Romans 13:11-14

Passage

And having known this season, that the hour is already come for you to be awakened from sleep.  For now the salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.  The night drew to a close; the day has drawn near.  Therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the weapons of light.  We should behave in a fitting manner as in the day, not indulging in parties and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and licentiousness, not in discord and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision of the flesh in its strong desires.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

When Paul begins this section about awakening from sleep, I do not believe he is talking about the resurrection.  He’s not saying, “The time for us to experience the resurrection is almost here.”  I think this way because of what follows the text.  Paul doesn’t talk about heaven; rather, Paul talks about how we should be living right now!  So what Paul is saying is that the time has come for us to live like Christ right now.  The night – bondage to our human passions – drew to a close.  The day – being a slave to God – has drawn near.  We are to awaken from our bondage to our humanity and live as God would have us live here and now!

Do you live in bondage to your human passion?  Are you an obedient servant to God’s will?

Second Thought:

Paul tells us to cast of the works of darkness.  This is an interesting list.  Paul tells us to get rid of our partying lifestyle.  He tells us to cast off drunkenness.  He tells us to stop sexual immorality.  He tells us to quit living in a culture of arguing.  He tells us to stop being controlled by jealousy.  Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?  I find it interesting that the means may change, but the passions of humanity don’t.  I believe that the leading cultures in any age suffer from these cultural ailments.  The Romans sure did.  The Hebrew people in the time of the kings sure did.  The Mesopotamians sure did.  Coming forward in history, the Holy Roman Empire sure did, the British Empire did.  America does.  Human history is the same record playing again and again.  Rising to the pinnacle in the world doesn’t make us any less likely to fall into sinfulness.  In fact, it probably increases the likelihood.

Why do you think that human passion really hasn’t changed in the past 4,000 years?  What does this really say about human advancement?  How does this help us understand the power of scripture to speak into any generation?

Third Thought:

Instead, Paul encourages us to put on Christ.  You’ll notice he doesn’t say, “Put on behavior like Christ.”  He literally says, “Put on Christ.”  We can do this through the Holy Spirit.  We can literally have God within us.  We don’t mimic God.  We don’t act like God.  We are literally God’s representatives to this world because God dwells in us.  There is power in this thought over and above being enslaved to our human passions.

How do you put on Christ?  Do you put on Christ?  Do you believe that you can live like God or that you can actually live with God inside of you?  How are those concepts different?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 14:1-4