The Principle of Affection

people once again would take and turn in their Bibles to Romans chapter 13. And the gasps and the looks of surprise are understandable because there was indeed so much buildup for the discussion of the first seven verses of Romans 13 that people might think that come away with the idea that those first seven verses were all there was to the chapter. That’s not so, and I believe a wonderful passage yet awaits.

The context of our text this morning is no different than the previous. Truly, the context has been the same really since chapter 12, verse 3, our relationship to others. By way of reminder, in 12.3, Paul takes up to apply the exhortation of verses 1 and 2, presenting ourselves as having been transformed. If we are saved, we are different people and we ought to be seen as such. And this will be very evident in our relationship with others.

And in verses three through eight, he speaks exclusively to our relationships within the church, those who are gifted differently than we are. In verses 9 through 13, he addresses our demeanor toward others in general, including those who do not know Christ. In 14 through 16, he addresses our demeanor toward fellow Christians, more like an attitude rather than our interaction. In 17 through 21, he addresses our demeanor toward those who are contrary to us, those who are hostile and disagree with us vehemently.

And that flows naturally, doesn’t it, into a discussion of the Christians’ relationship to civil authority. That’s where we’ve been for the past two weeks. Romans 13 verses 1 through 7. And so you see, all the way along, Paul has been talking about how we, as believers, relate to one another. And he’s not finished. Here in the remainder of this chapter, he provides a universal principle applicable to any other person in any situation. And we will wrap up Romans 13 with this passage. If you would, glance down. Romans chapter 13, beginning in verse eight, will course all the way down through verse 14.

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another, for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet. And if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.

And this, do knowing the time that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep. For now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 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.”

Now, at first glance, this section appears to be a disjointed series of themes. Paul addresses love, the law, fleeting opportunity, sinful activity, But I would suggest to you that there is a steady flow of thought producing a series of connected paragraphs. And I hope to show this to you as we proceed this morning. The transition that Paul makes here from verses one through seven into verse eight and following is not as abrupt as it first seems. There is a connection that is immediately observable. It’s very natural, even if subtle.

In verse 7, Paul told the Roman believers to render to all what is due them. That’s a positive command. And here in verse 8, he basically issues the same command from a negative perspective. Owe nothing to anyone except love. We might easily conclude that Paul is still speaking exclusively of our response to governing authorities. I think it’s broader than that.

He has concluded his directions regarding civil government, and he really is issuing a principle that is applicable to an infinitely broad range of situations and relationships. At the outset, of his discussion in chapter 12, verse 9, he said, let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good, and he essentially is applying that here in the latter half of Romans 13. It would not be incorrect to take verses 8 through 21 as kind of a summarization of the entire discussion begun back in chapter 12.

So what Paul gives here is a universal principle, one that is applicable for anyone dealing with anybody else. The principle that Paul provides here is that of affection, or as he refers to it here, love. And what he discusses is the impact of love in action.

What does it accomplish? Why is it so important? And what does it look like? That’s what Paul wishes to tell us in the verses that remain of chapter 13. The principle of affection, and the first thing that Paul wants to do is talk about the impact of love in action, and he talks about the efficacy of Christ-like affection. What does it do? What does it accomplish? For that, if you would, track back to verse eight. Paul has already said this as clearly as he can, render to all what is due. And here he reiterates that with an admonition to owe nothing to anyone, essentially don’t be indebted to anyone. That doesn’t mean that a person can never borrow money or some tangible thing with the intent to return it.

What Paul is referring to here is an intentionally unpaid debt. We should pay what we owe to whomever we’ve borrowed it. We are not to ignore our debts. Paul says, pay up. And Paul isn’t intending to wade in again to his discussion of taxes and customs and fear and honor. He’s reaching back to that discussion to make a new point here.

We may fall into a wide variety of kinds of debt in our life, but loving others, Paul says, should not be one of them. It’s a powerful and effective argument that Paul makes that the debt of love that we owe to others really can never be paid in full. We can never come to a place where we have fully exercised that responsibility. In a sense, we always stand in the place of indebtedness in that regard.

In the very next line, glance down, Paul begins his reasoning for such a strong statement when he says, for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. Now later, In verse nine, in his citation of the Ten Commandments, a portion of them, Paul does use the word neighbor. And so neighbor does broaden this out quite a bit, doesn’t it? It helps to clarify who we are to love. Literally, though, it says the other. Very plainly, the other person. not specifically a neighbor. That broadens out this responsibility even further, doesn’t it?

We know that we are not only called to love God, we’re naturally going to love our family, our friends, but we are commanded even by the Lord himself to love our enemies, to love the lost, The love, the unlovely. Paul here is not actually suggesting that this can be accomplished. We could never truly fulfill the law by our doing. What he’s pointing to instead is the need of an endless pursuit. We can never wear this command out. We can never truly fulfill it.

If someone were to actually love his neighbor, sincerely love everyone he ever met, then, and only then, would he fulfill the law. He’s urging us in the direction of it, in the direction of fulfilling the law, that we ought to be so given to loving others. And to verify this point, Paul cites, as I mentioned, four of the Ten Commandments. By doing so, he basically says that if you do not commit adultery, you do not murder, steal, covet, then you are thereby loving others. He takes these four of the 10 commandments as examples and says that any other commandment would be gathered up under the spiritual umbrella of love.

When he cites Leviticus 19.18 here, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. He isn’t commanding us to love ourselves. We have no problem doing that, right?

We naturally and inherently love and care for our own well-being. We care for ourselves. We love ourselves by seeking to avoid pain and by treating ourselves to life’s pleasures. We love ourselves, and that’s not necessarily a sin. What doesn’t come so naturally is loving others. Paul doesn’t tell us not to love ourselves. He knows that we do and we will, but he insists that we add to that the love of our neighbor, to care for them, to be considerate for them, to protect them as well as ourselves. Paul finishes out this thought with the concluding statement in verse 10.

Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law. A person who is loving his or her neighbor is not going to be trying to do evil to them, stealing from them, harming him, wronging him in any way. In this day and age, we hear a lot about hate crimes, don’t we? According to Paul here, any wrong done against the neighbor is in measure a hate crime. We’re not loving them as Christ would have us to do. If we genuinely love those around us, we will not do unloving things, hateful things to them. In this principle of affection, Paul gives a second principle. Not only the efficacy of Christ-like affection, what does it accomplish, but the urgency of Christ-like affection. Why is it so important?

For that, if you would glance at verses 11 and 12. Where Paul says, in this doom, knowing the time that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep, for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, the day is at hand, let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Now the imperative verb here in the New American Standard, do, not in the original. And translations are almost evenly split on how to render this sentence. Our tendency is to do like the New American Standard has done here, and to supply the main verb, do, a command. Not in the original Greek, but it makes sense. It’s a good translation. The other approach is to assume the verb do without noting it.

And that’s where the other half of the translations come in. In those translations, it’s assumed that this is what Paul means. Paul is encouraging his readers to do something, and it’s urgent. Question is, what is Paul referring to by the word this? Do this? Good question. And it’s simple to answer. Paul is referring back to the admonition to love our neighbors, as he discussed in verses eight through 10, the great responsibility to impact our world for Christ.

But here he adds a sense of urgency to it. When he adds, knowing the time, he’s trying to stir his readers to action. He knows the inevitability of Christ’s return. He knows the evil day in which they lived. He knows as well the brevity of their time on earth, whether it’s by death or by Christ’s return. And so there is a sense of urgency here to Paul’s appeal. The season of opportunity is dwindling. The great apostle knows this. The clock is ticking and they must get busy loving others. Time is slipping away. Clarifies it further in the next line. Glance there if you would at verse 11. Pardon me. Yeah, verse 11.

The hour is fleeting, and Paul reminds them that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep. We’ve all overslept. Either we didn’t set the alarm, or we didn’t have the volume up, or the alarm clock didn’t work, or the power went out. We’ve all had those moments, and that’s essentially the image that Paul, now they hadn’t invented alarm clocks then, but Paul is functioning as their alarm clock. And he belts out, in a sense, rise and shine, time to get up, get out of bed, sleepyhead.

And it’s clear he’s not talking about literal sleep here. It’s a metaphor that he employs regarding whatever might be preventing them from loving, serving, whatever might be standing in the way of their care of other people. It could be laziness. It could be indifference. It could be insensitivity. Or it could be just a lack of follow-through of their good intentions.

The apostle appends one final reason here for this stirring reminder. He says, for now, salvation is nearer than when we believed. Now, to begin with, Paul is not saying that he and his readers are not yet saved. There’s a sense in which we’re already saved, but there’s also a sense in which that salvation will not be fully realized until we are in glory. That’s what Paul is referring to.

1 Peter 1.5 says the same thing, it speaks of those who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation, get this, ready to be revealed in the last time. It’s kind of something that we possess in a sense now, but we won’t fully realize it until the return of Christ and we go to glory. He implies the same thing back in Romans 5-9 when he says that, having been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. Well, are we saved or not? We are. We’re saved, but that salvation has not been fully realized. And Paul’s point is that once we are drawn into glory, whether individually or at Christ’s return, the opportunity for loving our neighbor is over. Verse 12, Paul recaps this whole point almost poetically. It’s a beautiful sentence. He reiterates the sense of urgency here. Lancet, verse 12, if you would, And the verse is still in keeping with the idea of awakening from sleep.

And here are the images of the breaking of dawn. The night is almost gone and the day is at hand. It’s an almost, it’s an amazing thing to behold, isn’t it, for any of us who’ve ever gotten to do that? Teenagers won’t do this until their mid-20s, but it’s a beautiful thing to behold. to go through the entire night or to get up early while it’s still pitch black, and then slowly but surely the sky begins to lighten. It’s the coming of a new day. It’s a beautiful thing.

Here, the night pictures the sinful world in which we live, and the day points to the glories of heaven. That’s the image that the Apostle Paul uses to speak, again, of this fleeting opportunity here in this life. The night is giving way today. And because of that, Paul concludes here, let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and let us put on the armor of light.

There’s a beautiful, even if it’s subtle, feature to Paul’s exhortation here. Both of the verbs at the end of verse 12 lay aside and put on, both of those are in what is called the subjunctive mood. I know I’m taking you back to eighth grade grammar, but bear with me. Grammatically speaking, mood refers to the relationship of what is spoken to reality.

Has it existed? Does it now exist? Will it ever exist? Might it exist in the future? And the subjunctive mood, you might call it, is the mood of potential. It isn’t as bland as the indicative mood that just states the facts of the matter, nor is it as forceful as the imperative mood, which is used to issue commands. The subjunctive mood is different. The subjunctive mood is used to express a powerful or enthusiastic motivation. I’ve described it in the past as kind of like a coach’s encouragement.

Let’s go. That’s what Paul does here. He issues two such encouragements. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. first encouragement, laying aside the deeds of darkness. Undoubtedly, he beckons us away from the morally dark attitudes, actions, and behaviors of the world, the very sins out of which we were saved. The Apostle John echoes this same thought in John 3, 19. that the light, that is Jesus Christ, has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. Paul says, we’ve been drawn out of that darkness, we ought to walk in the light.

In Ephesians 5.11, Paul addresses it there, and he similarly warns, do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness. That’s for them. That’s for the people of the world. Likewise, the armor of light, the second statement here, which we are encouraged to put on, must refer to moral purity. In various forms, the armor of light is one of Paul’s favorite illustrations of the Christian life. He speaks of it in 2 Corinthians 6-7, when he refers to the word of truth and the power of God as the weapons of righteousness.

In 10.4 of that same letter, he alludes to this spiritual armor again when he says that the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh. In Ephesians 6, you know this, of course, he details the Christian who is properly arrayed for spiritual battle. Remember the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith.

In all of those passages, this loving shepherd, Paul, speaks of the protection that is afforded by moral righteousness. And so here, Paul is serving as a coach, a friend, an encourager, beckoning his friends to follow his lead, grow in grace, and maturity in Christ. Let’s go, he says.

Well, having introduced the idea of the importance of a moral foundation, Pohl’s third point in this section zeroes in on that element of Christ-like affection. In this principle of affection, we see the impact of love in action by the efficacy of Christ-like affection, the urgency of Christ-like affection, and thirdly, the morality of Christ-like affection. Would you glance at verses 13 and 14? 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.

This is the very same verse that the Lord used to bring at least one young man to faith in Christ. You surely have heard of the name Augustine, or as some people pronounce it, Augustine. He’s claimed by both Catholics and evangelicals. And the story goes like this, that a young boy challenged him to take up and read the Bible. These were the few verses that he read that pierced his heart.

The apostle opens verse 13 with another subjunctive. Let us behave properly, he insists. The word properly speaks of living according to a moral standard, doing what is right and proper. And he immediately, the immediate synonyms that come from this are decently or appropriately or becomingly. We should live as we ought to live as Christians. If we profess to be Christ’s people, we ought to live like it. Our walk should match our talk. As Christians, we ought to live accordingly.

And Paul reminds us of the standard in play when he says, as in the day. We’re no longer people of the night, people of darkness. We are people of the day, people of light. There’s another of Paul’s favorite metaphors for morality, or in this case, immorality, darkness. In 1 Thessalonians, one of Paul’s first epistles, he told those believers, as believers in Christ, we are not of night or darkness. Not us anymore. We’ve been called out of that darkness.

1 Thessalonians 5.5.

In Colossians 1.13, he uses the same image to refer to our salvation. He rescued us from the domain of darkness. And he reminded the Ephesians that they were formerly darkness. They were darkness itself. They were so steeped in the sins of the world that they had become darkness itself. But now he says, you are light in the Lord.

And as such, they were to walk as children of light in Ephesians 5, 8. They were no longer to participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, Ephesians 5, 11. Instead, Paul says, here in Romans 13, we are to behave properly, as in the day, we have been called into the light and we are to walk as children of the day. We are to live in light of the knowledge of God and his word, to walk in the light. as the Apostle John put it, 1 John 1, 7.

What does this look like, specifically? Paul tells us both negatively and positively. Glance, if you would, at the description of darkness at the end of verse 13, where Paul says there, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy, Those all describe the sordid way in which the people of the world live. This wildly sinful behavior, three pairs of vices that characterize the world of darkness out of which we were saved and back to which we must not go.

In each pair, Paul moves from the end to the beginning. How did it start? From the result, if you will, to the cause. Drunkenness ends up in carousing, boisterously rambling about town, making noise. Sensuality or lewdness leads to promiscuity, adulterous indulgence. And jealousy, that unrestrained envy, ultimately leads to strife, a divisive contention with others.

Well, this was the culture in which the church resided, and it still is. The corruption of the world was a constant source of pressure upon the church, and it still is. It ought not to be this way. and we must not yield. God has provided us a savior. He has moved to bring us to repentance and faith. He has sent his Holy Spirit to dwell in us. He has given us his written word for instruction, and he has surrounded us with other believers, for example, for encouragement, for fellowship. It ought not be this way. And so Paul closes with two strong imperatives, commands.

Would you glance down at verse 14? Where Paul says, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. Paul insists first that we put on the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s an interesting image. It’s almost like putting on a coat or a garment. And Paul says that we are to be clothed, in a sense, with our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul here pictures Jesus as the believer’s impenetrable armor. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

You’re likely familiar with this recurring use by Paul of this idea of putting on and putting off. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, he urged them again to put on their spiritual armor, the breastplate of faith and love, the helmet, the hope of salvation. Ephesians 4, he not only tells those believers to lay aside, take off that filthy garment, and lay aside the old self, but he also says put on the new. Put off and put on, and here in Romans 13, it’s the Savior himself that we are told to put on. And this putting on is not for the purpose of salvation.

God has already accomplished that by clothing us in Christ’s righteousness. What Paul refers to here is the clothing of sanctification where, little by little, we are conformed to the character of Christ. And this is done by confession of sin, as the Holy Spirit points it out in God’s word. We confess our sin, we cry out for grace, and our character is slowly conformed to that of Christ. And we put on the Lord Jesus Christ by immersing ourselves in his word, confessing our sin as it is exposed, and applying his grace for change. Writing to the Colossians, Paul details this sense when he urged those believers to put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Our lives ought to look differently if we’re saved. Paul’s second closing command is equally as striking. Make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. This is the negative side of the previous statement. The first command tells us what we are to do. This one tells us what we are not to do.

This portion of our being, the flesh, represents our fallen human nature, which is completely susceptible to evil inclinations. And lusts just speak of those sinful desires. Our flesh used to be in total control, didn’t it? In our unsaved state, we used to have to cater to every desire of the flesh. We can no longer do that.

Paul says it this way in Ephesians 4.22, lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit.

We no longer want to fan the flames of our flesh, so as to nurture that insatiable appetite for sin. We cannot flirt with that inclination to unrighteousness. We cannot lay out plans that might tempt us. We cannot tempt ourselves with the very things that used to lead us eagerly into sin.

I love the way one pastor put it. Kick the sin off of your doorstep. And you won’t have to have it in your house. What Paul lays out here in these series of paragraphs is a clear outline of Christ-like affection. That we should love others enough to eradicate sin from our own life. We should love others enough by our Christ-like affection that we get busy knowing how brief the time is that we have. And we should love others with a Christ-like affection because that is the means of impacting our world.

Would you humble yourself before him? Lord God, we bow before you. in the quietness of our hearts. And Lord, we know not one of us has fulfilled the law in this regard. Not one of us has loved others perfectly. Father, we know that many times we bristle and chafe in our interaction with others. We get irritated at them and angry. That anger simmers. We do not bear with them as we ought.

Lord God, we know that we so often do not even go out of our way to try. Lord God, we confess that our affection is anything but Christ-like at times. So Father, because of that, our lives are more empty. We are less fulfilled. You are less honored and glorified. We’re selfish. Lord God, we plead with you that you would open our eyes to the brevity of time. We don’t even know that we have tomorrow. And we know that one day Christ will burst through the skies and whatever opportunity we had here in this life, in this earth, will be over.

Lord God, we thank you and we praise you for the fact that we have been called out of darkness, that we have come to the point of repenting and repudiating those gross sins that dishonored you so terribly, that literally put you on the cross. Father, we thank you for the grace in being called out of darkness and for the grace that enables us to stand firm and to not revert into those sins. Lord God, we plead for your grace to work into us a Christ-like affection, an affection for the lost, an affection for our fellow believers, a natural affection for our own families, and an obvious affection for our God and our Savior. Lord God, if there are any here that do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, no amount of doing anything will ever secure salvation. Salvation comes by faith alone in Christ alone. Lord God, for us who do believe, who have come to repentance in faith, We pray, Lord, that you would continue your work of sanctification in us. Make us to be the people that you desire us to be. Grant us your grace to change. Take us and mold us and make us to be like Christ. We thank you and we praise you. We pray all of these things in Jesus’ name.