We’ve been examining Romans 13:11-14 (I apologize for being so delayed in writing this last piece), and today we look at the final verse in the passage: “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”
In this passage we’re called to wake up, recognizing that Christ is coming again soon (see v.11). The night is almost gone, the day is near, so we are to lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light (see v.12). We are called to live as Resurrection people in the way that we will actually live in the Resurrection after Christ has come again in Judgment to make all things new, and we are given examples of deeds of darkness that we are not to participate in as followers of Jesus (see v.13).
And instead of participating in those deeds of darkness – those sins that so easily attach themselves to our hearts – we are to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. But what does this mean?
Very simply, instead of walking around any longer in the “clothes” we used to wear (living according to sin and participating in deeds of darkness), we are to take decisive action in putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. We have been baptized into Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, and therefore we are to live as Christ lived. We are to be inhabited by the Holy Spirit and we are to walk according to the Spirit, surrendering ourselves to Christ through time in prayer, worship, repentance, and obedience to God’s Word (the Bible). Our lives are to model that of our Savior, being empowered to live as He lived by His Spirit at work in us.
Though we have been definitively incorporated into Christ at the moment of our salvation, as symbolized through our baptism, we still have to constantly live into this reality. We are being transformed into the image of Christ, and it is by our cooperation with the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification within us that this happens. We must submit to the Lord daily, be crucified daily, in order to put off our sin and live as Jesus lived.
And in doing this, we must “make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” You’ve probably heard the old expression, “if you give him an inch, he’ll take a mile.” You may have even seen clever church signs that have read, “If you give the devil an inch, he’ll become your ruler.” The reality is, when we give sin just a little bit of leeway in our hearts, lives, and behavior, it very quickly snowballs into worse and worse sin. When you allow foul language into your speaking, it becomes easier and more habitual. The same is true of hatred, lying, stealing, lusting, complaining, gossiping, or anything else. Sin, like cancer, has a way of festering and growing when we allow for just the smallest bit of it in our lives. We must make no provision for it, taking every sin seriously, and going to the Lord in confession and repentance daily for the specific sins we have committed that day.
May God help us to root sin out of our lives by putting sin to death in our hearts. And may we grow to become more like Christ as the days, months, and years roll on, until one day He perfects us in glory!
Chase Thompson 