ROMANS 13:11-14

I have previously analyzed the literary structure of Romans 12-13 as shown in Figure 1, in which 13:11-14 is parallel in thought to the introduction to chapter 12

                                     Figure 1: Organization of Romans 12-13

A. Be transformed (12:1-2)

B. Love within the body (12:3-13)

C. Attitude toward enemies (12:14-21)

                                    C'. Attitude toward authorities (13:1-7)

B'. Love for neighbor (13:8-10)

A'. Put on Christ (13:11-14)

We can thus view A' as an expansion of A in that it describes such a transformation in more detail in terms of a moving from the spiritual darkness into God's light. This movement is expressed over and over again in 13:11-14, as diagrammed below:

                                         Figure 2: Organization of Romans 13:11-14

wake from sleep (11)

        night is almost gone (12a)

day is near (12b)

        works of darkness (12c)

put on the armor of light (12d)

live as in the day (13a)

        not as in the night (13b)

Put on Christ (14a)

        make no provision for the flesh (14)

Below are some additional comments from scholars regarding these four verses:

Romans 13:11

“The return of Christ makes it urgent to wake to holy and honorable living (I Thess 5:1-11; Eph 5.8-18).” (Elliott)

As to what time period is being referred to, the note in the Jerusalem Bible explains, “The thought is a fundamental one in Paul's moral teaching. The 'time' (kairos) is apparently the eschatological era, called in the Bible the 'latter days', introduced by Christ's death and resurrection and coextensive with the age of the Church on earth, the age of salvation, 2 Co 6:2+. It is opposed to the era that preceded it by a difference not so much of time as of nature. The Christian, henceforward a 'child of the day' emancipated from the wicked world, Ga 1:4 and from the empire of darkness, belongs to the kingdom of God and of his Son, Col 1:13; he is already a citizen of heaven, Ph 3:20. This entirely new status dominates the whole moral outlook, cf. 6:3f.”

Romans 13:12

Morris: “Paul does not explain what the night is, but clearly he is referring to this present life as in some sense lived in darkness. But the consummation of which he has just spoken indicates that the night will not last forever; indeed, in view of what Christ has done in bringing light and salvation it is far advanced. 'The day has drawn near' does not mean that the parousia [i.e. second coming] is imminent but that after Christ all history 'must be of the nature of an epilogue' (Cranfield).”

Romans 13:13

And to drill into the organization of Figure 2 a little further, note that there are exactly six examples of sinful behavior listed in v. 13b. This is significant because in biblical symbology that number signifies something incomplete since it is one shy of the “perfect” number seven (as in the number of the beast as a trinity of imperfection, 666).

Note that these six sinful behaviors are further broken down into three pairs of similar activities:

    a. orgies and drunkenness

    b. sexual immorality and debauchery

    c. dissension and jealousy

Here are some selections from Barclay's definition of these six sins:

Revelry (komos) – “This is an interesting word. Originally a komos was the band of friends who accompanied a victor home from the games, singing his praises and celebrating his triumph as they went. Later it came to mean a noisy band of revellers who swept their way through the city streets at night...It describes the kind of revelry which lowers a man's self and is a disturbance and nuisance to others.”

Drunkenness (methe) – “Especially to the Greeks, drunkenness was a particularly disgraceful thing...This was a vice which not only a Christian but any respectable heathen would also have condemned.” And my personal experiences in college indicate that these first two activities usually go hand in hand.

Immorality (koite) – “The word has in it the meaning of the desire for the forbidden bed. This was the typical heathen sin. It is true to say that chastity was unknown; it is almost true today that it had not begun to be thought of as a virtue. The word brings to mind the man who sets no value on fidelity, and who takes his pleasure when and where he will.”

Shamelessness (aselgeia) – “Aselgeia is one of the ugliest words in the Greek language. It does not describe only immorality; it describes the man who is lost to shame. Most people seek to conceal their evil deeds, and try to sin in secret; but the man in whose heart there is aselgeia is long past that. He does not care who sees him.”

Contention (eris) – “Eris is the spirit that is born of unbridled and unholy competition. It comes from the desire for place and power and prestige, from the hatred of being surpassed, from the inability and unwillingness to take the second place.”

Romans 13:14

As often occurs in New Testament documents, there is some disagreement between different manuscripts regarding the exact wording when referring to the names of God or Christ. In this case, the preferred reading, according to Metzger and others, is that found in the earliest text, “Jesus Christ our Lord.” Other variations in some later manuscripts include “Lord Jesus” and “Christ Jesus.” Whichever option one chooses does not really change the meaning of the verse at all.

Elliott states that the reference to putting on Christ was “an early Christian metaphor for baptism (Gal 3.27).” And Knox adds, “To put on the Lord Jesus Christ is to enter fully into the new order of existence which God has created through Christ...”