Expositor's Bible Commentary 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)

Paul’s line of thought here resembles 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11. Even as darkness is symbolic of evil and sin, light fittingly depicts those who have passed through the experience of salvation. Paul pictures Christians as those who anticipate the day by rising early. The night clothes are the works of darkness, the deeds that belong to the old life. The garments to which they transfer, however, are unusual. They are likened to armor as in 1 Thessalonians 5:8. To walk through this world as children of light involves a warfare with the powers of darkness (cf. Ephesians 6:12– 13). Even though the final day has not yet arrived, believers belong to the day (1 Thessalonians 5:8), anticipating the glory that will then be revealed (2 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Corinthians 4:4).

This forms the basis for the plea, “Let us behave decently, as in the daytime.” Christians must live as though that final day had actually arrived, bringing with it the personal presence of Christ. There should be no place for the type of conduct that characterizes unsaved people, especially in the night seasons. Paul describes this manner of life in three couplets, the first on intemperance, the second on sexual misconduct, and the third on contention and quarreling. Here we learn the double lesson that one sin leads to another and that committing the sin does not bring inner rest but rather dissatisfaction that betrays itself by finding fault with others.