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Romans 13:11–12a
And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand.
Paul now issues a call to action, a summons to the Romans to live lovingly toward all people. That is what he has in mind when he writes, “And do this. . .” He is not moving into a section of instruction on something else they must do. Rather, he is encouraging them to do what he already has taught, but to do it with a certain perspective. We might rephrase his words here in this way: “And do all of this with understanding of the time in which you live.”
The apostle’s words in this passage are often interpreted as references to the second coming of Christ. He speaks of salvation being nearer and of “the day” being at hand. Thus, many scholars conclude that Paul is calling his readers to get busy showing the love of God because there isn’t much time left—God is about to lower the curtain on history. However, the Greek word translated “time” in this passage is not chronos, which has to do with a sequence of moments, the passage of time. It is kairos, which refers to “meaningful time” or “a time holding unusual opportunity,” according to Dr. James M. Boice. He adds: “The time Paul is concerned about is not some future time when the Lord Jesus Christ will return, but rather the present time. And he is concerned that we understand it and use it wisely.”
What exactly are we to understand? Consider Paul’s words: “Now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand.” In this passage, Paul uses the words our salvation as a synonym for the completion of God’s redemptive work in us. Since we have been foreknown, predestined, called, and justified, the next step in the process, the final step, glorification, is drawing inevitably nearer (Rom. 8:29–30). The night of our struggle against our sinful natures is waning; the day of deliverance from all our propensity to rebel against the God we love is drawing nigh. Soon, He will call us home to Himself, then to finish His great work in us. And if that is the case, it is only proper that we be “wide awake,” zealously striving to live as God calls us to live. All too often Christians are slumbering, living in ways that render them indistinguishable from spiritually dead unbelievers. How wrong! Given what God has done and will yet do in us, we ought to be about the business of living in a loving way toward all people.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
In a few years (at most), your life will draw to a close. For believers, however, the twilight of this life will yield to a new and glorious morning as God brings them to Himself. In this time between justification and glorification, we ought to be training ourselves in righteous living. Pray for understanding of the ways in which you need to “wake up.”
For Further Study
- Romans 3:26
- 1 Corinthians 4:5
- Galatians 1:4
- Ephesians 5:16