Romans – A Treatise
Chapter Thirteen
“NOW IS OUR SALVATION NEARER”
Scripture Reading: verses 11-14
AND THAT, KNOWING THE TIME, THAT NOW IT IS HIGH TIME TO AWAKE OUT OF SLEEP: FOR NOW IS OUR SALVATION NEARER THAN WHEN WE BELIEVED. THE NIGHT IS FAR SPENT, THE DAY IS AT HAND: LET US THEREFORE CAST OFF THE WORKS OF DARKNESS, AND LET US PUT ON THE ARMOUR OF LIGHT. LET US WALK HONESTLY, AS IN THE DAY; NOT IN RIOTING AND DRUNKENNESS, NOT IN CHAMBERING AND WANTONNESS, NOT IN STRIFE AND ENVYING. BUT PUT YE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND MAKE NOT PROVISION FOR THE FLESH, TO FULFIL THE LUSTS THEREOF.
This is a conclusion to the verses before, relative to our behavior as Christians in the ordinary affairs of life. Having circumscribed the requirements of obedience to the powers that be; paying what is due as we go onward in the world; and owing no one anything but to love one another, Paul now comes to the urgency of proper Christian behavior because of the swift passing moments at our disposal. He says, “knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep.”
This is eternally true of them that sleep from either lethargy or sin, and it is positively not required in understanding this verse to believe that Paul thought the second advent of Christ was to be expected any day. True, he said the day is at hand in the next verse; and from this, some commentators have jumped to the conclusion that all Christians of that era believed the end of the ages was upon them. Christ so mingled His prophecies of His final coming and of the coming destruction upon Jerusalem (Matt. 24) that it was nearly impossible to avoid thinking that the two events would occur simultaneously, instead of being separated by many centuries. “The day” in the sense of Christ’s coming in judgment upon Jerusalem was indeed “at hand,” and only a little over a decade removed from the time when Paul wrote this letter. Paul used the words exactly as Jesus used them; and there is a tremendous weight of material in Paul’s writings that shows he did not fall into the common error of confusing the two events as to their simultaneous occurrence. For example, he knew that his own death would precede the final judgment (2 Tim. 4:6), that a space of time sufficient to allow the revelation of the man of sin would intervene before it (2 Thess. 2:3ff), and that the fullness of the Gentiles would come in first (Rom. 11:25), all of which knowledge on Paul’s part made it impossible for him to have considered the judgment day as being just around the corner. His reference to Christ’s coming, and such expression as “the day is at hand,” applied to the impending destruction of Jerusalem and the judicial coming of Christ in that epic event. There is no ground for supposing that Paul was ignorant to the point of confusing the judicial coming with the final coming.
Paul’s mention here of a spiritual condition called “sleep,” and his call for people to awaken out of it, provide strong emphasis on the dangers of such stupor. The person who sleeps is in a state of insensibility, not knowing anything that is going on. A fire may sweep through the city, a revolution rage in the streets, or a tornado bear down upon him, but he knows it not. An assassin may slay him, a thief despoil him, or any unexpected peril overcome him; and, regardless of what might occur, he is vulnerable, asleep, in danger. It is also a state of inactivity. The sleeper is doing nothing, all activity being suspended. Further, it is a state of illusion, the dreamer and the sleeper being identical as to their state. Many a spiritual sleeper has delusions of grandeur and glory which pertain not at all to him. Many a soul has been lost while its possessor slept.
Illustration: On the night of September 2, 1757, when the soldiers of the Marquis de Montcalm, commandant of the French army of Quebec, retired to their tents, they slept the sleep of insecurity. Only a few sentries were left to guard the heights overlooking the mighty St. Lawrence river; but, while they slept, the soldiers of General Wolfe scaled the heights of the river and defeated the French the next morning on the plains of Abraham. The Dominion of North America changed hands while people slept. Many other examples from history could be brought forward to show what a disastrous thing sleep may be.
1. Some sleep the sleep of Jonah, an unrealistic sleep. He went aboard a ship putting out to sea, descended into the hold of the vessel and went to sleep. Not even the mighty storm which descended on them aroused him. What a perfect picture of a man who will not face reality. Many a sinner is sleeping the sleep of Jonah. Sin is a roaring tornado all around. It reaches out to destroy; it tosses to and fro; but people give no heed. They are asleep (Rom. 13:11; Eph. 5:14).
2. Some sleep the sleep of the weary, as did the disciples Peter, James and John in the Garden of Gethsemane. They were tired. That tremendous week in Jerusalem had been enough to nearly overwhelm them. The tired fishermen of Galilee were not accustomed to being stretched out in such an endurance contest as that which marked the Lord’s final week in Jerusalem. They simply could not stand the strain and went to sleep. The spiritual counterpart of this is seen everywhere. People tire of the ceaseless struggle, become worn out with the dull routine, and, numbed by the deadly monotony, they fall asleep; but, while they nod Judas is making a deal with the high priest; and, in a little while, the soldiers will appear to lead the Lord away. Of such, one can hear the Master say, “What, could ye not watch with me one hour?”
3. Some sleep the sleep of presumption, like Samson upon the knees of Delilah. There was a man who knew all the dangers, but slept anyway. He could always rise to the occasion. He could always go out and “shake himself as at other times,” so he thought and was therefore contemptuous of the danger. Many today sleep like that. They know the folly and peril of the neglect of prayer, study, and worship; they know how deadly is the sting of sin; but they sleep. “I know; I know the truth” they cry, but they sleep anyway; and, while they sleep, the hour inevitably comes when it is too late, and for them, as for Samson, they are led away to the blinding irons and the mill and the work of a donkey until life is ended. Why will not people wake up?
4. Some sleep the sleep of the sluggard (Prov. 24:30-34). These are they who are going to be saved tomorrow, who plan to stir themselves in a convenient season, who fully intend to obey the Lord, but not now.
5. Some sleep the sleep of Eutychus, the sleep of the injured. Eutychus fell out the third-story window during one of Paul’s sermons and was taken up for dead; but Paul said, “His life is in him.” Thus, it might be concluded that he was merely unconscious due to the fall. It is of that kind of sleep that we speak. Spiritually, some have sustained near-fatal injuries and continue in a state of sleep. Gross sin, terrible disappointment, the traumatic experience of church division or some other catastrophe has left them insensible through spiritual sleep, and they must be aroused or perish.
6. Some sleep the sleep of the foolish, the negligent, or the careless. Jesus’ parable of the tares sown in the wheat emphasized that such a disaster took place “while men slept” (Matt. 13:24,25). Someone just went to sleep when he should have been on guard. Many sleep like that. Parents sleep while the devil is seducing their children. Elders sleep while error is advocated in the church. Some young people sleep, thinking that they have many years in which to make their peace with God; but, while they sleep, they are taken away.
7. Still others sleep the sleep of spiritual death, as did certain Christians in Corinth. “Some sleep ...” (1 Cor. 11:30). This is, of course, a euphemism for death, the sleep from which one does not awaken until the sound of the trumpet and the gathering of the hosts for judgment. Some are already so far gone into such a fatal sleep that they cannot hear the cries of loved ones, nor the message of the Gospel, nor the roar of the waves of Jordan. The sleep of those Christians had been induced by their neglect of the Lord’s Supper and public worship, which shows how easily people may slip into such a deadly sleep.
May all the sleepers be aroused by the call of the apostle’s words here. They ever stand, electric, upon the sacred page: “Awake, thou that sleepest. Arise from the dead and Christ shall shine upon thee” (Eph. 5:14).
Paul says, “Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” This expression has given a little difficulty to some. However, it is an expression that is far from being a statement that it was, even at that time, “near” in the sense of soon. This is invariably true of all, that salvation is nearer than when we first believed. Every man’s salvation is nearer as life unfolds; and, for every man, it is sealed and assured, when his faithfulness has been manifested even unto the end. Writing to Timothy, in the last of his apostolic messages, Paul said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day; and not to me only, but to all them that have loved his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:7,8). Significantly, Paul did not indicate that he expected the immediate second coming of Christ. “That day ...” as discreetly used here, leaves the time element of when it will occur out of sight.
Paul is simply intimating that the full consummation of the Christian’s hope out of this present evil world relative to our emancipation, spirit, soul and body, is at hand.
The word salvation in the Bible does not always refer precisely to the same thing. The Lord Jesus is the “author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him.” That Scripture is found in Hebrews 5:9, and refers to the eternal blessing which is brought to the believer in Christ through our Lord’s death and resurrection. But the term salvation has various gradients of meaning throughout the New Testament. For instance, Peter in his Epistle speaks of receiving the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls, referring to our present rescue from the dominating evil forces of this world. The Christian is enabled through the power of Christ to live in the liberty of grace in a world where Satan holds sway. Then in Peter’s Epistle we also have the expression that we “are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” That salvation includes not only the salvation of the soul and the spirit, but the salvation of the body as well. This looks forward to the time when the whole man, spirit, soul and body, shall be taken out of this scene where sin dominates and transferred into the Father’s house.
We have another mention of salvation which is totally different from these in Hebrews 9, the last verse: “Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” That refers to our Lord’s second coming. Then we have Paul’s exhortation: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” So salvation does not always mean precisely the same thing. This Scripture, “Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed,” refers to the total emancipation of the Christian’s spirit, soul and body from this present evil world, and this will take place at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. That coming is nearer now than when we believed. In fact, every tick of the clock brings us nearer to the second coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
So Paul says, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand.”1 He is referring to the night of sin and sorrow now in the world, and the day will be ushered in when the Lord Jesus comes. “Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.”
Christians are in a world of antagonistic forces. The devil and all his angels are energizing men who are blinded in unbelief to oppose the Christian. Their opposition is not altogether to destroy him but rather to ensnare him and bring him into their own sphere of wickedness. Christians are now faced with a definite choice. We may go along the line of least resistance, drifting with the stream, or we may choose to be real followers of Christ, standing firmly against the tide of opposition. In order to do thelatter we must “cast off the works of darkness.” This is a positive and courageous action. The natural tendency of the human heart is to succumb to the temptations of Satan. To live for Christ, the Christian must swim upstream, against the popular current of thought and deed. As an obnoxious garment, we must cast off the works of darkness and “put on the armour of light.”
The armour of light is an interesting expression.2 There are two realms in this world and there is no compromise between the two – the realm of darkness and the realm of light. “What fellowship hath light with darkness?” the Scripture asks. The characteristic of the Christian is that he walks in the light. That simply means we have been brought out into the open, into the sunshine of the love of God in Christ. If we behave as children of light, we shall find that our mode of life becomes a great protection against the power of Satan. For instance, by his honesty of character an honest man is unapproachable to those who have dishonest ideas. His demeanor will drive them off. That is why Paul says in the next verse, “Let us walk honestly, as in the day.” This suggests the beauty and adornment of Christian behavior, which is of a kind not to be ashamed of in broad open daylight, contrasting sharply with the Gentile debaucheries usually committed at night, and therefore called the works of darkness (Rom. 13:12). Deeds becoming to Christians are those of virtue, integrity, faithfulness, purity, and love. It was becoming of Christ to fulfill all righteousness (Matt. 3:15). Even the discussion of gross sins was forbidden to Christians on the ground that such guarding of the conversation “becometh saints” (Eph. 5:3). A further glimpse of the meaning of “becometh” is seen in the word chosen to replace it in the various translations. “Worthy of” (Phil. 1:27) and “befitting” (Titus 2:1) are two examples.
The armour of light is the protection the Christian has if he habitually follows the teachings in Romans 12 and 13. He shall find the forces of evil having little power over him. Paul does not mince words in verse 13. He says, “Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.” These are the works of darkness. The armour of light keeps them away.
As a grand climax he says, “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ …” Paul had already mentioned (Rom. 13:12) the new investiture of the Christian, calling it the armor of light; and here is a return to the same figure, only here it is Christ Himself who is to be put on by the Christian. Christians are said to have already put on Christ in their baptism; here they are still exhorted to do so; exhorted to realize in actual life the meaning of their baptism.
Paul continues, “… and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” This refers to the investment of time, preparation and money in such a manner as to allow or facilitate the gratification of fleshly lusts. When one thinks of the countless pleasure palaces, and other hideaways bought and provided for no other purpose than that of facilitating the fulfillment of fleshly lusts, the apostle’s wisdom in forbidding such investments to Christians is evident.
When Elijah went up through the heavens in the chariot of fire, his servant Elisha stood transfixed to the spot watching him disappear into the blue. Then he stooped down and picked up what Elijah had left behind – his cloak and girdle. When the Lord Jesus was translated to heaven He left His cloak, as it were, behind – His garment of grace, beauty and glory. As Christians we should put it on, wear it, show forth the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.
