8.31.13 – Making No Provision For The Flesh

Romans 13:11-14

Do this, 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 near. Therefore let us 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.

There is only one way to fulfill the law through love, it is by putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lust.

We have two main commands near the end of our text. Obedience to these two commands will enable us to fulfill the law by loving our neighbor as ourself.

• Put on the Lord Jesus Christ
• Make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lust

Jesus is the only person to ever walk the face of the earth who loved his neighbor as himself in a perfect fashion. We are to imitate our Savior by putting him on. How do we do that? Putting on the Lord Jesus looks a lot like putting on the full armor of God that we learn about in Ephesians Chapter 6. It is a laying down of our sinful habits and desires for righteousness ones. It is similar to making a choice to put on my boots before I go to work every day. It has become something that I don’t even think about anymore. I couldn’t actually dream about going to work without my boots on, and this should become the same sort of habit of putting on the armor of God. I should come to the place where I couldn’t dream of going through one day without being geared up. If I do, I stand defenseless.

Putting on the armor is the preparatory work that I must do each and every morning. But once I have on my armor then I must actively make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lust. This is active and not passive. It is defending the righteousness of Christ from all sinful lusts which seek to penetrate my armor. Wielding the sword of the word against all enemies of sin. After all, the night is almost gone and the day is near. Salvation is nearer to us now than we first believed.