Charles Ellicott Commentary Romans 13:12

"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." — Romans 13:12 (ASV)

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 1 Thessalonians 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. (Compare to Ephesians 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.