It's High Time to Wake Up and Live for Christ

Paul joins love for the neighbor to the urgency of waking out of sleep. Biblical love works no ill, respects authority, and stands on truth. It is honest, kind, and full of compassion, but it does not compromise with sin. The Christian’s responsibility remains the same regardless of who holds office: pray for those in authority and keep taking the gospel to people.

Romans 13 presses that responsibility with the nearness of Christ. His return is nearer than when believers first believed, and God’s timeline is not built around the United States or its elections. Christ could return, and death could bring any believer into his presence. Either way, it is high time to wake up. Comfort and materialism have made Bible-believing Christians drowsy at the helm.

The light of Christ calls believers to walk as children of light. Ephesians 5 connects that walk with goodness, righteousness, truth, and the exposure of darkness. Calling out error requires humility and compassion, not eagerness to uncover another person’s sin while excusing personal wrongdoing. Christ, not self, is the main character of life.

Life is a vapor, so another opportunity cannot be assumed. Worship, witnessing, making things right, and using gifts for God cannot safely be put off until tomorrow. Each day is an opportunity entrusted by God.

The newness of life therefore demands four actions: abandon, act, adorn, and abstain. Believers must cast off darkness, walk honestly, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh. Outward morality is not enough while envy, bitterness, and strife remain inside. Putting on Christ means his humility, compassion, patience, righteousness, and love govern the whole person. Avoiding sin also means refusing to prepare its way through chosen entertainment, places, and situations. Salvation is not earned by good works, but the life Christ makes new should show the change.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Christ’s Nearness Makes Today Matter. The nearness of Christ includes both his promised return and the possibility that death could come before tomorrow. That certainty gives ordinary opportunities eternal weight, whether the opportunity is witnessing, worshiping, serving, or making something right. Plans have their place, but another chance to obey cannot be treated as a promise. [45:35]
• 2. Biblical Love Does Not Compromise. Love works no ill to a neighbor, but kindness does not require agreement with sin. Biblical love is honest and compassionate while standing firmly on truth. A believer’s correction should therefore seek another person’s good rather than the satisfaction of exposing a fault. [31:19]
• 3. Light Requires Humility About Personal Sin. Children of light have a responsibility to call out what is destructive. That responsibility becomes distorted when another person’s error is readily exposed while personal wrongdoing is explained away. Humility receives correction as well as giving it, and love takes seriously the harm done to a neighbor. [43:54]
• 4. A Clean Exterior Can Hide Darkness. Avoiding drunkenness and immorality does not mean the heart reflects Christ. Strife, jealousy, and resentment belong to the same darkness that believers are called to cast off. The change Christ makes must reach attitudes and relationships, not merely the conduct other people can see. [57:49]
• 5. Holiness Refuses To Prepare Temptation. Making no provision for the flesh means more than resisting sin at the moment of temptation. What believers watch, hear, and willingly enter can prepare the way for a later fall. Those made alive in Christ owe no debt to the flesh and need not keep arranging opportunities to serve it. [1:02:39]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [22:32] - Love Fulfills the Law
• [25:48] - Christian Responsibility Under Governing Authorities
• [29:13] - The Nearness of Christ
• [33:32] - Discerning the Time and Waking Up
• [37:59] - Walking as Children of Light
• [45:16] - Life Is a Vapor
• [50:53] - Abandon the Works of Darkness
• [52:17] - Act: Walk Honestly Before God
• [58:36] - Adorn: Put On Jesus Christ
• [1:02:01] - Abstain: Make No Provision for the Flesh
• [1:03:04] - Salvation, Surrender, and Redeeming the Time

Bible Reading

Romans 13:10-14
“Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” [22:28]

Ephesians 5:8-16
“For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” [33:58]

James 4:14
“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” [45:15]

Observation questions

1. In Romans 13:10–11, Paul moves from loving a neighbor to spiritual wakefulness. What responsibilities toward neighbors and governing authorities remain unchanged regardless of who holds office? [27:17]
2. In Ephesians 5:8–13, what qualities mark a life shaped by Christ’s light, and what responsibility do believers have toward darkness? [41:19]
3. What opportunities are easily postponed when a person assumes there will always be tomorrow? How do these examples connect with James 4:14? [49:14]
4. The four actions connected with Romans 13:12–14 are abandon, act, adorn, and abstain. What does each involve, and which reach beyond outward behavior into attitudes and relationships? [50:50]

Interpretation questions

1. How does Romans 13:10 help explain the difference between loving someone and approving of everything that person does? What would make correction both truthful and compassionate? [31:19]
2. Why should the nearness of Christ lead a believer toward faithful service today rather than speculation about political events or dates? How does the uncertainty of life strengthen that urgency? [32:35]
3. In light of Ephesians 5:8–13, what goes wrong when a believer eagerly exposes another person’s sin but becomes defensive about personal wrongdoing? What would distinguish humble correction from fault-finding? [43:54]
4. Why does Paul include jealousy and conflict alongside more visible sins in Romans 13:13? How does this help explain the difference between a respectable appearance and a life changed by Christ, without treating good works as the means of salvation? [58:01]

Application questions

1. Where might comfort, possessions, or financial security be making you spiritually drowsy? What change in your use of time or money could help you become more attentive to Christ and the people around you? [34:36]
2. When political news brings you relief, frustration, or fear, how does it affect the way you speak about those in authority? What might help you keep praying for them and sharing the gospel regardless of who holds office? [27:17]
3. Is there someone you have been meaning to speak with about Christ, someone you need to make things right with, or a gift you have been hesitant to use? Without assuming another opportunity, what thoughtful step could you take this week? [49:14]
4. When someone points out a fault in you, what is your first response? Is there a recent conversation you need to revisit with greater humility, a willingness to listen, or an apology? [44:09]
5. Is there a relationship where jealousy, resentment, or a desire to win an argument is hiding beneath outward politeness? What might Christ’s humility, compassion, or patience look like in your next interaction with that person? [59:14]
6. Thinking about what you watch, listen to, and willingly take part in, are there choices that make a recurring temptation easier to pursue? What practical boundary could help you stop preparing the way for sin, and how could this group support you? [01:02:25]