PUTTING ON CHRIST "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." (Romans 13:11-14, NKJV) Devotion 16 of 33 – Tomorrow:
" . . . now our salvation is nearer."
Other versions read, "our salvation is nearer now" (NIV), "For salvation is nearer to us now" (NRSV), and "for the coming of our salvation is nearer now" (NLT).
The way in which the Spirit has chosen to say this is most edifying. He might well have said the following, all of which are true. They are included in the idea of our salvation being "nearer."
1. Our race is almost completed.
2. The good fight of faith will soon end.
3. The devil's time is running out.
4. Our troubles will soon be over.
5. The wicked will soon cease from troubling us.
6. The time is nearing when we will no more have another law within our members, warring against the law of our mind.
7. Soon we will cease to wrestle against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
8. The times of testing will soon end.
9. The time of temptation is fast coming to a close.
10. Soon we will no longer have this treasure in an earthen vessel.
11. It will not be long and we will no longer see through a glass darkly.
12. The time is approaching when we will not know in part.
13. Persecutions will soon come to an end.
All of these are true, and are blessed to consider. But that is not the perspective of this text. It is not what is coming to an end, but what is up ahead that is the focus of this passage. "Our salvation" accentuates what God has determined we will appropriate. This is the destiny to which we are appointed in Christ Jesus. Among other things, this includes the following.
1. We will be conformed to the image of God's Son (Rom 8:29).
2. We will be like Christ (1 John 3:2).
3. We will shine like the sun in the kingdom of our Father (Matt 13:43).
4. We will judge the world (1 Cor 6:2).
5. We will judge angels (1 Cor 6:3).
6. We will reign with Jesus (2 Tim 2:12).
7. We will experience "glorious liberty" (Rom 8:21).
8. We will be changed, putting on an incorruptible body (1 Cor 15:52).
These are only introductory to the magnitude of what is drawing closer and closer to the people of God! The time is fast approaching when "the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever" (Dan 7:18). From our point of view, we are rapidly moving toward the glorious inheritance to which we have been appointed. From the heavenly point of view, the time is fast approaching when the Lamb will be presented with His spotless bride.
These words lack significance to the person enslaved to academics. They seem too apparent to such a one. Of course time is progressing toward a Divinely appointed role! "Why," the intellect reasons, "is it necessary to remind us of something so obvious?" But here is where the absolute inferiority of a cerebral approach to the faith becomes apparent. It may very well appear that it is obvious the day of "our salvation" is "nearer." But it is not at all obvious! That is precisely why this statement is made! If it was conspicuous, or apparent, there would be no need to "awake out of sleep!" Exhortations to sobriety and vigilance would be pointless if everyone was living in an awareness of the approaching apogee of "our salvation."
Time and circumstance tend to throw a veil over this truth, so that it is not clearly seen. Scarcely an hour will pass without the reality of a fast approaching new heavens and new earth beginning to fade from our view. The "cares of this world" aggressively attempt to "choke the word" (Mark 4:18). Trouble stirs up a dust storm in an attempt to obscure the coming glory. We are not in a moral vacuum! Rather, we are in a fiercely competitive arena of conflict. All of this is used by Satan to pull us off the wall of Divine appointment into the valley of the "here and now." Many a soul, deluded by the wicked one, has forgotten what is coming for the righteous, as well as what is closing in upon the wicked.
This is why we must hear these words spoken often and with power: "for now is our salvation nearer!" We are progressing toward the objective of our hope, and that objective is quickly moving toward us.
This is not the language of time, and ought not to be so viewed. A salvation that is rooted in eternity cannot be opened up to us within an overriding consideration of time. This is language for the heart, and is to be comprehended by faith. It may appear as though time and circumstance are dominating, and that we are slaves to both. But that is not the case: "for now is our salvation nearer!"
It is "nearer" because God has been working His salvation in the midst of the earth (Psa 74:12)! Everything is progressing to His appointed conclusion. It is "nearer" because we are making advancement in the Spirit, being changed "from glory unto glory" (2 Cor 3:18). We are closer to what we will be! The inheritance God has appointed for us is drawing closer to us. What a blessed consideration! Hope thrives on such a circumstance, while faith makes us more determined to obtain the prize that awaits us.
PRAYER POINT: Father, I thank You in Jesus name for the gentleness and care with which You have opened the future to Your children.