STUDYGUIDE-14-140130 - length: 60:00 - taught on Jan, 30 2014
Class Outline:
What are the subjects of chapter 13?
ROM 13:1-7 Obey governing authorities
ROM 13:8-10 Loving our neighbor is the fullness of the law
ROM 13:11-14 Put on Christ - in your behavior - in hope of His imminent return
ROM 13:8-14
8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9 For this, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. 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. 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. 13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
Love, not law-doing, is the fullness (Greek, pleroma) of law.
The one who loves has (without being under it) exhibited what the Law sought.
Our neighbor is our mission field in Romans.
ROM 13:11-14 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. 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. 13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
Clothes make the man. Ever hear that expression?
What does that mean?
How can we apply that to this section of Romans 13?
When it says “put on the armor of light” and “put on the Lord Jesus Christ”….what it is REALLY talking about?
It is talking about what Colossians 3 is talking about!
COL 3:1-3 1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
Here is a big dose of laying aside the deeds of darkness!
COL 3:5-11 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, 7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 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 — 11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.
Here comes the armor of Light!!
COL 3:12-17 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
This section of Romans 13 is also very similar to 1TH 5:1-11.
1TH 5:1-11 Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, " Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6 so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 7 For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. NASU
ROM 13:11-14 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. 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. 13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
The hope of the imminency of our Lord’s coming, with the consummation of salvation in bodily redemption and glorification, is constantly used by the apostles in exhorting believers to a holy walk in love.
Verse 11 calls us out for that sinful tendency to sink down into spiritual slumber and sleep.
There is urgency here - it is a call to arms. Reville played to get the soldiers out of their beds and dress for combat.
Can you recall a passage in the gospels where Jesus talked about some people who did not prepare properly, fell asleep and lost out on great blessing?
It is the parable of the wise and foolish virgins:
MAT 25:1-13 1 "Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 "Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. 3 "For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. 5 "Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. 6 "But at midnight there was a shout, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' 7 "Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 "The foolish said to the prudent, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' 9 "But the prudent answered, 'No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.' 10 "And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. 11 "Later the other virgins also came, saying, ' Lord, lord, open up for us.' 12 "But he answered, 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you.' 13 " Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
Believers are to know the season, and remain alert.
Our Lord one other time chastised the Pharisees and Sadducees for not discerning “the signs of the times”.
MAT 16:1-4 16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 But He replied to them, " When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' 3 "And in the morning, 'There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? 4 " An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah." And He left them and went away.
We have much greater light than they had.
How much more should we be aroused to wake up and stay alert and stimulate one another to love and good deeds?
We know the truth about our Lord’s death and resurrection
We have the Holy Spirit indwelling us to explain these things to us
We have the certainty of our Lord’s coming
And our uncertainty as to the day and hour.
“they’ll be here any minute!”
We have all had this happen to us. Instant urgency.
Describe a time in your life when that happened to you.
Now let’s talk about how to put that kind of urgency to work in our lives when we come across things that are going on because the night is far spent
What does it mean to be alert in that situation? Alert to what?
How do we put on the armor of light when we come across that situation? [See Eph 6, 1TH 5:8 for pieces of armor….
Faith, hope, love
Truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace
The word of God
Salvation
Show us what we look like when we put on one of these things in response to a real bit of darkness that is on the scene now because of the times in which we live.
ROM 13:11-14 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. 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. 13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
What a stirring image we are given in verse 12!
If you have ever had a sleepless night, you know the anticipation you had of the dawn arriving.
Darkness and light.
As long as our Lord was on the earth, He was the light of the world:
JOH 9:5 "While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world."
Since He is gone into heaven, it is spiritual night on the earth.
But He says to us,
Phil 2:14-17 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.
It has been night for the human race from the moment Adam sinned; and deeper night, as sin increased.
It is a provoking study to see how “night” is used in the Bible.
For instance, there is Judas:
JOH 13:30 So after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night.
Our Lord’s return to earth is described as
MAL 4:2 2 "But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. 3 "
And it will be spiritual DAY again!!
The night is far spent; the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness…
This is something that Paul deals with in Ephesians 5
EPH 5:6-13 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them; 8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light 9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; 12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.
Put away, cast off, all evil things.
Let us put on the armor of light
The armor of light is blinding to the forces of darkness.
Like an oncoming car with its high beams on.
Our Christian armor is described in EPH 6:11-18.
Here it chiefly refers to our WALKING in the light, as God is in the light.
Since we are light in the Lord, let us walk and battle accordingly.
ROM 13:11-14 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. 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. 13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
In verse 13, Paul gives us specifics about what he means by the deeds of darkness.
Notice the emphasis here, as in the rest of chapter 13, is on our BEHAVIOR.
Just like the government authorities have the right to punish us for bad behavior.
Just like the behavior that results from love is the fullness of the law.
Let us only do what is fitting for the light of day.
It’s amazing how people will do things when they think they are in the dark - no one is watching, no one can see what they are doing - that they would never do in the light of day when people can see them!
But of course darkness is not dark to God! (PSA 139:12)
It is what Jesus said to Nicodemus, who by the way came to Jesus AT NIGHT…
JOH 3:16-21 16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 " He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 " For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."
Have you ever done something under the cover of darkness that you regretted later when you (and others) saw it in the light of day?
We belong to that great Day which our Lord’s coming will usher in! and that shortly!
So let’s walk, let’s behave, as those already in the daylight of that great Day!
Not in riotings and drunkenness
Many times in the Bible drunkenness is presented as that state whereby it is impossible for us to behave as the Lord wishes us to behave.
Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation; but be filled or completed by the Spirit, …..
Those who get drunk, get drunk at night; but we are of the day
ROM 13:13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.
Apparently, one of the best ways to give full reign to the flesh is to get drunk first.
What are some things that people do when they are drunk that are deeds of the flesh?
When people want to entice other people to engage in reckless or immoral behavior, they make sure that the beer, wine and spirits ( and other intoxicants besides) are flowing…..
That’s the formula. Late night frolic and drunkenness
Now this is nothing new. It was going on big time in the ancient world, in the cities that Paul evangelized in the first century: Rome, Corinth, Ephesus…
They added one other element that really released all inhibitions, and that was the sanction of religion!
By the way, that’s Mardi Gras. Fat Tuesday. The day before Ash Wednesday.
IN fact you could take any or all of the sin catalogs in the New Testament and go through the list one item at a time, and ask the question - am I more likely to do this when I am drunk? OR has anyone ever done something like this when they were drunk or high that was out of character, something they would perhaps never have done while sober?
In fact let’s do that exercise together if we have time…
Now this is not to make us into teatotallers, or prudes, or that sort of thing.
It’s a word to the wise,
especially if you are young
and especially especially if you are young and female…
ROM 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
When it says “put on the Lord Jesus Christ”, what does that mean exactly?
It means the same thing as we see in REV 19:8
REV 19:7-8 7 "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
What are some similarities between Romans 12-13 and Ephesians 4-5? Differences?
Read 1 Thessalonians chapters 4 and 5. Discuss how this is a parallel passage for Romans chapters 12 and 13.
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