Do you know the time?
[Romans 13:11-14]
What time do you think it is now?
My Korean is short and I often make typos, so there are many times when my Korean is wrong. One of them, whenever I made a bulletin for Palm Sunday, there were many times when I wrote “종료”(which means “end”) instead of “종려”(which means “Palm”). However, I am not good at Korean, but for some reason, whenever I greet Palm (“종려”) Sunday like this, I cannot help but think of Jesus' death on the cross, which is the end (“종료”) of Jesus in this earth. In fact, Palm Sunday is the first day of Passion Week. Palm Sunday today, Passion Week from tomorrow, and Good Friday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus on Friday. What do we think when we celebrate Palm Sunday every year?
I meditated on the word of God under the heading, ‘The God who makes beautiful in His time,’ focusing on Ecclesiastes 3:1-14. Among those words of meditation, in Ecclesiastes 3:1, King Solomon says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” Indeed, we have to think about what time it is now that God is in the process of fulfilling His purpose.
In today's text Romans 13:11, the apostle Paul continues to write letters to the saints in Rome and says: “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.” What is the “time” he is talking about? He is talking about the time in two ways:
First, that time is the time of the second coming of the Lord.
The time we are living in now is the time when the day of the Lord's return is near. Now, Paul is telling the saints in Rome, and to us who are meditating on this word, that this is the time when the second coming of the Lord is imminent. What does it mean that the return of the Lord is near? It means that the time of salvation for us who believe in Jesus is near (v. 11). In other words, now is the time of the Lord's return, and the word that the time of the Lord's return is near is the time of our salvation. In other words, it means that the final stage of our redemption, glory, is near (v. 11). And the word that our salvation is closer than when we first believed means that since we may die at some point and meet the Lord, we are closer to meeting the Lord as much time has passed since we started to believe in Jesus. So, what must we do?
Second, the time is when we must wake up from sleep.
Paul is saying that the time has come for you and me to wake up from sleep, as the time for the return of Jesus is near. What does Paul mean when we should wake up from sleep? The meaning is that now is the time to wake up from the sleep of sin (Park). In this era in which we are living, as the Lord's return is near, it is a time when sins reach the extreme. Pointing to this, Paul says, “The night is nearly over; the day is almost here” (v. 12). Here, the word “the day is almost here” means that the second coming of Jesus, who is the light, is near, and the word “The night is nearly over” means that the night of sin has deepened in this world as much as the second coming of the Lord is near. In other words, in this era in which you and I are living, the night of sin in this world has deepened because the second coming of the Lord is near.
At this time when the second coming of the Lord is near, how should we live? How should we live a life of faith at this time when our salvation is closer than when we first believed?
- We must love one another (vv. 8-10).
If we look at Romans 13:11 in the original Greek text, the phrase “Καὶ τοῦτο” is written at the beginning of this verse. The English NASB Bible translates this phrase as “And this do.” This phrase is ‘Also, you will have to do more of this’ (Park). What does “this” refer to here? What more should we do? It refers to ‘loving one another’ as we have already meditated on in Romans 13:8-10. What does it mean? It means that we must love each other more sincerely, knowing that the time in which we are living now is when the return of the Lord is near. In particular, as Jesus prophesied about the end of the last days in Matthew 24:12, at this time when people's love is growing cold, we must strive to love each other with the Lord's love. Indeed, how are we to love one another? We are to owe nothing to anyone except to love one another. And we must keep the commandments of God: Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet, etc.
- We must put aside the deeds of darkness.
Look at Romans 13:12 – “The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” At this time when our salvation is closer than when we first believed, we must realize that the night of sin has deepened and put aside all the works of darkness in this world. What are the things of darkness in this world that we must put aside? In today's text, Romans 13:13, apostle Paul says three things:
- We must put aside the works of darkness, orgies and drunkenness.
What are orgies? The original Greek word “κω̂μος, kōmos” was originally used in the course of a festival honoring Dionysus, the god of wine in Greek mythology. But later it came to be used negatively for excessive, unrestrained revelry, drinking revelry, and drinking parties (Cottrell). Eventually, when a person becomes dissolute, he gets drunk, loses his self-control, goes on a spree, and commits a sin. If we look at Ecclesiastes 2:3, King Solomon tried to please his body with wine while ruling his heart with wisdom in order to know what pleasure is. What was his conclusion? He confessed that his efforts to obtain pleasure from drunkenness were futile and useless (v. 11). What is the meaning of orgies and drunkenness? Are there any benefits? As we already know, Paul says in Ephesians 5:18, “Do not get drunk, for this is debauchery.” He also says that debauchery and drunkenness are works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19). We must put off the work of the flesh. Why? It is because the return of the Lord is near. It is because our salvation is closer than when we first believed.
- We must put aside the works of darkness, sexual immorality and debauchery.
The world we live in is like Sodom and Gomorrah. In this world full of sexual immorality and debauchery, why is it so full of sexual immorality and debauchery? I found the cause in Romans 1:24, which we have already meditated on: “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.” Why did God do this? The reason is that people, being proud of their own wisdom (v. 22), exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for idols in the form of corruptible man, and of four-footed animals and crawling creatures (v. 23). Looking at Romans 13:8-10, we must keep God's commandments in order to love one another, and one of those commandments is “Do not commit adultery.” After saying that, Paul says in Romans 13:13, that at this time when Jesus' return is near, we must put aside the works of darkness, and one of the works of darkness is sexual promiscuity and sensuality. Here, the Greek word “fornication” “κοίτη (koitē)” literally means “bed.” This word refers to having sex, and in today's text, it is used in the plural, not the singular, and it refers to sexual promiscuity, sexual excesses, and harlotries (Cottrell). And “sensuality” is an act of disrespectful manners and lust that appears as disrespectful words or unclean actions (Park). Paul gave this exhortation not only to the saints in Rome, but also to the saints in Thessalonica. Look at 1 Thessalonica 4:3-4: “It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;
that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable.” God's will is our holiness. We must not pursue lust like the people of the world. This is a worldly thing. As the time of our salvation draws near, we must forsake these works of the flesh.
- We must put aside the works of darkness, strife and jealousy.
What is strife? Strife refers to a quarrelsome temperament, a spirit of contention and contention over trifles. Strife reflects fighting with hostile competitiveness to walk the path we want even if it harms the other person (Cottrell). Because of this fighting spirit, we are jealous of each other in human relationships. And because of envy, in the midst of strife, we eventually plan the works of the flesh rather than the works of the Spirit. Therefore, Paul is telling the saints in Rome and you and I to put off the works of the flesh and the works of darkness.
Third and last, at this time when the second coming of the Lord is near, we must put on the armor of light.
Look at Romans 13:12 – “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.” What is the armor of light that we must wear that Paul is talking about here? In two ways, Paul is giving us a lesson in today's text:
- The armor of light we must put on is “behave properly as in the day.”
Look at Romans 13:13a – “Let us behave properly as in the day, ….” In other words, the armor of light that you and I must wear is to get rid of the sinful night life and live a day life. What does day life refer to here? It refers to a well-behaved life. And acting neatly refers to actions in an orderly manner (Park). The conduct of those who believe in Jesus must be modest. In other words, there must be order in our actions. Why? Of course, we must obey the command in today's text, but the fundamental reason is that our God is not a God of confusion, but only a God of peace (1 Cor. 14:33). That's why Paul says: "Let all things be done properly and in order" (1 Cor. 14:40).
- The armor of light we must put on is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at Romans 13:14 – “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” What does it mean to put on the Lord Jesus Christ? In a word, it means sanctification. In other words, the word that we must put on the Lord Jesus Christ refers to the change that we who have been saved through faith become like Jesus (MacArthur). And the change to resemble Jesus means that you and I are becoming holy just as God is holy. I am reminded of the hymn “My Lord Has Garments so Wondrous Find”. Looking at the lyrics of this praise, it says that the clothes Jesus wore are wonderful (v. 1), precious (v. 3), and glorious (v. 4). We must put on this garment of glory of Jesus. At this time when the time of Jesus' return is near, we must put on the clothes of Jesus' glory and show the holiness and beauty of Jesus in this world.
Today, the first day of the Passion Week, we must meditate on the Lord, who is the Alpha and Omega, the Lord who is the beginning and the end, His suffering and death on the cross while offering Palm Sunday worship to God. In the midst of that, we have to think about what time is now. Like the word given today, we must realize that this is the time when the Lord's return is near, and our salvation is much closer than when we first believed. In the midst of that, we have to think about how we should live. At this time when the night of sin is deep and the return of Jesus, the light, is near, we must strive to love each other. And we must put off the works of darkness. We must get rid of orgies and drunkenness, sexual promiscuity and sensuality, strife and jealousy. Instead, we must put on the light armor. We must walk neatly as in the daytime. We must live in order. And we must put on the Lord Jesus Christ. We must be holy as Jesus is holy. Therefore, I hope and pray that we will all participate in the wedding banquet of the glorious Lamb of God on the day the Lord returns.