wake up and get dressed!

Romans 13:8-14

Observe:
Key words: Love, commandments/law
There is a list of behaviour that belongs to the sinful nature and not to the child of God. Paul contrasts the sinful nature to the new nature using imagery like light and dark, day and night. He also uses a word picture: he likens putting off the things of the sinful nature to getting rid of bad armour. It is implied that a Christian would then put on new clothes or armour.
Paul also uses a word picture to depict Christians as sleeping and calls them to wake up because the dawn is approaching.

Interpret:
The word debt connects to the previous section where Paul admonishes us to give what we owe to whomever we owe it. Here, he says that the only debt that should remain outstanding is our debt of love. Paul argues that love fulfills the law for when I do not covet nor murder nor steal I am loving my neighbour which is the summary of that section of the law.
We need to make urgent payments on our debt of love because the end is coming very quickly. Not only should this motivate us to love our neighbour but to live holy lives.

Apply:
I know that God hates the deeds of darkness and if pleasing God and being like Jesus really is important to me, I'm going to put those things out of my life. Earlier, Paul implies that no one can change their life unless God changes for them but here he implies that there is some effort that is necessary on our part. I think that if we put those two ideas together, this means that I need to put a lot of effort into creating space for God to change me.
I am getting a little bit tired of people who are willing to compromise in the physical relationships, in their honesty and integrity, in the way that they treat other people (especially gossip and manipulation) and not see it as a huge deal. When I look at Matt 5, Jesus says that engaging in these behaviours puts a person in danger of hell. I'd say that's pretty serious. I'm afraid that a lot of "Christians" are going to be very surprised when they stand before God because they were relying on some prayer said when they were 3 or 4 to save them.
I want to be really clear - I do not believe that salvation is by works. It is only by the grace of God. However, the life of Christ in someone will always result in evidence in the way that they live and act, won't it? If there is no evidence, shouldn't that indicate that there is no life? I know that it is a journey and at times it is a battle (believe me, I know that - the battle continues for me!) but I am getting a little bit tired of everyone (including myself) taking sin so casually. Paul calls it the armour of darkness. Maybe it's like the venom suit in Spider Man 3 - it completely takes over and we have to fight to get rid of it. I really believe eternity is at stake if we don't.