Romans 13, part C

put on Christ

“The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (Romans 13:12)

After making his appeal to love, the apostle appears to transition from the conversation of living lives of genuine Christian love to then addressing eschatological concerns; however, such an assumption may miss the intentionality of which Paul is famously known. In the same manner in which the verses of government subjection must be considered to be rightly placed directly in the middle of the call to genuine love so must we likewise consider the eschatological discussion to be, first, an important conclusion to the necessity to fulfill the law through love of neighbor as we are presenting ourselves as worshipful living sacrifices as well as, second, a bridge strategically connecting the conversation to the focus of the letter’s next chapter (which is concerned with not walking in judgment but in grace-filled brotherhood). This perspective should not be surprising; we have already seen that, for Paul, eschatology was not a separate matter to be explored as distinct from other concerns. As a reminder, in the tenth chapter of Romans, Paul presented an eschatological understanding deeply rooted in the Gospel message itself. He cited prophecy on the great day of judgment, the Day of the Lord, as being a present reality made available to us by the blood of Christ: “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Joel 2:32). Salvation from rightful judgment and just wrath is available now through faith in Christ Jesus. It is equally consistent to then argue that Paul led the church in Rome to also treat apocalyptic realities as being grounded in the royal law of love of neighbor.

“Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (Romans 13:11-12)

Paul’s instructions to the church were very direct: “the hour has come for you to wake from sleep” (Romans 13:11). The obvious implication from the allegorical language is that the congregation was in some manner asleep and needed to be awakened to action. He mirrored the reference to sleep with the imagery of darkness and, within the next few phrases, added specificity to the allegory by citing sins of debauchery and perversion. In a different correspondence, Paul followed an almost identical writing pattern; in his letter to the church in Ephesus, the apostle called the church to awaken and arise from the dead (Ephesians 5:14) and rid themselves of worldly perversions and all forms of immorality (Ephesians 5:3-5) adding that children of God no longer belong to the darkness (Ephesians 5:8). The section from Ephesians even referenced the coming wrath of God upon disobedience (Ephesians 5:6) indicating eschatological considerations within that passage. In considering the similarities between the letters, a few other matters should be of particular interest.

First, in the passage from Ephesians, Paul began that section with the call to “walk in love;” This call to love walk in love matches the apostle’s command to “let love be genuine” (Romans 12:9). These structural similarities should serve as an indication that interpretations and applications between the passages should be consistent.

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2)

We are to be “imitators of God” in regards to all the ways of God—“God is love” (1 John 4:8) and Christ is the fulfillment of the law (Matthew 5:17) and living lives of genuine love for others is the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:10)—and to imitate Him is to “walk in love.” And, as already noted, this call to love is not a promotion of mere sentimentality, reductionistic religion void of direction, or affirmations dismissive of sin.

This leads to the second point of particular interest. Paul continued the passage in Ephesians by including a need to prepare for war—to put on the whole armor of God. In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote that we are to put on the armor of light (Romans 13:12). And, this preparation for war included a very real enemy prowling at the gates.

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11)

This tension of light versus darkness, being awake versus being asleep, preparing for war versus living in debauchery, began with “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” (Romans 12:9) in the same way in which the Ephesians passage regarding putting on the armor of God also began with “walk in love.”

The next particular point of interest when comparing the similarities between the two letters is that the letter to the church in Ephesus included a call to make the best use of our time here on earth (Ephesians 5:16). Such an instruction insists on a sense of urgency. We are to awaken from our slumbers that we may intentionally walk in love—making the best use of our time—“because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16), not being foolishly ignorant of God’s will (Ephesians 5:17). Likewise, in his letter to the Romans, Paul urged the congregation with the same urgency stating “the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then…” (Romans 13:11-12). Again, not only had the Day of the Lord come through the Gospel of Christ, but the Day of the Lord is also coming (at hand, nearer now than it has ever been, coming like a thief in the night at hour unknown) in the promised and assured return of Christ. We should be roused to make the best use of our time by walking in love because time is short and the days are evil. To “put on the whole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:11a) is to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14a). Again, Paul is incredibly consistent with this concept:

“put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27)

“put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24)

“put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:10)

To put on Christ and walk in love is a command to take up our cross (Matthew 16:24) and shine true light into the darkness (John 1:5, John 1:9); we join Christ as “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14) not in that our sacrifices and works yield anything of worth but in that we know of and are clothed in the One who’s sacrifice and work are of eternal significance. We preach and glory in Christ crucified—not only crucified but also raised to life—because He is the healing balm, the light, that the darkness so desperately needs (not only us, but the whole world). And, Paul showed no hesitation in reminding the congregation of what the darkness was and to what way of life the church was not to return; he added specificity to the allegory of darkness.

“Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Romans 13:13-14)

This specificity is further reference to the pervasive perversions already outlined in the first chapter of Romans; in this occurrence, Paul added to it the teachings on the flesh from the eighth chapter: “to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). Clearly, at the near end of the correspondence, the church in Rome was to be reminded of what they have been saved from and from what the world still needs to be saved.

The words “besides this” (Romans 13:11) directly refer to the previous statement that “love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:10b); and, combined with the reminder of the perversive behaviors of the flesh, the presented eschatological concerns should be read as further cause to “love your neighbor” (Romans 13:9). It should read as though saying “You should love your neighbor not only because it is the fulfilling of the law for yourselves but also because the day of wrath is approaching for those still in darkness.” In the ninth chapter, Paul began his heartfelt appeal to evangelism, and, in this teaching on living in worshipful self-sacrifice, genuine love, and as a people who love their neighbors, the appeal to putting on the light of Christ, the appeal to preaching the Gospel truth and life to the darkness, the appeal to evangelism is not only still present but now increased with a reminder of the urgency of the times.