Romans 13:11

When we realized what the advantages of good works are, the message of salvation became easier to understand than it was when we first believed. For when we believed in Christ we did not immediately acquire an exact understanding of what we should be doing, …

Since he had given them what commands were fitting, he again thrusts them on to the performance of good works, in consideration of what was pressing upon them. For the time of judgment, he means, is at the doors. So too he wrote to the Corinthians also, "The remaining time is short." (1 Cor. vii. 29.) And to the Hebrews again, "For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry." (Heb. x. 37.) But in those cases it was to cheer those in trouble, and to solace the toils of their closely successive temptations, that he said those things: but in the passage before us he does it to rouse those that are asleep, this language being useful to us for both the purposes: and what is that which he says, "Now it is high time to awake out of sleep?" It is, that near is the Resurrection, near the awful Judgment, and the day that burneth as a furnace, near. Henceforward then we must be free from our listlessness; "for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed." You see how he puts the Resurrection now close by them. For as the time advances, he means, the season of our present life is wasting away, and that of the life to come waxes nearer. If then thou be prepared, and hast done all whatsoever He hath commanded, the day is salvation to thee; but if the contrary, not so. For the present however, it is not upon alarming grounds that he exhorts them, but upon kindly ones, thus also to untie them from their fellow-feeling for the things of this present world. Then since it was not unlikely, that in the beginning of their early endeavors they would be most earnest, in that their desire was then at its full vigor, but that as the time went on, the whole of their earnestness would wither down to nothing; he says that they ought however to be doing the reverse, not to get relaxed as time went on, but to be the more full of vigor. […]

And this, knowing the time, that it is now the hour to rise from sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we believed. The night has gone before, but the day has drawn near. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light; let us walk honorably, as in the day.

"Our salvation" means the general resurrection on the last day, for it is then that we shall enjoy true salvation.

After showing how man should behave in a pious manner toward God by using his gifts properly and paying his neighbor the debts owed him, the Apostle now shows how he should act with probity in regard to himself. With respect to this he does …

You must, he says, value love very highly, and through it — all the other virtues. Such is the time. The day of resurrection is near, the judgment is near, and we must awaken from the sleep of negligence and be ready for deeds worthy …

The apostle therefore, for the obviating of this reproach and the clearing of Christianity from it, shows that obedience to civil magistrates is one of the laws of Christ, whose religion helps to make people good subjects; and it was very unjust to charge upon Christianity that faction and rebellion to which its principles and rules are so directly contrary.

3 ), high time indeed, for behold the bridegroom cometh. " 2. "The salvation we are upon the brink of: Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed --than when we first believed, and so took upon us the profession of Christianity. The eternal happiness we chose for our portion is now nearer to us than it was when we became Christians.

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The day dawns when we receive faith, and then sleep gives place. Then it is time to rise, to arm, to walk, to work, lest sleep steal upon us again. Final salvation, glory, is nearer to us now, than when we first believed - It is continually advancing, flying forward upon the swiftest wings of time.

And that knowing the time,....

BUT what "salvation" is this? The question is important because we very commonly speak of "salvation" as that state of Divine Grace into which everyone that believes in Jesus is introduced when he passes from death unto life, being delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son. This sweet assurance we celebrate in our hymns of praise— "The moment a sinner believes And trusts in His crucified God, His pardon at once he receives, Redemption in full through His blood."

THIS exhortation, as you will readily perceive, is not addressed to the ungodly. These words are not spoken to those who are dead in sin, but to those who are alive unto God, though somewhat given to slumber. There are many expostulations and admonitions which appeal to the willful and wicked, to the indifferent and unbelieving, to those who err and are out of the way, but this is not one of them. Here we have a special charge to disciples of Jesus who know the time and also know that their salvation draws near.

BUT what "salvation" is this? The question is important because we very commonly speak of "salvation" as that state of Divine Grace into which everyone that believes in Jesus is introduced when he passes from death unto life, being delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son. This sweet assurance we celebrate in our hymns of praise— "The moment a sinner believes And trusts in His crucified God, His pardon at once he receives, Redemption in full through His blood." Salvation, so far as the forgiveness of sin, the imputation of righteousness, and the eternal safety of the soul are concerned, is given to us the moment that we are brought to trust in Jesus. But the term, "salvation," here and in some other parts of Scripture signifies that complete deliverance from sin, that glorious perfection which will not be attained by us until the day of the appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Salvation here signifies entire deliverance from indwelling sin, perfect sanctification, and, as I take it, includes the resurrection of the body and the glorification of body and soul with Christ Jesus in the world to come. Salvation here means what many think it always implies, namely, eternal Glory. At this hour our perfect salvation is nearer than when we believed. Observe the date from which the Apostle begins to reckon. He does not say our salvation is nearer than when we were christened—that is a ceremony of which the Apostle never dreamed—a tradition and invention of men which had never crossed his mind! He does not say your salvation is nearer than when you were confirmed—that also was a thing quite unknown to him. He does not reckon even from our Baptism, as if he were to say, now is your salvation nearer than when you put on Christ openly in Baptism.

THIS exhortation, as you will readily perceive, is not addressed to the ungodly. These words are not spoken to those who are dead in sin, but to those who are alive unto God, though somewhat given to slumber. There are many expostulations and admonitions which appeal to the willful and wicked, to the indifferent and unbelieving, to those who err and are out of the way, but this is not one of them. Here we have a special charge to disciples of Jesus who know the time and also know that their salvation draws near. They are represented as being asleep and needing to awake from their present sluggishness. But they are not described as those who had ceased to be Christians, or whose salvation was in jeopardy. Though it is admitted that it is high time for them to awake out of sleep, their salvation is never questioned, but on the contrary they are reminded that now it is nearer than when they believed. The tone and tenor of this call to circumspection suggest to us that when we address the Lord's people and find occasion to rebuke and reprove them, we should never insinuate that they are likely to be banished from the household of faith, or to be cast away from the Presence of God, or to be treated as reprobates. Even if we feel convinced that they are asleep and that they must be awakened, we ought not to denounce them with railing accusations or threaten them with the wailings of the lost and the doom of unquenchable fire. You would not be pleased if anyone should touch your child with a horsewhip—nor will the Lord allow us to strike His chosen with the rod of the wicked. Legal thunders are not intended for justified saints— "The terrors of Law and of God With us can ha ve nothing to do.

THIS passage is a piece of holy teaching set forth under the parable of rising in the morning and preparing for the work of the day. May the Holy Spirit help me to place it before you in a clear light. It is a great mistake in a man's life when he does not know the times in which he lives and how to act in them—and when he does not know the time as to the day of his own life, so as to apply his heart unto wisdom.

THIS passage is a piece of holy teaching set forth under the parable of rising in the morning and preparing for the work of the day. May the Holy Spirit help me to place it before you in a clear light. It is a great mistake in a man's life when he does not know the times in which he lives and how to act in them—and when he does not know the time as to the day of his own life, so as to apply his heart unto wisdom. The Apostle speaks of his Roman brethren as "knowing the time." What, then, is the time of day with the Christian? It is no longer the dead of the night with us, but, "the night is far spent, the day is at hand." A little while ago the dense darkness of ignorance was about us, but the Gospel has made us light in the Lord. We were asleep in the gloom of sin—like a thick cloud it enveloped all our powers—but God has brought us out of darkness into His marvelous Light. Some of us were plunged in despair, a night without a moon, without a star. We were without hope and feared that our future would be the "blackness of darkness forever." That hopeless gloom is over and we have the Light of God and joy in Christ Jesus. The daystar is shining upon us, the Light of God that lightens the Gentiles cheers our path and we look for a perfect day though it is not, as yet, full day with us. Cloudless brightness is still a thing of desire and expectation. The sun has risen, but it is not noon as yet. For that we look when we shall see the Well-Beloved in His kingdom and wake up in His likeness. "The day is at hand," says the Apostle, and that is a word of good cheer! What, then, is "the time" which Paul would have us know? It is the early morning, it is the dawning of the eternal day. The sun has scattered the thick darkness of Nature's night.

And that, knowing the time - Dr. Taylor has given a judicious paraphrase of this and the following verses: “And all the duties of a virtuous and holy life we should the more carefully and zealously perform, considering the nature and shortness of the present season of life; which will convince us that it is now high time to rouse and shake off sleep, and apply with vigilance and vigor to the duties of our Christian life; for that eternal salvation, which is the object of our Christian faith and hope, and the great motive of our religion, is every day nearer to us than when we first entered into the profession of Christianity.” Some think the passage should be understood thus: We have now many advantages which we did not formerly possess. Salvation is nearer - the whole Christian system is more fully explained, and the knowledge of it more easy to be acquired than formerly; on which account a greater progress in religious knowledge and in practical piety is required of us: and we have for a long time been too remiss in these respects. Deliverance from the persecutions, etc., with which they were then afflicted, is supposed by others to be the meaning of the apostle.