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BUT
PUT ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST: all endusasthe (2PAMM) ton kurion
iesoun christon:
(Gal 3:27; Eph 4:24-note;
Col 3:10-note;
Col 3:11-note;
Col 3:12-note)
See related resource:
Covenant-Exchanging Robes >
Identification - Two Become One
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ as
a man puts on a garment, and stop living a life in which your first
thought is to gratify the desires of Christless human nature. (Barclay,
W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The
Westminster Press)
Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
don’t let any thought in your head that would lead to a sinful
desire—not just to the gratification of the sinful desire, but even
the desire itself. (John Piper's paraphrase)
"THE CLOTHES
MAKE THE
MAN"
This is what the world says, but
in this verse Paul has a similar thought in the spiritual realm. The
Greek picture is to take upon one's self the interests of Christ,
entering into His views, being wholly on His side, imitating Him
(enabled by His Spirit) in thoughts, words and deeds. This is not
possible naturally, but only supernaturally.
But (235)
(alla) is an adversative conjunction indicating contrast, difference,
or limitation but, however, yet, nevertheless, at least. Paul now
introduces the contrary position every believer should assume in order
to facilitate a walk worthy of the calling to which we have each been
called (eg, "ambassadors of Christ" whom the lost world is watching).
The Lord Jesus Christ --William Newell notes that...
The full title of our Lord Jesus Christ
awaken and almost startles us here: Jesus is His personal name (Mt 1:21); as
Christ, the anointed One, He does His saving work; as Lord, He is over all
things.
The full title was announced by Peter at Pentecost: "God hath made Him
both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified." (Acts 2:36) All true believers have put
on Christ (Gal 3:27) for He is their life (Col 3:4-note); and the Corinthians were told
that-Jesus Christ was in them (2Co 13:5). It is striking that the first use of
our Lord's full title is by Peter in Acts 11:17, in connection with the gift of
the Holy Spirit in the upper room: "The gift God gave unto us, when we believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ." They had before believed on Jesus, as the Jewish
Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God: but evidently when He had ascended into
glory, God led them to a surrendering of earthly hopes, and an appropriating of
their Lord, in His now exalted and glorified character, as the Lord Jesus
Christ, in a phase of faith never know before. It is this Christ Paul commands
us to put on-the Lord Jesus Christ! Not as our righteousness are we to "put Him
on": for He is Himself the righteousness of all believers. But it is as to our
walk and warfare that we put Him on. We are to be panoplied with Christ! (Romans:
Verse by Verse)
Put on
(1746)
(enduo
from en = in + dúo = to sink, go in or under, to put on) means to put on as a garment or to
cause to get into a garment. Clearly Paul's use is figurative and signifies not
that which is merely external but internal, intimate identification with
Christ.
All believers are progressively being
sanctified by the Spirit, Who empowers us to put off the filthy, dirty flesh clothes
and put on the new clothing of Christ Jesus our Lord. (cf. see Eph 4:22-note,
Eph 4:23-note;
Eph 4:24-note;
Col 3:12-note).
There is a sense in which the putting on
of Christ has already taken place in our spiritual baptism into Christ, Paul
explaining...
For all of you who were baptized (baptizo
~ identified with) into Christ have clothed (enduo
- in the
aorist tense
= past completed action =
descriptive of every believer's eternal, immutable position
in Christ
and identification and oneness with Christ) yourselves with Christ. (Gal 3:27; cp Ro 6:3-note)
Enduo
is in the aorist tense, middle voice, imperative mood (aorist
imperative). A command in the
aorist
tense conveys the sense of "Do it now
and do it
effectively" and can even indicate a sense of urgency (to not do so leaves
us vulnerable to the lusts of the flesh!) The
middle
voice is
reflexive which means the
subject initiates the action and participates in the results or effects of that
actions. The middle voice can be translated "You yourself put Christ on!"
In other words God is not going to force us, but by grace through faith He does
give us this provision of which we can and should partake if we are to fight the
good fight of faith (cp 1Ti 6:12).
In the present passage Paul is speaking to
believers who have already been clothed with Christ and thus in commanding them
to put on
the Lord Jesus Christ, he is
calling for believers to daily put Christ on.
We are to clothe ourselves with
Christ. Let this be a complete appropriation of all that He is, which means a
total renunciation of all that we are (cp denial of self - Mk 8:34, Lk 9:23, cp
Him increasing, us decreasing - Jn 3:30-note)
To deny self means refusing to follow any natural inclination, however innocent,
that runs contrary to Christ’s path for us. (It is something far deeper than
going without sugar in Lent, as some do.) Yet this is the only path
to true spiritual life. The life of a follower (disciple) of Christ is a life of
surrender. (Mk 8:35) This paradox of finding one's life by losing it is open to the test
of experience and mature Christians can attest to this truth.
The Lord Jesus Christ - Two little
girls were studying a portrait of Queen Victoria. One of the little girls asked,
"What is she doing?" The other gazed at the picture and then replied, "Oh,
nothing. She's just reigning." May that be said of the Lord in our own
lives. Let Him reign in your life and His reign will be a major deterrent
against making provision for the lusts of your flesh!
John Wesley writes that in this phrase put on the Lord Jesus Christ
is contained the whole of our salvation. It
is a strong and beautiful expression for the most intimate union with Him, and
being clothed with all the graces which were in Him. The apostle does not say,
"Put on purity and sobriety, peacefulness and benevolence"; but he says all this
and a thousand times more at once, in saying, Put on Christ. (Wesley, John:
Wesley's Notes)
Easy-To-Read Commentary says that
putting on Christ...
is more than just following His example; it
is the way children grow up to become like their parents. Not only do they
follow their example, but they have their genes. When we are in Christ, He
enables us to live more and more like Him. (The Easy-to-Read Commentary Series –
Romans: Hope of the Nations)
S Lewis Johnson explains that...
The apostle's words, of course, were
addressed to those who were already believers, for Christ must be in us before
He can be on us. The words, "put ye on," are
aorist tense and refer to a
definite, positive act. And the name used of our Lord here suggests various
aspects of His person and work. He is the Lord and all the faculties belong to
Him, and He is Jesus, the saver and sanctifier and preserver from sin, and He is
Christ, the Messiah, the prophet who teaches, the priest who has offered the
offering by which we enter the veil of divine communion, and the king under
whose sway is everything. The clothes of the works of darkness are to be put
off, and the clothes of the Lord Himself are to be put on, and these are the
clothes that really do make the man. The details are spelled out in Colossians
3:12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 (see notes
Colossians 3:12;
3:13;
3:14;
3:15;
3:16;
3:17).
The negative action concludes the chapter. The tense of the verb here is
instructive. It is a present middle, and it refers to continual action of not
stirring up the remainders of the flesh that abide in all believers (cf. Ro
7:1-Ro 8:39).
To be clothed with Christ conveys the thought
that when others look at us (our words, actions, deeds), they see Christ in us
the hope of glory (Col 1:27b-note) rather than us. Below are thoughts from a variety of sources
on what it means to "put on" Christ.
Edward Mote phrased it this way in the final
stanza of his famous hymn,
The
Solid Rock
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
Calvin
says the metaphor to "put on":
is commonly used in Scripture
with respect to what tends to adorn or to deform man; both of which may be seen
in his clothing: for a filthy and torn garment dishonors a man; but what is
becoming and clean recommends him....To put on Christ means our being
surrounded and protected in every part by the virtue of His Spirit, and thus
rendered fit for the performance of every duty of holiness. For the image of
God, which is the only ornament of the soul, is thus renewed in us.
F L Godet writes that...
To lay aside what belongs to the night of
worldly life, is only the first part of the preparation to which we are called
by the rising of the great day. Our concern must be, besides, to put on the
dispositions which are in keeping with so holy and brilliant a light.
What is
this new equipment which we must haste to substitute for the old? Paul indicates
it in the expression: to put on Jesus Christ. He certainly speaks of Christ here
not as our righteousness, but as our sanctification, 1Cor 1:30. The toilet
(covering of linen, silk or tapestry spread over a table) of
the believer, if one may venture so to speak, in view of the approaching
salvation, consists solely in putting on Christ, in appropriating by habitual
communion with Him all His sentiments and all His manner of acting. He thus
becomes for His redeemed ones Himself the robe for the marriage-feast. The
Christian will be unable to stand before Him except in so far as he is “found in
Him” (Php 3:9-note).
(Commentary
on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans. Page 450)
Adam Clarke has these interesting insights:
The ancient Jews frequently use the phrase
putting on the Shekinah (see
Shekinah glory cloud) or Divine majesty, to signify the soul’s
being clothed with immortality, and rendered fit for glory. To be
clothed with a person is a Greek phrase, signifying to assume the
interests of another - to enter into his views, to imitate him, and be
wholly on his side (Ed: It is the idea of identification with the
other person - see related study on
The Oneness of Covenant).
Eusebius in his life of Constantine says the
same of his sons, they put on their father - they seemed to enter into
his spirit and views, and to imitate him in all things. The mode of
speech itself is taken from the custom of stage players: they assumed
the name and garments of the person whose character they were to act,
and endeavored as closely as possible to imitate him in their spirit,
words, and actions." (cf 1Cor 4:16, 11:1, 1Th 1:6-note,
He 6:12-note)
Some
More Thoughts About What It Means To...
PUT ON CHRIST
As alluded to above, to put on
the Lord Jesus Christ is similar to the command to be continually filled with the Spirit (of
Christ) (Eph 5:18-note),
walking in His Spirit (Gal 5:16-note;
Gal 5:17-note),
led by His Spirit (Gal 5:18-note
see Ro 8:14-note). Do it
every time the Spirit shows (see Ro 8:13-note,
Col 3:5-note) you that are
tempted to begin to ''put
on'' the world's filthy garments...beginning to make provision for the deceitful
lusts of your flesh which cry out "go ahead...you'll enjoy it...no one will get
hurt...you can always confess it".
You need to act in obedience to the Spirit's
voice and in His power. If it is a thought, you need to take it captive (2Co 10:5-note) and replace it with thoughts that are true
and honorable
and right, etc
(see Phil 4:8-note).
If it is the image of a woman you need to pluck out your eye and cut off your
hand (figuratively but still clearly conveying the seriousness of this matter)
(see Mt 5:28-note;Mt
5:29-note;
Mt 5:30-note,
cp Job 31:1, Ps 101:3). You need to set your mind on the things above
(see Col 3:1-note;
Col 3:2-note).
You need to remember that the night is
almost over and you will soon see Him face to face at which time you will become
like Him (1Jn 2:28, 3:3,2Co 7:1-note)
and will also give an accounting to Him to be recompensed by Him (2Co 5:9, 10,
see Ro 14:10-note;
Ro 14:11-note;
Ro 14:12-note,
Acts 10:42, Rev 22:12-note,
1Co 4:5, Ga 6:7,8, Ro 2:5-note;
Ro 2:6-note;
Ro 2:7-
note;
Ro 2:8-note;
Ro 2:9-note;
Ro 2:10-note,
cp just recompense - Isa 3:10,11; Jer 17:9,10, 32:19; Ps 62:12, Re 22:12-note;
Mt 16:27 1Pe 1:17-note)
You need to remember that
discipline for godliness is profitable for this life and for the life to come (1Ti
4:7-note;1Ti
4:8-note,
see 2Pe 1:8-note;
2Pe 1:10-note).
You need to remember that you are not your
own but have been bought with a price (His precious blood - 1Peter 1:18-note;
1Pe1:19-note) and for a purpose (to glorify God in
your body) (1Cor 6:19, 20, 7:23 cp not
your own but you belong to God - Acts 20:28, Titus 2:14-note,
Ex 15:16; 19:5,6; Dt 7:6; 14:2; 26:18; 1Pe 2:9-note;
Rev 5:9-note).
Hide yourself in the
cleft of the Rock...He who takes refuge will be
given refuge (Pr 30:5, 6) Compare parallel ideas of the Spirit clothing OT
saints for empowerment for service (see Judges 6:34-note
cp Jdg 3:10, 13:25, 14:19, 15:14, 1Sa 10:6, 11:6, 16:14, 1Ch 12:18, 2Ch
24:20, Ps 51:11).
Harrison has a helpful note on how we
are to put on the Lord Jesus Christ explaining that this...
amounts to appropriation—the deliberate,
conscious acceptance of the lordship of the Master—so that all is under his
control—motives, desires, and deeds. A slight difficulty meets us at this point,
since believers have already put on Christ, according to Galatians 3:27, at
conversion and baptism. But there is always room for decisive renewal, for fresh
advance. To be clothed with Christ should mean that when the believer comes
under scrutiny from others, he enables them to see the Savior.
If, however, this putting on of Christ is
done in a spirit of complacency, as though a life of godliness and uprightness
will automatically follow, disappointment will result.
The redeemed person must be attuned to the
Savior. He must exercise ceaseless vigilance lest the flesh prevail. He must not
give thought to how the desires of the old nature can be satisfied. Though the
language differs from the teaching in chapter 6, the message is the same. If
union with Christ is to be experientially successful, it must be accompanied by
a constant reckoning of oneself as dead to sin (Ro 6:11) and alive to God and
His holy will.
(Harrison,
E. F. in Expositor's Bible Commentary Volume 10 New Testament. Zondervan
Publishing or
computer version)
WHEN YOU ARISE EACH MORNING
CONSIDER YOURSELF DEAD TO SIN
See Ro 6:11-note
Lenski feels that...
Christ is put on in two ways: once as
the garment of our righteousness, which is done in the instant when faith
appropriates his death and his merit (Isa 61:10; Mt. 22:12, the wedding
garment); secondly, as our armor of defense and of offense (Ep 6:13), which is
the act of faith when it uses Christ as the power of our sanctification and
follows his example.
Ray Stedman
gives this helpful illustration:
When I get up in the morning I put on my clothes, intending them to be
part of me all day, to go where I go and do what I do. They cover me
and make me presentable to others. That is the purpose of clothes. In
the same way, the apostle is saying to us, “Put on Jesus Christ when
you get up in the morning. Make Him a part of your life that day.
Intend that He go with you everywhere you go, and that He act through
you in everything you do. Call upon His resources. Live your life
in Christ.
(Romans 13:8-14 The Night
Is Nearly Over)
We must constantly be subject
to His Lordship, accepting His moral standards, living in constant
fellowship with Him, and depending upon His strength.
Mattoon
Put on your uniform to identify
your team and yourself. Those who watch the race will know who you are
and so will your team mates who are running with you.
Cranfield
explains that...
To
put on the
Lord Jesus Christ means here to embrace again and again, in faith and
confidence, in grateful loyalty and obedience, Him to Whom we already
belong, and (in Chrysostom’s words) ‘never to be forsaken of Him, and
His always being seen in us through our holiness, through our
gentleness’.
It means to follow Him in the way of discipleship and to
strive to let our lives be molded according to the pattern of the
humility of His earthly life.
It means so trusting in Him and relying
wholly upon the status of righteousness before God which is ours in
Him, that we cannot help but live to please Him.
It means being
‘defended on every side by the power of His Spirit, and thus rendered
fit to discharge all the duties of holiness’. (Cranfield,
C. E. B Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. V1: Ro
1-8.;
Volume 2: Romans 9-16)
Hodge writes that put
on the Lord Jesus Christ...
means to be in close union with
Him, so that He, and not we, may appear (cf Gal 3:27) (Hodge,
Charles: Commentary on Romans. Ages Classic Commentaries)
Puritan writer William Mason
(August 9, 1773) discusses how to put on the Lord Jesus Christ...
A Believer in Christ exhorted to
put on Christ! Why, Paul positively asserts, "As many as have been
baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." Gal. 3:27. As all believers
are baptized into Christ by one Spirit and have all put on Christ; how
is it then, that they are here exhorted again to put on Christ? True,
that very moment a sinner believes on Christ, he puts on Christ as his
atonement, righteousness and salvation. He is united to, and is one
with Christ. His sins are pardoned in the blood of Christ; his soul is
justified in the righteousness of Christ, and he has everlasting life
in Christ. This, this is the most precious truth. This is the glory of
faith. This is the joy and rejoicing of the believing soul.
But then, before such a soul arrives to the full enjoyment of Christ
in eternal glory, he has many enemies to encounter—many trials and
troubles to conflict with—a body of sin and death to be delivered
from—many lusts to be mortified—many corruptions to be subdued—a
legion of sins to strive against—holiness to be perfected—graces to be
exercised—duties to be performed—in one word, he has to glorify Christ
in the world, by his life and walk.
How is all this to be done? Only by
Christ strengthening him.
Therefore he is
constantly to put on Christ
—to attain a greater knowledge of
Christ
—more rich and sweet experience of
His grace and love
—to be more strongly rooted in His
love, and confirmed in His salvation
—to have his heart, his hopes, his
affections more with Christ
—and his soul more swallowed up in
the ocean of God's everlasting love in Christ, that he may be more
conformed to the image of Christ; and that thus, as a good soldier of
Christ, he may manfully fight under his banner against the world, the
flesh, and the devil, unto his life's end.
That you may do this, cheerfully
and comfortably, you are exhorted to put on Christ, which clearly
holds forth to us...
1. The believer's interest in Christ, and the free and constant
use which he is called upon to make of Christ. O consider, Christ is
given to us, to be enjoyed by us. He gave himself for us, that we
might receive, possess, and put Him on, for all the blessed purposes
of his life and death, his love, grace and salvation.
He is the bread of life. We are to
feed upon him daily.
He is the water of life, which our
souls are to drink of constantly.
He is our righteousness. We are to
put him on continually.
So that we not only have precious
Christ—but we are also to use him—and enjoy His preciousness.
He is not only a well of
salvation—but we must draw water out of it with joy, and drink of it
to the refreshing of our souls!
It was not enough that the brazen
serpent was set up—but it was to be looked unto, that those who were
stung might be cured.
It is not enough that we have faith
by which to live—but we must live by the faith we have upon the Son of
God, so as to derive a continual supply of grace, comfort, and
strength from Him, as the branch does sap from the root, the members
influence from the head, and the pipe waters from the fountain.
"I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me!" Galatians 2:20
Faith is given to us, for this very
purpose, to claim Christ, to use Him, to put Him on, to cleave to Him,
to glory of and in Him. Hence the Holy Spirit, in order to stir up and
quicken our drowsy souls, calls upon us,
"Awake, awake, put on your
strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem." Isaiah
52:1.
O soul, who is your strength but
Christ? What are your beautiful garments—but the rich robe of his
all-perfect and ever glorious righteousness? O awake then in this
glorious gospel-day! This is a blessed time of rejoicing, cast off all
sloth and drowsiness! Lay aside your sorrow and mourning! Put on your
Christ, and rejoice and be glad in him!
"Put on the Lord Jesus Christ."
Put Him on as your Lord to reign in
and rule over you!
Put Him on as your Jesus to save
you from all your enemies!
Put Him on as your Christ, anointed
of God, to bless you with grace, and to crown you with glory!
Thus put on the Lord Jesus Christ
for...
2. Putting on Christ implies the renewed acts, and fresh
applications of the believing soul to Christ, in the exercise of faith
in him, hope towards him, delight in him, calling upon him, hearing
the gospel of his grace preached, reading the Scriptures which testify
of him, feeding upon his blessed body, and drinking his precious blood
at his table, etc. In the use of all these means, we should aim to put
on Christ afresh, as the glory of our hearts, and the joy of our
souls. So that Christians are not only partakers of faith in
Christ—but the exercise of their minds is described, by their
continued acts of believing in Christ, hearing of Christ, coming to
him, leaning on him, cleaving to him, abiding in him, living upon him,
and putting him on from day to day. These participles, which are the
present tense, describe the actings of believers' souls. So that
quickened souls cannot look back, and be satisfied with thinking they
had faith once. No, no, their souls cannot be contented, without
putting on and enjoying Christ now. O this is the glory of faith.
Therefore, let us consider,
3. That to put on Christ, may more particularly imply that we
should daily, yes, constantly clothe our mind, memory and conscience
with Christ, with the truth, as it is in him, which holds forth to us
what he has done for us—what he is to us—and what he is now doing for
us at the right hand of God. O believer, this is most precious work,
to put on Christ, for the comfort of your mind, the refreshing of your
memory, and for the peace and joy of your conscience. This should be
your daily constant exercise, under a full conviction that without
this inward enjoyment of Christ, you can neither be happy in your
soul, comfortable in your walk, nor holy in your life. But if Christ
dwells constantly in your mind, memory and conscience, all will be
peaceful and happy within, all will be holiness unto him without. Let
us deeply consider these points. O Spirit of all truth, holiness and
comfort, bless our meditations, to the glory of Christ, and to the joy
of our souls.
Happy souls, who put on Christ
By pure and living faith,
Finding Him their King and Priest,
Their God, and Guide to death.
God's own foe may plague his sons:
Sin may distress—but can't subdue.
Christ Who conquered for us once,
Will in us conquer too.
(Recommendation
- Read this entire Puritan Meditation which is a lengthy discourse
addressing what it means to put on Christ - putting on Christ in
our minds, putting on Christ in our memory, putting on Christ in our
conscience, why we should put on Christ, when we should put on Christ,
the blessed effect of putting on Christ -
(Believers
Pocket Companion - The One Thing Needful to Make Poor Sinners Rich—and
Miserable Sinners Happy)
Barton, et al asks...
So how do we clothe ourselves “with
the armor of right living” (Ro 13:12)? How can we “be decent and true”
(Ro 13:13)? The answer: We let the Lord Jesus Christ take
control of us (Ep 4:24; Col 3:10). This is deliberate, conscious
acceptance of the lordship of Christ, so all our desires and actions
are under his control. Letting him have control means avoiding
indulging our evil desires.
Sinful actions and sinful
attitudes
all start with a single thought.
Just as in violent crimes, where
premeditation is a factor, premeditation is the first step toward
gratifying our desires. A temptation becomes an opportunity to plan to
sin. But as harmless as imagination may seem to be, it actually impels
us toward our desires. If we don’t make plans, we can’t carry them
out.
(Barton,
B. B., et al. Life Application Bible Commentary. Romans: Tyndale House
Publishers or
Logos)
James Denny explains
that...
The Christian puts on the Lord
Jesus Christ...in baptism (cp Gal 3:27), as the solemn deliberate act
in which he identifies himself, by faith, with Christ in His death and
resurrection (Ro 6:3). But the Christian life is not exhausted in this
act, which is rather the starting-point for a putting on of Christ in
the ethical sense, a "clothing of the soul in the moral disposition
and habits of Christ" (Gifford); or as the Apostle himself puts it in
Ro 6:11 (note),
a
reckoning
(present
imperative
=
command to make this our continual
practice implying that it is our continual need! Why? We all tend to
be forgetful and the assaults of temptations to commit sin are
incessant!) of ourselves to be dead to sin but alive to God
in Christ Jesus. Every time we perform an ethical act of this kind we
put on the Lord Jesus Christ more fully. But the principle (Ed:
The foundation, the reason we can even accomplish putting on Jesus) of all such
acts is the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us (Ro 6-8), and it is the
essential antagonism of the spirit to the flesh (Gal 5:17-note) which determines the
form of the last words (and make no provision for the flesh in regard
to its lusts). (The
Expositor's Greek Testament)
Albert Barnes first calls
our attention to Galatians 3:27 and then notes...
The word
rendered "put ye on" (enduo) is the same as used in Ro 13:12, and is
commonly employed in references to clothing or apparel. The phrase to
put on a person, which seems a harsh expression in our language, was
one not infrequently used by Greek writers and means, to imbibe his
principles, to imitate his example, to copy his spirit, to become like
him.
Thus in Dionysius Halicarnassus the expression occurs, "having
put on or clothed themselves with Tarquin;" i.e. they imitated the
example and morals of Tarquin.
So Lucian says, "having put on
Pythagoras;" having received him as a teacher and guide.
So the Greek
writers speak of putting on Plato, Socrates, etc., meaning to take
them as instructors, to follow them as disciples.
Thus, to put on the Lord Jesus means, to take
Him as a pattern and
guide, to imitate His example, to obey His precepts, to become like
Him, etc. In all respects the Lord Jesus was unlike what had been
specified in the previous verse. He was temperate, chaste, pure,
peaceable, and meek; and to put him on was to imitate him in these
respects. Heb 4:15; Heb 7:26; 1Pe 2:22; Isa 53:9; 1Jn 3:5.
Guzik
Putting on Christ is a strong and
vivid metaphor. It means more than put on the character of the Lord
Jesus Christ, signifying rather "Let Jesus Christ Himself be the armor
that you wear." (Morris) Yet, we are still called to make no provision
for the flesh. We have a work to do in walking properly, as in the day
- it isn't as if Jesus does it for us as we sit back; instead, He does
it through us as we willingly and actively partner with Him.
John Piper
Clothe yourselves with Christ. Arm
yourselves with Christ. Never be without the covering of Christ. Let
your friendship with Christ be as close as the shirt you wear. That is
what I said last week was the key to loving and fulfilling the law.
And that is the same final answer this week:
Receiving Christ daily and fully
is the key to love.
Robert Haldane explains
it this way...
Having given a specimen of the
things that are unbecoming the Christian who walks in the day, the
Apostle now shows, summarily, what the conduct is which he enjoins on
us to exemplify. Believers were in themselves wretched, and miserable,
and poor, and blind, and naked; like Joshua, clothed with filthy
garments; but when they come to Christ, He says, “Take away the
filthy garments from him: behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass
from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.” They are
then clothed with the garments of salvation, and covered with the robe
of righteousness, Isaiah 61:10; and being thus justified, those whom
the Apostle addressed had put on Christ.
But here (put on the Lord Jesus
Christ) it is their progress
in sanctification he has in view. In the Ro 13:12 he had exhorted
them to put on the armor of light; now he is enjoining the duty of
perfect conformity to His holy image, bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ; Who gave us an example that we
should follow His steps, Who did no sin, neither was guile found in
His mouth. Thus we are to cleave to Him with purpose of heart, and, as
the Apostle elsewhere exhorts, that as we have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so we should walk in Him. (Romans 13 Commentary
)
Warren Wiersbe describes what it means to put on the Lord Jesus
Christ
To put on the Lord Jesus Christ means to become more like Him, to receive by
faith all that He is for our daily living. We grow on the basis of the food we
eat. This is why God warns us not to make provisions for the flesh. If we feed
the flesh, we will fail; but if we feed the inner man the nourishing things of
the Spirit, we will succeed. In other words, a Christian citizen ought to be the
best citizen. Christians may not always agree on politics or parties, but they
can all agree on their attitude toward human government. (Wiersbe,
W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor)
New Bible Commentary describes putting on the Lord Jesus this way:
we are to surround ourselves with the Lord
Jesus Christ in such a way that all we do is done through Him and for Him, and
we are not even to give thought to any of those sinful desires that stem from
this fallen & sinful world. (New
Bible Commentary. IVP)
Robert Morey...
We are told to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ”
because His character qualities are the opposite of the deeds of darkness.
W E Vine writes that putting on the
Lord Jesus Christ...
is contrasted with the conduct described in
the preceding verse; it also recalls Ro 13:12. The believer is so to apprehend
the true meaning of the union with Christ into which he entered when he put on
Christ (Gal. 3:27, cf. Ro 6:3-note),
that Christ becomes the element in which he lives, the moral raiment which
displays His character. (Vine,
W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson
)
The KJV Bible Commentary writes
that...
Paul urges his Christian converts to put on
Christian virtues in the same manner that they would put on their clothes (Col
3:12-ntoe).
When they had put on the new man (Eph 4:24-note)
they had in fact been baptized into Christ and had put on Christ (Gal 3:27).
Putting on Christ means
to allow Him to envelop us so that when others view us they see His
righteousness. He therefore not only lives in us and through us, but on us as
well.
When that is the case, we need not take thought of satisfying our bodily
lusts or carnal desires, but our prime concern will be to live in honor to the
Lord. When Christ is on us and in us, we will not feed our fleshly desires but
will feed a soul striving to be more like Him, and much more so realizing our
subjection to the timetable of God. (Dobson,
E G, Charles Feinberg, E Hindson, Woodrow Kroll, H L. Wilmington: KJV Bible
Commentary: Nelson)
Hendriksen notes that...
Paul is, as it were, saying, “Having laid
aside the garment of sin, now deck yourselves more and more with the robe of
Christ’s righteousness, so that whenever Satan reminds you of your sinfulness,
you immediately remind him and yourselves of your new standing with God.
“Become more and more spiritually united with
Christ, so that He will be the Light of your light, the Life of your life, the
Joy of your joy, and the Strength of your strength.”
The person who, by virtue of the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, does this is
able to sing
Jesus is all the world to me.…
—Will L.
Thompson
Such a person must make no provision for the satisfaction of the urges of his
sinful human nature. To be sure, there will be these temptations, for the
believer remains a sinner even when he becomes a saint (Ro 7:14ff-note).
But if he is truly a child of God he must and will learn more and more to
control and subdue these enticements in the realm of Pleasure (inordinate
craving for the satisfaction of physical appetites), Power (lust to shine and be
dominant), and Possessions (uncontrolled yearning for material possessions and
for the prestige that accompanies them). With Christ as his Sovereign Lord, the
victory is assured! (Hendriksen,
W., & Kistemaker, S. J. New Testament Commentary Set, 12 Volumes. Grand Rapids:
Baker Book House)
College Press NIV Commentary says
Paul exhorts Christians to "put on Christ,"
implying a reference to something not yet completed. Thus it is generally agreed
that he must be using this metaphor in a sense different from
Gal 3:27, i.e., that here he is talking about
sanctification rather than justification, which is what we would expect in this
context.
Thus "putting on Christ" is here equivalent to being transformed by the
renewing of our minds (see Ro 12:2-note).
It is the same as putting on "the new self," which is the process of the
recreation of the image of God within us (Ep 4:24;-note;
see Col 3:10-note). Thus to clothe ourselves with Christ in this sense
means to gird ourselves outwardly and inwardly with the same holy character
exhibited by the sinless Christ during his earthly sojourn. As Lard says, "Let
your whole exterior life, as seen by the world, be but a reproduction of the
temper and conduct of Christ" (Cottrell,
Jack: Romans - College Press NIV Commentary)
Believer's Bible Commentary says putting on the Lord Jesus:
means
that we should adopt His whole lifestyle, live as He lived, accept Him as our
Guide and Example....
We make provision for the flesh when we
buy things that are associated with temptation, when we make it easy for
ourselves to sin, when we give a higher priority to the physical than to the
spiritual.
We should not indulge the flesh even a
little. Rather, we should “give no chances to the flesh to have its fling”
(JBP). (MacDonald,
W., & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments.
Nashville: Thomas Nelson)
Lawrence Richards says
We’re to slip into Jesus, and wear Him
everywhere we go. We’re to look like Him. Walk like Him. Talk like Him. Act like
Him. In fact, we’re to be Jesus to others. What a challenge. To wear Jesus so
well that no one will notice the difference. To be in Him. And to let Him be
fully in me. (Richards,
L O: Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Regency)
John Murray comments that...
To put on Christ is to be identified
with Him not only in His death but also in His resurrection. It is to be united
to Him in the likeness of His resurrection life (cp Php 3:10-note).
The full title "the Lord Jesus Christ" underlines the inclusiveness
involved in the exhortation. Nothing less than the complete negation of vice and
the perfection of purity and virtue exemplified in Christ make up the habitude
required of a believer. When we think of Christ as holy, harmless, undefiled,
and separate from sinners (He 7:26), we see the total contrast between the vices
described in Ro 13:13 and the pattern of Ro 13:14. The negative is as exclusive
as the positive is inclusive. We are not to make any provision for the
fulfilment of the lusts of the flesh.
The flesh is not to be equated with the
body but includes all sinful propensities (cf. Ro 7:5-note;
Ro 8:5, 6, 7, 8-note;
Gal 5:19, 20-note,
Gal 5:21-note;
Gal 6:8; Ep 2:3-note).
(The Epistle to the Romans – Volume II. Eerdmans Pub. 1965)
ESV Study Bible...
The metaphor of putting on clothing implies
not just imitating Christ’s character but also living in close personal
fellowship with Him. Even though believers have new life, they still must
constantly renounce the flesh and refuse to gratify its desires.
Matthew Henry:
Put on Christ, this includes all.
Put on the righteousness of Christ for justification; be found in Him (Php
3:9-note)
as a man is found in his clothes; put on the priestly garments of the elder
brother, that in them you may obtain the blessing. Put on the spirit and grace
of Christ for sanctification; put on the new man (Eph 4:24-note);
get the habit of grace confirmed, the acts of it quickened.’’
Jesus Christ is the best clothing for
Christians to adorn themselves with, to arm themselves with; it is decent,
distinguishing, dignifying, and defending. Without Christ, we are naked,
deformed; all other things are filthy rages, fig-leaves, a sorry shelter. God
has provided us coats of skins—large, strong, warm, and durable. By baptism we
have in profession put on Christ, Gal. 3:27. Let us do it in truth and
sincerity. Put Him on as Lord to rule you, as Jesus to save you, and in both as
Christ, anointed and appointed by the Father to this ruling saving work.
KJV Commentary:
Paul
urges his Christian converts to put on Christian virtues in the same manner that
they would put on their clothes (Col 3:12-note).
When they had "put on the new man"
(Eph 4:24;-note)
they had in fact been baptized into Christ and had "put on Christ" (Gal
3:27). Putting on Christ means to allow Him to
envelop us so that when others view us they see His righteousness. He therefore
not only lives in us and through us, but on us as well. When that is the case,
we need not take thought of satisfying our bodily lusts or carnal desires, but
our prime concern will be to live in honor to the Lord. When Christ is on us and
in us, we will not feed our fleshly desires but will feed a soul striving to be
more like Him, and much more so realizing our subjection to the timetable of
God.
(Dobson,
E G, Charles Feinberg, E Hindson, Woodrow Kroll, H L. Wilmington: KJV Bible
Commentary: Nelson)
Adam
Clarke: (To Put on Christ is to)
receive his doctrine, copy His
example, and seek the things which belong to another life; for the Gentiles
thought of little else than making provision for the flesh or body, to gratify
its animal desires and propensities."
John Calvin:
"Now to put on
Christ, means here to be on every side fortified by the power of his Spirit, and
be thereby prepared to discharge all the duties of holiness; for thus is the
image of God renewed in us, which is the only true ornament of the soul."
Joseph Beet says we are to put on Christ
as men put on clothing, which, though
distinct from them, yet when put on becomes almost a part of them. Paul bids us
enter into union with Christ so close that He will become the close environment
in which we live and move. Since union with Christ enables us to do God’s work
even in face of enemies, to put on Christ is (see Romans 13:12-note)
to put on the weapons of the light. (A
Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans)
Evangelical Commentary:
"Suitable as attire and
deportment for the Christian in this inaugurated day are the armor of light (Ro
13:12), which reflects Christ who is "the light of the world" and "the light of
life" (Jn 8:12; cf. Mt 5:14-note,
Mt 5:15-note,
Mt 5:16-note;
for the image of armor cf. 2Co 6:7, 10:4-note; Ep 6:11-note,
Ep 6:13-note;
1Th 5:8-note);
decent behavior (v13)—behaving honorably by living a Christ-like life (compare
the positive meaning here of
schema with the negative
in (see Ro 12:2-note)
of being "schematized" to the age); clothing "yourselves with the Lord Jesus
Christ" (v14). Believers have already clothed themselves with Christ by being
baptized into him (Gal 3:27,
Ro 6:1; 2; 3-note;
Ro 6:4; 5-note;
Ro 6:6-note;
see
Col 2:12-note), which signals their
new essence in Christ; but they must express this in practice (existentially) as
they stand into each new moment of decision. Thus Paul commands them not to
follow the uncovenanted practices of "orgies, drunkenness, sexual immorality,
debauchery, dissension, jealousy," which are destructively centered on the
rebellious self. Christians must choose not to follow the urgings of their old
sinful nature or essence that is doomed, but to follow Christ who has given them
a new nature of hope. In so doing the transformed mind proves the will of God
(Ro 12:2-note)."
(Evangelical
Commentary on the Bible Baker)
Robert Haldane quoting Archbishop
Leighton...
Put on the Lord Jesus — Here we have the proper beauty and ornament of
Christians. Him we put on by faith and are clothed with Him as our
righteousness. We come unto our Father, in our Elder Brother's perfumed garment,
and so obtain the blessing, which He, in a manner, was stripped of, and did
undergo the curse, and was made a curse for our sakes. So the Apostle speaks of
Him. We put Him on as the Lord our righteousness, and are made the righteousness
of God in Him. This investiture is first, when our persons are made acceptable,
and we come into court. But there is another putting of Him on, in the
conformity of holiness, which always accompanies the former, and that is it
which is here meant. And this I declare unto you, that whosoever does not thus
put Him on, shall find themselves deceived in the other, if they imagine it
belongs to them. (Romans
13 Commentary)
Bishop Moule beautifully says:
"Put on, clothe, and arm
yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, the living Sum and true Meaning
of all that can arm the soul. It is by living our life in the flesh by faith in
the Son of God (see Galatians 2:20-note),
that is, to say, in effect, by personally making use of the crucified and living
Savior, Lord, Deliverer, our Peace and Power, amidst all the dark hosts of evil
can do against us.
Full in the face of the
realities of sin—of Roman sin, in Nero’s day—St. Paul has
written down across them all, this spell, this Name: ‘Put ye on
the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Take first a steady look, he seems to
say, at your sore need, in the light of God; but then at once
look off, look here. Take your iniquities at the worst; this can
subdue them. Take your surroundings at the worst, —this can
emancipate you from their power (John 8:31,32,35, 36). It is the
‘Lord Jesus Christ’ and the ‘putting on’ of Him. We can ‘put Him
on’ as Lord, surrendering ourselves to His absolute, while most
benignant, sovereignty and will, —deep secret of repose. (Mt
11:28, 29, 30, Acts 3:19) We can put Him on as ‘Jesus,
‘clasping the truth that He, our human Brother, yet Divine, saves His people
from their sins. We can put Him on as ‘Christ’ our Head, anointed without
measure by the eternal Spirit, and still sending of that same Spirit into His
happy members, —so that we are indeed one with Him and receive into our whole
being the resources of His life."
Marcus Dods in "Christ
and Man" writes...
If, then, it is possible to
assume a character different from our present or original
character, how can we do so? How can we put on the Lord Jesus
Christ? For experience tells us that mere imitation of Christ
does not come to much. It must be an imitation rooted in
conviction and prompted by love and hope.
The grand
peculiarity of Christ is that He demands our personal allegiance.
He does not throw out doctrine and let who will receive it; He
does not utter His views of things and leave them to work in
men's minds. He forms a society, He calls men to Himself, and
invites their trust, their love, their service. And experience
tells us that until we give Him this, we give Him too little;
too little for our purposes as well as for His.
We all need to put on Christ: our own character is not
sufficient; the character of Christ is sufficient. Going into
the world with our natural character uncorrected, we are unjust
to God, to our fellows, and to ourselves. For a better thing is
possible to us. What doth it profit a man though he gain the
whole world and lose his own soul? And how do you lose your own
soul?—by making no effort to cleanse it. You lose your life by
spending it on ends which prevent you from attaining the highest
end. Other things you can afford to neglect: but be sure you are
really gaining in likeness to Christ.
That is the real prize of
life. You do not
know how much you miss by neglecting to cultivate some one
grace; you do not know what new views of life you would have,
what new strength for doing good, what new attachment to Christ,
if only you set yourself resolutely to conform in every
particular to the character of Christ (Ed Note: He is not
calling for legalistic obedience but love motivated [Jn 14:15,
21, 23, 24, 2Co 5:14, Gal 5:6, 1Jn 4:19, 20, 5:2, 3] Spirit
enabled obedience). Not without self-control (cp Gal 5:23-note)
and self-knowledge, not without pain, not without striving (cp
He 12:4-note)
and sacrifice, can we make that character our own; but
that character satisfies
all the requirements of God and human life, and to be without it
is to miss the chief end of our being.
Charles Simeon writes that...
We must guard against every thing which may
impede our progress—Every man has some “besetting sin,” which he ought
most carefully to put away (Heb 12:1KJV-note).
He should mark
what his constitutional or acquired propensities are, and
exert
himself to the uttermost to mortify
and subdue
them. Instead of providing for the gratification of them, he should
abstain
from every thing which tends to foster his corruption, or to give scope for its
exercise (cp 1Pe 2:11-note,
1Th 5:22-note,
1Th 4:3-note,
2Ti 2:19-note).
When the priests went into the tabernacle of the congregation to minister before
the Lord, they were to “drink no wine nor strong drink,” (Lev 10:8, 9, 10) lest
they should be in any respect unfitted for the holy service in which they were
engaged. In like manner, we, who are “a holy priesthood,” (1Pe 2:5-note)
should abstain even from lawful things, if by an unrestrained indulgence we are
likely to be ensnared. Our blessed Lord has taught us to “watch
and pray,
(Note: both are commands in the
present imperative
calling for continual exercise in our warring against sin!) that we enter not
into temptation;” (Mt 26:41) and this he has done, because in an hour of
temptation it is so difficult to stand. We should be on our guard, not only
against evil itself, but against, the means and occasions of evil: the places
and the company that are ensnaring to our souls, we should avoid; as Solomon has
well admonished us: “Enter not into the path of the wicked; and go not in the
path of evil men: avoid it; pass not by it; turn from it, and pass away.” (Pr
4:14, 15) Joseph found his safety in flight (Ge 39:11, 12, 13, 14, 15, cp 1Co
6:18-note,
1Co 10:14, Pr 6:5,
2Ti 2:22-note,
1Ti 6:11): and we, in like manner, must “keep our heart with all diligence;”
(Pr 4:23-note)
and “make a covenant with all our senses,” (Job 31:1, cp Pr 6:25, 26, 27, 28-note,
2Sa 11:2, 3, 4, Ps 119:37-note,
Pr 4:25, Mt 5:27, 28-note,
Mt 5:29, 30-note,
1Jn 2:16-note)
which may by any means prove inlets to temptation, and instruments for our
destruction.]
It is in this way only that we can hope to be kept from the foulest sins—What
is said of contention, may be said of sin in general, that “the beginnings of it
are like the letting out of water.” (Pr 17:14) In the first instance, the danger
seems small: but soon the breach is widened (Pr 25:28), and defies all the
efforts that may be made to stop it. Of this we have an awful instance in David,
who little thought, when first his eye glanced upon Bathsheba, what evils would
ensue (2Sa 11:2, 3, 4).
The Apostle’s primary object in our text was,
to guard the Church against gross enormous evils. But how does he teach us to
avoid them? He bids us to aspire after the highest possible attainments,
even the “putting on of our Lord Jesus Christ;” and to be on our guard
against the very smallest occasions of sin, and in no respect to make
provision for the indulgence of it.
And these two things must occupy our
attention from day to day. O! “let
him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall:” (1Co 10:12) and let him
“keep under his body, and bring it into subjection, lest by any means, after
having preached to others, he himself should be a cast-away" (1Cor 9:25, 26,
27). If, for the obtaining of a prize in earthly contests, a long habit of
laborious and self-denying discipline is necessary, much more is it in order to
the ensuring of final success in our heavenly conflicts. To all, then, would I
say, If you would not fall and perish by your indwelling corruptions, you must
“crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts,” (Gal 5:24-note,
cp Gal 2:20-note)
and must “perfect holiness in the fear of God.” (2Cor 7:1-note)
Address— 1. Those who are satisfied with their attainments—What! Have
you, then, attained the perfection that was in Christ? Are you so “clothed with
humility,” and all other graces, that the world may see in you the very image of
Christ? Are you such “lights in a dark world,” that all who behold you may “know
how they are to walk and to please God?” Never be satisfied with any thing short
of this: but press forward to your dying hour, that you may, through the mighty
working of the power of God upon your souls, “stand perfect and complete in all
the will of God.”
2. Those who are striving after a more perfect conformity to their Lord and
Saviour—It is well that you are endeavouring to “walk even as Christ
walked.” (1Jn 2:6KJV) But attempt it not in your own strength. You must be
“strengthened with all might in your inward man, by the Spirit of the living
God.” (cp Col 1:11-note, Ep 3:16-note) To your latest hour (Ed: The end of your
life, even when you are old and gray!), as well as in the commencement of the
Divine life (Ed: When you are first born into the kingdom of Christ),
“your sufficiency must be of God” alone (cp 2Co 12:9-note,
2Co 12:10-note).
But “He is able to make all grace abound towards you, that you, having always
all-sufficiency in all things, may abound unto every good work.” (2Co 9:8, 1Co
15:10, 1Co 15:58) And “faithful is He that hath called you, who also will do
it.” (1Th 5:24-note,
cp Dt 7:9, Ps 36:5-note,
Ps 92:1, 2-note,
Ps 100:5-note,
Lam 3:22, 23, Heb 10:23-note,
Phil 1:6-note,
1Cor 10:13-note)
“Now, to Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our
Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen”.
(Jude 1:24, 25) (Romans
13:14 Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ - Page 514)
William Newell notes that...
There is an instructive passage in Colossians
Three, giving light on this command to "put on." In Col
(see
note) there, the Holy
Spirit says through Paul, "Ye died." (It is an aorist tense, asserting a fact.)
The believer now shares Christ's risen life, and is told (as we have repeatedly
seen) that he is "alive from the dead, " a new creation. In the ninth verse of
the same chapter, we have the words, "Ye have put off the old man"; and in verse
10, "Ye have put on the new man"! Then, in 5 and 8 (Col 3:5; 3:6; 3:7;
3:8 see notes
Col 3:5;
3:6;
3:7;
3:8),
"put to death, "" put away, " your "members which are in the earth: fornication,
uncleanness, passion; anger, wrath, malice, " and all such things. It is in and
by the fact that we died with Christ that we have "put off the old man": as is
said in Col 2:11
(see
note), also, concerning our
participation in "the circumcision of Christ" (His cutting off in death), we put
off "the body of the flesh."
Then, (and not until our realization by faith
of this federal death with Christ), are we ready in confidence to "put away" all
those things that belong to our former manner of life, the old things) and to
"put on, as God's elect, holy and beloved (of Him.), a heart of compassion,
kindness, humility, meekness" (Colossians 3:12ff-see
notes).
"Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ" is, therefore, our path, not only prescribed,
but gloriously attainable. For we are in Him! and that federal "new man which
hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth" (Eph 4:24-note) belongs now
to us. Even as "the
old man"
belonged by natural birth to us in the First Adam, so does the "new
man" belong to us who are in
Christ, the Last Adam! (Romans:
Verse by Verse)
Kent Hughes adds:
"Paul emphasizes that it is “the Lord Jesus Christ” that we put on. We bow to his
Lordship. He is King of all or he is not King at all. This is where we gain the
capacity to love. Loving others as we love ourselves comes from the
negative—putting off the deeds of darkness, and the positive—putting on the Lord
Jesus Christ day by day. Even as clothes are a daily need, so is the putting on
of Christ as we walk out the door to wherever we are bound.
One other point here: our ability to love vertically and horizontally comes from
God’s love to us. (1Jn 4:19) His agape love reaches down to us in Christ, it is
poured out in our hearts by His Spirit (see Ro 5:5
note), and we return it back ("pay back
the debt") to God and to those around us. (Hughes,
R. K. Romans: Righteousness from heaven. Preaching the Word. Wheaton, Ill.:
Crossway Books)
His great love is the source and
motivation of our love.
This principle was dramatically illustrated on the human
level in the life of Kathryn Lawes described below: When Louis Lawes became warden of Sing
Sing Prison in 1920, the inmates existed in wretched conditions. This led him to
introduce humanitarian reforms. He gave much of the credit to his wife, Kathryn,
however, who always treated the prisoners as human beings. She would often take
her three children and sit with the gangsters, the murderers, and the racketeers
while they played basketball and baseball. Then in 1937, Kathryn was killed in a
car accident. The next day her body lay in a casket in a house about a quarter
of a mile from the institution. When the acting warden found hundreds of
prisoners crowded around the main entrance, he knew what they wanted. Opening
the gate, he said, “Men, I’m going to trust you. You can go to the house.”
Jamieson, Fausset, Brown...
In virtue of "the expulsive power of a new
and more powerful affection," the great secret of persevering holiness in all manner
of conversation will be found to be "Christ IN US, the hope of glory"
(Col 1:27-note),
and Christ ON US, as the character in which alone we shall be able to
shine before men (2Co 3:8) (Ro 13:14)
F B Meyer (Our Daily
Walk, January 1) writes that...
WE CAN all start afresh! However far we have
ascended, there is something higher; and however far we have fallen,
it is always possible to make a fresh start. We need to take our place
in the School of Christ and be taught by Him (Eph 4:20- note,
Eph 4:21-note).
"The old man" which we must "put
off" is clearly our former manner of life. If we have not put it
entirely away, let us do so now by an immediate act of faith in the
living Spirit. It does not take long for a beggar to put off his rags
and take instead a new suit of clothes, and it need not take a moment
longer to put away habits and thoughts, ways of speech and life which
are unworthy of the children of God. Do it now, and look up to the
Holy Spirit to keep renewing you in the spirit of your mind.
But more than this, let us "put
on the new man," which is the life of Jesus Christ, that ideal
which is in the likeness of God, and which the Lord created for us by
His blessed life and death and resurrection. But to enable us to live
this life we need the daily help of the Holy Spirit. He entered our
hearts at the moment of regeneration, and has been with us ever since.
We may not have realised His entry, but we believe it because of the
assurance of
1Co 6:19-note; see Ro
8:9-note; Ep 3:16-note. For my
part, I like to begin every day, before lifting my head from the
pillow, by saying,
"Thou art within, O Spirit of Christ, though I feel
Thee not."
If the Holy Spirit be ungrieved...
He
will witness to our sonship.
He will enthrone Christ as King of
our life.
He will keep the self-life in the
place of death.
He will give us a hunger for the
things of God.
He will give power in
witness-bearing.
In order to have a strong and
blessed Christian experience, the one thing is to see that we do not
grieve the Spirit. I do not think that we can grieve Him away, but we
may greatly limit and restrain His gracious work by insincerity of
speech, the nursing of an unforgiving spirit, any kind of
over-reaching or fraudulent dealing, impurity of speech, or failure in
love. We may be bound, so as not to be able to move our arms, by a
number of cotton threads, quite as tightly as by a strong rope-thong.
Let us take care not to grieve Him by such inconsistencies.
PRAYER:
Fulfill in me, O God, those desires
of goodness which Thou hast created in my heart, and perfect the work
of faith, that Jesus Christ may be glorified in me. AMEN.
In Our Daily Homily F B Meyer
writes...
This verse is ever memorable from
its association with the life of Augustine, who says:
“Thus was I sick and tormented in
mind, bitterly accusing myself, and rolling and turning about in my
chain, till it might be wholly broken.”
At length, rushing into the garden,
groaning in spirit,
“all my bones were crying out,
soul-sick was I and grievously tormented. I said to myself, ‘Be it
done now; be it done now.’ And a voice said, ‘Why standest thou in
thyself, and so standest not? Cast thyself upon Him. Fear not; He will
not withdraw Himself, to let thee fall. He will receive, and will heal
thee. Stop thine ears against those unclean members of thine, which
are upon the earth, that they may be mortified.’”
Then arose a mighty tempest,
bringing a heavy downpour of tears.
“I cast myself under a certain
fig-tree, and gave vent to my tears, and the floods of mine eyes brake
forth. Why not now? Why not this hour make an end of my uncleanness?
And, lo! from the neighboring house I heard a voice as of a boy or
girl, I know not which, singing and oft repeating, ‘Take and read;
take and read!’ Checking the torrent of my tears, I arose,
interpreting it to be a Divine command to open the Book and read the
first chapter I could find. I seized; I opened, and in silence read
the
passage
on which mine eyes fell: ‘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
fulfill the lusts thereof.’ No further would I read; nor was there
need, for instantly all my heart was flooded with a light of peace,
all the sadness of doubt melted away!”
No count was taken; no guards posted. Yet not
one man was missing that night. Love for one who had loved them made them
dependable."
AND
MAKE
NO PROVISION: kai tes sarkos pronoian me poieisthe (PAM) eis
epithumias: (Ps
101:3, Job 31:1) (Ro 8:12-note,
Ro 8:13-note;
Gal 5:16-note,
Gal 5:17-note,
Gal 5:24-note;
Col 3:5-note,
Col 3:6-note,
Col 3:7-note,
Col 3:8-note;
1Pe 2:11-note;
1Jn 2:15, 16, 17)
"make no provision for the flesh to arouse its
desires." (NET Bible)
"don't make plans" (TLB)
Make no provision - How do we
make provision for the flesh? By yielding to any or all of the six sins
listed above.
Make (4160)
(poieo) means to do or to undertake something that brings about an event,
state, or condition.
In this verse Paul uses the
present imperative and the
Greek negative ("me") can imply that the process is
already going on. Paul is saying in essence
Stop making plans in your mind as to how you
can sin and 'get away with it' (cp Nu 32:23, Pr 28:13, Pr 5:22-note).
Never forget that our hearts are more deceitful than all else
and are desperately
sick (Jer 17:9). While it is true every believer is a new creation (creature) in
Christ (2Co 5:17), it is also true that every new creature in Christ
unfortunately still possesses the "old sin nature" (Sin)
which continually seeks to lure, snare, entrap, deceive, etc, etc to commit
sins. Therefore as believers we must daily surrender to our Lord, yielding to
and depending upon His power, His desire, His grace, to enable us to subjugate
our selfish desires and live for Him (see Col 3:5-note,
Col 3:6-note,
Col 3:7-note,
Col 3:8-note,
Col 3:9-note,
Col 3:10-note)
Sin
cannot be
pampered, cajoled or negotiated with
(cf Ge 3:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Ge 4:5, 6, 7, 8).
Sin
corrupts and kills (see Ro 6:23-note) and so must be
mortified.
Therefore
consider (aorist
imperative
= do it now! Do it effectively!) the members
of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and
greed, which amounts to idolatry. (see Col 3:5-notes)
; see related verses on how to control our thoughts and how we as men can avoid
ruining our marriage and life - commentary notes on
Proverbs 5:1-14;
Proverbs 5:15-23;
Proverbs 6:20-35;
Proverbs 7:1-27;
Guarding your heart -
Proverbs 4:23)
There can be no compromise or there will be corruption
and death.
Kill
Sin
or it will kill you! (see 2Pe 1:4-note, Gal 6:8).
Do not plan for
Sin.
Do not even give
Sin
a welcome. Don't offer
Sin
an opportunity. Kick
Sin
off your doorstep before it has a chance to enter your house, the temple of the
Holy Spirit!
Lenski...
Any forethought we may take in providing for
our bodies and their needs is never to be of such a nature that any lusts are
stirred up or satisfied.
SIN
IS LIKE
A BOA CONSTRICTOR!
Are you tolerating
"pet" sins? If you are, then you need to remember the fate of the
man with the "pet boa constrictor" (Do a Google search - use the
following search terms and keep the parenthesis sign as written >>
"pet boa" killed). After 15 years of living with his owner, one day
the "pet boa" would not let its "owner" out of its grip resulting in the
owner's tragic death. Wild animals remain wild and so does
Sin.
Do not be deceived (Stop being deceived)!
Entanglement by the Cords of one's
own Sin - Not long after a wealthy contractor had finished building the
Tombs prison in New York, he was found guilty of forgery and sentenced to
several years in the prison he had built! As he was escorted into a cell of
his own making, the contractor said, “I never dreamed when I built this
prison that I would be an inmate one day.” (cp Nu 32:23)
Sin will take you further
than you ever wanted to stray!
Cost you more than you ever dreamed you would pay!
Keep you longer than you ever thought you would stay!
William Newell writes regarding make
no provision for the flesh that...
The word "provision" here is literally
"forethought." It denotes the attitude of mind we used to have toward the flesh,
as secretly expecting to gratify it, if not immediately, yet at some time. It is
the opposite of the spirit of Gal 5:24-note; it is Saul sparing Agag (Ed note:
see 1Sa 15:9, 10, 11, 22, 23 where this "provision" resulted in the LORD tearing the Kingdom
of Israel from Saul! A steep price to pay for making provision for his flesh!)
To fulfil its desires-The flesh has endless lusts and desires, -all
clamoring for indulgence. Besides the lower lusts, and our natural self-sparing
slothfulness, there are all the forms of self-pleasing: self-esteem,
"sensitiveness, " love of praise, man-fearing, fleshly amiability, flattery of
others for selfish ends, pride, "dignity, " impatience of non-recognition by
others, sheer empty conceit, and a thousand other "desires of the flesh, " for
which no provision is to be made. Often we can, if we will, see beforehand and
shun circumstances that would give the flesh an advantage to indulge itself. But
it is only by putting on the Lord Jesus Christ as the positive attitude of the
soul, that we shall find ourselves able and willing to refuse any provision for
the flesh. (Romans:
Verse by Verse)
F. Webster
"Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make
not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof. 'Make no provision
for the flesh.' (Romans 13:14)
The
flesh is
there, you know. To deny or ignore the existence of an enemy is to give him a
great chance against you; and the flesh is in the believer to the very end, a
force of evil to be reckoned with continually, an evil force inside a man, and
yet, thank God, a force which can be so dealt with by the power of God, that it
shall have no power to defile the heart or deflect the will.
The flesh is in you, but your heart may be
kept clean moment by moment in spite of the existence of evil in your fallen
nature. Every avenue, every opening that leads into the heart, every thought and
desire and purpose and imagination of your being, may be closed against the
flesh, so that there shall be no opening to come in and defile the heart or
deflect the will from the will of God. (cp Pr 4:23-note)
You say that is a very high standard. But it is the Word of God. There is to be
no secret sympathy with sin. Although the flesh is there, you are to make it no
excuse for sins.
You are not to say, I am naturally
irritable, anxious, jealous, and I cannot help letting these things crop up;
they come from within.
Yes, they come from within, but then there
need be no provision, no opening in your heart for these things to enter. Your
heart can be barricaded with an impassable barrier against these things. 'No
provision for the flesh' Not merely the front door barred and bolted so that you
do not invite them to come in, but the side and back door closed too. You may be
so Christ possessed and Christ enclosed that you shall
positively hate everything that is of the flesh.
Make no provision for the flesh.
The only way to do so is to
put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
I spoke of the heart being so barricaded that
there should be no entrance to it, that the flesh should never be able to defile
it or deflect the will from the will of God. How can that be done ? By putting
on the Lord Jesus Christ. It has been such a blessing to me just to learn that
one secret, just to learn the positive side of deliverance putting on the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Puritan writer Thomas Boston exhorts
us to...
Labour to starve your lusts, and to root out
the love of the world. “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision
for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof,” Ro 13:14; see 1Jn 2:15-note,
1Jn 2:16-note,
1Jn 2:17-note.
As long as the gust and relish of earthly things is too quick and lively, the
gust of religion will be flat and dull. A heart drenched in sensuality, or any
excessive love to created things, will be like wet wood, not easily fired from
heaven. (Ref
- The Pleasures of Real Religion)
(Put on Christ for this) is the way to rid
yourselves of their trouble: for men’s lusts are like fire, that will die out if
there be no fuel laid to them.
><>><>><>
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
(note) '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'? (Romans 13:8-note). I can't
do it alone. It is only by putting on the Lord Jesus Christ (Ro 13:14) 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
(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.
><>><>><>
Leave The Dog At Home - A hunter once purchased a dog to help him
hunt pheasants. But he discovered that the dog was interested only in chasing
rabbits. So instead of hunting pheasants, he spent his time doing what his dog
preferred. Finally the hunter decided he had better leave the dog at home.
This reminds me of the apostle Paul's words in Romans 7. He wrote,
"For what I will to do, that I do not
practice; but what I hate, that I do" (see Ro 7:15-note).
Paul was speaking of the conflict between his
old sinful tendencies and the new nature he received when he was born again. If
we don't take temptation seriously, we'll be like the man in today's story.
We'll find ourselves doing what we don't want to do and failing to do what we
know we should.
The hunter solved his problem by taking decisive action. He equipped himself for
pheasant hunting and went out without the distracting dog. That's what we must
do in our spiritual life. As we prepare for each day, let's choose to obey the
injunction, "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh,
to fulfill its lusts" (Ro 13:14).
When we yield to Christ, rely on His strength, and put Him first, we'll be able
to reject the evil impulses that arise within us. That's how we "leave the dog
at home." --R W De Haan
(Copyright
RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights
reserved)
For Further Study -
Why is it so hard to do what is right?
According to Romans 8:1-17 (see
notes beginning with Romans 8:1), where do we get
the help we need to live in a way that pleases Christ?
If your Christian life is a drag,
Worldly
weights may be keeping you down.
><>><>><>
J Vernon McGee writes:
Oh, how many believers are making every
PROVISION for the flesh but are making NO PROVISION to go into His PRESENCE. My
friend, I beg you to put Christ first in your life and to get out the Word of
God. This is all-important. (Ps 119:2 ,9, 10, 11, 38, 133 - see topic
Memorizing His Word, Ps 1:1, 2, 3-see
notes; see topics
Discussion of Biblical Meditation
and
Primer of Biblical Meditation) (McGee,
J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Nashville: Thomas Nelson)
Bible Knowledge Commentary adds:
For a Christian to plan out specific ways to
gratify his sinful nature is wrong and out of bounds. (Walvoord,
J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. The Bible knowledge
commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books).
John Calvin on making
"no provision for the flesh"...
"As long as
we carry about us our flesh, we cannot cast away every care for it; for though
our conversation is in heaven, we yet sojourn on earth. The things then which
belong to the body must be taken care of, but not otherwise than as they are
helps to us in our pilgrimage (see 1 Pe 2:11-note),
and not that they may make us to forget our (heavenly) country (Hebrews 11:16-note).
Even heathens have said, that a few things suffice nature, but that the
appetites of men are insatiable. Every one then who wishes to satisfy the
desires of the flesh, must necessarily not only fall into, but be immerged in a
vast and deep gulf. Paul, setting a bridle on our desires, reminds us, that the
cause of all intemperance is, that no one is content with a moderate or lawful
use of things: he has therefore laid down this rule, — that we are to provide
for the wants of our flesh, but not to indulge its lusts. It is in this way that
we shall use this world without abusing it."
Thomas Watson
If sin is a soul-sickness — then do not FEED
this disease. He who is wise will avoid those things which will increase his
disease: If he is feverish, he will avoid wine which would inflame the disease.
He will forbear a dish he loves, because it is bad for his disease. Why should
men not be as wise for their souls? You who have a drunken lust, do not feed it
with wine; you who have a malicious lust, do not feed it with revenge; you who
have an unclean lust, make no provision for the flesh (Ro 13:14). He who feeds a
disease — feeds an enemy. Some diseases are starved; starve your sins by fasting
and humiliation. Either kill your sin — or your sin will kill you! (The
Souls Malady and Cure)
Provision
(4307)
(pronoia
from
pronoeo = observe in
advance, to know or perceive ahead or beforehand, to foresee
derived from pro =
before
+
noeo = to
perceive with the mind, know, comprehend) literally means "a
thought one has beforehand", a planning ahead, a "premeditation".
Pronoia conveys the basic idea of
planning something out ahead of time, giving it
forethought or carrying out thoughtful planning to meet a need. The idea is to think about something ahead of time, with the
implication that one can then respond appropriately (eg think about committing a
sin and even being so deceived that you think that you can get away with it!)
Don’t make any plans that open the door for
sin’s entry. Don't say I'll have some pornography laying around my house to
prove I can withstand the temptation. Note the ways you subtly make
provision for these hindrances (Romans 13:14): the computer games, the hidden
alcohol or candy, the television, the videos, the stop on the way home,
the magazines, the novels. There must be no provision for either gross appetites
or refined carnal attitudes; all must be denied if we would behave properly
as in the day!
Martin Luther said
You can't keep a bird from flying over your
head, but you can keep it from building a nest in your hair.
And so we may need to look away (from
something, someone that might stimulate lust), discard a book, change a TV
channel, move the computer into the family room, etc in order to keep a "foul
fowl", so to speak, from nesting in our hair.
We "must, as it were, go on tiptoe, and be
exercised with extreme caution, so as not to waken in us those slumbering dogs
of lust which, if aroused, will tear our spiritual life to pieces."
Luke records the only other NT use of
pronoia in Acts...
Acts 24:2 (ESV) And when he (Paul) had been
summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying: "Since through you we enjoy
much peace, and since by your foresight, most excellent Felix, reforms
are being made for this nation
Pronoia is a name for the Delphic
Athene (Latin Athena = Greek goddess of wisdom) as the goddess of clever
forethought!
The English word "provision" is from the Latin word providere which means
literally to
"see ahead".
Provision then
refers to
"measures taken beforehand, either for security, defense or attack,
or for the supply of wants...[provision is the] act of making previous
preparation"). Provision refers to a measure taken beforehand to meet a
need (or a greed, specifically a lust to gratify the old fallen flesh!).
NIDNTT has the following note on this
word group...
The verb pronoeo (from pro and noeo,
observe, notice) means initially to observe in advance, notice beforehand,
foresee (e.g. Hom. Il. 18, 526, of a deception). But in most cases it has the
meaning of to care, to see to it that, make provision for, attend to (e.g. Xen.
Cyr. 8, 1, 1, caring for children). With the noun pronoia, attested since
Aeschylus (Ag. 648), much as with the verb, the temporal meaning of foresight or
foreknowledge is rare. The predominant meaning is foresight in the sense of
forethought, intention, care, providence... The noun pronoia (Ro 13:14) also
means concern, solicitude, provision. In this case it refers to the body
(flesh). In Acts 24:3 (Ed note: the only other NT use of pronoia) the advocate Tertullus praises the provisions of Felix. (Brown,
Colin, Editor. New International Dictionary of NT Theology. 1986. Zondervan)
Most sinful behavior results from wrong ideas and lustful desires
we allow to linger in our minds (Jas 1:14, 15). The longer one allows these
wrong ideas and lustful desires to linger, the more forethought (provision) we
are making for the insidious, deceptive fallen flesh nature to bring them into
fruition!
Don't fill your mind with plans
for your sin. Instead, fill your mind with " [Philippians 4:8-note] thoughts"
(see
note), thoughts of Christ
in Whom are hidden all the riches of wisdom and knowledge (see Col 2:3-note) and in Whom
we are complete (see Colossians 2:10-note)... possessing all His precious and magnificent promises.
Ron Mattoon...
Don't stare, study, or flirt with temptation,
for you will be mesmerized by its lure. One three-year old's explanation for
being in the kitchen on top of a chair, eating cookies: "I just climbed up to
smell them, and my tooth got caught." Beloved, we fall into sin many times
because we position ourselves in the path of temptation just like this little
boy. Do not put yourself in a deliberate position where you know you are going
to be tempted. Sometimes this is not possible, but in many cases we have a
choice about whom we are spending time, where we are going, and what we are
doing. Guard what God has done for you by avoiding temptation.
A little boy scraped a chair across the
kitchen floor and climbed on it to reach the cookie jar on the top shelf. His
mother heard the noise and called out, "What are you doing in there son?" With
his hand in the cookie jar, the boy replied, "I'm fighting temptation!" Beloved,
we tend to lose our battles with temptation because our hands are in the cookie
jar. We lose because we make provisions for the flesh. We make provisions for
failure and defeat.
If you make it easy for yourself to fall into
sin, you most likely will. If you look down the barrel of Satan's double-barrel
shotgun, he is going to pull the trigger.
Toying with temptation is not an act of
dedication to Christ or of a person who has died to self. Godly Christians
desire to stay as far away as possible from sinful living. They do not get as
close as they can to Satan's trap and play with it. If you play with fire,
sooner or later you are going to get burned.
We are to be alert to those things that will
enter and corrupt our thought life and stir up lustful desires or hate within
us. We are to be careful about what we view, what we hear, what we touch and
feel. It is vital that we not willingly put ourselves into situations that will
tempt us to do wrong or have the wrong kinds of thoughts.
Many Christians behave like the Red Barron of
WWI. According to one report, the end of Germany's famous "Red Baron," Manfred
von Richthofen, came because he pursued an Allied airplane "too long, too far,
and too low into enemy territory." On April 21, 1918, von Richthofen, the
celebrated World War I pilot, who was responsible for shooting down 80 enemy
aircraft, began chasing a British plane that was trying to escape the battle. As
the Red Baron pursued his quarry behind Allied lines, gunfire from either
machine-gun nests on the ground or another British pilot who had come to help,
killed von Richthofen. Some Christians make the same mistake as the Red Barron.
They go out of bounds when it comes to temptation and they feel they are
invincible and that nothing can hurt them. This is right where Satan wants them.
Is this the place where Satan has you? Dying to self involves control of
yourself, especially when it comes to lustful living. In our own power, self
control is extremely difficult. Perhaps this is why Solomon equated such a
person, who had self-control, as a mighty man or powerful conqueror.
The prayer of our life should be, "Lord, lead
me not into temptation or testing that will cause me to fall."
We are not to make provision for sinful
failure. This is what many do and they wonder why they can't get victory in
their lives. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
John Calvin
As long as we carry about us our flesh, we
cannot cast away every care for it; for though our conversation is in heaven, we
yet sojourn on earth. The things then which belong to the body must be taken
care of, but not otherwise than as they are helps to us in our pilgrimage, and
not that they may make us to forget our country. Even heathens have said, that a
few things suffice nature, but that the appetites of men are insatiable. Every
one then who wishes to satisfy the desires of the flesh, must necessarily not
only fall into, but be immerged in a vast and deep gulf. Paul, setting a bridle
on our desires, reminds us, that the cause of all intemperance is, that no one
is content with a moderate or lawful use of things: he has therefore laid down
this rule, — that we are to provide for the wants of our flesh, but not to
indulge its lusts. It is in this way that we shall use this world without
abusing it.
A W Pink writes...
but not only must the new nature be
fed. It is equally necessary for our spiritual well-being, that the old
nature should be starved. This is what the Apostle had in mind when
he said, "Make no provision for the flesh—to fulfill the lusts thereof" (Ro
13:14). To starve the old nature—to make not provision for the flesh—means that
we abstain from everything that would stimulate our carnality—that we avoid, as
we would a plague—all that is calculated to prove injurious to our spiritual
welfare. Not only must we deny ourselves the "pleasures of sin," shun such
things as the saloon, theater, dance, card table, etc.—but we must separate
ourselves from worldly companions, cease to read worldly literature,
abstain from everything
upon which we cannot ask God's blessing.
Our affections are to be set upon things
above—and not upon things on the earth (Col 3:2-note).
Does this seem a high standard and sound impractical? Holiness in all things is
that at which we are to aim—and
failure so to do explains
the leanness of so many Christians.
Let the young believer realize that whatever
does not help his spiritual life—hinders it. (A
Fourfold Salvation)
Thomas Watson
The wicked are caterers for their lusts.
(Making provision for our flesh) is a metaphor taken from such as make provision
for a family—to feed them. The Greek word here signifies a projecting and
planning in the mind, how to bring a thing about. This is to make provision for
the flesh—when one studies to satisfy the flesh and provide fuel for lust. Thus
Amnon made provision for the flesh (2Sa 13:5). He pretends himself to be sick,
and his sister, Tamar, must be his nurse. She must cook and serve his food to
him. By which means he defiled her virginity. It is sad when men's concern is
not to be holy—but to satisfy lust. (Beatitudes)
Thomas Brooks
When men ordinarily, habitually, commonly are
very careful, studious, and laborious to make provision for sin, then sin
reigns: Ro 13:14, "Make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts
thereof;" or, as the Greek has it, "Make no projects for the flesh," or "cater
not for the flesh." When a man's head and heart is full of projects how to
gratify this lust, and how to satisfy that lust, and how to fulfill the other
lust, then sin reigns, then it is in its throne. James 4:3, "You ask and receive
not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts." [David, in
an hour of temptation, once made provision for his lusts, 2Sa 11:14, 15. But
this was not his course, his trade, etc.]
Both the law of God and nature requires me to make provision of shelter, food,
clothing, and health for my body, and for theirs who are under my charge. But it
may cost me my life, my estate, yes, my very soul, to make provision for my
lusts. Such as ask amiss shall be sure to ask and miss. He who would make God a
servant to his lusts, may ask long enough before God will answer. Of all
affronts there is none to this—of making God a servant to our lusts. And where
this frame of spirit is, there sin is in dominion, Hos 2:8. He who abuses
mercies to serve his lusts, fights against God with his own weapons, as David
did against Goliath, and as Ben-hadad did against Ahab, with that very life that
he had newly given him. (A
Cabinet of Choice Jewels)
The Amplified Version says
"make no provision for [indulging] the flesh
[put a stop to thinking about the evil cravings of your physical nature] to
[gratify its] desires (lusts)"
Newell commenting on making no
provision for the flesh
The word "provision" here is literally "forethought." It denotes
the attitude of mind we used to have toward the flesh, as secretly
expecting to gratify it, if not immediately, yet at some time. It is the
opposite of the spirit of Galatians 5:24-note;
it is Saul sparing Agag. (Romans 13)
Paul's command to make no provision is another reason Scripture
memorization is so valuable...His Word hidden in our hearts will keep young men (and old men
and women) from
sin (Ps 119:9-, Ps 119:10-, Ps 119:11-). One of the most effective ways for a Christian to oppose the
desires of the FLESH ("flesh"
is used several different ways in Scripture -
see word study.) is NOT to starve his body to bring it into subjection (asceticism
cf see Colossians 2:23-note) but to starve the flesh making “no provision”. The surest way to fall into a sin is to allow oneself to
be in situations where there temptation rears its seductive head (James 1:14-note;
James 1:15-note)
On the other hand, the safest way to avoid a sin is to avoid situations that are
likely to pose temptations to it.
Arthur Pink...
The honest soul will at once ask,
If I really hate sin—then why do I so often
yield to it?
If I have been delivered from the love of
sin, why can Satan's temptations still appeal to me?
The answer is, because the "flesh"
is still left in you, and it remains unholy to the end of its history.
Our responsibility is
to "make no provision for the flesh" (Ro
13:14),
to "mortify" its members (Col 3:5-note),
to unsparingly judge it, root and branch (1Co
11:31, 32),
to confess its evil works (1John 1:9).
The fact that the believer resists
sin, prays and strives against it, mourns and groans over
it, loathes himself for it—are so many proofs that he no longer loves it
as he once did. (Experimental
Preaching)
I asked the Lord that I might grow,
In faith and love and every grace,
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek more earnestly His face.
It was He who taught me thus to pray,
And He I trust has answered prayer.
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair!
I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He'd answer my request.
And by His love's constraining power,
Subdue my sins and give me rest!
Instead of this, He made me feel,
The hidden evils of my heart.
And let the angry powers of hell,
Assault my soul in every part!
Yes, more with His own hand, He seemed,
Intent to aggravate my woe.
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low!
"Lord, why is this?" I trembling cried.
Will You pursue Your worm to death?"
"This is the way" the Lord replied,
"I answer prayer for grace and strength."
"These inward trials I employ,
From self, and pride, to set you free;
And break your schemes of earthly joy,
That you may find your all in Me!"
--John Newton
Dr Charles Ryrie (The
Ryrie Study Bible: 1995. Moody)
writes that...
"an illustration of obedience to this command
(to make no provision for the flesh) is the book burning in
Acts 19:19."
And many of those who practiced magic brought
their books together and began burning them in the sight of all; and they
counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. (The
value of these books in today's dollar would be more than a million dollars
which underscores the prevalence of pagan occultism in Ephesus and also to the
wonderful power of the gospel light to overcome the darkness)
Don't be like the man who was delivered from his smoking habit
and took all of his
smoking paraphernalia (pipes, tobacco, etc) and buried it in his back yard and
then put a stone over the spot so that he would know where to dig in case he
couldn't hold out. He was making provision for his old flesh nature to gratify
the desires of that nature! And I'll bet he didn't hold out.
DO NOT DISREGARD THE POWER
OF OUR OLD SIN NATURE
We fail to grasp
the latent power inherent in our old nature (Ro 6:12-note,
Ro 7:5-note). We may even think our old nature
has been redeemed. Perish that thought. It is still the old nature (Gal 5:16-note,
Gal 5:17-note).
We have died to it's power but it's power is still it's power and we give it an
inch it will take a yard. Do not be deceived beloved brethren.
FOR THE FLESH IN REGARD TO ITS LUSTS: kai tes sarkos pronoian me
poieisthe (PAM) eis epithumias: (Gal 5:17-note;
Ep 2:3-note)
For the flesh - Literally the
Greek reads "and for the flesh take no forethought -- for desires."
In regard to (1519)
(eis) means into or in the direction of your lusts. The idea is -- Don't
be planning ahead in the direction of your evil desires. Don't
preoccupy yourselves with a view to satisfying lusts.
David understood that
"transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart;
there is no fear of God before his eyes…He plans wickedness upon his bed; he
sets himself on a path that is not good; he does not despise evil" (Ps
36:1, 4).
If you are really honest with yourself, you
know that to one degree or another, most wickedness which one commits is
"pre-meditated" or planned! The ungodly person does
not just "accidentally" stumble into sin but "plans to do evil".
Solomon recorded that...
He who plans to do evil, men will call him a
schemer.
(Pr 24:8).
The devout Puritan preacher
Thomas Manton (click for biographical
sketch written by
J. C. Ryle) wrote, "Every corruption has a voice,"
meaning that every sort of sin finds a way to bring itself to man's mind and
heart.
To feel the desire to sin is evidence of the PRESENCE of sin in us
(Ro 7:18-note).
To
fulfill that desire is evidence of the POWER of sin over us.
As long as we are
in our mortal bodies we will experience the PRESENCE of sin within us.
But at NO
time does a Christian have to yield to sin's POWER (Ro 6:11-note;
Ro 6:12-note,
Ro 6:13-note,
Ro 6:14-note).
Because we have the
PROVISION of Christ's own nature, His rich grace & His Holy Spirit within us, we
do not have to make PROVISION for the flesh by fulfilling its lusts (see
Col 1:27-note,
Gal 5:16-note,
Gal-note,
Ro 7:24-note,
Ro 7:25-note,
Ro 8:1-note,
Ro 8:2-note,
Ro 8:13-note;
Ro 8:26-note;
Ro 8:27-note)
Ron Mattoon...
Near Watsonville, California, there is a
creek that has a strange name: Salsipuedes Creek. Salsi puedes is
Spanish for "Get out of it, if you can." The creek is lined with quicksand, and
the story is that many years ago, in the early days of California, a Mexican
laborer fell into the quicksand. A Spaniard, riding by on a horse, saw him and
yelled out to him, "Salsi puedes!" which was not very helpful to the man
in distress. The creek has been so named ever since. That is what the flesh is
like. We struggle to correct our fleshly tendencies, to get out of the effects
of our sinful nature, but without the help of the Lord or a desire for spiritual
victory, we cannot do it. Stay away from the creeks of corruption and carnality.
Flesh (4561)
(sarx)
(Click
in depth study of
flesh)
is a word that is used with several different meanings in the NT, the specific
meaning being determined by the
contextual
use. In the present
context
the meaning of sarx is the moral and spiritual weakness and
helplessness of human nature still present even in redeemed souls. Even though
the old man (flesh) indeed has been hanged upon the tree of Calvary with
Christ, he still has the ability to influence you, distract you, tempt you, and
even defeat you. There will be times when you will allow the flesh to
control you, but it is always your choice. The flesh
cannot control us anymore on it’s own, as Paul explains in Romans 6:1-11 (see
notes
Ro 6:1-3;
6:4-5;
6:6-7;
6:8-10;
6:11).The
answer to flesh is not to try to repress these influences by your will
power. We must realize that our defense against the intrusion of the flesh
into our thinking is not our will power or our determination not to permit
these things, but it is rather a quiet resting back upon the power of the Holy
Spirit to meet the flesh whenever it appears and a dependence upon the
Spirit to do so.
Paul uses sarx 22 times (out of a total of 147 NT uses) in
the single book of Romans
(click uses) but not always with the same meaning.
Study the verses in context to
determine Paul's intended meaning because as alluded to in the notes above on "provision",
the meaning of "flesh" is critically dependent on the context. For the various meanings of sarx
in the NT, see study of "flesh"
in believers. Also see
chart contrasting in the flesh versus in the Spirit
Ron Mattoon
Beloved, our flesh will always oppose us, but
need not oppress us.
It will ever conflict, but need not conquer.
It will constantly harass and hassle, but
need not hinder or harness us because of the power of the Holy Spirit who
indwells every believer. Through the Holy Spirit we can get victory over our
flesh.
John Piper
describes flesh as used here in the context of Ro 13:14 as
the
old ego that is self-reliant and does not delight to yield to any authority or
depend on any mercy. Flesh craves the sensation of self-generated power
and loves the praise of men....in its conservative form it produces legalism --
keeping rules by its own power for its own glory.... (in its more liberal
form) produces grossly immoral attitudes and acts (Gal 5:19ff-note)
The Flesh is the proud and unsubmissive root of depravity in every human
heart which exalts itself subtly through proud, self-reliant morality, or
flaunts itself blatantly through self-assertive, authority-despising immorality."
(see
sermon Walk by the Spirit)
Flesh (still referring to its ethical/moral aspect) is that part of man's
nature which is centered upon self (remove the "h" and
spell flesh backwards...what do you have?) and is in
total opposition to God. Flesh is the ugly complex of human sinful
desires inherited from Adam (see Romans 5:12-note,
Ps 51:5) that includes the ungodly motives, affections,
principles, purposes, words, and actions that SIN (the "sin principle" inherited
from Adam) generates through the instruments or members
of our bodies (Ro 6:13-note). The flesh then is the old, corrupt nature which
incessantly cries out to be pampered with comfort, luxury, illicit sexual
indulgence, empty amusements, worldly pleasures, dissipation, materialism, etc. To live according to the flesh
is to be ruled and controlled by ("filled with") that evil nature (notes Ro 8:4-note;
Ro 8:5-note;
Ro 8:6-note,
Ro 8:7-note,
Ro 8:8-note;
Ro 8:9-note;
Ro 8:10-note,
Ro 8:11-note;
Ro 8:12-note). But because of Christ’s saving work on our behalf, the sinful
flesh no longer reigns as "master" over us (see Ro 6:6-note,
Ro 6:11-note,
Ro 6:12-note,
Ro 6:13-note,
Ro 6:14-note), to debilitate us and drag us back into the pit of
depravity into which we were all born.
Barnes
The gratification of the flesh was the main
object among the Romans. Living in luxury and licentiousness, they made it their
great object of study to multiply and prolong the means of licentious
indulgence. In respect to this, Christians were to be a separate people (i.e.,
"holy"), and to
show that they were influenced by a higher and purer desire than this groveling
propensity to minister to sensual gratification. It is right, it is a Christian
duty, to labour to make provision for all the real wants of life. But the real
wants are few and, with a heart disposed to be pure and temperate, the
necessary wants of life are easily satisfied, and the mind may be devoted to
higher and purer purposes.
Ron Mattoon on the fall of man...
Eve sees that this tree is good for food,
appealing to her flesh. Eve positioned herself to fall. She should have steered
clear of that tree. Our problem is the same. We struggle with sin because we
make provision for it to fulfill our lust and desires (Ro 13:14). Paul
admonishes us to walk in the Spirit and we will not fulfill the lust of the
flesh (Gal. 5:16). If we sow to the flesh we reap corruption (Gal. 6:8).
Lusts (1939)
(epithumia from epí
= upon, used intensively +
thumos
= "passion,
ardor" so literally is either "intensified"
passion or ardor.) (Click for in depth word study of
epithumia)
W. E. Vine
summarizes epithumia as follows:
epithumia denotes
"strong desire" of any kind, the various kinds being frequently
specified by some adjective (see below). The word is used of a good
desire only in Lu 22:15; Phil 1:23
[note];
1Thes 2:17
[note].
Everywhere else it has a bad sense. In Ro 6:12
[note] the
injunction against letting sin reign in our mortal body to obey the
"lust" thereof, refers to those evil desires which are ready to
express themselves in bodily activity. They are equally the "lusts" of
the flesh, Ro 13:14
[note];
Gal 5:16 [note],
Gal 5:24 [note];
Eph 2:3
[note];
2Pe 2:18
[note];
1Jn 2:16, a
phrase which describes the emotions of the soul, the natural tendency
towards things evil. Such "lusts" are not necessarily base and
immoral, they may be refined in character, but are evil if
inconsistent with the will of God.
Other descriptions besides
those already mentioned are: "of the mind," Ephesians 2:3
[note]; "evil
(desire)," Colossians 3:5
[note]; "the
passion of," 1Thessalonians 4:5
[note], RV; "foolish and
hurtful," 1Ti 6:9; "youthful," 2Ti 2:22
[note];
"divers," 2Ti 3:6
[note]; Titus 3:3
[note];
"their own," 2Ti 4:3
[note]; 2Pe
3:3
[note];
Jude 1:16;
"worldly,"
Titus 2:12 [note];
"his own," Jas 1:14 [note];
"your former," 1P 1:14
[note],
RV; "fleshly," 1Pe 2:11
[note];
"of men," 1Pe 4:2
[note];
"of defilement," 2Pe 2:10
[note]; "of the
eyes," 1Jn 2:16; of the world ("thereof"), 1Jn 2:17; "their own
ungodly," Jude 1:18. In Re 18:14 [note]
"(the fruits) which thy soul lusted after" is, lit., "of thy soul's
lust." (Vine,
W E: Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament
Words. 1996. Nelson)
Newell elaborates on "lusts":
"The
flesh has endless lusts and desires, —all clamoring for indulgence. Besides the
lower lusts, and our natural self-sparing slothfulness, there are all the forms
of self-pleasing: self-esteem, "sensitiveness, " love of praise, man-fearing,
fleshly amiability, flattery of others for selfish ends, pride, "dignity, "
impatience of non-recognition by others, sheer empty conceit, and a thousand
other "desires of the flesh, " for which no provision is to be made. Often we
can, if we will, see beforehand and shun circumstances that would give the flesh
an advantage to indulge itself. But it is only by putting on the Lord Jesus
Christ as the positive attitude of the soul, that we shall find ourselves able
and willing to refuse any provision for the flesh." (Romans 13)
(Comment: Don't miss what Newell is saying -- first put on Jesus, then
you are empowered to fight off the "desires of the flesh". Don't reverse the
order and attempt to take on the enemy in your power for the battle has always
been and will always be the Lord's!)
A survey of Discipleship Journal readers ranked areas of greatest
spiritual challenge to them:
1. Materialism
2. Pride
3. Self-centeredness
4. Laziness
5. (Tie) Anger/Bitterness
6. (Tie) Sexual lust
7. Envy
8. Gluttony
9. Lying
Survey respondents noted temptations were more potent when they had neglected
their time with God (81%) and when they were physically tired (57%). Resisting
temptation was accomplished by prayer (84%), avoiding compromising situations
(76%), Bible study (66%), and being accountable to someone (52%).
Easy-to-Read Commentary Series...
The final paragraph (Ro 13:11, 12, 13, 14) is
the high point of chapters twelve and thirteen. It is as if life were a great
football or soccer field with Ro 12:1, Ro 12:2 representing one goal and
13:11-14 the other goal. All of the scoring is done at these goals while the
game is played on the field. How we play the game on the field in everyday
challenges will determine the final outcome. In order to compete in the game, we
need both a strong offense and a tough defense. We must not underestimate our
opponents—the world, the flesh, and the devil—but more importantly, we must not
underestimate God's power that enables us to achieve final victory. "Thank God
that he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1Corinthians
15:57). These final four verses are a wakeup call for Christians everywhere. We
are in a real-life struggle against evil within and without, but God has fully
equipped and prepared us for each encounter. May the words of this passage call
many from darkness to light and stir God's people to a firm resolution to engage
in spiritual conflict in accordance with His commands. (Easy-to-Read Commentary
Series – Romans: Hope of the Nations)
Godet puts it this way...
We may now be convinced that the practical
treatise, which serves as a complement to the doctrinal, is not less
systematically arranged than the latter was. The four parts of which it is
composed: faith in the mercies of God as the basis of Christian life (Ro 12:1, 2);
the realization of this life in the two spheres, religious and civil, under the
supreme law of love (Ro 12:3-21 and Ro 13:1-10); finally, the eye of hope constantly
fixed on the coming of Christ as the spring of progress in sanctification
(Ro 13:11-14);—these four parts, we say, which may be reduced to three, bring us
without straining to Paul’s ordinary triad: faith, love, and hope (1Th. 1:3;
1Co 13:13, etc.). (Commentary
on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans. Page 450)
J. H. Jowett speaking against evil
desires, warns us that...
An entire army of unclean forces are
antagonistic to the exalted realm of the spirit.
Ray Stedman has an excellent summary of this section writing...
"You say,
"Because I died with Christ, I see that I no longer need to
permit this hot temper to rule my life, and I will appropriate Him. I will count
on Him for continual victory in the hour of temptation -- except when someone
does me dirt! If they go too far, I think that is justification to loose my
temper."
Well, that is
making provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires, you see. You rest on the
flood tide of His indwelling life (of Christ in you, of His Spirit enabling you) to keep you free from lust and passion -- but
occasionally you read a sex magazine just to see if you can resist it. That is
making provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
I had a friend who was a
printer, and one day a man brought to him a pornographic card to be printed, one
of those filthy, lewd things, which he wanted printed for his personal use. He
handed it to my friend, the printer, and he said, "I would like you to print
this for me. I will pay you extra well for it." The man looked at the card, saw
the nature of it, and handed it back, and said, "No, thank you. I don't print
this kind of stuff." The other fellow said, "Oh, come on now. Don't try to pull
this pious stuff with me. You know that you really enjoy this kind of thing.
Just be honest." And the printer looked at him, and said, "You're right. I do. I
have a nature which likes to feed upon this kind of thing, but I don't feed it!"
That is what Paul is saying here.
Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, take His
life, take all that He is and all the fullness of His being to be all that you
need, but, along with it, be sure that you are not making some subtle little
provision for the flesh to gratify its desire, because you can have all of His
life, all that you need, but you can't have it for your program.
That is
what he reminds us of here. "No," he says, "clothe yourself with His life." Put
on the Lord Jesus Christ, but remember it is never "Christ AND I"
-- it is "not I, BUT Christ." (Gal 2:20-note)
This is what the world is waiting to see.
Some of you have read the little booklet entitled
The Need of the Hour (read the 8 page booklet) that
Dawson Trotman, founder of the Navigators, wrote. He delivered this
message shortly before he died, and it has been printed and circulated around
the world. In that message, Trotman comes to this conclusion:
I believe that
the need of the hour is an army of soldiers dedicated to Jesus Christ who
believe not only that He is God but that He can fulfill every promise that He
has ever made and that there isn't anything too hard for Him."
I think he is right. I like Phillips' rendering of this fourteenth
verse:
Let us be Christ's men from head to foot, give no chances to the flesh
to have its fling. {Ro 13:14
Phillips Translation}
Do you know what will happen if you begin to do
that? All around you people will begin to see Jesus Christ in you, and their
lives will be changed. They will begin to feel His love and His concern for them
burning out through your heart to touch them, to help them, to pray with them,
to weep with them, to rejoice with them, to love them! You'll always be finding
yourself, somehow, at the right place, at the right time, with the right people,
saying the right thing. You will discover, as you look back, that your life has
become what God asks us to be: A light in the midst of a dark and perverse
generation." (Php 2:14-note)
Our Father, as we look at the world around
us, we are so aware of the truth of these words. How desperately the world needs
to see this kind of life lived; and the only place, Lord, that this kind of life
can be seen by other people around us is in the lives of men and women like us
where your life dwells. We pray, then, that these words may come home to us with
increasing meaning.
May we see that the secret is not the
struggle of our own life to do something, not some effort to approach men
through some knowledge of psychological principles, but rather the simple effect
of a life and a heart that is filled with the presence and the Person and the
glory of Jesus Christ.
May we feast upon Him, thank Him, dwell with
Him, live with Him, put Him on, and appropriate the fact that He indwells us and
is ours. Then, Paul tells us, our own life will be changed from glory to glory
into the same image (2Co 3:18), and people will begin to see Jesus Christ
walking in the midst of this twentieth century. Lord, we pray for this in Jesus'
Name. Amen. (Bolding added) (The Demand of the Hour)
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