THE URGENT CALL TO HORIZONTAL LOVE
Romans
13:8-14
Love is a demonstration of fulfilling the Law through the finished work of Christ on the cross. Brian Chappell said in his commentary “Mere outward conformity to the Law is not what God requires. The person who does what God says with a resentful heart and begrudging obedience does not bear the mark of the true child of Light. The heart renewed by the Spirit desires to please God, is anxious to find out what He desires, and is motivated by the sense of bringing God pleasure.” And it’s this love that has called the church to wake up while they still have opportunity. Godly love does not harm their neighbor Godly love fulfills the law and this love is to be taken seriously as you and I become more and more like our Savior. We are surrounded by sinful practices from all sides; we are not immune to the dangers around us, and Paul knows this to be true.
Paul says “you know the time” (v11)
There is dangers that can cause the child of God to become desensitized and makes us accept what we should abhor; or what displeases to God. Paul says, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ” Why? The answer is found in (v11-v13) We are living in a time where immorality is praised in the home, our towns, communities, cities, in public institutions, health centers, and mostly in Government. We are living in a time where according newly released results from Ligonier Ministries on their “State Of Theology” survey of the Evangelical church, are almost half confused on the simplest of doctrinal truth.
According to their Study here are some of their polling results.
65%
believe God changes
60%
believe God accepts worship of all religions.
53%
believe Jesus was not God.
79%
believe Jesus was created by God.
75%
believe people are good by nature.
51%
believe gender identity is a choice.
47%
believe homosexuality is okay.
That is very concerning for pastors and more so, to what I found in my twitter feed this week. I came across a response of a woman who claimed to be a Christian responding to another person’s post. This woman who claims Christianity said…..
I am a Christian and I believe proselytizing
is violence against another.
I am a Christian and believe LGBTQ+ people
are divine and should lead us.
I am a Christian and I learn a lot from
people who do not share my faith.
I am a Christian and I don’t go to church.
I am a Christian and I don’t believe the
Bible is the Word of God.
I am a Christian, and I embrace sex-positivity which includes but isn’t limited to sex outside of marriage.
Again these are scary statements that demonstrate possibly a good number of people seating the pews of churches. George Whitefield said, “The Christian world is in a deep sleep. Nothing but a loud voice can waken them out of it!” There is good reason why Paul expresses urgency towards the church. Paul is calling the church to “Wake up” because the times are evil and the gospel is the hope for lost sinners. The church is to be awake to what matters the most because the end is near. “Awake” is referring to a…unconsciousness, inactivity and unresponsiveness concerning the things of God. This same urgent cry was given to the church of Ephesus. “Therefore it says, "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Eph 5:14-21
What does Paul mean when he says “The days are
evil?”
During this time there were corruption, debauched living, paganism and ramped heresies plaguing the church and the families of God. We know this to be true by what we read in Eph 4:14. Greediness, dishonesty, and immorality was a way of life for the city of Ephesus and it was permeating into the church and this was a great concern for Paul and the witness of the gospel there. Eph 5:3-6. Understand, Rome was persecuting Christians and was becoming more intense than it has ever been. Christians were burned alive, thrown to wild beasts, and brutalized on many occasions in many other ways. And Paul is saying we are to demonstrating a love for others despite our present condition. The time is now, not tomorrow; because tomorrow will come in its rightful hour, if the Lord choses to give us tomorrow. This brings urgency to this matter of loving on the level. Believers are to wake up from spiritual laziness and love our neighbor while we have opportunity. Remember what the Psalmist wrote, “This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24. What Paul is urgently conveying here is that our time on this earth is limited. We have but a vapor, brief opportunity, to obey now, and not later. Why? A very wise theologian said “Whatever God establishes, Satan will counterfeit. Where God established true love, Satan produces counterfeit love.”
Counterfeit love characterizes Satan’s children, those who are of the world. True love characterizes God’s children, those who are citizens of Heaven. The visible church is supposed to represent Christ and the gospel to a lost world under the bondage of sin and Satan. The church is to represent not just outwardly, but an inward change that is drastically different between the lifestyles of a Christian and the people of the world. It’s when we compromise for the sake of this world the church doesn’t look like Christ, but like this world for which Christ came to save us from.
And if Paul was being urgent then,
how much urgent do you think today is?
We are never to squander the time given to fill it up with our desires, complaints, and our conformity. “Time” is “Kairos” in the Greek; it means “an era, epoch (a period of time), or age. The same word was used Matt 16:1-3, when the Pharisee’s tried to test Jesus. “And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, "When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' And in the morning, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” These men were so blind of the time period to which they lived. They were ignorant to the fact that the Redeemer; the incarnate Son of God, was standing before them. They did not recognize Him or accept anything He taught or did, even though they were living in a time of redemption. Here is the urgency! The time we live in requires vigilance, alertness and diligence. While the rest of the church slumbers and sleeps, we are to rise above the time as a body for sake of the gospel. The present time is the age of salvation that has come in the person of Jesus Christ. Salvation is equivalent of being rescued from darkness and transferred into the kingdom of God. “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Col 1:13-14. This speaks of our position in Christ now, but it also is speaking of a future position that we wait for. The Hebrew writer comforts the believer with this future promise. “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” Heb 9:27-28
“For salvation is nearer to
us now
than we first believed” (v11)
What is Paul saying here? The salvation that is nearer to you and me is referring to a future and final dimension of redemption. Referring to Glorification, when we final are removed from these sinful bodies. Paul has already given us this future hope earlier. “..we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” Romans 8:23. We are closer to that reality then we were yesterday. It’s this reality that encourages our heart to living accordingly to His will and for His glory. The Hebrew wrote that we are to stir up one another with this future hope. “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Heb 10:24-25.
James said we are to “strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” James 5:7-8. Paul says this salvation is so nearer, that we are to ready because we will all stand before him, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” 2 Cor 5:10. Though there is no condemnation for those in Christ, but there will be a judgment of our efforts on behalf of His Kingdom. This will happen when He “..will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.” 1 Cor 4:5
R C Sproul wrote in his commentary on this salvation that is so near, “The verb Paul uses here means “to save.” The Greek word appears in the biblical text in every possible tense indicating a sense in which we are being saved and a sense in which we have been saved. The simple aorist tense is rendered “you are saved” The present tense is rendered “you are being saved” and the future tense reads “you shall be saved.” The future perfect is rendered “you shall have been saved”. Salvation is unfolded biblically in all those increments. Therefore, in the ultimate sense, we do not experience salvation the moment we are born again; that is just one aspect of salvation. The fullness of our salvation will not take place until our glorification when we enter into heaven.”
This is what Paul is reminding you and me to awake up to. Don’t lose focus of what is to come with the all the distractions here on earth. This is the believer’s hope of glorification and our crown of glory. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” Titus 2:11-14. It’s for this promise, we are to be alert and ready, while the world is sleeping and enjoying their sin. It’s for this reason we are to walk properly, we are to be different by “casting off” and replacing it with “putting on”
Do you see the warning here
and the urgency to
why Paul says what he says? (v12)
The night is almost gone and daylight is coming. “Night” means that man’s time of spiritual unbelief, rebellion, ignorance, and pleasures of sin is about to end. And God’s judgment, glory, and righteousness, is about to begin. “day” usually indicates the dawning of a new day; and the day of Christ’s return will be that dawning day and its closer to you me; then it was yesterday. As Prov 18:9 says, “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.” The common course of the believer’s life or actions is pure and spotless, clear and certain, safe and comfortable, as light is. Matthew Poole wrote, “just men do daily more and more grow in knowledge, and grace, and consolation, until all be perfected and swallowed up in glory”. The night reveals man’s inhumanity towards one another gets worse and worse, “..while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
2 Tim 3:13
In the Book of Job we see a clear picture of what darkness produces. “There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths. The murderer rises before it is light, that he may kill the poor and needy, and in the night he is like a thief. The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye will see me'; and he veils his face. In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light. For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.” Job 24:13-17. People love darkness because it conceals them from exposure, but when they are brought into the fullness of the day, they will be known for who they are. There is a day coming that will shine all the brighter to reveal such evil and it will be judged swiftly. But that day for the believer, it will fully complete our salvation for all eternity.
We sin by choice, we voluntarily
put on
these clothing of evil.
Paul is saying the Gospel saves and we have the ability to lay aside sin, because Christ has paid the penalty for my sin. We cast off because we have the eternal hope of the Son who will completely fulfill our salvation in a future time. But while you wait with joy and anticipation; you put on Christ and make no previsions to fulfill the desires of your sinful flesh. “Put on” which is referring to the armor of God as good soldiers. This armor is made for warfare, not for show, its purpose is to protect the one wearing it. What does that look like? Well, one country preacher said, “If we desire to overcome drunkenness, we best not tie our horse to the post in the front of the saloon.” What that old time preacher and what Paul are saying here is that, “we are not to make provisions to fulfill the desires of our flesh.” The reformer Martin Luther said so eloquently, “I cannot keep sparrows from flying about my head, but I can keep them from making a nest in my hair.” We are not to make provisions or accommodate the old sinful nature of our past desires. We are not to provide opportunities for our sin. We are to provide, take care of our souls, by putting on strength to endure. The Christian who wants to love must set aside such pursuit of harmful pleasures. (v13) “Where the world classifies these as good times” The Christian who is not living a holy and obedient life is a Christian who does not comprehend the significance of the Lord’s return and the completion of your salvation. We must put on Christ if we are going to love others on the level that Christ loved us. Don’t lose focus to what we are witnessing in opening verses, without considering the rest of this chapter, but look at others in the light of Christ. Don’t lose focus to our future where our salvation will be fully complete. As Paul said to the church at Philippi, “And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Phil 1:6
Paul said to Titus, “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:3. We are children of light, so walk as children of light and not darkness. Use the time we have left to demonstrate our reasonable worship by using our time to exemplify Christ towards our neighbor. Who is our neighbor? Everyone mentioned in this chapter. Putting on Christ is a purposeful decision, not something that happens automatically. Putting on Christ is like having an emblem placed on your chest that reminds everyone, those who observe us, and us, that we belong to Christ. Putting on Christ is the standard to which we live by, because we a closer to our salvation than when we first walked into this sanctuary. While we wait, we are to love horizontally until that day is fulfilled, perfected, in Christ. This is why we love!
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