Romans 13:11-14

Twenty-seventh Passage (13:11-14). The Expectation of Christ's coming again a Motive to Christian Sanctification.

This passage is the counterpart of that with which the apostle had begun his moral teaching, Romans 12:1-2. There he had laid down the principle: a living consecration of the body to God under the guidance of a mind renewed by faith in the mercies of God. This was, as it were, the impelling force which should sustain the believer in his twofold spiritual and civil walk. But that this course may be firm and persevering, there must be joined to the impelling force a power of attraction exercised on the believer's heart by an aim, a hope constantly presented to him by faith. This glorious expectation is what the apostle reminds us of in the following passage. The passage, Romans 12:1-2, was the foundation; this, Romans 13:11-14, is the corner-stone of the edifice of Christian sanctification.