Romans 13:12

Rom_13:12

The night is far spent, the day is at hand.

The night and the day

These words contain--

I. A representation of this life and of the life to come.

1. This life is the night. Our condition in this state is one of--

(1) Ignorance. What feeble conceptions have we of God! What mistakes do we make respecting the methods of Divine grace. He who knows most confesses that we know in part, and prophesy in part.

(2) Danger. In the night of this life your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Nor is he a solitary agent. Besides, how many natural ills surround us!

(3) Trouble.

2. The next life is day. Heaven will be a day of--

(1) Knowledge. Good men will there see things as they are, God as He is, and know even as they are known.

(2) Safety.

(3) Happiness (Rev_7:15-17).

II. An admonition of the departure of the former, and of the approach of the latter. We are informed of this fact by--

1. Revolving periods of time.

2. The doctrines of the gospel. There is not one of them which does not terminate in heaven. Christians are justified and sanctified that they may be capacitated to enjoy heaven.

3. The ordinances of the gospel. Why do we unite in songs of praise, but in the hope of ere long uniting in the praises of heaven?

4. Surrounding objects, combined with our own bodily infirmities. (Essex Congregational Remembrancer.)

The night and the day

You have here a view of life opposite to the one taken by our Lord. Speaking of what is coming He says, The night cometh, and speaking of what now is, Work while it is called day. He looks upon us as labourers in the field, who, when the night comes, must leave their work done or undone, which must stand till the great light comes again to show exactly how it was left. Paul, however, regards us as soldiers in a campaign. The night is come, and we have encamped for the night; the uniform is laid off; some are sitting round the campfire, some are walking about, some are playing tricks, some are doing what they would not dare to do in the day. A voice is heard, The night is far spent--put on your armour, be ready.

I. The present darkness.

1. Suppose you are on a hill, say a mile from the Thames. It might be that you could neither see the river nor the objects on it, but that would not prove that they did not exist. The only fact is that they and you are in darkness. Light does not create things; it only makes them manifest. So we are dwelling in the midst of ten thousand grand and mysterious realities, but we do not see them because of the shadows that lie on our souls.

2. By misapprehension we are liable in the dark to take the distant for the near, the little for the great, the common for the valuable, and vice versa. As the armour is scattered in the night the breastplate looks no brighter than the trunk of a tree, the helmet than a stone, etc. And the things which are symbolised by these pieces of armour do not always seem to us of their proper value. There is the girdle of truth--of unutterable price and value; but in this dim world men think that an ingenious deception is better. The breastplate of righteousness--why, many a man thinks more of a royal or municipal decoration. The helmet of salvation--many a woman prefers a new bonnet to that.

3. The dark brings us false anticipations. When a man walketh in the darkness he knoweth not whither he goeth. A man looking into the dark forms an incorrect estimate of what is before him. He has no power to calculate where he will be after five steps or ten. This is pre-eminently the condition of the man who is going straight towards eternity.

4. Darkness is often the time of dreaming. The sleeping soldier dreams probably not of battlefields, but of sheepfolds, etc.; and in the midst of the dream bursts in the cry, To arms! So it may be that thy imagination is full of a life to be that never will be; with plans for this very year that will never be carried out.

II. The coming day. The night is far spent. I know not in your case how far. The reason why we are in the dark is that this part of the world is turned away from the sun, and we are sitting in the shadow of our own world. And so the reason why we do not see God and heaven is simply because we have turned away from that side of heaven. Absence from the Lord is night-time; the presence of the Lord is the break of day. All you know is by faith; but the time of sight is coming. The moment is fixed, but God will never tell it. But it is at hand! The Judge is at the door.

III. The duty to which we are called.

1. Cast off the works of darkness--everything that people will venture to do in the dark, but not in the light. Even here we have certain lamps--dim, it is true--but which cast light on our affairs. The lamp of--

(1) Civil law. Is there anything in your action that if brought out to a court of justice would be stamped as guilty?

(2) Commercial integrity. Many a thing that would escape the former lamp would, if brought to this, appear odious. Is there in your ways anything that, if subjected to the keen eye of half a dozen honourable men, would be pronounced mean and shabby?

(3) Domestic honour. Many a thing that will escape the other two would look very vile under this. Is there aught in thee which would appear shameful in the eyes of those who love thee?

(4) Church discipline. Is there anything that, if brought under the knowledge of your brethren, would compel them to say, It is sin? Cast them all off,

2. Put on the armour of light. Look at the man who has got the polished shield, breastplate, etc., etc. As long as it is night they look poor and common; but when the great sun begins to play, look at them, how they shine in the light! Everything beautiful welcomes the light; and righteousness, peace, truth, etc., are akin to the light. Dont say, There they are, I can find them when I seek them; or, I shall have time enough when the alarm is sounded; or, I know some one who will get them for me. Put them on, so that when the day dawns you may be ready. But the day has not broken yet. No; if it had you would have had no time to put the armour on. But I have no armour, no girdle of righteousness, etc. Then put on the Lord Jesus Christ--there is all the armour you need. (W. Arthur, M.A.)

The departing night and coming day

I. The fact stated. The apostle reverses the sense in which our Lord uses these words (Joh_9:4). Jesus contrasts the present scene with the darkness of the grave, while the apostle contrasts it with the bright heaven that lies beyond it.

1. The night is a picture of the Christians present state. In comparison with other men, and with his own former condition, he is in broad day. But the apostle is not thinking of these things. As he contemplates eternity, he feels that believers are all still in darkness. And the figure accords with our own experience and feelings. Night is a season of cheerlessness, incertitude, perplexity, inaction, and danger. Who is there that does not feel his spiritual condition here to be the same? But it is our ignorance that this figure most forcibly represents. Night throws a veil over the face of things. The traveller may be passing through the most beautiful scenes, but he might almost as well be going over a desert. So with us. What do we know of the things we most wish to know? Ours, however, is not a night of total darkness. The stars shine above us, and something like the mild, steady rays of an unclouded moon reach us; but it is night still, and we long for the shadows to flee away.

2. The day signifies heaven. There shall be no night there. Nothing to endanger, impede, bewilder, or distress. Everything we wish done away with here shall be done away with there. And there shall all which we have so long wished to see come--sunshine, brightness, beauty, and happiness. Travel on a bright day through a beautiful country, with the glorious sun shining, and all nature exulting in his shining. Then transfer this scene to heaven. There shines in unclouded splendour the Sun of Righteousness. This glorious light is ever shining on the most glorious objects, and we shall behold these objects, and the same light on ourselves shall cause us to shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of our Father. Now this day is near.

II. The advice given is grounded on the fact stated. Let us cast off, etc.

1. Before, however, we can do this, there is something else to be done. Paul has in his mind a man asleep, who must in the first instance awake. Like a fellow-traveller or a fellow-soldier who has risen before us, Paul announces the approaching morning, and bids us rise. Now all this supposes that Christians may sink into a state of spiritual negligence, sloth, and torpor. And it shows us that out of such a state we must be roused before we can obey this exhortation.

2. We are to cast off the works of darkness, so called, because they court secrecy, and because they are connected with the prince of darkness. It is impossible to fall into a state of spiritual indifference without getting some of these unclean things upon us. And they are to be got rid of in the first place. There is not a greater delusion than to think we can be clothed in the graces of Christs Spirit while we are holding fast any beloved sin. As to our bodies, we may put a clean garment over an unclean one, but we can never get our minds imbued with any one Christian grace as long as we are harbouring any one unchristian lust. Hence we are to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, in order to perfect holiness in the fear of God.

3. The roused-up man is addressed as a warrior, and told to put on the armour of light,

(1) The source of this is Divine. Like the light, holiness is heaven-born. As evil desires and works proceed from Satan in his dark world, so all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works, proceed from God in His bright world. This armour is a part of Gods own nature. He is Light--glorious in holiness; His purity gives Him His splendour. So when He communicates His holiness to us, He communicates with it a portion of His own glory. We look for safety and victory only from the armour He gives us, but that armour dignifies us as we go forth to the fight in it.

2. This holiness accords well with the heaven to which we are going. It is light, something harmonising with the splendid day which is soon to break on us. The expression intimates meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light. (C. Bradley, M.A.)

Day at hand

I. The night--

1. Of time and mystery.

2. Of sin and sorrow.

3. Of individual experience.

II. The day--

1. Of eternity and revelation.

2. Of righteousness and salvation.

3. Of final decision.

III. The departure of one and the near approach of the other--

1. Evident.

2. A call to activity. (J. Lyth, D.D.)

Preparation for the day

I. What we are to cast off.

1. Works that consisted with a time of ignorance.

2. That will not bear the light.

3. That spring from darkness.

II. What are we to put on?

1. Armour, offensive, defensive.

2. Of light.

III. Why? Because the night, etc. (J. Lyth, D.D.)

Preparation for the day

I. The fact asserted.

1. In reference to Rome and the heathen world at large, the night of Gentile ignorance and vice was far spent, and the day of gospel knowledge, grace, and blessing was at hand.

2. In reference to the Christian Church at Rome, the night of imperfect acquaintance with the gospel was far spent, and the clear day of spiritual light was at hand.

3. In reference to each individual Christian, whosoever and wheresoever he may be, the night of temptation, trial, and trouble is far spent, and the day of heavenly glory and bliss is at hand.

II. The exhortation founded on this fact.

1. From the practice of all sin. The dress to be cast off is the works of darkness, so called because--

(1) Their source is darkness.

(2) Their scene of action is darkness, as far as man can render it so.

(3) Their end is the blackness of darkness for ever! Sin must return to the place from whence it came; and woe to him who shall be found in its company at the time!

2. To the pursuit of all holiness. Let us put on the armour of light. In Eph_6:13-17 he enumerates the several particulars of the Christian armour.

But it is more briefly described in verse 14.

1. Make the example of Christ your pattern.

2. Seek for union with Christ as your strength. (J. Jowett, M.A.)

The dawn

The whole time between His first coming and His second may be looked at as the dawn, the daybreak; light still struggling with darkness, the darkness only slowly receding, but yet ever receding--retreating step by step, and pierced through and through as it retreats by the glittering shafts of the true king of day. (Abp. Trench.)

Put on the armour of light.--

The armour of light is

1. Divine in its origin.

2. Excellent in its nature.

3. Essential in its adoption.

4. Invincible in its use. (J. Lyth, D.D.)

The armour of light

Religion is the best armour a man can have, but the worst cloak. (Bunyan.)

The armour of light

It is a habit of the Apostle Paul to present almost everything in its dual aspect--e.g., the flesh fails and corrupts; the spirit quickens and nourishes; sin condemns and slays; grace justifies, purifies, saves; death is swallowed up of life. Here is the same method in another of its applications. There is one who is told the night is almost gone; that the morning is coming, that it is time to put off all the works of darkness, and to stand waiting for the glow of the sunrise. And he wishes to do it. But how hard the work is! How difficult to distinguish! These works of darkness are not all wicked and horrible. They are things that may be helpful or inimical, according to circumstances. And here I stand, one has to think, in the dark, to watch against evil, to put it away, to keep it away. No! you would have little chance of coming out of it into morning in that way--in the way simply of resistance to evil by inward strength and wisdom. Our apostle never proposes action in that way. He had tried it, and knew what it ended in. Try it, saith he, in this way. Put off; and in the same act, put on. Put on what? Not the works of light, although he might have said that with propriety; but the armour of light--thus conveying to us the sentiment that Christian faith, in proportion as we live in it, and Christian virtues, in proportion as we put them on, become a soldiers armour. Live the Christian life fully, and you will become like an armed man. Put on this armour, then. It can be done easily, quietly. Many a gentle soul is clad in it. Many a battle is fought and won without dust, or noise, or blood--by soul-confidence; by heart faith; by patient waiting; by looking to Christ; by longings for heaven. Courage! you who are striving, and you who are weary, and you who are longing for more than you can express. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. (A. Raleigh, D.D.)

The armour of light

I. Its nature.

1. The military girdle, that which was intended to give support and firmness to the body: Having your loins girt about with truth--i.e., absolute sincerity in the consecration of ourselves to the service of Christ, our great Head.

2. The breastplate of righteousness: all holiness, inward and outward. And as the breastplate defended the vital parts, so whatever injuries we may sustain, they cannot reach the conscience while this breastplate is there. And when the conscience is kept pure, all is safe.

3. Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. This refers to the greaves and shoes, which were designed to give a firm footing and to guard against hidden traps. No man is in a state of preparation for the Christian conflict but he who is at peace with God. But pardoning love and regenerating grace, having set the man free from sin, give him firm ground, and enable him, standing fast in the Lord and the power of His might, to beat down every enemy that assails him.

4. The shield of faith, the use of which is to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one: in allusion to those firebrands which were sometimes shot along with the arrows, or to the arrows themselves, the iron heads of which had been previously heated, in order to inflict more intolerable pain. This shield quenches the fiery darts

(1) Of persecution.

(2) Of temptation and affliction.

5. An helmet the hope of salvation. It defends the head, the very vital part. Despair chills exertion.

6. The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

(1) Our Lord Himself has given us an instance of its defensive power in His own temptation.

(2) But the Christian is to carry on an offensive warfare by zealously and consistently, on all proper occasions, proclaiming the truth of God.

II. Why it is called the armour of light.

1. With reference to its origin, which is heavenly. It is therefore well called the whole armour of God. Though it is true that sincerity, righteousness, faith, suppose acts of the will, and a certain state of the affections, yet, nevertheless, they are wrought in man by God, and are found only in the regenerate.

2. Because it is only found where Christianity exists and exerts its proper influence. No man is seen in the armour of light but a true Christian. We find no instance in which the philosophy of ancient times made a warrior such as the apostle describes, armed him with armour like this, and led him on to victory. St. Paul tried whether Pharisaism would do; so that, touching the righteousness of the law, he was blameless. Yet he was held in the bondage of pride, and prejudice, and anger. Take our modern infidel philosopher, with reason and virtue on his lips, and with pride, selfishness, and passion in his heart.

3. Because it corresponds with the character of our dispensation, which is a dispensation of light.

III. The motives which should induce us to array ourselves in this armour. Consider--

1. The degraded state of the man who is not invested with it.

2. The moral elevation which it gives to every one who is invested with it.

3. That you must either conquer or be conquered. (R. Watson.)

A luminous character

Humboldt tells us that, after bathing among the noctilucae in the phosphorescent water of the Pacific, his skin was luminous for hours after. In a spiritual sense, is it not true that when we bathe, so to speak, mind and heart in the truths and influences of Christianity, allowing, seeking their appropriate effect upon us, the whole character shines with a heaven-given light and beauty, that we can bear about with us into the common scenes and daily duties of life?

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL NOTES

Rom_13:12. Night.—Time of Mosaic law, previous to Christ’s first coming. Time of ignorance of God. The whole of life in this world, in comparison with the kingdom of glory. Night the heathen condition of Rome. Consummated triumph over the night of evil. Armour consisting in the power and disposition of light, truth, and righteousness. Roman armour kept bright.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Rom_13:12

Proper equipment.—It is proper that the children of light should put on the armour of light. There is a charm about that which is suitable and proper. The painting is attractive which is in harmony with our feeling and is the expression of our unformulated thoughts. A piece of music delights when it pleasantly touches the emotions and finds its echo in our natures. Nature clothes herself in colours suitable to the varying seasons. And the children of light should be arrayed in that which is suitable to the character. They must cast off the works of darkness. Nothing dark, unholy, or degrading should appear. They must put on the armour of light, stand ready for defence, and appear as those who can grace the company of followers who shall attend the Lord Jesus.

I. The Christian’s state is one of preparation.—The foolish virgins who had no oil in their lamps were to blame. Their sin was one of omission. They could have provided oil, and yet failed. We are exhorted to prepare ourselves, to be in a state of preparation, and we shall be without excuse if we refuse to obey. God’s storehouse is open and available. In the Tower of London we look at the armour, but we are not permitted to touch. In God’s tower there is a large supply of armour, and each may therefrom supply his need. If at the last day we are asked why we have not on the armour of light, we shall be speechless. As summer draws nigh nature puts on her brightest hues and gayest colours. The lightsome season of the Saviour’s second advent draws nigh. Winter’s chilling frosts, howling blasts, and tossing tempests are disappearing; the sun seems to show fresh power, and sails along the azure sky with renewed splendour. We must be ready and clothed with light for the lightsome season. The Bridegroom is coming; the lights are in the distance; the music is sounding. Our hearts answer to the glad summons.

II. The Christian’s state is one of development.—All great things are gradual in their development. The tree of rapid growth does not produce valuable timber, while the tree of slow growth becomes a prize in the market. The Christian character is great, and one which is not to be rapidly formed. Like the good tree, the Christian must gather strength and beauty alike from the winter’s storms and the summer’s gentle gale. There are sudden conversions. St. Paul was suddenly converted, but he says, “Let us cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light.” Conversion is the starting-point. It sets the man forth on a new career. He then begins to cast away the works of darkness. The more rapidly it is done the better. Justification is instantaneous, while sanctification is gradual. It may be objected that the dying thief went straight to paradise, and passed through no long periods of discipline. But we cannot tell what experiences were gone through in the short interval between the thief’s conversion and his entrance into paradise. Further, we are not to judge God’s ordinary rules of procedure by His extraordinary. Neither in nature nor in grace does the infinite Worker proceed by leaps, bounds, and surprises. We see method and gradual processes. If there be “faults” and dislocations, they may be taken as the exceptions which prove the rule. The Christian life is not a stagnant existence, but a growth—not a leap, but a walk—not a startling bound, but a development, a gradual and secret unfolding.

III. The Christian’s state is one of glory.—It is a mistake to suppose that all the glory of the Christian character is to be referred to the future of eternity. There is glory in the present. Is not the light glorious? Natural, intellectual, and moral light are all glorious. The glory of God is seen in the fact that He dwells in light inaccessible. The glory of Jesus Christ is set forth in the circumstance that He is the light of the world. The mountain is glorious when the sun shines full upon it, and brings out to view its grandeur and beauty. The Christian is glorious when arrayed in the armour of light which reflects the glory of the eternal Light. Doddridge well explains: “The armour of light of those Christian graces which, like burnished and beautiful armour, would be at once an ornament and a defence, that which would reflect the bright beams that were so gloriously rising upon them. The Christian army should stand like soldiers ready for the battle with all their armour brightly polished. The glory is manifest as there shines upon them the bright beams of the Sun of righteousness.”

IV. The Christian’s state is one of safety.—The Christian is safe when he is rightly armed and makes a wise use of his weapons—when his frame is strengthened, his arm nerved, and his hand directed by the Holy Spirit. The sword of the Spirit is not like the swords of this world. This sword may be successfully used by the weak and feeble, if there be strong faith and earnest prayer. The Christian is safe as he puts on the armour of light and keeps it in constant wear. He is protected behind and before. When the king of Israel went up to Ramoth Gilead to battle, a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness. The armour of light is so constructed that no arrow can pierce the joints so as to destroy. On the moral battle-plains not one of God’s royal sons can be slain. The Christian soldier may fall, but he only falls to rise victorious.

V. The Christian’s state should be one of cheerfulness.—It is a cheerful thing to dwell in the light. The Preacher says, “The light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun.” Heaven’s own light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is to behold the Sun of righteousness. He is never hid by clouds, except those of our own making; He never scorches with withering beams: He ever diffuses plenty and beauty. What a pity that we cannot always be cheerful! Let us feel that we are the children of light.

“Your harps, ye trembling saints,

Down from the willows take;

Loud to the praise of love divine

Bid every string awake.”

Let us wear the armour of light which is the garb of joy and cheerfulness.

The armour of light.—What is that armour of light which is spoken of in the text? The Christian, whilst on earth, is a member of the Church militant; he must pass through successive contests, and be defended against various attacks, at once insidious and hurtful. Nor is he to be content with merely escaping unhurt; he is to act on the offensive; he is to carry on a warfare against his enemies, as well as defend himself against any warfare which they wage against him. “Having your loins girt about with truth.” There is first the girdle, intended to give support, by which St. Paul indicates sincerity; next, the “breastplate of righteousness,” a word signifying holiness, “and your feet … peace,” signifying readiness; next, “the shield of faith,” to “quench the darts of the devil”; next, “the helmet, which is the hope of salvation”; and finally, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Why is it called “the armour of light”? First, with reference to its origin, which is heavenly; and next, because it is only found where Christianity exists and exerts its proper influence. No man is seen in the armour of light but a true Christian. Man was never seen thus armed but under its influence or under some of the corresponding and earlier dispensations of it to mankind. Thirdly, it is called “the armour of light” because it corresponds with the character of our dispensation, which is a dispensation of light. There are many persons who see and acknowledge the necessity of gaining those spiritual victories to which alone the crown of life is promised, and therefore they begin to war what in itself is the good warfare, but they do not consider what kind of weapons they use or what it is that they trust as the means of success. Some trust in their own native strength; but how does that correspond with the religion of which it is one of the first principles that all our strength is but weakness, and when we were without strength Christ died for the ungodly? Others trust to the firmness of their own resolves, while this religion tells them that, even in the early and first stage of gracious influence itself, which has brought them to acknowledge the excellence of divine law, when they would do good evil is present with them. Others, again, trust to their increasing acquaintance with Christian doctrine, as if supposing that there is some secret charm in this knowledge which shall sanctify the heart and transform the character. What are the motives which should induce us to array ourselves in this armour? The first motive is derived from a consideration of the degraded state of the man who is not invested with this armour—degraded at all times, but degraded more especially when the absence of all those principles which constitute the armour of light is the result of his own rejection of the truth and gospel of Christ. What is a man without sincerity as to God? He is a hypocrite whom God will by-and-by expose. What is a man without holiness but an offensive sinner in the sight of God? The second motive is the moral elevation which this armour gives to every one who is invested with it. This moral elevation is one great end of our life, and ought to be the grand object of our ambition. The ambition of being distinguished among men, of standing high in the opinion of the world, is from beneath, and not from the Father, and will always tend to the grovelling source from which it springs; but the grace of God from its first commencement in the soul kindles a noble ambition in the soul to rise higher and higher in the scale of moral attainment.—R. Watson.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Rom_13:12

Our duty in view of the approaching day.—“The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” St. Paul speaks in this chapter of great and important duties—duties devolving upon all men, and most certainly and especially on disciples of Jesus Christ. Besides the duties named, he tells us that every other duty is comprehended in that of love—the divine law of love—and says plainly, “Love is the fulfilling of the law.” And it is certain that love towards God will prompt to pure devotion, sincere worship, and acceptable obedience; love towards men will refrain from injury, and restrain from all that may hurt our character, prospects, and interests. “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour.” Our time on earth is short; the longest life passes swiftly away. It is therefore supremely important that we use it to the best advantage. “Knowing the time”—its uncertainty, its dangers, the obligations it brings—an injunction as to the duty of “redeeming the time,” should be regarded as most weighty and urgent. We ought to “awake” to our responsibilities, and be keenly alive to the solemnities of our state; if we are believing with our hearts unto righteousness as we approach the goal, the end of our course, “our salvation is nearer” and more fully assured.

I. The night of ignorance, doubt, and difficulty is for the believer, rapidly passing.—The night of mere ceremonialism, the night of ignorance, and the darkness of evil cannot last for ever. Many of the first Christian converts were brought up in Judaism, and were not free from the prejudices which then clung to it: from these they were partially delivered. All of them were ignorant of Messiah’s true claims and offices until they had heard the gospel preached; then many of the clouds were rolled away, “the darkness was past, and the true light now shined” upon them. Still it was not yet perfect day, the night was not altogether past; there had been doubts: “Can there any good come out of Nazareth?” “Art Thou He that should come, or look we for another?” Much doubt had been removed; the night was far spent. To very many of us the darkness of this earthly life is a thing of the past; difficulties innumerable have been faced, and yielded to or overcome: we have “dragged hard uphill this heavy load of death called life”; but we begin to see light streaming from the distant hills, and soon it shall fill the vales. “The night is far spent.”

II. The day of deliverance from evil, of the assurance of hope, of the enjoyment of true Christian grace and peace, nay, the day of eternal redemption in all its blessedness, is at hand.—The believer is in the possession of much that is valuable—peace, inward and spiritual grace, freedom from guilt—but all this is but as a drop in a bucket compared with what is to come. “Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him.” The night of death cometh, but even then “there shall be light”; and that comparative darkness is to be followed by the glory of eternal day. Now we have a foretaste of the good in store—love, joy, peace, “rest” in the grace of Christ; but it is a promise and pledge of more:

“So glittering here the drops of light;

There, the full ocean rolls how bright.”

But in many senses “the day is at hand,” as the law and fact of progress show—as the advance of knowledge, science, arts, etc., sufficiently indicates: “we are on the eve” of great discoveries, greater than have yet been made, and man shall prove in the grandest sense to be “but a little lower than the angels.”

III. There must be the absolute and complete renunciation of sinful desires, habits, and works, and the assumption of holiness, inward and outward, which St. Paul calls “the armour of light,” because righteousness is a defence of the soul against evil and the powers of evil. Sinful practices are called works of darkness, because the thought of them is conceived in souls unillumined by spiritual knowledge and divine grace. “Men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.” As the worst crimes are commonly committed in darkness or in secrecy, darkness becomes quite naturally the emblem of wrong-doing in general, and also of wrong-thinking. Every thought of work contrary to the spirit of Christianity is to be rejected and abhorred. The believer assumes “the armour of light,” “the armour of righteousness” (see Eph_6:11-18), when he, in repentance, fully accepts Christ and determines to live in and by His blessed religion. There is no defence on earth against temptation and sin equal to that which we derive from the teaching, example, and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: he who has righteousness of heart and holiness of life is strong,—strong in all time, however trying or adverse; strong even in the greatest bodily suffering; strong in the Lord.—Dr. Burrows.

Time is short in retrospect.—“Knowing the time”—the time of this our mortal life. How soon it will be over, at the longest! How short the time seems since we were young; how quickly it has gone! How every year as we grow older seems to go more and more quickly, and there is less time to do what we want, to think seriously, to improve ourselves! So soon, and it will be over and we shall have no time at all, for we shall be in eternity. And what then? What then? That depends on what now, on what we are doing now. Are we letting our short span of life slip away in sleep, fancying ourselves all the while wide awake, as we do in dreams, till we wake really, and find that it is daylight and that all our best dreams were nothing but useless fancy? How many dream away their lives!—some upon gain, some upon pleasure, some upon petty self-interest, petty quarrels, petty ambitions, petty squabbles and jealousies about this person and that, which are no more worthy to take up a reasonable human being’s time and thoughts than so many dreams would be. Some, too, dream away their lives in sin, in works of darkness which they are forced for shame and safety to hide, lest they should come to the light and be exposed. So people dream their lives away, and go about their daily business as men who walk in their sleep, wandering about with their eyes open and yet seeing nothing of what is really around them—seeing nothing, though they think that they see and know their own interest, and are shrewd enough to find their way about this world. But they know nothing—nothing of the very world with which they pride themselves they are so thoroughly acquainted. None know less of the world than those who pride themselves on being men of the world; for the true light which shines all around them they do not see, and therefore they do not see the truth of things by that light—if they did, then they would see that of which now they do not even dream.—Charles Kingsley.

God made this life; therefore good.—For is not this mortal life, compared with that life to come, as night compared with day? I do not mean to speak evil of it; God forbid that we should say impiously to Him, Why hast Thou made me thus? No; God made this mortal life, and therefore, like all things which He has made, it is very good. But there are good nights and there are bad nights, and there are happy lives and unhappy ones. But what are they at best? What is the life of the happiest man without the Holy Spirit of God? A night full of pleasant dreams. What is the life of the wisest man? A night of darkness, through which he gropes his way by lanthorn light, slowly and with many mistakes and stumbles. When we compare man’s vast capabilities with his small deeds, when we think how much he might know, how little he does know in this mortal life, can we wonder that the highest spirits in every age have looked on death as a deliverance out of darkness and a dungeon? And if this is life at the best, what is life at the worst? To how many is life a night, not of peace and rest, but of tossing and weariness, pain and sickness, anxiety and misery, till they are ready to cry, When will it be over? When will kind death come and give me rest? When will the night of this life be spent and the day of God arise? “Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice.… My soul doth wait for the Lord, more than the sick man who watches for the morning.”—Charles Kingsley.

A double inference.—On the one hand the night deepened, on the other the day drew near. The former of these figures signifies that the time granted to the present world to continue its life without God had moved on, was shortened; the latter, that the appearing of the kingdom of Christ had approached. Hence a double inference. As the night is dissipated, there should be an end to the works of the night; and as the day begins to shine, awaking should be completed, and there should be effected what may be called the toilet worthy of the day. The works of darkness: all that dare not be done by day, and which is reserved for night. The term ὅπλα may be translated in two ways: the instruments or arms of light. The parallel (1Th_5:4-11) speaks in favour of the second sense. In that case the reference would be to the breastplate, the helmet, the sandals of the Roman soldiers, arms which may be regarded as garments fitted on in the morning to replace the dress of night. But the delineation as a whole does not seem to apply to a day of battle; rather it appears that the day in question is one of peaceful labour. And for this reason we think it more natural to apply the expression here to the garments of the laborious workman who, from early morning, holds himself in readiness for the hour when his master waits to give him his task.—Godet.

A difference between the primitive and modern Church.—The primitive Church was more under the influence of the lust of the flesh than of the pride of life; the modern Church is more under the influence of the pride of life than of the lust of the flesh. But pride is as great a sin in the sight of God as sensuality. This should be considered in forming an estimate of the modern missionary Church.—Shedd.

The certainty and the uncertainty of the event beneficial.—The fact that the nearness or distance of the day of Christ’s coming was unknown to the apostles in no way affects the prophetic announcements of God’s Spirit by them concerning its preceding and accompanying circumstances. The day and hour formed no part of their inspiration; the details of the event did. And this distinction has singularly and providentially turned out to the edification of all subsequent ages. While the prophetic declarations of the events of that time remain to instruct us, the eager expectation of that time, which they expressed in their day, has also remained a token of the true frame of mind in which each succeeding age should contemplate the ever-approaching coming of the Lord. On the certainty of the event our faith is grounded; by the uncertainty of the event our hope is stimulated and our watchfulness aroused.—Alford.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

John - Romans

LOVE AND THE DAY

ONE METAPHOR AND TWO MEANINGS

THE SOLDIER’S MORNING-CALL

Rom 13:12.

It is interesting to notice that the metaphor of the Christian armour occurs in Paul’s letters throughout his whole course. It first appears, in a very rudimentary form, in the earliest of the Epistles, that to the Thessalonians. It appears here in a letter which belongs to the middle of his career, and it appears finally in the Epistle to the Ephesians, in its fully developed and drawn-out shape, at almost the end of his work. So we may fairly suppose that it was one of his familiar thoughts. Here it has a very picturesque addition, for the picture that is floating before his vivid imagination is that of a company of soldiers, roused by the morning bugle, casting off their night-gear because the day is beginning to dawn, and bracing on the armour that sparkles in the light of the rising sun. ‘That,’ says Paul, ‘is what you Christian people ought to be. Can you not hear the notes of the reveille? The night is far spent; the day is at hand; therefore let us put off the works of darkness-the night-gear that was fit for those hours of slumber. Toss it away, and put on the armour that belongs to the day.’

Now, I am not going to ask or try to answer the question of how far this Apostolic exhortation is based upon the Apostle’s expectation that the world was drawing near its end. That does not matter at all for us at present, for the fact which he expresses as the foundation of this exhortation is true about us all, and about our position in the midst of these fleeting shadows round us. We are hastening to the dawning of the true day. And so let me try to emphasise the exhortation here, old and threadbare and commonplace as it is, because we all need it, at whatever point of life’s journey we have arrived.

Now, the first thing that strikes me is that the garb for the man expectant of the day is armour.

We might have anticipated something very different in accordance with the thoughts that Paul’s imagery here suggests, about the difference between the night which is so swiftly passing, and is full of enemies and dangers, and the day which is going to dawn, and is full of light and peace and joy. We might have expected that he would have said, ‘Let us put on the festal robes.’ But no! ‘The night is far spent; the day is at hand.’ But the dress that befits the expectant of the day is not yet the robe of the feast, but it is ‘the armour’ which, put into plain words, means just this, that there is fighting, always fighting, to be done. If you are ever to belong to the day, you have to equip yourselves now with armour and weapons. I do not need to dwell upon that, but I do wish to insist upon this fact, that after all that may be truly said about growth in grace, and the peaceful approximation towards perfection in the Christian character, we cannot dispense with the other element in progress, and that is fighting. We have to struggle for every step. Growth is not enough to define completely the process by which men become conformed to the image of the Father, and are ‘made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.’ Growth does express part of it, but only a part. Conflict is needed to come in, before you have the whole aspect of Christian progress before your minds. For there will always be antagonism without and traitors within. There will always be recalcitrant horses that need to be whipped up, and jibbing horses that need to be dragged forward, and shying ones that need to be violently coerced and kept in the traces. Conflict is the law, because of the enemies, and because of the conspiracy between the weakness within and the things without that appeal to it.

We hear a great deal to-day about being ‘sanctified by faith.’ I believe that as much as any man, but the office of faith is to bring us the power that cleanses, and the application of that power requires our work, and it requires our fighting. So it is not enough to say, ‘Trust for your sanctifying as you have trusted for your justifying and acceptance,’ but you have to work out what you get by your faith, and you will never work it out unless you fight against your unworthy self, and the temptations of the world. The garb of the candidate for the day is armour.

And there is another side to that same thought, and that is, the more vivid our expectations of that blessed dawn the more complete should be our bracing on of the armour. The anticipation of that future, in very many instances, in the Christian Church, has led to precisely the opposite state of mind. It has induced people to drop into mere fantastic sentiment, or to ignore this contemptible present, and think that they have nothing to do with it, and are only ‘waiting for the coming of the Lord,’ and the like. Paul says, ‘Just because, on your eastern horizon, you can see the pink flush that tells that the night is gone, and the day is coming, therefore do not be a sentimentalist, do not be idle, do not be negligent or contemptuous of the daily tasks; but because you see it, put on the armour of light, and whether the time between the rising of the whole orb of the sun on the horizon be long or short, fill the hours with triumphant conflict. Put on the whole armour of light.’

Again, note here what the armour is. Of course that phrase, ‘the armour of light,’ may be nothing more than a little bit of colour put in by a picturesque imagination, and may suggest simply how the burnished steel would shine and glitter when the sunbeams smote it, and the glistening armour, like that of Spenser’s Red Cross Knight, would make a kind of light in the dark cave, into which he went. Or it may mean ‘the armour that befits the light’; as is perhaps suggested by the antithesis ‘the works of darkness,’ which are to be ‘put off.’ These are works that match the darkness, and similarly the armour is to be the armour that befits the light, and that can flash back its beams. But I think there is more than that in the expression. I would rather take the phrase to be parallel to another of this Apostle’s, who speaks in 2nd Corinthians of the ‘armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left.’ ‘Light’ makes the armour, ‘righteousness’ makes the armour. The two phrases say the same thing, the one in plain English, the other in figure, which being brought down to daily life is just this, that the true armour and weapon of a Christian man is Christian character. ‘Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report,’ these are the pieces of armour, and these are the weapons which we are to wield. A Christian man fights against evil in himself by putting on good. The true way to empty the heart of sin is to fill the heart with righteousness. The lances of the light, according to the significant old Greek myth, slew pythons. The armour is ‘righteousness on the right hand and on the left.’ Stick to plain, simple, homely duties, and you will find that they will defend your heart against many a temptation. A flask that is full of rich wine may be plunged into the saltest ocean, and not a drop will find its way in. Fill your heart with righteousness; your lives-let them glisten in the light, and the light will be your armour. God is light, wherefore God cannot be tempted with evil. ‘Walk in the light, as He is in the light’ . . . and ‘the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.’

But there is another side to that thought, for if you will look, at your leisure, to the closing words of the chapter, you will find the Apostle’s own exposition of what putting on the armour of light means. ‘Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ’-that is his explanation of putting on ‘the armour of light.’ For ‘once ye were darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord,’ and it is in the measure in which we are united to Him, by the faith which binds us to Him, and by the love which works obedience and conformity, that we wear the invulnerable armour of light. Christ Himself is, and He supplies to all, the separate graces which Christian men can wear. We may say that He is ‘the panoply of God,’ as Paul calls it in Ephesians, and when we wear Him, and only in the measure in which we do wear Him, in that measure are we clothed with it. And so the last thing that I would point out here is that the obedience to these commands requires continual effort.

The Christians in Rome, to whom Paul was writing, were no novices in the Christian life. Long ago many of them had been brought to Him. But the oldest Christian amongst them needed the exhortation as much as the rawest recruit in the ranks. Continual renewal day by day is what we need, and it will not be secured without a great deal of work. Seeing that there is a ‘putting off’ to go along with the ‘putting on,’ the process is a very long one. ‘‘Tis a lifelong task till the lump be leavened.’ It is a lifelong task till we strip off all the rags of this old self; and ‘being clothed,’ are not ‘found naked.’ It takes a lifetime to fathom Jesus; it takes a lifetime to appropriate Jesus, it takes a lifetime to be clothed with Jesus. And the question comes to each of us, have we ‘put off the old man with his deeds’ ? Are we daily, as sure as we put on our clothes in the morning, putting on Christ the Lord?

For notice with what solemnity the Apostle gives the master His full, official, formal title here, ‘put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Do we put Him on as Lord; bowing our whole wills to Him, and accepting Him, His commandments, promises, providences, with glad submission? Do we put on Jesus, recognising in His manhood as our Brother not only the pattern of our lives, but the pledge that the pattern, by His help and love, is capable of reproduction in ourselves? Do we put Him on as ‘the Lord Jesus Christ,’ who was anointed with the Divine Spirit, that from the head it might flow, even to the skirts of the garments, and every one of us might partake of that unction and be made pure and clean thereby? ‘Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ,’ and do it day by day, and then you have ‘put on the whole armour of God.’

And when the day that is dawning has risen to its full, then, not till then, may we put off the armour and put on the white robe, lay aside the helmet, and have our brows wreathed with the laurel, sheathe the sword, and grasp the palm, being ‘more than conquerors through Him who loved us,’ and fights in us, as well as for us.

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13:12-13 the day of salvation: The word day reflects two sources. First, the Old Testament repeatedly predicts the day of the Lord when God’s plan culminates (see Isa 13:4-13; Jer 3:18; 30:8-9; Joel 2:1-32; Obad 1:15-18). Second, the tradition of moral instruction in the ancient world associated light/daytime with good and darkness/nighttime with evil. The Greeks, Romans, and Jews all used this contrast. Because believers belong to the day they should be living out its values, avoiding the dark deeds that are typical of nighttime.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rom 13:12. Ἡ νὺξ) the night of this dark life, προέκοψεν, has come to its height; the day of complete salvation has drawn nigh,—the day of Christ, the last day, Heb 10:25, the dawn of which is this whole time, which intervenes between the first and second coming of our Lord. Paul speaks as if to persons awaking out of sleep, who do not immediately comprehend that it is bordering between night and day. He who has been long awake, knows the hour; but he to whom it needs now at last to be said, it is no longer night, the day has drawn near, is understood to be regarded as one, who is now, and not till now, fully awake.—ἔργα, the works) which they, whilst even still lying [and not yet awake] perform: comp. Gal 5:19, note; works, which are unworthy of the name of arms. Farther, works come from internal feelings: arms are supplied from a different quarter; during the night men are without even their clothes; during the day, they have also arms.—ὅπλα, arms) this word is repeated from ch. 6. [13, Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness]: such arms as became those, who are light-armed [ready for action], as the breastplate and the helmet, 1Th 5:8.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_13:12. To ὕπνος corresponds here as correlate ἡ νύξ, i.e. the time before the Parousia, which ceases, when with the Parousia the day arrives. νύξ and ἡμέρα are accordingly figures for the αἰὼν οὗτος and μέλλων, and ἡμέρα is not equivalent to σωτηρία (de Wette), but the day brings the σωτηρία. Comp. Heb_10:25.

The image is appropriate; for in regard to the knowledge, righteousness, and glory which will have a place in the future αἰών, this approaching blessed time will be related to the imperfect present time as day to night. Theodore of Mopsuestia aptly remarks: ἡμέραν καλεῖ τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας καιρόν … νύκτα δὲ τὸν πρὸ τούτου χρόνον.

προέκοψεν] not: is past (Luther), but: has made progress, processit (see Gal_1:14; Luk_2:52; 2Ti_2:4-6; Lucian, Soloec. 6; Joseph. Bell. iv. 4. 6), so that the day is no longer distant. It is very possible that Paul conceived to himself the time of the approach of the Parousia as the time of twilight, with which conception both the preceding ὥρα ἡμᾶς ἤδη κ.τ.λ. and the following ἀποθώμεθα aptly agree.

ἀποθώμεθα] as one puts off garments. This way of conceiving it (in opposition to Fritzsche and Hofmann) corresponds to the correlate ἐνδυσώμεθα, comp. on Eph_4:22. The ἔργα τοῦ σκότους, i.e. the works, whose element, wherein they are accomplished, is darkness (comp. Eph_5:11), the condition of spiritual want of knowledge and of the dominion of sin, are regarded as night-clothes, which the sleeper has had on, and which he who has risen is now to put off.

ἐνδυσώμεθα of the putting on of arms (ὅπλα, as Rom_6:13), which in part are drawn on like garments. Comp. Eph_6:11; 1Th_5:8.

τοῦ φωτός] not glittering arms (Grotius, Wetstein), but in contrast to τοῦ σκότους: arms (i.e. dispositions, principles, modes of action) which belong to the element of (spiritual) light, which one has as πεφωτισμένος by virtue of his existence and life in the divine truth of salvation. τοῦ φωτός has the spiritual sense, as also previously τοῦ σκότους, as being in the application of that which was said of the νύξ and ἡμέρα; but the metaphorical expressions are selected as the correlates of νύξ and ἡμέρα.

The Christian is a warrior in the service of God and Christ against the kingdom of darkness. Comp. Eph_6:11-12; 2Co_6:7; 2Co_10:4; 1Th_5:8; 1Ti_1:18; Rom_6:13. For profane analogies, see Gataker, ad Anton, p. 58.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom 13:12 . ἡ νύξ προέκοψεν : the true day dawns only when Christ appears; at present it is night, though a night that has run much of its course. ἀποθώμεθα οὖν τὰ ἔργα τοῦ σκότους . Things that can only be done in the dark that cannot bear the light of day are therefore to be put away by the Christian. For ἀποθώμεσα (properly of dress) cf. Jas 1:21 ; Jas 1:1 . Pet. Rom 2:1 Heb 12:1 . τὰ ὅπλα τοῦ φωτός : for τὰ ὅπλα see on chap. Rom 6:13 , Eph 6:11 , 1Th 5:8 . The idea is that the Christian’s life is not a sleep, but a battle. τὰ ὅπλα τοῦ φωτός does not mean “shining armour”; but (on the analogy of τὰ ἔργα τοῦ σκότους ) such armour as one can wear when the great day dawns, and we would appear on the Lord’s side in the fight. An allusion to the last great battle against the armies of anti-Christ is too remote, and at variance with Paul’s use of the figure elsewhere.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_13:12

The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast of the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. The general sentiment of this verse is very obvious. Night or darkness is the common emblem of sin and sorrow; day or light, that of knowledge, purity, and happiness. The meaning of the first clause therefore is, that the time of sin and sorrow is nearly over, that of holiness and happiness is at hand. The particular form and application of this general sentiment depends, however, on the interpretation given to the preceding verse. If that verse refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, then Paul means to say, that the night of persecution was nearly gone, and the day of peace and prosperity to the Gentile churches was at hand. But if Rom_13:11 refers to final salvation, then this verse means, that the sins and sorrows of this life will soon be over, and the day of eternal blessedness is about to dawn. The latter view is to be preferred.

Paul continues this beautiful figure through the verse. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. That is, let us renounce those things which need to be concealed, and clothe ourselves with those which are suited to the light. The works of darkness are those works which men are accustomed to commit in the dark, or which suit the dark; and armor of light means those virtues and good deeds which men are not ashamed of, because they will bear to be seen. Paul probably used the word (ὅπλα) armor, instead of works, because these virtues constitute the offensive and defensive weapons with which we are here to contend against sin and evil; see Eph_6:11. The words ἀποτίθεσθαι and ἐνδύεσθαι suggest the idea of clothing. We are to cast off one set of garments and to put on another. The clothes which belong to the night are to be cast aside, and we are to array ourselves in those suited to the day.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That kind of life, which they lead, that flee the light.

In other places we are said to be in the light, but yet so, that it appeareth not as yet what we are, for as yet we see but as it were in the twilight.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

The night--of evil

is far spent, the day--of consummated triumph over it

is at hand: let us therefore cast off--as a dress

the works of darkness--all works holding of the kingdom and period of darkness, with which, as followers of the risen Saviour, our connection has been dissolved.

and let us put on the armour of light--described at length in Eph 6:11-18.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 12. The night is far spent] If we understand this in reference to the heathen state of the Romans, it may be paraphrased thus: The night is far spent-heathenish darkness is nearly at an end. The day is at hand-the full manifestation of the Sun of righteousness, in the illumination of the whole Gentile world approaches rapidly. The manifestation of the Messiah is regularly termed by the ancient Jews יום yom, day, because previously to this all is night, Bereshith rabba sect. 91, fol. 89. Cast off the works of darkness-prepare to meet this rising light, and welcome its approach, by throwing aside superstition, impiety, and vice of every kind: and put on the armour of light-fully receive the heavenly teaching, by which your spirits will be as completely armed against the attacks of evil as your bodies could be by the best weapons and impenetrable armour. This sense seems most suitable to the following verses, where the vices of the Gentiles are particularly specified; and they are exhorted to abandon them, and to receive the Gospel of Christ. The common method of explanation is this: The night is far spent-our present imperfect life, full of afflictions, temptations, and trials, is almost run out; the day of eternal blessedness is at hand-is about to dawn on us in our glorious resurrection unto eternal life. 'Therefore, let us cast off-let us live as candidates for this eternal glory. But this sense cannot at all comport with what is said below, as the Gentiles are most evidently intended.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. The night has advanced, and the day, etc. This is the season which he had just mentioned; for as the faithful are not as yet received into full light, he very fitly compares to the dawn the knowledge of future life, which shines on us through the gospel: for day is not put here, as in other places, for the light of faith, (otherwise he could not have said that it was only approaching, but that it was present, for it now shines as it were in the middle of its progress,) but for that glorious brightness of the celestial life, the beginnings of which are now seen through the gospel.

The sum of what he says is, — that as soon as God begins to call us, we ought to do the same, as when we conclude from the first dawn of the day that the full sun is at hand; we ought to look forward to the coming of Christ.

He says that the night had advanced, because we are not so overwhelmed with thick darkness as the unbelieving are, to whom no spark of life appears; but the hope of resurrection is placed by the gospel before our eyes; yea, the light of faith, by which we discover that the full brightness of celestial glory is nigh at hand, ought to stimulate us, so that we may not grow torpid on the earth. But afterwards, when he bids us to walk in the light, as it were during the day time, he does not continue the same metaphor; for he compares to the day our present state, while Christ shines on us. His purpose was in various ways to exhort us, — at one time to meditate on our future life; at another, to contemplate the present favor of God.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(12) The night.—The time during which the Messiah is absent from His people is compared to night. He is the sun. whose coming converts it to day.

It is rather strange that here, as in 1Th_5:8, the metaphor of night and day should suggest that of “armour.” The warfare in which the Christian is engaged is between the powers of light and of darkness. (Comp. Eph_6:12.) And the use of the word “putting off” (stripping oneself as of clothing) supplies a link between the two ideas by suggesting the putting on of a different kind of clothing, the Christian panoply.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. The night is far spent] Lit. The night was far spent. The Gr. verb is in the aorist; and the time-reference is, very probably, to the First Advent, when the Morning Star (Rev_22:16) of the final Day appeared.—We have here, clearly, a combination of metaphors. The “sleep” of Rom_13:11 was the sleep of languor; the “night” of this verse is not, as we might thus have thought, the night of ignorance or sin, but that of trial; the “present time” contrasted with the coming glory. But the combination is most natural and instructive: a period of trial is almost sure, if it does not answer its end, to act directly the other way—to bring on the sloth of discouragement.—Cp. on this passage 1Jn_2:8; where render “the darkness is passing.”

the day is at hand] Lit. hath drawn near.—“The day:”—“the day of Christ;” with the added idea of the day-light of eternal peace and glory which it will bring in. See 1Th_5:5 for the only exact parallel: in the many other passages where “the Day” means the Lord’s Return, there is no trace of the special metaphor of light, the contrast of day with night.

the works of darkness] Lit. of the darkness. (Same phrase as Eph_5:11)—Here we recur to the idea of moral darkness; not the darkness of trial or pain; (see last note but one.) Cp. Joh_3:19; Act_26:18; 2Co_6:14; Eph_5:11; 1Th_5:4-5; 1Pe_2:9; 1Jn_1:6. No doubt the word suggests also the “powers of the darkness,” the personal spiritual “rulers of the darkness,” who tempt the soul and intensify its tendencies to evil. Cp. Luk_22:53; Eph_6:12; Col_1:13.—The habit resulting from these “deeds” is here figured as a night-robe, which is to be put off as the sleeper rises to conflict. (So Meyer.)

the armour of light] Lit. the weapons of the light. Not clothing merely, but arms and armour, must take the place of the night-robe. The “arms” are Divine grace with its manifold means and workings. See the elaborate picture in a later Epistle, Eph_6:11; a passage full of illustration for this context. The earliest use of the metaphor by St Paul is 1Th_5:8; another close parallel. See also 2Co_6:7; 2Co_10:4; 1Pe_4:1.—“Of the light:”—here perhaps the ideas of the daylight of sincerity and purity, and the day-light of glory which will end the conflict, are combined.

Observe how the re-animation of the life of grace is here, as often elsewhere, (cp. Eph_6:11; 1Pe_4:1; and perhaps 2Co_5:20;) spoken of as if it were the beginning of it. The persons here addressed had already (on the Apostle’s hypothesis) truly “believed,” and were “walking after the Spirit.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The night is far spent,.... Not of Jewish darkness, which was gone, and was succeeded by the Gospel day; nor of former ignorance in Gentilism and unregeneracy, for that was past, and the true light shined; much less of security in the latter day, which was not yet come on; rather of persecution and distress for Christ's sake; but it is best of all to understand it of the present time of life; so it is called by the Jews (g), , "this world is like to the night": and which, in the best of saints, is attended with imperfection and darkness, errors and mistakes, in principle and practice, in doctrine and conversation; however, it is far spent, and in a little time will be over:

the day is at hand; not the Gospel day, for that was already come; nor the day of grace, and spiritual light and comfort to their souls, for that also had taken place; nor the latter day glory, which then was at a distance; rather the approaching day of deliverance from present persecutions; but it is much better to understand it of the everlasting day of glory, which to particular persons was then, and now is at hand; a little while, and the night of darkness, affliction, and disconsolation will be over, and the day of glory will succeed, when there will be no more night, no more darkness, no more doubts, fears, and unbelief; but one continued series of light, joy, and comfort, and an uninterrupted communion with Father, Son, and Spirit; and which is another reason why the saints should not indulge themselves in sleep, but be active, since the halcyon days are at hand, as well as a reason why they should attend to the following exhortations:

let us therefore cast off the works of darkness; as the apostle had made use of the metaphors of night and day, and of sleep, and awaking out of sleep, and rising in the morning to business, so he continues the same; and here alludes to persons throwing off their bed clothes, and covering of the night, and putting on proper raiment for the day. By "works of darkness" are meant evil works, which are opposite to the light; to God, who is light itself; to Christ, the light of the world; to the word of God, both law and Gospel, which is a light to our paths; to both the light of nature, and the light of grace: and which spring from the darkness of the mind, and are encouraged to by the god of this world, and by his angels, the rulers of the darkness of it; and which are generally done in the dark, and are such as will not bear the light; and, if grace prevent not, will end in outer darkness, in blackness of darkness, reserved by the justice of God, as the punishment of them. "Casting them off" expresses a dislike of them, a displicency with them, and an abstinence from them. Some copies read, "the armour of darkness", which agrees with what follows:

and let us put on the armour of light; the whole armour of God, the use of which lies in the exercise of grace, and discharge of duty; particularly good works are designed here, which though they are not the believer's clothing, his robe of justifying righteousness, they are both his ornament and his armour; by which he adorns the doctrine of Christ, and defends his own character and principles against the charges find calumnies of then: these being performed aright, spring from the light of grace in a regenerate man, and are such as will bear the light to be seen of men; and are the lights which are to shine before men, that they beholding them, may glorify God; so virtue was by Antisthenes (h), called , "armour which cannot be taken away": the allusion is thought to be to the bright and glittering armour of the Romans; the Alexandrian copy reads, "the words of light".

(g) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 24. 4. (h) Diogen. Laert. l. 6. in Vita Antisthen. & Hesychius de viris illustr. p. 17.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

Ver. 12. The night] Here it is taken for all unregeneracy, which (as the night) is full of error, terror, &c. Nox pudore vacat. This night with the saints is far spent, or already past, Transivit, praeteriit, as Cyprian and Jerome here render it.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The night - The word “night,” in the New Testament, is used to denote “night” literally (Mat 2:14, etc.); the starry heavens Rev 8:12; and then it denotes a state of “ignorance” and “crime,” and is synonymous with the word “darkness,” as such deeds are committed commonly in the night; 1Th 5:5. In this place it seems to denote our present imperfect and obscure condition in this world as contrasted with the pure light of heaven The “night,” the time of comparative obscurity and sin in which we live even under the gospel, is far gone in relation to us, and the pure splendors of heaven are at hand,

Is far spent - Literally, “is cut off.” It is becoming “short;” it is hastening to a close.

The day - The full splendors and glory of redemption in heaven. Heaven is often thus represented as a place of pure and splendid day; Rev 21:23, Rev 21:25; Rev 22:5. The times of the “gospel” are represented as times of “light” (Isa 60:1-2; Isa 60:19-20, etc.); but the reference here seems to be rather to the still brighter glory and splendor of heaven, as the place of pure, unclouded, and eternal day.

Is at hand - Is near; or is drawing near. This is true respecting all Christians. The day is near, or the time when they shall be admitted to heaven is not remote. This is the uniform representation of the New Testament; Heb 10:25; 1Pe 4:7; Jam 5:8; Rev 22:10; 1Th 5:2-6; Phi 4:5. That the apostle did not mean, however, that the end of the world was near, or that the day of judgment would come soon, is clear from his own explanations; see 1Th 5:2-6; compare 2 Thes. 2.

Let us therefore - As we are about to enter on the glories of that eternal day, we should be pure and holy. The “expectation” of it will teach us to “seek” purity; and a pure life alone will fit us to enter there; Heb 12:14.

Cast off - Lay aside, or put away.

The works of darkness - Dark, wicked deeds, such as are specified in the next verse. They are called “works of darkness,” because darkness in the Scriptures is an emblem of crime, as well as of ignorance, and because such deeds are commonly committed in the night; 1Th 5:7, “They that be drunken, are drunken in the night;” compare Joh 3:20; Eph 5:11-13.

Let us put on - Let us clothe ourselves with.

The armour of light - The word “armor” ὅπλα hopla properly means “arms,” or instruments of war, including the helmet, sword, shield, etc. Eph 6:11-17. It is used in the New Testament to denote the “aids” which the Christian has, or the “means of defense” in his warfare, where he is represented as a soldier contending with his foes, and includes truth, righteousness, faith, hope, etc. as the instruments by which he is to gain his victories. In 2Co 6:7, it is called “the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left.” It is called armor of light, because it is not to accomplish any deeds of darkness or of crime; it is appropriate to one who is pure, and who is seeking a pure and noble object. Christians are represented as the “children of light;” 1Th 5:5; Note, Luk 16:8. By the armor of light, therefore, the apostle means those graces which stand opposed to the deeds of darkness Rom 13:13; those graces of faith, hope, humility, etc. which shall be appropriate to those who are the children of the day, and which shall be their defense in their struggles with their spiritual foes. see the description in full in Eph 4:11-17.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The night is passed. That is, the night of sin and infidelity, in which you lived, before you began to serve Christ. (Witham) --- St. Paul is here addressing himself to Gentile converts. Before your conversion, you were in the darkness of infidelity: this time is past; now is the day, when the gospel has dissipated the darkness of idolatry, ignorance, and sin. Let us lay aside the works of darkness, by flying from sin, which hates the light, and seeks always to conceal itself; and let us put on the armour of light, the shield of faith, the breast-plate of justice, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The night is far spent, the day is at hand: some, by night and day, do understand the night of Jewish persecution and the day of deliverance and salvation; see Heb 10:25. Others, by night, understand the time of ignorance and infidelity; this, he says, is far spent, or for the greatest part it is past and gone: darkness is not perfectly done away in this life amongst believers themselves, 1Co 13:9,10. By day, they understand the time of gospel light and saving knowledge: so in the next verse, and in 1Th 5:5. This, he says, is at hand, or is come nigh; it was dawning upon the world, and would shine brighter and brighter, till it were perfect day.

Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness; i.e. all our former sins, which are called works of darkness, here, and in Eph 5:11. They are so called, because they are usually committed by those that are in ignorance and darkness; and because some sins, such as he speaks of in the next verse, were wont to be committed in the darkness of the night, men being ashamed of them in the day time: see Job 24:15; 1Th 5:7. These he exhorts the believing Romans to cast off: the word implieth, haste and hatred, Isa 30:22; 31:7.

And let us put on the armour of light; i.e. all Christian graces, which are bright and shining in the eyes of the world, Mat 5:16; and which will be as so much Christian armour, to defend us against sin, and all the assaults of Satan.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. Night… spent—It is the three o’clock of our waning night of life.

Works of darkness—The wickednesses that men commit in darkness and night.

Armour of light—Darkness and light are now two hostile armies; the apostle exhorts to buckle on the armour of soldiers in the cause of light.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Observe here, 1. The apostle puts the Romans in mind of their former state before conversion, when the might of heathenish ignorance and darkness was upon them, when they spent their time and strength in rioting and drunkenness, in lasciviousness and wantonness.

Where note, The odious character wherewith sin is branded; it is darkness, a work of darkness; so styled, because sin originally springs from darkness, because it naturally delights in darkness, because it ultimately leads to eternal darkness.

Observe, 2. How he puts them in mind of their present state and condition since the day-star of the gospel did dawn upon them, The night is far spent, and the day is at hand: that is, the night of heathenish ignorance, blindness and darkness, is in a great measure past and over, and the day of grace and salvation is come unto you; gospel light is among you, illuminating grace and saving knowledge is now found with you.

Observe, 3. The duties enjoined answerable to the privileges enjoyed; and that is, to walk as the children of day, soberly, righteously, and godly, abstaining from all intemperance and excess of every kind, and being clothed with all Christian virtues and graces, which are called armour of light.

Armour, because they defend us against the assaults of sin, Satan, and the world, and all our spiritual enemies whatsoever; and armour of light, because such Christian graces are bright and shining in the eyes of the world.

Learn hence, 1. That the enjoyment of gospel-light lays a person or a people under special obligations to cast off the works of darkness.

2. That such as enjoy the light and liberty of the gospel, ought to walk as becometh the gospel which they do enjoy; that is, according to the precepts and commands of the gospel, answerable to the privileges and prerogatives of the gospel, answerable to the helps and supplies of grace which the gospel affords, and answerable to those high and glorious hopes which the gospel raises the Christian up to the expectation of: This is to cast off the works of darkness, and to put on the armour of light, &c.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. “The night is far spent and the day draweth nigh. Therefore let us lay aside the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The night is far spent, and the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light . [In this figure "night" stands for the Christian's earthly life, which is constantly being shortened and quickly becomes "far spent." "Day" stands for eternity, that unending day which is swiftly approaching. The passing of the night calls for a cessation of sleep, the dawning of the day demands ever-increasing wakefulness and activity. The Christian's former, unregenerate habits are called "works of darkness," not only because righteousness is emblematically viewed as "white," and sin as "black," but because sin is ashamed of light and consequent exposure ( Job_24:13-17 ; Joh_3:19-21 ). Moreover, they are pictured here as a foul night-dress to be "cast off" as a repulsive thing ( Eph_4:22 ; Col_2:11 ; Col_3:8-9 ; 1Pe_2:1 ), and in their place the Christian is to don the works of righteousness, or all the duties of his new life ( Eph_4:23-24 ; Rom_6:4 ; 2Co_5:17 ; Gal_6:15 ; Col_3:10 ), as defensive armor against temptations, and offensive weapons for an aggressive campaign against the powers of evil, and as the fitting harness in which to report to Christ for present service, the proper garb in which to have him find us should he come suddenly and without warning, for we are his soldiers, and on duty. Some five years before this Paul wrote in similar strains to the Thessalonians, emphasizing the escape from darkness and mentioning the armor ( 1Th_5:4-8 ), and about four years after this we find him again using this figurative language in addressing the Ephesians, mentioning the darkness, and emphasizing the armor-- Eph_6:11-18 ]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. The night is far spent. The night is the period before the full realization of that salvation named in verse 11, whether that be when Christ comes, or when we are called to Christ. That salvation is the day. The works of darkness. Such sinful deeds as men do under the cover of darkness, and all sinful deeds. The armour of light. The armor worn in the light, and with which the Christian will be clad when “the day” comes. See Eph. 6:11.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

12. ἡ νὺξ κ.τ.λ. 1Th 5:2-7; Rev 21:25; Rev 22:5. προεκ. ‘is far spent’ (advanced): A. and R.V., aor. marks the point reached. The night is almost gone, the signs of the coming day are already in the sky.

ἀποθώμεθα οὖν κ.τ.λ. Here the contrast with the heathen life seems to come out. N. the aor., it is to be a single act done once for all. τὰ ἔργα τ. σ. the deeds which are characteristic of the darkness. τὰ ὅπλα τ. φ., the weapons needed for the work to be done in the light; cf. 1Th 5:6-8, where both thoughts are more fully expressed. Eph 5:10 f. describes the warfare of the light. Taking Rom 13:14 into account, we see that there is a reference here, as in 1 Thes. and Eph., to the Messianic warfare in which the. Christian, as ἐν Χριστῷ, has to take his part.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12.] ἡ νύξ, the lifetime of the world,—the power of darkness, see Eph 6:12: ἡ ἡμέρα, the day of the resurrection, 1Th 5:4; Rev 21:25; of which resurrection we are already partakers and are to walk as such, Col 3:1-4; 1Th 5:5-8. Therefore,—let us lay aside (as it were a clothing) the works of darkness (see Eph 5:11-14, where a similar strain of exhortation occurs), and put on (δέ corresponding to an understood μέν) the armour of light (described Eph 6:11 ff.—the arms belonging to a soldier of light—one who is of the υἱοὶ φωτός and υἱοὶ ἡμέρας, 1Th 5:5,—not, as Grot. ‘arma splendentia’).

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. προέκοψεν, ‘has advanced towards dawn.’ Cf. Luk 2:52; Gal 1:14; Jos. Bell. Jud. IV. 4:6; Just. Dial. p. 277 d.

The contrast of ὕπνος, νύξ, and σκότος with ἡμέρα and φῶς finds many illustrations in Christian and in all religious literature.

ἀποθώμεθα. The works of darkness, i.e. works such as befit the kingdom of darkness, are represented as being cast off like the uncomely garments of the night, for the bright armour which befits the Christian soldier as a member of the kingdom of light. This metaphor of the Christian armour is a favourite one with St. Paul (1Th 5:8; 2Co 6:7; Rom 6:13; and especially Eph 6:13 f.); it may have been originally suggested by the Jewish conception of the last great fight against the armies of Antichrist (Dan_10; Orac. Sib. 3. 663 f.; 4 Ezra 13:33; Enoch xc.16), but in St. Paul the conception has become completely spiritualized.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Is far spent [προεκοψεν] . The A. V. gives a variety of renderings to this verb. Luk 2:52, increased; Gal 1:14, profited; 2Ti 3:9, proceed; 13, wax. The word originally means to beat forward or lengthen out by hammering. Hence to promote, and intransitively to go forward or proceed.

Let us cast off [αποθωμεθα] . As one puts off the garments of the night. For this use of the simple tiqhmi, see on giveth his life, Joh 10:11.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.