ROMANS ROAD
to
RIGHTEOUSNESS |
Romans
1:18-3:20
|
Romans
3:21-5:21 |
Romans
6:1-8:39 |
Romans
9:1-11:36 |
Romans
12:1-16:27 |
|
SIN
|
SALVATION
|
SANCTIFICATION |
SOVEREIGNTY |
SERVICE |
NEED
FOR
SALVATION |
WAY
OF
SALVATION |
LIFE
OF
SALVATION |
SCOPE
OF
SALVATION |
SERVICE
OF
SALVATION |
God's Holiness
In
Condemning
Sin |
God's Grace
In
Justifying
Sinners |
God's Power
In
Sanctifying
Believers |
God's Sovereignty
In
Saving
Jew and Gentile |
Gods Glory
The
Object of
Service |
Deadliness
of Sin |
Design
of Grace |
Demonstration
of Salvation |
|
Power Given
|
Promises
Fulfilled |
Paths Pursued |
Righteousness
Needed |
Righteousness
Credited |
Righteousness
Demonstrated |
Righteousness
Restored to Israel |
Righteousness
Applied |
God's
Righteousness
IN LAW |
God's
Righteousness
IMPUTED |
God's
Righteousness
OBEYED |
God's
Righteousness
IN ELECTION |
God's
Righteousness
DISPLAYED |
|
Slaves to Sin |
Slaves to God |
Slaves Serving
God |
|
Doctrine |
Duty |
|
Life by Faith |
Service by
Faith |
|
Modified from Irving L.
Jensen's excellent work "Jensen's
Survey of the NT" |
THE NIGHT
IS ALMOST GONE: e nux
proekopsen
(3SAAI): (Song 2:17; 1Jn 2:8) (1Jn 2:8, Eph 5:8, 1Th 5:4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
Night (3571)
(nux) is that part of the day that lack light but
metaphorically (as in this verse) it means a time of moral and
spiritual darkness that enshrouds this present world and is strictly
opposed the light of the gospel (2Co 4:4, 2Ti 1:10-
note)
and the Light of the world
(John 8:12).
Paul is referring here
to this present evil age
(Gal 1:4).
Notice how in the previous (Ro 13:11-note)
and present passages, Paul piles up time phrases (the
time...already the hour...now salvation is nearer…the night is almost
gone…and the day is at hand) which is structured so as to cause all
believers to have a definite sense of urgency. Tempus fugit, time
flies, and so do the opportunities, specifically in context the
opportunities to obey and live godly and holy lives (cp 1Ti 4:7, 8-note,
1Ti 4:9, 10, 11, 12-notes;
2Pe 3:11, 12-note;
2Pe 3:14-note).
Apathy has no place to the life of a Christian for we are on mission and
time is limited. The Lord's return is imminent which should motivate us
to holy living.
Ray Stedman writes that...
If we look around
us,...I think we can see that the long, dark night is beginning to
lighten. This long, dark night of sin began at the fall of man, at
the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden, when man, through
disobedience, passed from life unto death, and was plunged into
the dark depravity of fallen human life. Thus he introduced the
world into the darkness of night which has been running through
the course of history from the very beginning. But now, the dawn
of God's day of "peace on earth, good will to men," that was first
announced by the angels when Jesus came to Bethlehem {cf, Lk
2:14}, is very near at hand.
purposefully and intelligently, Wake up! (Read the full sermon The
Demand of the Hour)
Calvin has an interesting comment regarding the meaning of "night"
writing that...
"Ignorance of God is what he calls night; for
all who are thus ignorant go astray and sleep as people do in the night.
The unbelieving do indeed labor under these two evils, they are blind and they
are insensible; but this insensibility he shortly after designated by sleep,
which is, as one says, an image of death. By light he means the
revelation of divine truth, by which Christ the sun of righteousness
arises on us. (Mal 4:2) He mentions awake, by which he intimates that we are to be equipped and
prepared to undertake the services which the Lord requires from us. The works
of darkness are shameful and wicked works; for night, as some one says, is
shameless." (Romans 13)
Is almost gone (4298)
(prokopto
from pro = before or forward + kopto = to cut, impel)
literally means to cut before and then to cut forward in front, to cut forward a way, to advance,
to go forward. It can mean to lengthen out by by hammering (as a smith in
forging metals). To cut forward (as in a forest), to blaze a way, to go ahead,
to make progress.
Prokopto conveys the idea of moving
forward or making progress sometimes to an improved state (Jesus' wisdom and
stature in Lk 2:52) or other times to an undesirable state (2Ti 2:16, 3:13). In
2Ti 3:13, prokopto is used similarly in the sense of accomplish or
to progress in an activity (speaking of the activity of the false teachers - as
in 2Ti 3:6, 7, 8-notes).
Prokopto is used here by Paul in a
metaphorical sense to describe advance of the night, that "whole period of
man's alienation from God" as Vine characterizes it. The idea here is the
night has moved forward to a final stage and thus is far gone or drawing to a
close.
Wuest writes that prokopto
means to
means “to blaze a way” through a forest, “to
cut a pioneer path.”
Vincent writes prokopto...
The word originally means to beat forward or
lengthen out by hammering. Hence to promote, and intransitively to go forward or
proceed.
TDNT notes that
This word seems to be originally nautical for
“to make headway,” “to forge ahead.”
NIDNTT notes that...
prokopto and prokope which both in Stoic
philosophy and in Philo denote ethical advance.
Here are the 6 uses of prokopto in the
NT...
Luke 2:52 And Jesus kept increasing
in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
Romans 13:12 The night is almost
gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of
darkness and put on the armor of light.
Galatians 1:14 and I was advancing
in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more
extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.
Comment: Paul's figure using
prokopto is that of a runner in a race cutting ahead of others. Paul was way
out in front, already a leader. Saul of Tarsus was so intent in his ambition to
further the cause of Judaism that he did not hesitate to "cut down" all
opposition and in this respect outstripped (advanced beyond) his
contemporaries.
2Timothy 2:16 (note)
But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further
ungodliness,
2Timothy 3:9 (note)
But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be
obvious to all, as also that of those two came to be.
2Timothy 3:13 (note)
But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and
being deceived.
Since the next great event in God's
redemptive plan is the Second coming of Jesus Christ, the
night, no matter how long chronologically, is "nearly over."
Paul is saying the end of the age, the last age, is near. It has been near all
along because no one knew when the end would come, but it is certainly much,
much nearer now than when Paul first wrote -- since we can look back across the
span of two thousand years of human history.
Lawrence Richards states it this way...
History may roll on for centuries.
But it is still true that "the night is nearly over." In Christ a great
light dawns, showing us truth and righteousness and calling us to a
faith that transforms us into righteous men and women. How impossible
then that we should let ourselves sink back into a darkness corrupted by
sinful acts. How overjoyed we should be to clothe ourselves with Christ
and live His kind of life in our lost world.
Ray Stedman adds...
It is interesting that thoughtful men (not necessarily
Christians) are becoming more and more aware of an approaching climax in human
history. You can't read the newspapers without being aware that there is an air
of sober experience on every side. You travel about, as I have been privileged
to do this last summer, and you get the feeling, as you visit various nations,
that things have gotten beyond men's control. We sort of stumbled onto a
treadmill which is carrying us with frightening rapidity toward an event from
which we cannot escape. Men no longer are in control of their own events.
Governments are no longer able to govern by advice and consent; they are
governed by crises, muddling through, doing the best they can as each crises
develops, and they never know what is coming" (Read the full sermon -
The Demand of the Hour)
THE NIGHT IS FAR
SPENT
(play
hymn)
by Thomas Kelly
The night is far spent, the day
is at hand;
Already the dawn may be seen in the sky;
Rejoice then, ye saints, ’tis your Lord’s own command;
Rejoice, for the coming of Jesus draws nigh.
How bright it will be, when Jesus appears!
How welcome to those who have shared in His cross!
A crown incorruptible then will be theirs,
A rich compensation for suffering and loss.
Affliction is light compared to the day
Of glory that then will from Heaven be revealed!
“The Savior is coming,” His people may say,
“The Lord whom we look for, our Sun and our Shield.”
O pardon us, Lord, that love to Thy Name
Is faint, with so much our affections to move!
Our deadness shall fill us with grief and with shame,
So much to be loved and so little to love!
O kindle within us holy desire,
Like that which was found in Thy people of old!
Who felt all Thy love, and whose hearts were on fire,
While waiting in patience Thy face to behold!
AND THE DAY IS AT HAND: e de hemera eggiken (3SRAI):
CHRIST'S RETURN
AND
HOLY LIVING
The day - "What day?" would be
the natural question. As discussed above, this day almost certainly
refers to the day of the Lord's return (see
Table comparing Rapture vs Second
Coming).
As Denny in the Expositor's
Greek Testament so rightly puts it...
The true day dawns only when Christ
appears; at present it is night, though a night that has run much of its
course.
The fact that the Lord's return is
imminent (see
imminency),
should serve to motivate us to number our days that we might present to
the Lord a heart of wisdom (Ps 90:12-Spurgeon's
note). It should serve to
cause us to seek to redeem the time for the days are evil (Ep 5:16-see
note).
The apostle John alludes to the day
of the Lord's return as the believer's great motivation for holy living...
Beloved, now we are children of God,
and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He
appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.
And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He
is pure. (1Jn 3:2,3)
Comment: As we contemplate the
nearness of this day, this glorious truth should renew our minds and motivate us to
be holy as He
is holy (1Pe 1:14-note,
1Pe 1:15, 16-note,
1Pe 1:17-note,
cp Mt 5:48-note,
cp Ex 6:7; 19:6, Lv 11:44,45, 20:7,26 ,19:2, Dt 7:6,14:2)
The anticipation of the Lord's return
is also frequently mentioned elsewhere in the NT as an incentive for
holy living, Paul writing to Titus that
the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation to all men, instructing (teaching, disciplining) us
to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly,
righteously and godly in the present age, (eagerly, continually) looking
for (and motivated by) the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory
of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. (Titus 2:11-note,
Titus 2:12-note,
Titus 2:13-note).
The writer of Hebrews
admonishes believers to
consider how to stimulate one
another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling
together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all
the more, as you see the day (the day of Christ's return)
drawing near (He 10:24, 25-note).
James calls on us to
Be
patient, (aorist
imperative =
command to make this a top priority) therefore, brethren, until the
coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of
the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late
rains. You too be patient;
strengthen
(both verbs are commands -
aorist imperative)
your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. (Jas 5:7,
8).
Peter warns his readers that
The end of all things is at hand (cp
"the night is almost over"); therefore,
be of sound judgment
(aorist
imperative =
command speaking of an urgent need) and
sober spirit
(aorist
imperative =
command speaking of an urgent need) for the purpose of prayer.
Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love
covers a multitude of sins” (1Pe 4:7, 8-note).
Paul reminds us that as
believers there is a solemn day in eternity future when...
we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ (bema),
that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to
what he has done, whether good or bad (phaulos).”
(2Co 5:10).
In light of the imminent return of
our Lord, Peter gives us the following exhortation...
And so we have the prophetic word
made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp
shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises
in your hearts. (2Pe 1:19)
Is at hand (1448)
(eggizo from eggús = near) means literally
to move nearer to a reference point, to come near, to approach, to be at
hand, draw near or be nigh.
Eggizo is in the
perfect tense which depicts the truth that this day "has drawn nigh" and is still nigh.
Paul is saying that Christ's glorious
return could be at any moment. This is a vivid picture for day-break.
Eggizo is used 42 times in the
NT - Matt. 3:2; 4:17; 10:7; 21:1, 34; 26:45, 46; Mk. 1:15; 11:1; 14:42; Lk.
7:12; 10:9, 11; 12:33; 15:1, 25; 18:35, 40; 19:29, 37, 41; 21:8, 20, 28;
22:1, 47; 24:15, 28; Acts 7:17; 9:3; 10:9; 21:33; 22:6; 23:15; Rom. 13:12;
Phil. 2:30; Heb. 7:19; 10:25; Jas. 4:8; 5:8; 1 Pet. 4:7
Newell comments that
It is good to know, in our wrestling with "the principalities
and powers, the world-rulers of this darkness, " that the night is far spent,
the day is at hand. The word translated at hand is from the verb to "draw
nigh, " as in Mt 21:1. Paul uses it in Heb 10:25 (note): "So much the more as ye
see the day approaching": and it is the same word in 1 Pe 4:7 (note): "The end
of all things is at hand" (drawing nigh). No matter what others say
about the second coming of Christ, the apostles and the early Church
lived in the expectation of it! (Romans 13)
In light of the "lateness of the hour" take
a moment, beloved, to ponder the profound words of
Adoniram Judson who literally gave up his life
and worldly fame and success to take the gospel light to the spiritual
darkness of Burma ...
A life once spent is irrevocable. It
will remain to be contemplated through eternity...the same may be said
of each day. When it is once past, it is gone forever. All the marks
which we put upon it, it will exhibit forever...each day will not only
be a witness of our conduct, but will affect our everlasting
destiny....How shall we then wish to see each day marked with
usefulness...! It is too late to mend the days that are past. The future
is in our power. Let us, then, each morning, resolve to send the day
into eternity in such a garb as we shall wish it to wear forever. And at
night let us reflect that one more day is irrevocably gone, indelibly
marked.
GET READY TO WELCOME THE
KING!
(Play
Hymn)
by Fannie K Allen
A servant of Jesus am I,
To you this message I bring:
The night is far spent, the day dawns at length;
Get ready to welcome the King!
Refrain
Get ready to welcome the King,
Get ready to welcome the King;
The night is far spent, the day dawns at length,
Get ready to welcome the King!
Dark evil has long held its sway;
Its end is coming and near,
For Jesus, God’s Son, shall come to His throne,
The Savior to sinners so dear.
Refrain
All power to Jesus is giv’n,
Ascended to Heav’n again;
He humbled Himself to die on the cross,
But soon He is coming to reign.
Refrain
THEREFORE LAY ASIDE THE DEEDS OF DARKNESS: apothometha (1SAMS) oun ta
erga tou skotous: : (Ep 5:8,11, 1Th 5:4, Jn 3:19) (Isaiah
2:20; 30:22; Ezekiel 18:31,32; Ep 4:22; Col 3:8,9; Jas
1:21; 1Peter 2:1)
Therefore (3767) (oun) means consequently,
for that reason, because of that, etc (see
term of conclusion). In other words
because of the nearness of the day of Christ's return, lay aside those deeds
associated with your former life lived in spiritual "darkness" even as
as nightclothes are laid aside in the morning.
The Amplified version renders this
graphically
Let us then drop (fling away) the
works and deeds of darkness...
In Ephesians 5:8 Paul has a similar thought:
You were formerly darkness, but now
you are Light in the Lord. Walk as children of Light (See
note Ephesians 5:8)
Paul is calling all saints to an
attitude of watchfulness, with a view to
holiness in all aspects of life, on the grounds that the day is at hand.
MacArthur writes that...
The imagery here pictures a soldier who has been engaged in a
night orgy and drinking bout and, still clad in the garments of his sin, has
fallen into a drunken sleep. But the dawn is approaching and the battle is at
hand. It is time to wake up, throw off the clothes of night, and put on the
battle gear.
Lay aside (659)
(apotithemi
from apo = away from, state of separation + tithemi = to
place) (click study of
apotithemi) was used to describe the laying off
of clothes by Olympic runners who then competed nearly nude.
Here are the 9 uses of apotithemi in the NT -
Matt. 14:3; Acts 7:58; Rom. 13:12; Eph. 4:22, 25; Col. 3:8; Heb. 12:1; Jas.
1:21; 1 Pet. 2:1
In Acts 7:58
we find an interesting literal use of
apotithemi
Luke recording that
when they had driven (Stephen) out of the city,
they began stoning him, and the witnesses laid aside (apotithemi)
their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
Most of the NT uses are
figurative (see below) and are worth studying to glean insights into what Paul
means by this reference to lay aside the "deeds of darkness".
|
SOME
OTHER THINGS
BELIEVERS
ARE TO LAY ASIDE |
|
Ephesians 4:22 |
old
self...lusts of deceit (See
note) |
|
Ephesians 4:25 |
falsehood (See
note) |
|
Colossians 3:8 |
anger, wrath, malice, slander, and
abusive speech (See
note) |
|
Hebrews 12:1 |
lay aside every encumbrance (See
note) |
|
James 1:21 |
all filthiness and all that remains
of wickedness (See
note) |
|
1Peter 2:1
|
all guile and hypocrisy and envy
and all slander (See
note) |
Lay aside is in the
aorist tense which speaks of an effective,
once for all action.
Wuest's translation
nicely conveys the sense of the aorist tense here rendering it:
let us at once and once
for all put off
The
middle voice speaks of the subject
initiating the action to lay aside and participating in the action. The
middle voice conveys the "reflexive" sense, and so the idea is "you
yourself lay aside".
Picture
yourself taking off a filthy, foul garment. Are you going to simply slip out of this garment
and gently lay it down at your side? I doubt it! More likely you will
rip it off and fling it as far away as possible so that you can put some distance
between you and the stench! That's a picture of the "reflexive" action
called for by use of the
middle voice. This illustration also gives
you a sense of the action associated with the prefix ("apo" = marker of
dissociation implying rupture from a former association) in apotithemi
which pictures a state of separation of one thing from another by which the
union or fellowship of the two is destroyed. Compare the use of "apo"
translated "far away" in (Lk 16:23).
Lay aside here carries the idea of forsaking or renouncing and in this
context
obviously refers to repentance from the deeds of darkness,
a general term that includes all sins in which a believer may indulge. David
spoke of a man who "clothed himself with cursing as with his garment" (Psalms
109:18-). We sin by choice, voluntarily clothing ourselves with its
evil. In the Spirit’s power we can reverse that decision and lay aside
sin, disrobe ourselves of it.
Moule writes we are to lay
these things aside...
as if they were a foul and entangling
night-robe, the works of the darkness, the habits and acts of the moral night.
Deeds (2041)(ergon) means that which one undertakes to do or the result of such undertaking. (English > "ergonomics").
Ergon is used in several combinations
in the NT ("works of God", "good works", "works
of faith").
Darkness
(4655)
(skotos
from skia = shadow thrown
by an object. Skia it can assume the meaning of skotos and indicate the sphere
of darkness) is literally that sphere in which light is absent.
In this verse we
understand that darkness is the natural habitat of evil, so that "deeds of
darkness" are wicked works and as such are to be decisively (as
indicated by Paul's use of the aorist tense)
put off and away from the believer. Such "garments" are no part of the
spiritual wardrobe for those who have presented themselves to God as living,
holy sacrifices (Ro 12:1-note,
Ro 12:2-note).
Here are the 32 uses of skotos in the
NT (Note Jesus' first 3 uses) - Matt. 4:16; 6:23; 8:12; 22:13; 25:30; 27:45; Mk.
15:33; Lk. 1:79; 11:35; 22:53; 23:44; Jn. 3:19; Acts 2:20; 13:11; 26:18; Rom.
2:19; 13:12; 1 Co. 4:5; 2 Co. 4:6; 6:14; Eph. 5:8, 11; 6:12; Col. 1:13; 1 Thess.
5:4, 5; Heb. 12:18; 1 Pet. 2:9; 2 Pet. 2:17; 1 Jn. 1:6; Jude 1:13
NIDNTT explains that
In classic Gk. darkness
applies primarily to the state characterized by the absence of light
(phos) without any special metaphysical overtones. The thought is
chiefly of the effect of darkness upon man. In the dark man gropes
around uncertainly (Plato, Phaedo, 99b), since his ability to see is
severely limited. Thus the man who can see may become blind in the
darkness, and no longer know which way to turn. Hence darkness appears
as the “sphere of objective peril and of subjective anxiety” (H.
Conzelmann, TDNT VII 424). Since all anxiety ultimately derives from the
fear of death, the ominous character of darkness culminates in the
darkness of death which no man can escape (cf. Homer, Il., 4, 461).
Darkness is therefore Hades, the world of the dead, which already
reaches out into our world in the mythical figures of the Eumenides, the
children of Skotos and Gaia (Soph., Oedipus Coloneus, 40).
Freed from their proper, temporal
sense, the words of this group can be used in a metaphorical sense to
describe human ways of life and behaviour. Thus they can describe a
man’s seclusion or obscurity. They can also indicate the secrecy,
furtiveness or deceitfulness of his activity, the abstruseness of his
speech, lack of enlightenment, insight and knowledge. “The word does not
attain to high conceptual rank in philosophy. Mention of darkness serves
to set off light; it has no philosophical content of its own” (TDNT VII
425 f.). (Brown,
Colin, Editor. New International Dictionary of NT Theology. 1986.
Zondervan)
Skotos can refer to literal
darkness as occurred on the day of Jesus' crucifix
ion
(Mt 27:45) or darkness as opposed to light in the creation (2Cor 4:6).
Skotos figuratively refers
to spiritual or moral darkness (including a lack of
understanding) as in the following passages...
"(Jesus declared) And this is the
judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the
darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil.
(John 3:19)
"(the gospel would) to open their
eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the
dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of
sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in
Me.'
(Acts 26:18)
If we say that we have fellowship
with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice
the truth (truth is not only something we should believe and teach but
also something we should practice, otherwise our life is a "lie") (1John
1:6)
And do not participate in the
unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;
(Ephesians 5:11
sermon note)
For He delivered us from the domain
of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved
Son, (note
Colossians 1:13)
Absence of light
leaves room for evil and sin. In this sense darkness may be
described as evil.
In his first
epistle Peter used skotos figuratively explaining to the
believers that...
you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal
PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, that you
may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of
darkness (the moral and spiritual condition that enshrouds this
present world and all those who do not know Christ) into His marvelous
light (note
1 Peter 2:9)
PUT ON: kai endusometha (1PAMS): (Ro 13:14; 2Co 6:7; Ep 6:11,
12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18; Col 3:10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17; 1Th
5:8)
Put on (1746)
(enduo
from
en = in + dúo = to sink, go in or under, to put on) means to sink down into, then to put on or to clothe oneself
Enduo is used in the NT
sometimes literally as in (Mt 27:31, Acts 12:21) but as in the present passage
is also used figuratively (The following are also figurative uses - Lk 24:49, 1Co 15:53,54, 2Co
5:3, Gal 3:27, Eph 4:24, 6:11,14, Col 3:11,12, 1Th 5:8).
Here are all 27 uses of enduo
in the NT - Mt 6:25; 22:11; 27:31; Mk 1:6; 6:9; 15:20; Lk. 8:27; 12:22;
15:22; 24:49; Acts 12:21; Ro 13:12, 14; 1Co 15:53, 54; Gal. 3:27; Ep
4:24; 6:11, 14; Col 3:10, 12; 1Th 5:8; Rev. 1:13; 15:6; 19:14
Put on is in the
aorist tense which conveys the sense of "Do
this now". The
middle voice conveys a reflexive sense,
indicating that each one needs
to personally initiate this putting on, participating in the results thereof.
Wuest
renders it
let us at once and once for all
clothe ourselves
MacArthur writes:
Paul uses the imagery of a soldier
who had dressed himself in party clothes and spent the night in
reveling. As the day dawns, the commander orders him to wake up, take
off his night clothes, and put on the armor he needs to fight the day’s
battle. Armor is made for warfare, and its purpose is to protect the one
who wears it. By the indwelling Spirit working through our new nature in
Christ, we not only have every resource necessary to forsake the deeds
of darkness but also every resource we need to put on the armor of
light.
There are 88 uses of enduo in
the
Septuagint (LXX) - Gen. 3:21;
27:15; 38:19; 41:42; Exod. 28:41; 29:5, 8, 30; 40:13f; Lev. 6:10, 11;
8:7, 13; 16:4, 23f, 32; 21:10; Num. 20:26, 28; Deut. 22:5, 11; 1 Sam.
17:5, 38; 2 Sam. 6:14; 14:2; 1 Ki. 22:30; 1 Chr. 12:18; 2 Chr. 5:12;
6:41; 18:9, 29; 24:20; 28:15; Est. 4:1, 17; 5:1; Job 8:22; 10:11; 29:14;
39:19; Ps. 35:13, 26; 65:13; 93:1; 104:1; 109:18, 29; 132:9, 16, 18;
Prov. 23:21; 31:25; Cant. 5:3; Isa. 22:21; 49:18; 50:3; 51:9; 52:1;
59:17; 61:10; Jer. 10:9; 46:4; Ezek. 7:27; 9:2, 3, 11; 10:2, 6f; 16:10;
23:6, 12; 38:4; 42:14; 44:17, 19; Dan. 5:7, 16, 29; 6:3; 10:5; 12:6f;
Jon. 3:5; Zeph. 1:8; Zech. 3:3, 4; 13:4
The
Septuagint (LXX) translators used
enduo figuratively to describe the coming
of the Spirit upon several men in the OT, and so in a sense "clothing" them.
E.g. see Gideon (Jdg 6:34).
So the Spirit of the LORD came upon
(Hebrew = labash = clothed with; Lxx = enduo = put on like a garment)
Gideon; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together
to follow him.
Even as Israel of old was called out
of the world to be a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6)
and even as the Levitical priests in order to function
before a holy God, had
to put on their linen robes (Leviticus 6:10 "put on" is
translated with "enduo" in the
LXX) so too believers as
God's "royal
priesthood" (1Pe 2:9-note) are called to
put on Christ's garment of
righteousness.
When we are justified by faith
(Past tense
salvation), we are declared righteous (Ro 3:24-note), but
this privilege brings responsibility. And so believers are commanded to
continually "work out our salvation with fear and
trembling" (Php 2:12-note).
Enabled by His Spirit (Who puts the desire and power in our heart -
Php 2:13-note) we
then work out our salvation in the daily challenges we all face and our
experience will be ever increasing fruit of righteousness
(cf Phil 1:11-note, Ep 5:9, Heb 12:11-note, Jas 3:17,18) which is known as
progressive sanctification ("Present
tense salvation"). The bride of Christ who eagerly
awaits her Bridegroom will be about the business of clothing herself
with fine linen garments white and clean which represent her righteous
acts (Rev 19:7, 8-note).
THE ARMOR OF LIGHT: ta hopla tou photos:
Armor (3696)
(hoplon) originally any tool or implement for preparing a
thing and then became specialized to refer to items such as a ship's
tackling, a cable, a rope or a tool of any kind (blacksmith tools,
sickle, staff) and then in the plural was used for "weapons of warfare.
It is used once in the NT of actual weapons (Jn 18:3) and elsewhere,
metaphorically to describe either the members of the body as instruments of unrighteousness (Ro 6:13-note) and as instruments of righteousness, the "weapons"
of righteousness (2Co 6:7) and finally the "weapons" of the Christian's warfare
(2Co 10:4-note;).
Moule writes we are to be
arming ourselves, for defence, and for holy
aggression on the realm of evil, with faith, love, and the heavenly hope.
So to the Thessalonians five years before (1Th 5:8-note),
and to the Ephesians four years later (Ep 6:11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17-see
notes), he wrote of the holy
Panoply, rapidly sketching it in the one place, giving the rich finished picture
in the other; suggesting to the saints always the thought of a warfare first and
mainly defensive, and then aggressive with the drawn sword, and indicating as
their true armour not their reason, their emotions, or their will, taken in
themselves, but the eternal facts of their revealed salvation in Christ, grasped
and used by faith (Moule, H. The Epistle to the Romans)
Denny comments
the Christian's life is not a sleep but
a battle.
Adam Clarke says
Here is an allusion to laying aside their night clothes,
and putting on their day (light) clothes.
The metaphor of Christian armor is also
found Paul's letter to the Thessalonians where he tells them in light of
the truth that "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." (1Th 5:8-note)
Writing to the church at Ephesus Paul exhorts them in light of the fact
that the believer's "struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly
places" to "take
up the full armor (panoplia from
pás = all, every + hoplon = weapon) of God,
that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done
everything, to stand firm."
(Eph 6:12,13-note
cf 2Cor 6:7).
Armor
(3696)
(hoplon) originally referred to an "implement"
and then was specialized to
mean any tool or implement for preparing a thing, such as a ship's tackling,
a cable, a rope, a tool of any kind (blacksmith tools, sickle, staff)
and then
when used in the plural it referred to weapons of warfare
including "armor" as translated in the present passage.
Once in
the NT
hoplon
is used of actual weapons (Jn 18:3) but elsewhere, metaphorically,
referring to armor in Ro 13:14, instruments either of unrighteousness or
righteousness to God (Ro 6:13-note)
and weapons in (2Co 6:7, 10:4-note).
Here are the 6 uses of hoplon
in the NT - Jn. 18:3; Ro 6:13; 13:12; 2 Co. 6:7; 10:4
Kenneth Wuest
notes that in classical Greek hoplon
referred to the weapons of the Greek
soldier. Paul thinks of the members of the Christian’s body as weapons
to be used in the Christian warfare against evil. The saint, counting
upon the fact that he has been disengaged from the evil nature, does two
things, he refuses to allow it to reign as king in his life, and he
stops putting his members at its disposal to be used as weapons of
unrighteousness. (Wuest,
K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Studies in the
Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament: Grand Rapids: Eerdmans)
Marvin Vincent
writes that hoplon...
is used from the earliest times of
tools or instruments generally. In Homer of a ship’s tackle, smith’s
tools, implements of war, and in the last sense more especially in later
Greek. In the New Testament distinctly of instruments of war (John
18:3;
2 Corinthians 6:7, 10:4).
Here probably with the same meaning, the conception being that of Sin
and Righteousness as respectively "rulers" of opposing
sovereignties (compare reign, Ro 6:12-note,
and have dominion, Ro 6:14-note),
and "enlisting men" in their armies. Hence the exhortation is, do
not offer your members as weapons with which the rule of unrighteousness
may be maintained, but offer them to God in the service of
righteousness." (Vincent, M. R. Word Studies in the New Testament. Vol.
3, Page 1-70) (Bolding added)
Hoplon is
used once in the NT to describe literal physical weapons (Jn 18:3) but
more often is used figuratively to describe...
members of the body =
"instruments of unrighteousness" (Ro 6:13-note)
armor of light (See note
Romans 13:12),
weapons of righteousness (2Co
6;7-note)
weapons of the Christian's
warfare (2Co 10:4-note).
><>><>><>
F B Meyer in Our Daily Walk
writes the following devotional thought entitled "Beautiful Garments"...
PUT ON strength. We have not to
purchase it, or generate it by prayers and resolutions, but simply to
put it on. As we awake in the early morning hour, and have to pass out
into the arena of life, which has so often witnessed failure and defeat,
let us put on the strength and might of the living Christ. He waits to
strengthen us with all power , according to the riches of His glory
(Eph 3:16-note). Do not simply pray to be kept and helped, but put on the
whole armour of God. "The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall
I be afraid?" (Ps 27:1-Spurgeon's
note)
Put on beautiful garments. The emblem of the life of the Christian soul
is that of the bridegroom or the bride (Rev 19:7) decked with jewels; or
a garden filled with beautiful flowers (Isa 61:10,11). We are not only to
do right things, but we must do them beautifully; not only to speak the
truth, but to speak it in love (Eph 4:15-note); not only to give to those who
need our help, but to do it graciously and joyously. We must cultivate
the bloom of the soul, which is made up of compassion, kindness,
humility, meekness, generosity (Col 3:12-note). The beauty of the Lord our God
must be upon us.
We cannot weave these beautiful robes, or fashion them out of our own
nature, but they are all prepared for us in Christ, who is "made unto us
Wisdom, and Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption." (1Cor 1:30)
Let us wake up out of sleep (Eph 5:12-note), put off the works of darkness
(Ro 13:13-note), and put on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the armour of Light.
(Ro 13:14-note)
PRAYER - Lord of Power and Love! I come, trusting in Thine
almighty strength, and Thine infinite goodness, to beg from Thee what is
wanting in myself; even that grace which shall help me such to be, and
such to do, as Thou wouldst have me. I will trust Thee, in Whom is
everlasting strength. Be Thou my Helper, to carry me on beyond my own
strength, and to make all that I think, and speak, and do, acceptable in
Thy sight, through Jesus Christ. AMEN.
><>><>><>
Light And Darkness - Kathleen Matson and her family have
moved to Tokyo for 3 years. Because less than 1 percent of the citizens
of Japan believe in Jesus Christ, she said that the nation can be
considered unreached with the gospel.
"As we make our home in Tokyo," she wrote, "I am especially challenged
by Romans 13:12, 'The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore
let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of
light.' I need to be a light in the midst of a great darkness. My life
needs to be a shining example to those who have never heard the gospel
of Jesus Christ."
Kathleen continued, "The task seems overwhelming. . . . How can I
possibly do it? How can I 'owe no one anything except to love one
another'? (Ro 13:8-note). I can't do it alone. It is only by putting on the Lord
Jesus Christ (Ro 13:14-note) that I can meet this urgent need."
The darkness of unbelief is not only to be found in faraway places like
Irian Jaya or Tokyo or Tibet. The streets of St. Louis or Miami or New
York or Toronto are darkened by unbelief as well. Wherever we are, our
witnessing becomes most effective when accompanied with godly living.
May we be lights in the darkness--pointing our world to the Source of
our light, the Lord Jesus Christ. --D C Egner (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Dim not, little candle,
Show Jesus through me!
Glow brightly till others
The Light clearly see!
--Adams
The smallest light is seen in the
darkest night.
><>><>><>
Ray Stedman commenting on "put on the armor of light" asks...
"Now, what does it mean? Well, you
remember the words of John in his Gospel about the Lord Jesus: "In him
was life and the life was the light of men," {Jn 1:4}. His life is the
armor of light that we are to put on. So, when he says here, "Put on the
Lord Jesus Christ," he is saying the same thing as when he said, "Put on
the armor of light." That is, live in continual dependence upon the
risen life within -- this is the only way to love. This is the only
possibility of love for this kind of person. You read the four Gospels
and all the way through is a manifestation of our Lord loving this kind
of people. How did he do it? Well, he said himself, "The works that I do
are not mine, the Father who dwelleth in me, He doeth the works," {cf,
Jn 14:10 KJV}. It is the Father who loved, and, as Jesus sent us forth,
he said, "As the Father has sent me, so send I you," {cf, Jn 20:21}. As
the indwelling Father loved through the Son, so the indwelling Son loves
through the Christian, through the believer. This is why we are taught
that the secret of loving is not to struggle after it, not to work up
some affection for somebody, but simply to put on the Lord Jesus Christ
{see Col 3:10ff-see
notes; Col 3:12, 14-}, make His life available to you, appropriate all that
He is, and cast away the works of darkness -- then you begin to love. Do
you see how this agrees with what we had in Romans 6? -- "yield not your
members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God
... as instruments of righteousness" {see Ro 6:13-note}.
And in Ephesians, "Put off the old
man with his death and put on the new man which after Christ is created
in true righteousness and holiness" {see Eph 4:22-24}. This is the same
exhortation. In other words, you have Christ, now count on Him.
Appropriate Him. Use Him! Don't sing, I need Thee, Oh, I need Thee.
Every hour I need Thee. Sing, I have Thee, Oh, I have Thee. Every hour I
have Thee. And love -- that is what He has come to do! As Paul points
out, there is only one thing that is necessary to this -- the desire to
break with the old life of lovelessness, selfishness, greed, ambition,
and all the other things. It must be a clean-cut thing; there can be no
mental reservations about this or any subtle subterfuge. You take Him in
all the fullness of His overwhelming adequacy for all your utmost needs,
but you are to make no provisions for the flesh to gratify its desires
along with it." (Read the full sermon -
The Demand of the Hour)
><>><>><>
A sermon by Charles Simeon on
Romans 13:12...
If
you don't know who this great brother in Christ is, you need to take a
moment and listen to the Mp3 Audio of John Piper's survey of
Simeon's life entitled "Brothers,
We Must Not Mind a Little Suffering"
(to download to desktop or Ipod right click and select "Save Target
As...") - you will be as riveted to your seat as I was when I first
heard the powerful and convicting testimony of this saint of old. You
can also read a summary but the audio is better -
Transcript...
VIGILANCE PRESCRIBED
by Charles Simeon
Ro 13:12 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.
IT is the distinguished privilege of man that he is able to bring to his
recollection things that are past, and to anticipate future events, so
as to give them a kind of present existence in his mind. This power is
of infinite use to him in the concerns of his soul. By means of it he
can ascertain his state before God: he has only to compare the records
of conscience with the declarations of God’s word, and he can foresee
the issue of the final judgment; and derive to himself the strongest
arguments for vigilance and zeal. In this view the exhortation before us
deserves our deepest attention: and to impress it on our minds, we
shall,
I. Confirm the truth of the Apostle’s assertion—
Our Lord, in reference to the season afforded him for accomplishing his
Father’s work, calls this present life, day, and the future,
night. (eg Lk 17:34) The Apostle here uses the same metaphors,
only reversing the application of them: the present life he designates
by the name of “night;” and the future, by the appellation of “day”
The present life is called “night,” because it is a state of
intellectual and moral darkness. The ungodly “world are altogether lying
in wickedness,” (1Jn 5:19) and ignorant of all that it concerns them
most to know. The regenerate themselves “see but as in a glass darkly;”
(1Co 13:12) and, though they be light as day (Eph 5:8-note,
1Th 5:5-note)
in comparison of carnal men (cp Col 1:13-note,
Acts 26:18), yet have they but, as it were, the twinkling of the stars,
just sufficient to direct their course, or at most but as the early
dawn, in comparison of the meridian light which they will hereafter
enjoy. Much of sin also yet remains within them: much they do, which
they would not; and leave undone, which they would do: by means of which
they too often walk in darkness, instead of enjoying the light of God’s
countenance.
Our future state of existence is called “day,” because all,
whether godly or ungodly, will behold every thing in its true light; and
because the empire of sin will be eternally destroyed.
Now this “night is far spent, and the day is at hand.”
Considering how short the time is that is allotted us on earth, this may
be spoken in reference to those who are even in the bloom of life.
Twenty or thirty years cut off from the short span of life, may well be
thought a great portion of it: and if those years be doubled, we must
say indeed, “The night is far spent.” But whatever be our age, we
are equally liable to be called away, and to have our time of probation
cut short by death. We ourselves may recollect many, who but a year or
two since, appeared as strong and healthy as ourselves, who are now no
more. And though we know not whose summons may arrive next, we are sure
that, in a year or two more, many (perhaps one in twenty) of us will be
fixed in our eternal state.
But this truth being so clear, we may proceed to,
II. Enforce the exhortation grounded upon it—
The idea which the Apostle’s language first suggests to the mind, is,
that we are attacked in our camp, and summoned instantly to arise and
fight.
The generality are at ease, involved in “works of darkness;” in works
that proceed from the prince of darkness; in works that affect
concealment; in works that lead to everlasting darkness and despair.
From this state they have no desire to come forth. Even the godly have
their “sins which most easily beset them,” and in which they are but too
apt to indulge security. The wise virgins, as well as the foolish, were
defective in vigilance. But, whatever be the works of darkness with
which we are encompassed, we should “cast them off,” with a
determination never more to sleep upon the post of danger.
In opposition to these, we are required to clothe ourselves with
righteousness, which, as “light,” is heaven-born, and approves its own
excellence to all who behold it. This, as “armour” to the soul, protects
it from the fiery darts of Satan, and aids it in all its conquests. In
this we are to be ever clad, that we may be ready for the battle, and
not have to look for our armour, when the enemy is at the door. Thus
only shall we be “good soldiers of Jesus Christ;” but thus armed, we
shall be “more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
Now the urgency of this duty appears strongly as it is connected with
the foregoing assertion. For what is the work we have to do? it is no
less than “putting off the works of darkness, and putting on the armour
of light;” a work which none can perform, except he be strengthened by
almighty power. Besides, much of the time allotted for the performing of
it, is spent already; and that which remains must be short, and may be
terminated in an hour. Is it not “high time then that we should awake
out of sleep?” Should we not begin without an hour’s delay, and “work
with all our might?” Yes; let us all “gird on our armour, and fight the
good fight of faith.”
Application—
Have we neglected our spiritual concerns? What have we gained that can
compensate for the loss of our precious time? And who is there amongst
us that, if his day were now come, would not wish that he had watched
and laboured for the good of his soul? Ah! remember that present things,
however pleasing, will soon have passed away “as a dream when one
awaketh,” and nothing remain to you but the painful recollection, that
you have lost the time which you should have improved for eternity.
Are we, on the contrary, attending to our spiritual concerns? Let us
expect the present state to be a “night” of trial and affliction: but
let us remember that the longest night has an end; and that “if sorrow
endureth for a night, joy cometh in the morning.”
><>><>><>
A sermon by Alexander Maclaren
The Soldier’s Morning-Call
by
Alexander Maclaren
‘Let us put on the armour of
light.’—Romans 13:12.
IT is interesting to notice that the
metaphor of the Christian armour occurs in Paul’s letters throughout his
whole course. It first appears, in a very rudimentary form, in the
earliest of the Epistles, that to the Thessalonians. It appears here in
a letter which belongs to the middle of his career, and it appears
finally in the Epistle to the Ephesians, in its fully developed and
drawn-out shape, at almost the end of his work. So we may fairly suppose
that it was one of his familiar thoughts. Here it has a very picturesque
addition, for the picture that is floating before his vivid imagination
is that of a company of soldiers, roused by the morning bugle, casting
off their night-gear because the day is beginning to dawn, and bracing
on the armour that sparkles in the light of the rising sun. ‘That,’ says
Paul, ‘is what you Christian people ought to be. Can you not hear the
notes of the reveille? The night is far spent; the day is at hand;
therefore let us put off the works of darkness—the night-gear that was
fit for those hours of slumber. Toss it away, and put on the armour that
belongs to the day.’
Now, I am not going to ask or try to answer the question of how far this
Apostolic exhortation is based upon the Apostle’s expectation that the
world was drawing near its end. That does not matter at all for us at
present, for the fact which he expresses as the foundation of this
exhortation is true about us all, and about our position in the midst of
these fleeting shadows round us. We are hastening to the dawning of the
true day. And so let me try to emphasise the exhortation here, old and
threadbare and commonplace as it is, because we all need it, at whatever
point of life’s journey we have arrived.
Now, the first thing that strikes me is that the garb for the man
expectant of the day is armour.
We might have anticipated something very different in accordance with
the thoughts that Paul’s imagery here suggests, about the difference
between the night which is so swiftly passing, and is full of enemies
and dangers, and the day which is going to dawn, and is full of light
and peace and joy. We might have expected that he would have said, ‘Let
us put on the festal robes.’ But no! ‘The night is far spent; the day is
at hand.’ But the dress that befits the expectant of the day is not yet
the robe of the feast, but it is ‘the armour’ which, put into plain
words, means just this, that there is fighting, always fighting, to be
done. If you are ever to belong to the day, you have to equip yourselves
now with armour and weapons. I do not need to dwell upon that, but I do
wish to insist upon this fact, that after all that may be truly said
about growth in grace, and the peaceful approximation towards perfection
in the Christian character, we cannot dispense with the other element in
progress, and that is fighting. We have to struggle for every step.
Growth is not enough to define completely the process by which men
become conformed to the image of the Father, and are ‘made meet to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.’ Growth does
express part of it, but only a part. Conflict is needed to come in,
before you have the whole aspect of Christian progress before your
minds. For there will always be antagonism without and traitors within.
There will always be recalcitrant horses that need to be whipped up, and
jibbing horses that need to be dragged forward, and shying ones that
need to be violently coerced and kept in the traces. Conflict is the
law, because of the enemies, and because of the conspiracy between the
weakness within and the things without that appeal to it.
We hear a great deal to-day about being ‘sanctified by faith.’ I believe
that as much as any man, but the office of faith is to bring us the
power that cleanses, and the application of that power requires our
work, and it requires our fighting. So it is not enough to say,’ Trust
for your sanctifying as you have trusted for your justifying and
acceptance,’ but you have to work out what you get by your faith, and
you will never work it out unless you fight against your unworthy self,
and the temptations of the world. The garb of the candidate for the day
is armour.
And there is another side to that same thought, and that is, the more
vivid our expectations of that blessed dawn the more complete should be
our bracing on of the armour. The anticipation of that future, in very
many instances, in the Christian Church, has led to precisely the
opposite state of mind. It has induced people to drop into mere
fantastic sentiment, or to ignore this contemptible present, and think
that they have nothing to do with it, and are only ‘waiting for the
coming of the Lord,’ and the like. Paul says, ‘Just because, on your
eastern horizon, you can see the pink flush that tells that the night is
gone, and the day is coming, therefore do not be a sentimentalist, do
not be idle, do not be negligent or contemptuous of the daily tasks; but
because you see it, put on the armour of light, and whether the time
between the rising of the whole orb of the sun on the horizon be long or
short, fill the hours with triumphant conflict. Put on the whole armour
of light.’
Again, note here what the armour is. Of course that phrase, ‘the armour
of light,’ may be nothing more than a little bit of colour put in by a
picturesque imagination, and may suggest simply how the burnished steel
would shine and glitter when the sunbeams smote it, and the glistening
armour, like that of Spenser’s Red Cross Knight, would make a kind of
light in the dark cave, into which he went. Or it may mean ‘the armour
that befits the light’; as is perhaps suggested by the antithesis ‘the
works of darkness,’ which are to be ‘put off.’ These are works that
match the darkness, and similarly the armour is to be the armour that
befits the light, and that can flash back its beams. But I think there
is more than that in the expression. I would rather take the phrase to
be parallel to another of this Apostle’s, who speaks in 2 Corinthians of
the ‘armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left.’ ‘Light’
makes the armour, ‘righteousness’ makes the armour. The two phrases say
the same thing, the one in plain English, the other in figure, which
being brought down to daily life is just this, that the true armour and
weapon of a Christian man is Christian character. ‘Whatsoever things are
true, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good
report,’ these are the pieces of armour, and these are the weapons which
we are to wield. A Christian man fights against evil in himself by
putting on good. The true way to empty the heart of sin is to fill the
heart with righteousness. The lances of the light, according to the
significant old Greek myth, slew pythons. The armour is ‘righteousness
on the right hand and on the left.’ Stick to plain, simple, homely
duties, and you will find that they will defend your heart against many
a temptation. A flask that is full of rich wine may be plunged into the
saltest ocean, and not a drop will find its way in. Fill your heart with
righteousness; your lives—let them glisten in the light, and the light
will be your armour. God is light, wherefore God cannot be tempted with
evil. ‘Walk in the light, as He is in the light’ ? and ‘the blood of
Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.’
But there is another side to that thought, for if you will look, at your
leisure, to the closing words of the chapter, you will find the
Apostle’s own exposition of what putting on the armour of light means.
‘Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ ’—that is his explanation of putting on
‘the armour of light.’ For ‘once ye were darkness, but now are ye light
in the Lord,’ and it is in the measure in which we are united to Him, by
the faith which binds us to Him, and by the love which works obedience
and conformity, that we wear the invulnerable armour of light. Christ
Himself is, and He supplies to all, the separate graces which Christian
men can wear. We may say that He is’ the panoply of God,’ as Paul calls
it in Ephesians, and when we wear Him, and only in the measure in which
we do wear Him, in that measure are we clothed with it. And so the last
thing that I would point out here is that the obedience to these
commands requires continual effort.
The Christians in Rome, to whom Paul was writing, were no novices in the
Christian life. Long ago many of them had been brought to Him. But the
oldest Christian amongst them needed the exhortation as much as the
rawest recruit in the ranks. Continual renewal day by day is what we
need, and it will not be secured without a great deal of work. Seeing
that there is a ‘putting off’ to go along with the ‘putting on,’ the
process is a very long one. “Tis a lifelong task till the lump be
leavened.’ It is a lifelong task till we strip off all the rags of this
old self; and ‘being clothed,’ are not ‘found naked.’ It takes a
lifetime to fathom Jesus; it takes a lifetime to appropriate Jesus, it
takes a lifetime to be clothed with Jesus. And the question comes to
each of us, have we ‘put off the old man with his deeds’? Are we daily,
as sure as we put on our clothes in the morning, putting on Christ the
Lord?
For notice with what solemnity the Apostle gives the master His full,
official, formal title here, ‘put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Do we
put Him on as Lord; bowing our whole wills to Him, and accepting Him,
His commandments, promises, providences, with glad submission? Do we put
on Jesus, recognising in His manhood as our Brother not only the pattern
of our lives, but the pledge that the pattern, by His help and love, is
capable of reproduction in ourselves? Do we put Him on as ‘the Lord
Jesus Christ,’ who was anointed with the Divine Spirit, that from the
head it might flow, even to the skirts of the garments, and every one of
us might partake of that unction and be made pure and clean thereby?
‘Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ,’ and do it day by day, and then you
have ‘put on the whole armour of God.’
And when the day that is dawning has risen to its full, then, not till
then, may we put off the armour and put on the white robe, lay aside the
helmet, and have our brows wreathed with the laurel, sheathe the sword,
and grasp the palm, being ‘more than conquerors through Him who loved
us,’ and fights in us, as well as for us.
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Torrey's Topic
Warfare of the Saints
Is not after the flesh -2 Corinthians
10:3
Is a good warfare -1 Timothy 1:18,19
Called the good fight of faith -1 Timothy 6:12
IS AGAINST
The devil -Ge 3:15; 2Co 2:11; Ep 6:12; Jas 4:7; 1Pe 5:8; Re 12:17
The flesh -Ro 7:23; 1Co 9:25-27; 2Co 12:7; Ga 5:17; 1Pe 2:11
Enemies -Psalms 38:19; 56:2; 59:3
The world -John 16:33; 1 John 5:4,5
Death -1 Corinthians 15:26; Hebrews 2:14,15
Often arises from the opposition of friends or relatives -Mic 7:6; Mt
10:35,36
TO BE CARRIED ON
Under Christ, as our captain -Hebrews 2:10
Under the Lord’s banner Psalms 60:4
With faith -1 Timothy 1:18,19
With a good conscience -1 Timothy 1:18,19
With steadfastness in the faith -1 Corinthians 16:13; 1 Peter 5:9; He
10:23
With earnestness -Jude 1:3
With watchfulness -1 Corinthians 16:13; 1 Peter 5:8
With sobriety -1 Thessalonians 5:6; 1 Peter 5:8
With endurance or hardness -2 Timothy 2:3,10
With self-denial -1 Corinthians 9:25-27
With confidence in God -Psalms 27:1-3
With prayer -Psalms 35:1-3; Ephesians 6:18
Without earthly entanglements -2 Timothy 2:4
Mere professors do not maintain -Jeremiah 9:3
SAINTS
Are all engaged in -Philippians 1:30
Must stand firm in -Ephesians 6:13,14
Exhorted to diligence -1 Timothy 6:12; Jude 1:3
Encouraged in -Isaiah 41:11,12; 51:12; Micah 7:8; 1 John 4:4
Helped by God in -Psalms 118:13; Isaiah 41:13,14
Protected by God in -Psalms 140:7
Comforted by God in -2 Corinthians 7:5,6
Strengthened by God in -Psalms 20:2; 27:14; Isaiah 41:10
Strengthened by Christ in -2 Corinthians 12:9; 2 Timothy 4:17
Delivered by Christ in -2 Timothy 4:18
Thank God for victory in -Romans 7:25; 1 Corinthians 15:57
ARMOUR FOR
Girdle of truth -Ephesians 6:14
Breastplate of righteousness -Ephesians 6:14
Preparation of the gospel -Ephesians 6:15
Shield of faith -Ephesians 6:16
Helmet of salvation -Ephesians 6:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:8
Sword of the Spirit -Ephesians 6:17
Called armour of God -Ephesians 6:11
Called armour of righteousness -2 Corinthians 6:7
Called armour of light -Romans 13:12
Not carnal -2 Corinthians 10:4
Mighty through God -2 Corinthians 10:4,5
The whole, is required -Ephesians 6:13
Must be put on -Romans 13:12; Ephesians 6:11
To be on right hand and left -2 Corinthians 6:7
VICTORY IN, IS
From God -1 Corinthians 15:57; 2 Corinthians 2:14
Through Christ -Romans 7:25; 1Co 15:27; 2Co 12:9; Re 12:11
By faith -Hebrews 11:33-37; 1 John 5:4,5
Over the devil -Romans 16:20; 1 John 2:14
Over the flesh -Romans 7:24,25; Galatians 5:24
Over the world -1 John 5:4,5
Over all that exalts itself -2 Corinthians 10:5
Over death and the grave -Isa 25:8; 26:19; Ho 13:14; 1Co 15:54,55
Triumphant -Romans 8:37; 2 Corinthians 10:5
THEY WHO OVERCOME IN, SHALL
Eat of the hidden manna -Revelation 2:17
Eat of the tree of life -Revelation 2:7
Be clothed in white raiment -Revelation 3:5
Be pillars in the temple of God -Revelation 3:12
Sit with Christ in his throne -Revelation 3:21
Have a white stone, and, in it a new name written -Revelation 2:17
Have power over the nations -Revelation 2:26
Have the name of God written upon them by Christ -Revelation 3:12
Have God as their God -Revelation 21:7
Have the morning-star -Revelation 2:28
Inherit all things -Revelation 21:7
Be confessed by Christ before God the Father -Revelation 3:5
Be sons of God -Revelation 21:7
Not be hurt by the second death -Revelation 2:11
Not have their names blotted out of the book of life -Revelation 3:5
Illustrated -Isaiah 9:5; Zechariah 10:5