciples (Matt 28:19)…

Sharing the truth of Jesus… lies squarely on the shoulder of the Christian.

And it is an act of love for God and others that we do this.

Which ties to vv 8-10 today… as we look at the theme of love and our conduct towards our neighbors…

Then in verses 11-14 we see conduct in light of our future hope.

Our lives should reflect our belief that Jesus can return at any moment.

We should be living where we “Cast Off Darkness & Put on Christ”… our message title today.

Let’s take a look at our passage… and in reverence for God’s word, if you are able, please stand as I read our passage.

Romans 13:8-14 “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. 11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

Praise God for His word, please be seated.

V8 begins “Owe no one anything"…

You may hear this quoted as a proof text to never get into monetary debt… which is not the point of this passage.

But, quickly on debt… it’s good to know that… the Bible warns against, but does not forbid debt.

A warning is found in Proverbs 22:7 “The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender.”

There is a danger in borrowing… and you shouldn’t do so if you can’t pay it back? Perhaps don’t do so if were just feeding the flesh… with a greed and not a need.

Regardless… taking out a loan is not expressly forbidden… some passages even speak positively about lending and borrowing money.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:42 “Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.”

Psalm 37:26 “He [the righteous… a good man] is ever merciful, and lends; And his descendants are blessed.”

There’s at least 5 OT passages that permit lending, but forbid charging interest to a brother…

Exodus 22:25 for ex. “If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest.”

No interest for Jews, but Deuteronomy did permit charging interest to foreigners.

Jesus really raised the bar though in Luke 6:35 “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.”

To love one’s enemies goes beyond natural behavior… it’s supernatural.

Loving those who only love you… and lending… expecting payment in return… these are normal behaviors of the world.

But sons of the Most High… those who trust in Jesus Christ as Savior… we are to be like our Father…

Love is a family trait. 1 John 4:8 tells us “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

Wow… we could all take a long walk with that one, right? Not such an easy lesson.

This is… distinctly Christian behavior. But, non “easy behavior”… quite the contrary.

We are to be kind… loving… and lending even to enemies… the unthankful and evil…

And if we reflect on our own lives… is this not what God did for us before we were saved?

Colossians 1:21 states, “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled...”

1 Jn 4:19 reads, “We love Him because He first loved us.”

God loved us when we were even His enemies… before we ever loved Him.

We were slaves of sin… sin separated us from God… but through faith in Christ… we were purchased out of the slave market.

And, we were reconciled to God… we were “restored to favor.”

All of which are expressions of God’s love for us… and obligates us to share that love to those presently alienated and enemies of God through unbelief.

And… with that in mind… let’s circle back to the true intent of our context in Romans 13:8 “Owe no one anything except to love one another...”

It would be hypocritical of us to receive God’s love… and then to not extend that same love to others.

Therefore, love is a debt we can never pay back.… it’s a continual debt.

The love God has shed on us… it’s unfathomable… and there is no payment we can pay, but to pay it forward.

And, that’s what God has entrusted us to do.

If you are in Christ… you are a new creation (praise God)… and therefore God has claimed you for His own… and entrusted you to pay it forward.

Paul explains this in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”

The love of Christ should compel us (2 Cor 5:14) not to live for ourselves, but for Him…

To be ambassadors for Christ… to share the word of reconciliation (the Gospel)… and to be in the service of reconciling unbelievers to God.

Just as someone did for us.

“… for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.”

As V8 in Rom 13 concludes.

And, if you had to summarize the law in just one word… what word would you choose?

Rules… restrictions… legalism? No.

Love. Are you sure Pastor Marc?

Oh yes… we just read Rom 13:10 “… love is the fulfillment of the law.”

The law is not just some list of do’s and don’ts… the law teaches us we need a Savior…

“… the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Gal 3:24)

And, the law is a lesson about love…

Jesus said the law teaches us how to love God and how to love neighbors as yourself…

In Matt 22, Jesus was asked “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

And he answered quoting part of The Shema… Deuteronomy 6:5 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

Jesus called that the first (in order of importance) and great commandment.

Then He quoted the second in order of importance Leviticus 19:18 “… you shall love your neighbor as yourself...”

James called this the “Royal Law” in James 2:8.

Jesus said in Matt 22:40, “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

So, the entirety of the Mosaic Law and the Prophets… meaning the entirety of the OT… is summarized by Love God… as your first priority in life… and then Love others as yourself.

And, perhaps you’re thinking… well what does that really mean practically? All the OT law and prophets are summed up by love… how do I do that?

Well… Jesus also said in Matthew 7:12 “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

So, ask yourself… would I want this done to me? If there’s a catch in your spirit… pause.

And… Paul then goes on in Romans 13… to quote from the second tablet of the Ten Commandments…

V9 “For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” [which is not listed in all translations] “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

So here Paul lists from the Ten Commandments the 7th, 6th, 8th, 9th, and 10th Commandments… in that order…

Plus, “any other commandment”… and there were… 613 OT commandments to be precise…

248 in the positive (“do”)…

And, 365 in the negative (“don’t do”)…

And, you can put that list on your fridge…

Or…just post the summation, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Which… again is Lev 19:18. So, Paul and Jesus (in Matt 22:39) both summed up the entire second tablet of the law with love.

I’m also reminded about what Jesus said in Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount, regarding murder… adultery… swearing falsely… loving your neighbor… wealth…

Because Jesus really turned over the rock to look at the true intent behind the law.

It wasn’t just about external deeds… it was about our heart’s intentions.

And, He summarized His teaching with the Golden Rule… which we just read… “… whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them… ”

The law teaches us how to love God and other people… and if I love another person… I won’t commit these wrongs against them.

I like how William MacDonald contrasted these commandments with love… writing, “Love doesn’t exploit another person’s body; immorality does. Love doesn’t take another person’s life; murder does. Love doesn’t steal another person’s property; theft does. Love doesn’t deny justice to others; false witness does. Love doesn’t even entertain wrong desires for another person’s possessions; coveting does.”

Violating any of these commandments is not an act of love… it’s a selfish act… it’s not even self love because if we commit any of these it harms us and others.

So just avoid all of these sins… they are not love.

We are called to love others… just as we love ourselves.

Love, by the way… in the 5x it’s used in these three verses is either Agape or it’s root word Agapao… it’s that self-sacrificial love… that faithful love…

That’s why the Royal Law hits hard and deep… “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Don’t just love your neighbor, but how you love yourself… that’s how you are to love others.

You look in a picture… and who do you look for first?

Who cares how the other people look? How do I look?

It’s funny if other people look a mess, but not if I do… right?

You go out to eat… and we know how to love ourselves.

You ask yourself, “What are you in the mood for?”

You encourage yourself, “Get whatever you like… it’s been a hard week.”

You even are generous with yourself, “It’s on me… I’m buying.”

We’re experts on loving ourselves.

And, the word is telling us… love other people just like that… just like you love yourself.

Jesus told His disciples to also love one another this way… and this would be a testimony to the world.

John 13:34–35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Agape love for one another.

Love within and without the body of Christ.

Paul continues in V10 “Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

Love and do no harm to our neighbor…

Not a hypothetical person that you may meet one day…

But your neighbor… by def. “your near neighbor.”

A lawyer… once asked Jesus… wanting to justify himself, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10)

Always looking for the loophole.

Jesus responded telling the Parable of the Good Samaritan.… citing a priest, a Levite and a Samaritan (who were hated by Jews)… and how they treated a man who was beaten, robbed and left for dead…

You know the account. Only the Samaritan cared for him.

Jesus asked the lawyer, “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”

The Lawyer responded, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

The priest and the Levite did harm to their neighbor… they ignored a person in desperate need.

Are we ever guilty of this? And don’t be like the lawyer and try to justify yourself.

“Well… I’ve never seen someone all beaten up an just walked by.”

Maybe not physically, but…

Have we even ignored the emotional needs of others?

I’m including myself here. Have I ever seen a hurting person and didn’t feel like I had any more to give?

Have we ever judged a person or a situation prematurely?

Not taking taking the time to judge righteously and gather all the facts?

It was just a lot easier to throw the stone.

Have we ever ignored someone else’s sin?

Well… I’ve got a plank in my eye… who am I to say?

I don’t want to cast the stone, because I’ve got my own issues.

Or, do we just not want to invest in the hard walk with them?

Have we ever withheld the truth from someone who desperately needed to hear it?

Withholding the truth because we don’t want to offend.

This is not true love. It’s avoidance.

“I’m just going to extend grace to them.”

Is that the truth? Or are we extending a justification to avoid the difficult conversation?

Please pardon me for asking the hard questions, but in some sense we’ve all seen someone beaten up and walked on the other side of the path to avoid them.

It’s just easier and much more convenient for MY life NOT to get involved. Essentially… let them bleed.

And, these things are harmful. “Love does no harm to a neighbor...”

It’s no small thing to express agape love.

One scholar described this kind of love as a ‘deep, unselfish, superhuman affection… an otherworldly love… completely undeserved… and not activated by any virtue in the person receiving the love… it even goes out to enemies… not just to the lovable.’

God help us to love like this. To love like You loved us.

And, I think Paul really pressed this point on love, because we are running out of time.

In one way or another… we are running out of time… so use your time wisely to love one another.

Our life is a vapor… I mean even this week… how many famous people have we seen die?

It’s been a crazy week… life is short.

And if we don’t die… we may live to see the rapture… which seems to be the context of what Paul discusses next…

V11 “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.”

“Do this”… do what? All the duties and the thirty some exhortations we’ve been reading in Chapters 12 and 13 thus far.

Do this, knowing the time…

Not the time of day… or the time of year… but the prophetic season… we live closer than any other generation to the return of Jesus Christ.

In Jesus’ day… the Pharisees and Sadducees came to Him testing Him by asking for “a sign from heaven.” (Matt 16)

He rebuked them say, “Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.”

They could look at the sky and tell what kind of weather it would be.

But, Jesus called them hypocrites because they had weather dialed in, but they couldn’t discern the signs of the times.

The OT scriptures foretold in many and various ways of the Messiah who would be born of a virgin… in Bethlehem… He would heal the lepers… give sight to the blind… He would preach the gospel to those bound in sin…

They knew these prophecies, but they couldn’t discern that they were talking to the Messiah.

Christians today must be careful NOT to make the same mistake.

We too can read the weather… dark clouds… the smell of rain in the air… the feeling of humidity… not to mention our weather app… or the weather forecast.

We’ve got that dialed in pretty good.

But do we ‘know the time?’ We can read the Bible and the prophecies of the last days and end times…

But many still want a sign. Show us your real Jesus!

Heal my leprosy… my blindness… my lameness.

Jesus told the Pharisees and Sadducees, “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”

The resurrection… “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”… (Matt 12:40)

So many people today want a great sign… to see a miracle…

In the account of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man begged Abraham to send Lazarus back to testify to his brothers of the torment that awaits the unrighteous…

Abraham responded in Luke 16:31, “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”

They didn’t need a miracle… they had the word of God.

Miracles are amazing, but that’s not what people need today to believe.

“… faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom 10:17)

It’s the Gospel that saves…

If we even reflect on how miracles were used in Jesus’ ministry… so often were used as an act of compassion that caught the attention of the crowds for His primary purpose… to teach or preach to them…

And, to fulfill prophecy that verified He was Messiah.

But, the word of God was of primary importance to save… then and now.

But people want to see a miracle…

Less than a hundred years ago… a miracle occurred that still impacts the world today…

A most unfathomable miracle…

Something that had never been done before…

Just as in His day…with the sign of re-birth… the resurrection…

In 1948, God re-birthed the nation of Israel…

Dispersed from their land from the year 70 A.D. to 1948… 1,878 years… and restored back to it.

It’s never been done before. No nation has been removed from their land… maintained their national identity… remained faithful to their God… and been restored to their land almost 2000 years later… except for Israel.

And, it had to happen for many OT prophetic scriptures to be fulfilled… as well as what is yet to come as recorded in Revelation.

If that’s not a sign… I don’t know what is.

And yet… people still do not “know the times...”… or live out the exhortations we’ve been instructed to live out in Romans 12 and 13.

And it’s urgent that we do as seen in the rest of V11 “… now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.”

The reality that Paul mentions it’s time to awake out of sleep is an indicator that in his day… and still today… there are many Christians asleep.

Paul wouldn’t need to write this if all Christians were awake. But, there is a tendency that we have towards complacency… and spiritual slumber.

There are many examples of things people do while sleeping…

Sleep-talking… Sleep-walking… some people eat in their sleep.

There is a British-Australian artist named Lee Hadwin and he’s known as the sleep artist.

He paints and draws in his sleep, but cannot recreate his artistry while awake.

He actually got a ‘D’ in art at school.

He’s created some 200 pieces and his works sell for upwards of $12,000.

I give these examples… because Christians can be just like this… active in doing Christian things, but asleep towards God.

And, Paul exhorts us that “it is high time”… this is an urgent hour…

We are to know the prophetic times in which we live… we are not to be spiritually sleeping… we are to be awake…

Living our Christian life with urgency for being obedient to what God has called us to do…

Which again in the context of V11… “And do this...” … “this” refers back to our Christian conducts… as we read in Romans 12 and 13.

Knowing time is short… our conduct as Christians should be in alignment with what we have been reading in this application section of Paul’s epistle.

Continuing on… V12 “The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”

If you would… turn over to 1 Thes 5. 1 Thessalonians is 7 books to the right of Romans.

And, in 1 Thes 5… Paul describes “the Day of the Lord”… light and darkness… and it lines up with what Paul is saying here in V12…

… thus many scholars interpret V12 as referring to end times.

Paul anticipated Christ’s return at anytime in 1 Thes 5… and therefor encouraged the Christians in Thessalonica to be ready for that day.

Let’s read the first 11 verses of 1 Thes 5… “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.

The Christians in Thessalonica were well taught about Christ’s return and prophecy. In the OT, the “day of the Lord” begins with the Tribulation and continues through the Millennium.

So, this refers to the time after the Church Age… the church will be removed through the rapture… and God’s agenda will move forward quickly at the end of the age.

And, it will happen when people least expect it… like if a thief came in the night.

V3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.

“They” refers to unbelievers… as contrasted with the next verse “But you, brethren”… and unbelievers will think the world is at peace by the political and economic conditions in the first 3.5 years of the Tribulation…

But as described in Matt 24:15-35… the Anti-Christ will turn quickly… and obliterate peace… and the Great Tribulation will begin. When a woman is pregnant… the frequency and duration of birth pangs increases… and so it will be during the Tribulation as God’s wrath is poured out on the world… and unbelievers will not escaped that judgment.

V4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.

The Christians in Thessalonica were were not in darkness… they were characterized by light.

They were aware of the times… their lives reflected holiness and not wickedness.

Paul told them to “watch and be sober”…

These verse are fantastic cross references to our passage in Romans 13.… which speaks about casting off works of darkness… and putting on the armor of light… and walking properly… not in sin.

V9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.”

It’s a great comfort to know that Jesus died for us, and our faith in Him guarantees we will forever live with Him… “whether we wake or sleep.”

It’s much better to be spiritually awake, but God’s grace and salvation is not conditional upon our performance. Praise God!

We are absolutely not appointed to God’s wrath… God will deliver us from the tribulation… whether we wake or sleep… whether we are watchful or not.

In V6, the believers were encouraged to “watch”… Not for Antichrist who is revealed at the beginning of the Tribulation, but for Jesus Christ… who will remove the church from experiencing God’s wrath.

To the faithful church of Philadelphia it was written in Revelation 3:10 “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

As times will get worse and worse leading up to the Tribulation, the church will increasingly experience the wrath of man, but the wrath of God is reserved for the tribulation.

And God has not appointed us to wrath… He will deliver us from that day. That’s why we can comfort each other.

It’s comforting to know that we will “live together with Him”…

As 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up [Gk harpazo… Latin Rapturo… English Raptured] together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

So, when you read Romans 13:12… keep 1 Thes 5 in mind.

Paul’s thought process seems to be the same… and the big point… even if you don’t agree on all the end times interpretations…

What almost all of us can agree on is things are getting worse… there is a sense in the world that things are coming to a close… Jesus is going to return…

And, all this should inform us and motivate us on how we live.

Which is what Paul addresses from the second half of V12 to V14.

Paul wrote in 12b Romans 13:12 “Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”

Therefore… because it is time to be awake… because our salvation draws near… because the night is far spent and the day is at hand…

We are to cast off and put on.

Cast off darkness and put on light.

If you want a good side study… look up the 11 verses in Paul’s writings that use the phrase “put on.”

Put on incorruption… put on immortality… put on the new man… and so forth.

But here… Paul portrays darkness and light as though they were a garments to wear. Which is a relatable illustration as each day we dress ourselves.

But, what are we dressing ourself with each day? Darkness or light?

The answer to that question greatly impacts how we think… how we live… how we are perceived… our witness to the world…

And, time is too short to mess around. So many Christian’s minds are clouded with darkness.

And Paul writes that the works of darkness are to be cast aside. NLT reads, “remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes.”

And, the armor of light is to be worn. Again, NLT reads, “put on the shining armor of right living.”

Christians are at war with the world, the flesh and the devil…

Darkness is not something to play around with…

James said ‘our desires entice us and when desire has conceived it gives birth to sin. When full grown, sin brings forth death.’

And, we’ll circle back to this in a moment because starting in V13 Paul won’t let us wonder what he means by ‘works of darkness.’

He provides a list.

The other picture here is that of the “armor of light” and this should draw our minds to the full armor of God in Eph 6:11 where Paul instructed “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

The whole armor of God… when you dissect it piece by piece… it all points to Jesus…

Gird your waist with truth… Put on the breastplate of righteousness… the feet are shod with the gospel of peace… the shield of faith… the helmet of salvation… the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…

All of this points to Jesus…

And in Romans 13:12 Paul tells us to “put on the armor of light”… and then in V14 Paul says “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Our armor is not a what… it’s a who.

The very armor we wear comes from our connection with Jesus Christ… who is the light of the world.

John made it clear that Jesus is the light that came into the world, but men loved darkness…

John 3:19–20 reads, “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”

Such a sad verse to me. I know not another verse in the Bible that uses the root word for agape love to describe what mankind loves.

And, this verse states man loved darkness.

And, the practice of evil causes wicked mankind to flee from Jesus… like cockroaches flee from light.

Because they love their sin… and they don’t want their sinful deeds exposed.

And these days… it’s so easy to see sin exposed. How many rich and powerful people have we seen exposed in our lifetime.

Numbers 32:23 says, “… be sure your sin will find you out.”

God said to Cain in Genesis 4:7 “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

That remains true to this day. Sin is always waiting to reclaim lost ground.

There’s a saying in Narcotics Anonymous… "The symptoms and the feelings that we experienced at the end of our using… will come back even stronger than before."

If a drug addict relapses, they don’t need to figure out what drugs they like… they know… and they pick up where they left off and often with greater intensity.

I remember the first time I got 18 months clean in ‘97-’98, and fooled myself into thinking I could use again.

What a joke that was!

Sin was crouching at the door… waiting to ambush me… and I used for the next two years.

So, we are to cast off the works darkness and put on the armor of light.

Those verses in John we just read about light coming into the world, but men loved darkness…

The following verse reflects the opposite… John 3:21 reads, “But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

That’s where we are to live. Living in the light of Jesus Christ.

There’s nothing to hide there. We don’t need to worry about dark deeds being exposed because our life will reflect the light of Christ.

Like the moon reflects the sun.

So Paul continues V13 “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.”

Paul continues with his comparison mentioning the day here as contrasted with night.

In V12 Paul stated “The night is far spent, the day is at hand.”

This age of darkness is coming to a close… so “Let us walk properly, as in the day.”

Christian conduct is to reflect what we read in Colossians 3:12–13 “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another… “

Paul would also write “put on love.”

And, we can reflect back to all we have read in Romans 12 & 13 to guide us in how to walk properly, as in the day.

In contrast… we are to avoid revelry (wild parties), drunkenness (intoxication), lewdness (sexual promiscuity), strife (quarreling) and envy (jealousy).

In Colossians 3:8–9 Paul wrote, “… put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds…”

These are works of darkness. And, interesting… the bible not only associates evil deeds with darkness and night repeatedly, but that’s when most of these deeds are performed.

Under the cover of night.

At closing time in bars they turn the lights on.

I remember going to all night raves… and around 6am they would turn on all the lights… and we scattered looking for more darkness.

Paul wrote in 2 Cor 6:14 “… what communion has light with darkness?” Speaking about our fellowship with unbelievers.

Rhetorical question… none. Christians are to have no consistent fellowship with unbelievers… nor to have fellowship with works of darkness.

That’s scripture.

As we read in 1 Thessalonians 5:5 “You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.”

It’s high time to awake out of sleep…

And since no one can just live in the negative of what not to do, Paul closes this passage exhorting the positive…

V14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

The key to putting on the armor of light… and to putting on the whole armor of God… is to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

And, this is two-fold…

Positionally, we put on Christ when we first believed.

And, practically we put on Christ when our lives are dedicated to Him, as reflected in Rom 12:1.

Through faith in Christ you are a new creation… a new man… a child of God… and of light.

Therefore… in all our ways… positionally and practically we should reflect our Lord.

How He lived. What He taught. What He prioritized.

And turning from things Jesus turned from…

He “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Heb 4:15)

Paul wrote “make no provision for the flesh...”

I’ve heard it said that the flesh has a slow metabolism. You could starve it, and feed it but a saltine and it would gain 10 lbs.

You cannot feed the flesh even the smallest morsel… it grows quickly and it’s appetite is never satisfied.

“… make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

We choose light or darkness… we walk in the day or at night.

And, we are victorious as we put on Christ.

Let’s Pray!

Our passage today should cause us to search ourselves and ask…

Do I love my neighbor?

Am I spiritually awake?

Have I cast off darkness?

Do I daily put on Christ?

This is a passage that encourages holy living… and connection to Christ for victory over the flesh.

I pray that victory for you as you abide in Him.

If you need prayer, there will be people up front to pray with you during this final song.

May the Lord bless you and keep you and give you peace in the week ahead!