. And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:1-2
What do you take off and put on in your daily life?
Read Romans 13:11-14.
We put off the deeds of darkness and put on God’s armor of light. These verses instruct us to live in the light of Jesus’ return, to take off our sinful deeds like dirty clothes, and clothe ourselves with the presence of Jesus. Does it seem like this chapter speaks more about rules then grace and faith? Let’s look at this chapter this way, if we start with our behavior first then we fall into the trap of legalism. However, if we start with faith and place our trust in God, then the Holy Spirit will reside inside us. This will result in our love for God overflowing into love for others.
Paul is not saying that we have to be really good in order for God to love us. Why then does it matter what we do if faith can save us? Romans 13:11-14 is speaking about sanctification. The ongoing process we will be going through until eternity. We are being conformed to the image of Christ. God wants our behavior to make the right choices because he loves us. Think about how parents give children rules, discipline, and instructions, why do you think most parents want their children to be well behaved? Parents will love their children no matter what, however, parents don’t want to see they suffer on by sin. Parents want their children to have a good life. We do this because we love them.
The New Testament teaches about our behavior or right living. The instructions are not about grace but about living love. Our behavior springs up from our belief that God is good and His ways are worth following. Reread verse 11, Paul is instructing us to wake up from sleep because our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. Love should wake us up. Love should compel us to remember that Jesus is coming back. We need to spread the good news. D.L. Moody says that our of 100 people, one will read the bible and 99 will read the Christian. Paul is saying that our mission is urgent. Paul is urging us to flee from what gets us off course from our love and purpose for Jesus. Are you asleep? What needs to happen for you to wake up to the priority of faith and action?
There are times in our lives where we need to take off the bad things in our lives. We need to clean off our bad habits, temptations, and fleshly desires. We can’t manage our sin, but Christ can. We need Christ to wash us through the power of His blood and put on His armor to live right. We need to put on His armor of light. Christ’s presence enables us to make godly choices. Read Ephesians 6:10-17. This passage of scripture is a list of spiritual armor that we can wear to help us fight spiritual battles. The belt is His truth., the breastplate is righteousness, shoes are our peace, and the author and perfected of our faith is the shield, our salvation is our helmet, the living word is the sword. When we put each piece on, we are putting on Jesus. When we keep Jesus close to us from the top of our head down to our feet, He helps us fight our battles and we will win with Him. God is calling us into His light, not to earn His love, but to grow in it, to become more like him.
Our behaviors and beliefs are what will make us more like Him if we conform to Him, with this change others will see His great love.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Your love is so great. I pray that we will take off all the old icky things in our lives and put on you. I pray that we will have the right understanding of what we believe and behave. We want to put on your armor of light and shine of your great love.
In Jesus Name
Amen
