“Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and
drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and
jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh
in regard to its lusts.” (Romans 13:13–14, NASB95)
While chapter 12 dealt primarily with our behavior in
regards to other believers, chapter 13 deals with our behavior in regards to
all people. This included a look at how we respond to those in leadership over
us and to those who are our neighbors or those who for any reason cross our
paths in some way. We read that we are not to be lax in any of these nor are we
to be lax in our anticipation of the soon coming of our Lord, realizing that we
have been called to live in the Light and not listen to the voices of darkness.
“Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of
the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the
Light of life.”” (John 8:12, NASB95)
“for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in
the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all
goodness and righteousness and truth),” (Ephesians 5:8–9, NASB95)
In these verses about living in the power and protection of
the Light we understand that we are doing this in a world that largely only
knows darkness, and we are to live not according to the world but according to
the Word of God. It is from here that we move to the last two verses of chapter
13, where we are told to behave properly.
We are to behave properly as if everything we did were done
in the daytime. This is a curious phrase, well unless you lived in an apartment
as a young married couple which had those wonderful German cockroaches. You
could see the evidence of them on the counters in the morning, but for the most
part they were hidden during the day. But when it got dark or when they
otherwise were in a dark place they were free to run amok across everything we
owned, and should you turn the light on them at night, then…. This was a nasty
season, and one I hope never to experience again. But the lessons about what
happens in the dark definitely have been given new meaning.
But so it is with sin. We don’t generally want others to
know that we are engaged in it unless we are around others engaged in the same
thing. At one time there were many things considered morally offensive in our
culture, that today have much less stigma surrounding them. And with the
normalization of these once morally offensive activities, people have become
more and more open about engaging in them themselves. These include changing the laws concerning abortion from the taking of an innocent life to a
woman’s right to control her own body. It is more and more common and accepted
today to just live together, and getting a divorce is a simple legal procedure.
Infidelity in marriage is bragged about and seen openly in many public figures.
The normalization of aberrant sexual identities and the growth of the LGBTQ
community has changed such that people are bullied when they profess their
opposing biblical understanding.
Our culture is quickly losing its moral keel and the ship of
America is being tossed by every wind, to the point that many who stand for
biblical morality are now considered intolerant and offensive regardless of how
they make that stand. Christians were once significant salt and light in our
communities and our nation. The documents which had long governed our country
are now being increasingly viewed as archaic and subject to change by unelected
judges and our Federal government, which picks and chooses which laws it will or will
not enforce. Where once these beliefs were foundational to our moral fiber as a
country, those who hold them now are being viewed more and more as an annoyance
and a hindrance.
The Bible tells us that we are not to be swayed by the world
and the darkness which covers it. The world is not to be our determinant of how
we live, but we are to live by the standard given to us by God. Living this way
is what the Bible calls living properly. It is living properly with all people,
keeping ourselves for the man or woman that God has for us whether we’ve found
him or her yet or not. It is living filled by the Spirit and not controlled by
substances such as alcohol or drugs. It is not bouncing around in our
relationships and sleeping with anyone we wish and chasing after any pleasure
that might be dangling out there. It is being faithful to our friends and
family and not being given to fighting and arguing or chasing after what others
around you might have.
Living in the Light is living faithful to our God and
submitted to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We read that we are to put on
Christ and to make no provision for the flesh. Speaking to those who have
trusted Christ for their salvation, we have been given new life. We have been
made spiritually alive. We are called to abide in Christ as He abides in us. We
are called to live in dependence on Him.
One picture of living in dependence is putting on Christ. It
is as if we get up in the morning and purposely choose how to get dressed such
that we stop, look to Him, and purpose to follow after Him with our whole hearts
being fully dressed in Him. In Ephesians 6 we read more about this as we are
told how to prepare ourselves for this spiritual battle with darkness—a battle
which even can rage in our minds. Here we are getting dressed in Christ according to our new identity and not in accordance to who we once were. We choose not to get dressed according to any desires we might have which are in conflict with this new identity. This tension is what Scripture refers to as a battle with the flesh. It is a conscious and purposeful choice we make on a daily and even moment by moment basis.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His
might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm
against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of
this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly
places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to
resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm
therefore, having girded your loins with
truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
and having shod your feet with the
preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the
shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming
arrows of the evil one. And take the
helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit….” (Ephesians
6:10–18, NASB95)
There are many temptations around us both within our hearts and
minds as we walk through our days and in the world around us that we live in.
But we are always to be mindful that how we live is a choice, and in the choice
our God has made it so that we can go forward victoriously.
“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to
man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you
are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that
you will be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13, NASB95)
Following is an amplified application of 1 Corinthians 10:13
that I prepared several years ago and to which I repeatedly come back (and
have even used numerous times in these posts) when it comes to how I face these
pressures.
There is no test, no trial, no temptation to sin, no
pushing, pulling, prodding, or anything else that comes my way that makes me
any different than anyone else. We all experience these things, maybe in
different ways and at times to different degrees, but I am no different than
anyone else.
BUT GOD…. He is always faithful in all things. With every
trial, test, or temptation—no matter how big or how small; with all of these
things He has set a limit to them. He will not allow anything into my life
beyond which He also has not given the ability to victoriously endure. With every
single test, trial, and temptation He has provided a way of escape, and He will
keep me from being crushed, and He will bring me out standing on the other
side. This is true whether that other side is realized in this life or
ultimately in His presence. This is a certain fact.
Therefore, I will place my trust in Him and look not to the
size of the situation, BUT to the size and faithfulness of my GOD.
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