Romans 13:12

The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(12) The night.—The time during which the Messiah is absent from His people is compared to night. He is the sun. whose coming converts it to day.

It is rather strange that here, as in 1Thessalonians 5:8, the metaphor of night and day should suggest that of “armour.” The warfare in which the Christian is engaged is between the powers of light and of darkness. (Comp. Ephesians 6:12.) And the use of the word “putting off” (stripping oneself as of clothing) supplies a link between the two ideas by suggesting the putting on of a different kind of clothing, the Christian panoply.

MacLaren's Expositions

John - Romans

LOVE AND THE DAY

ONE METAPHOR AND TWO MEANINGS

THE SOLDIER’S MORNING-CALL

Romans 13:12.

It is interesting to notice that the metaphor of the Christian armour occurs in Paul’s letters throughout his whole course. It first appears, in a very rudimentary form, in the earliest of the Epistles, that to the Thessalonians. It appears here in a letter which belongs to the middle of his career, and it appears finally in the Epistle to the Ephesians, in its fully developed and drawn-out shape, at almost the end of his work. So we may fairly suppose that it was one of his familiar thoughts. Here it has a very picturesque addition, for the picture that is floating before his vivid imagination is that of a company of soldiers, roused by the morning bugle, casting off their night-gear because the day is beginning to dawn, and bracing on the armour that sparkles in the light of the rising sun. ‘That,’ says Paul, ‘is what you Christian people ought to be. Can you not hear the notes of the reveille? The night is far spent; the day is at hand; therefore let us put off the works of darkness-the night-gear that was fit for those hours of slumber. Toss it away, and put on the armour that belongs to the day.’

Now, I am not going to ask or try to answer the question of how far this Apostolic exhortation is based upon the Apostle’s expectation that the world was drawing near its end. That does not matter at all for us at present, for the fact which he expresses as the foundation of this exhortation is true about us all, and about our position in the midst of these fleeting shadows round us. We are hastening to the dawning of the true day. And so let me try to emphasise the exhortation here, old and threadbare and commonplace as it is, because we all need it, at whatever point of life’s journey we have arrived.

Now, the first thing that strikes me is that the garb for the man expectant of the day is armour.

We might have anticipated something very different in accordance with the thoughts that Paul’s imagery here suggests, about the difference between the night which is so swiftly passing, and is full of enemies and dangers, and the day which is going to dawn, and is full of light and peace and joy. We might have expected that he would have said, ‘Let us put on the festal robes.’ But no! ‘The night is far spent; the day is at hand.’ But the dress that befits the expectant of the day is not yet the robe of the feast, but it is ‘the armour’ which, put into plain words, means just this, that there is fighting, always fighting, to be done. If you are ever to belong to the day, you have to equip yourselves now with armour and weapons. I do not need to dwell upon that, but I do wish to insist upon this fact, that after all that may be truly said about growth in grace, and the peaceful approximation towards perfection in the Christian character, we cannot dispense with the other element in progress, and that is fighting. We have to struggle for every step. Growth is not enough to define completely the process by which men become conformed to the image of the Father, and are ‘made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.’ Growth does express part of it, but only a part. Conflict is needed to come in, before you have the whole aspect of Christian progress before your minds. For there will always be antagonism without and traitors within. There will always be recalcitrant horses that need to be whipped up, and jibbing horses that need to be dragged forward, and shying ones that need to be violently coerced and kept in the traces. Conflict is the law, because of the enemies, and because of the conspiracy between the weakness within and the things without that appeal to it.

We hear a great deal to-day about being ‘sanctified by faith.’ I believe that as much as any man, but the office of faith is to bring us the power that cleanses, and the application of that power requires our work, and it requires our fighting. So it is not enough to say, ‘Trust for your sanctifying as you have trusted for your justifying and acceptance,’ but you have to work out what you get by your faith, and you will never work it out unless you fight against your unworthy self, and the temptations of the world. The garb of the candidate for the day is armour.

And there is another side to that same thought, and that is, the more vivid our expectations of that blessed dawn the more complete should be our bracing on of the armour. The anticipation of that future, in very many instances, in the Christian Church, has led to precisely the opposite state of mind. It has induced people to drop into mere fantastic sentiment, or to ignore this contemptible present, and think that they have nothing to do with it, and are only ‘waiting for the coming of the Lord,’ and the like. Paul says, ‘Just because, on your eastern horizon, you can see the pink flush that tells that the night is gone, and the day is coming, therefore do not be a sentimentalist, do not be idle, do not be negligent or contemptuous of the daily tasks; but because you see it, put on the armour of light, and whether the time between the rising of the whole orb of the sun on the horizon be long or short, fill the hours with triumphant conflict. Put on the whole armour of light.’

Again, note here what the armour is. Of course that phrase, ‘the armour of light,’ may be nothing more than a little bit of colour put in by a picturesque imagination, and may suggest simply how the burnished steel would shine and glitter when the sunbeams smote it, and the glistening armour, like that of Spenser’s Red Cross Knight, would make a kind of light in the dark cave, into which he went. Or it may mean ‘the armour that befits the light’; as is perhaps suggested by the antithesis ‘the works of darkness,’ which are to be ‘put off.’ These are works that match the darkness, and similarly the armour is to be the armour that befits the light, and that can flash back its beams. But I think there is more than that in the expression. I would rather take the phrase to be parallel to another of this Apostle’s, who speaks in 2nd Corinthians of the ‘armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left.’ ‘Light’ makes the armour, ‘righteousness’ makes the armour. The two phrases say the same thing, the one in plain English, the other in figure, which being brought down to daily life is just this, that the true armour and weapon of a Christian man is Christian character. ‘Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report,’ these are the pieces of armour, and these are the weapons which we are to wield. A Christian man fights against evil in himself by putting on good. The true way to empty the heart of sin is to fill the heart with righteousness. The lances of the light, according to the significant old Greek myth, slew pythons. The armour is ‘righteousness on the right hand and on the left.’ Stick to plain, simple, homely duties, and you will find that they will defend your heart against many a temptation. A flask that is full of rich wine may be plunged into the saltest ocean, and not a drop will find its way in. Fill your heart with righteousness; your lives-let them glisten in the light, and the light will be your armour. God is light, wherefore God cannot be tempted with evil. ‘Walk in the light, as He is in the light’ . . . and ‘the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.’

But there is another side to that thought, for if you will look, at your leisure, to the closing words of the chapter, you will find the Apostle’s own exposition of what putting on the armour of light means. ‘Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ’-that is his explanation of putting on ‘the armour of light.’ For ‘once ye were darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord,’ and it is in the measure in which we are united to Him, by the faith which binds us to Him, and by the love which works obedience and conformity, that we wear the invulnerable armour of light. Christ Himself is, and He supplies to all, the separate graces which Christian men can wear. We may say that He is ‘the panoply of God,’ as Paul calls it in Ephesians, and when we wear Him, and only in the measure in which we do wear Him, in that measure are we clothed with it. And so the last thing that I would point out here is that the obedience to these commands requires continual effort.

The Christians in Rome, to whom Paul was writing, were no novices in the Christian life. Long ago many of them had been brought to Him. But the oldest Christian amongst them needed the exhortation as much as the rawest recruit in the ranks. Continual renewal day by day is what we need, and it will not be secured without a great deal of work. Seeing that there is a ‘putting off’ to go along with the ‘putting on,’ the process is a very long one. ‘‘Tis a lifelong task till the lump be leavened.’ It is a lifelong task till we strip off all the rags of this old self; and ‘being clothed,’ are not ‘found naked.’ It takes a lifetime to fathom Jesus; it takes a lifetime to appropriate Jesus, it takes a lifetime to be clothed with Jesus. And the question comes to each of us, have we ‘put off the old man with his deeds’ ? Are we daily, as sure as we put on our clothes in the morning, putting on Christ the Lord?

For notice with what solemnity the Apostle gives the master His full, official, formal title here, ‘put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Do we put Him on as Lord; bowing our whole wills to Him, and accepting Him, His commandments, promises, providences, with glad submission? Do we put on Jesus, recognising in His manhood as our Brother not only the pattern of our lives, but the pledge that the pattern, by His help and love, is capable of reproduction in ourselves? Do we put Him on as ‘the Lord Jesus Christ,’ who was anointed with the Divine Spirit, that from the head it might flow, even to the skirts of the garments, and every one of us might partake of that unction and be made pure and clean thereby? ‘Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ,’ and do it day by day, and then you have ‘put on the whole armour of God.’

And when the day that is dawning has risen to its full, then, not till then, may we put off the armour and put on the white robe, lay aside the helmet, and have our brows wreathed with the laurel, sheathe the sword, and grasp the palm, being ‘more than conquerors through Him who loved us,’ and fights in us, as well as for us.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

13:11-14 Four things are here taught, as a Christian's directory for his day's work. When to awake; Now; and to awake out of the sleep of carnal security, sloth, and negligence; out of the sleep of spiritual death, and out of the sleep of spiritual deadness. Considering the time; a busy time; a perilous time. Also the salvation nigh at hand. Let us mind our way, and mend our pace, we are nearer our journey's end. Also to make ourselves ready. The night is far spent, the day is at hand; therefore it is time to dress ourselves. Observe what we must put off; clothes worn in the night. Cast off the sinful works of darkness. Observe what we must put on; how we should dress our souls. Put on the armour of light. A Christian must reckon himself undressed, if unarmed. The graces of the Spirit are this armour, to secure the soul from Satan's temptations, and the assaults of this present evil world. Put on Christ; that includes all. Put on righteousness of Christ, for justification. Put on the Spirit and grace of Christ, for sanctification. The Lord Jesus Christ must be put on as Lord to rule you as Jesus to save you; and in both, as Christ anointed and appointed by the Father to this ruling, saving work. And how to walk. When we are up and ready, we are not to sit still, but to appear abroad; let us walk. Christianity teaches us how to walk so as to please God, who ever sees us. Walk honestly as in the day; avoiding the works of darkness. Where there are riot and drunkenness, there usually are chambering and wantonness, and strife and envy. Solomon puts these all together, Pr 23:29-35. See what provision to make. Our great care must be to provide for our souls: but must we take no care about our bodies? Yes; but two things are forbidden. Perplexing ourselves with anxious, encumbering care; and indulging ourselves in irregular desires. Natural wants are to be answered, but evil appetites must be checked and denied. To ask meat for our necessities, is our duty, we are taught to pray for daily bread; but to ask meat for our lusts, is provoking God, Ps 78:18.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The night - The word "night," in the New Testament, is used to denote "night" literally (Matthew 2:14, etc.); the starry heavens Revelation 8:12; and then it denotes a state of "ignorance" and "crime," and is synonymous with the word "darkness," as such deeds are committed commonly in the night; 1 Thessalonians 5:5. In this place it seems to denote our present imperfect and obscure condition in this world as contrasted with the pure light of heaven The "night," the time of comparative obscurity and sin in which we live even under the gospel, is far gone in relation to us, and the pure splendors of heaven are at hand,

Is far spent - Literally, "is cut off." It is becoming "short;" it is hastening to a close.

The day - The full splendors and glory of redemption in heaven. Heaven is often thus represented as a place of pure and splendid day; Revelation 21:23, Revelation 21:25; Revelation 22:5. The times of the "gospel" are represented as times of "light" (Isaiah 60:1-2; Isaiah 60:19-20, etc.); but the reference here seems to be rather to the still brighter glory and splendor of heaven, as the place of pure, unclouded, and eternal day.

Is at hand - Is near; or is drawing near. This is true respecting all Christians. The day is near, or the time when they shall be admitted to heaven is not remote. This is the uniform representation of the New Testament; Hebrews 10:25; 1 Peter 4:7; James 5:8; Revelation 22:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:2-6; Philippians 4:5. That the apostle did not mean, however, that the end of the world was near, or that the day of judgment would come soon, is clear from his own explanations; see 1 Thessalonians 5:2-6; compare 2 Thessalonians 2.

Let us therefore - As we are about to enter on the glories of that eternal day, we should be pure and holy. The "expectation" of it will teach us to "seek" purity; and a pure life alone will fit us to enter there; Hebrews 12:14.

Cast off - Lay aside, or put away.

The works of darkness - Dark, wicked deeds, such as are specified in the next verse. They are called "works of darkness," because darkness in the Scriptures is an emblem of crime, as well as of ignorance, and because such deeds are commonly committed in the night; 1 Thessalonians 5:7, "They that be drunken, are drunken in the night;" compare John 3:20; Ephesians 5:11-13.

Let us put on - Let us clothe ourselves with.

The armour of light - The word "armor" ὅπλα hopla properly means "arms," or instruments of war, including the helmet, sword, shield, etc. Ephesians 6:11-17. It is used in the New Testament to denote the "aids" which the Christian has, or the "means of defense" in his warfare, where he is represented as a soldier contending with his foes, and includes truth, righteousness, faith, hope, etc. as the instruments by which he is to gain his victories. In 2 Corinthians 6:7, it is called "the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left." It is called armor of light, because it is not to accomplish any deeds of darkness or of crime; it is appropriate to one who is pure, and who is seeking a pure and noble object. Christians are represented as the "children of light;" 1 Thessalonians 5:5; Note, Luke 16:8. By the armor of light, therefore, the apostle means those graces which stand opposed to the deeds of darkness Romans 13:13; those graces of faith, hope, humility, etc. which shall be appropriate to those who are the children of the day, and which shall be their defense in their struggles with their spiritual foes. see the description in full in Ephesians 4:11-17.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

12. The night—of evil

is far spent, the day—of consummated triumph over it

is at hand: let us therefore cast off—as a dress

the works of darkness—all works holding of the kingdom and period of darkness, with which, as followers of the risen Saviour, our connection has been dissolved.

and let us put on the armour of light—described at length in Eph 6:11-18.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The night is far spent, the day is at hand: some, by night and day, do understand the night of Jewish persecution and the day of deliverance and salvation; see Hebrews 10:25. Others, by night, understand the time of ignorance and infidelity; this, he says, is far spent, or for the greatest part it is past and gone: darkness is not perfectly done away in this life amongst believers themselves, 1 Corinthians 13:9,10. By day, they understand the time of gospel light and saving knowledge: so in the next verse, and in 1 Thessalonians 5:5. This, he says, is at hand, or is come nigh; it was dawning upon the world, and would shine brighter and brighter, till it were perfect day.

Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness; i.e. all our former sins, which are called works of darkness, here, and in Ephesians 5:11. They are so called, because they are usually committed by those that are in ignorance and darkness; and because some sins, such as he speaks of in the next verse, were wont to be committed in the darkness of the night, men being ashamed of them in the day time: see Job 24:15 1 Thessalonians 5:7. These he exhorts the believing Romans to cast off: the word implieth, haste and hatred, Isaiah 30:22 31:7.

And let us put on the armour of light; i.e. all Christian graces, which are bright and shining in the eyes of the world, Matthew 5:16; and which will be as so much Christian armour, to defend us against sin, and all the assaults of Satan.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The night is far spent,.... Not of Jewish darkness, which was gone, and was succeeded by the Gospel day; nor of former ignorance in Gentilism and unregeneracy, for that was past, and the true light shined; much less of security in the latter day, which was not yet come on; rather of persecution and distress for Christ's sake; but it is best of all to understand it of the present time of life; so it is called by the Jews (g), , "this world is like to the night": and which, in the best of saints, is attended with imperfection and darkness, errors and mistakes, in principle and practice, in doctrine and conversation; however, it is far spent, and in a little time will be over:

the day is at hand; not the Gospel day, for that was already come; nor the day of grace, and spiritual light and comfort to their souls, for that also had taken place; nor the latter day glory, which then was at a distance; rather the approaching day of deliverance from present persecutions; but it is much better to understand it of the everlasting day of glory, which to particular persons was then, and now is at hand; a little while, and the night of darkness, affliction, and disconsolation will be over, and the day of glory will succeed, when there will be no more night, no more darkness, no more doubts, fears, and unbelief; but one continued series of light, joy, and comfort, and an uninterrupted communion with Father, Son, and Spirit; and which is another reason why the saints should not indulge themselves in sleep, but be active, since the halcyon days are at hand, as well as a reason why they should attend to the following exhortations:

let us therefore cast off the works of darkness; as the apostle had made use of the metaphors of night and day, and of sleep, and awaking out of sleep, and rising in the morning to business, so he continues the same; and here alludes to persons throwing off their bed clothes, and covering of the night, and putting on proper raiment for the day. By "works of darkness" are meant evil works, which are opposite to the light; to God, who is light itself; to Christ, the light of the world; to the word of God, both law and Gospel, which is a light to our paths; to both the light of nature, and the light of grace: and which spring from the darkness of the mind, and are encouraged to by the god of this world, and by his angels, the rulers of the darkness of it; and which are generally done in the dark, and are such as will not bear the light; and, if grace prevent not, will end in outer darkness, in blackness of darkness, reserved by the justice of God, as the punishment of them. "Casting them off" expresses a dislike of them, a displicency with them, and an abstinence from them. Some copies read, "the armour of darkness", which agrees with what follows:

and let us put on the armour of light; the whole armour of God, the use of which lies in the exercise of grace, and discharge of duty; particularly good works are designed here, which though they are not the believer's clothing, his robe of justifying righteousness, they are both his ornament and his armour; by which he adorns the doctrine of Christ, and defends his own character and principles against the charges find calumnies of then: these being performed aright, spring from the light of grace in a regenerate man, and are such as will bear the light to be seen of men; and are the lights which are to shine before men, that they beholding them, may glorify God; so virtue was by Antisthenes (h), called , "armour which cannot be taken away": the allusion is thought to be to the bright and glittering armour of the Romans; the Alexandrian copy reads, "the words of light".

(g) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 24. 4. (h) Diogen. Laert. l. 6. in Vita Antisthen. & Hesychius de viris illustr. p. 17.

Geneva Study Bible

The night is far spent, the day is {i} at hand: let us therefore cast off the works {k} of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

(i) In other places we are said to be in the light, but yet so that it does not yet appear what we are, for as yet we see but as it were in the twilight.

(k) That kind of life which those lead that flee the light.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Romans 13:12. To ὕπνος corresponds here as correlate ἡ νύξ, i.e. the time before the Parousia, which ceases, when with the Parousia the day arrives. νύξ and ἡμέρα are accordingly figures for the αἰὼν οὗτος and μέλλων, and ἡμέρα is not equivalent to σωτηρία (de Wette), but the day brings the σωτηρία. Comp. Hebrews 10:25.

The image is appropriate; for in regard to the knowledge, righteousness, and glory which will have a place in the future αἰών, this approaching blessed time will be related to the imperfect present time as day to night. Theodore of Mopsuestia aptly remarks: ἡμέραν καλεῖ τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας καιρόν … νύκτα δὲ τὸν πρὸ τούτου χρόνον.

προέκοψεν] not: is past (Luther), but: has made progress, processit (see Galatians 1:14; Luke 2:52; 2 Timothy 2:4-6; Lucian, Soloec. 6; Joseph. Bell. iv. 4. 6), so that the day is no longer distant. It is very possible that Paul conceived to himself the time of the approach of the Parousia as the time of twilight, with which conception both the preceding ὥρα ἡμᾶς ἤδη κ.τ.λ. and the following ἀποθώμεθα aptly agree.

ἀποθώμεθα] as one puts off garments. This way of conceiving it (in opposition to Fritzsche and Hofmann) corresponds to the correlate ἐνδυσώμεθα, comp. on Ephesians 4:22. The ἔργα τοῦ σκότους, i.e. the works, whose element, wherein they are accomplished, is darkness (comp. Ephesians 5:11), the condition of spiritual want of knowledge and of the dominion of sin, are regarded as night-clothes, which the sleeper has had on, and which he who has risen is now to put off.

ἐνδυσώμεθα of the putting on of arms (ὅπλα, as Romans 6:13), which in part are drawn on like garments. Comp. Ephesians 6:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:8.

τοῦ φωτός] not glittering arms (Grotius, Wetstein), but in contrast to τοῦ σκότους: arms (i.e. dispositions, principles, modes of action) which belong to the element of (spiritual) light, which one has as πεφωτισμένος by virtue of his existence and life in the divine truth of salvation. τοῦ φωτός has the spiritual sense, as also previously τοῦ σκότους, as being in the application of that which was said of the νύξ and ἡμέρα; but the metaphorical expressions are selected as the correlates of νύξ and ἡμέρα.

The Christian is a warrior in the service of God and Christ against the kingdom of darkness. Comp. Ephesians 6:11-12; 2 Corinthians 6:7; 2 Corinthians 10:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:8; 1 Timothy 1:18; Romans 6:13. For profane analogies, see Gataker, ad Anton, p. 58.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Romans 13:12. ἡ νύξ προέκοψεν: the true day dawns only when Christ appears; at present it is night, though a night that has run much of its course. ἀποθώμεθα οὖν τὰ ἔργα τοῦ σκότους. Things that can only be done in the dark—that cannot bear the light of day—are therefore to be put away by the Christian. For ἀποθώμεσα (properly of dress) cf. Jam 1:21; Jam 1:1. Pet. Romans 2:1 Hebrews 12:1. τὰ ὅπλα τοῦ φωτός: for τὰ ὅπλα see on chap. Romans 6:13, Ephesians 6:11, 1 Thessalonians 5:8. The idea is that the Christian’s life is not a sleep, but a battle. τὰ ὅπλα τοῦ φωτός does not mean “shining armour”; but (on the analogy of τὰ ἔργα τοῦ σκότους) such armour as one can wear when the great day dawns, and we would appear on the Lord’s side in the fight. An allusion to the last great battle against the armies of anti-Christ is too remote, and at variance with Paul’s use of the figure elsewhere.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

12. The night is far spent] Lit. The night was far spent. The Gr. verb is in the aorist; and the time-reference is, very probably, to the First Advent, when the Morning Star (Revelation 22:16) of the final Day appeared.—We have here, clearly, a combination of metaphors. The “sleep” of Romans 13:11 was the sleep of languor; the “night” of this verse is not, as we might thus have thought, the night of ignorance or sin, but that of trial; the “present time” contrasted with the coming glory. But the combination is most natural and instructive: a period of trial is almost sure, if it does not answer its end, to act directly the other way—to bring on the sloth of discouragement.—Cp. on this passage 1 John 2:8; where render “the darkness is passing.”

the day is at hand] Lit. hath drawn near.—“The day:”—“the day of Christ;” with the added idea of the day-light of eternal peace and glory which it will bring in. See 1 Thessalonians 5:5 for the only exact parallel: in the many other passages where “the Day” means the Lord’s Return, there is no trace of the special metaphor of light, the contrast of day with night.

the works of darkness] Lit. of the darkness. (Same phrase as Ephesians 5:11)—Here we recur to the idea of moral darkness; not the darkness of trial or pain; (see last note but one.) Cp. John 3:19; Acts 26:18; 2 Corinthians 6:14; Ephesians 5:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:4-5; 1 Peter 2:9; 1 John 1:6. No doubt the word suggests also the “powers of the darkness,” the personal spiritual “rulers of the darkness,” who tempt the soul and intensify its tendencies to evil. Cp. Luke 22:53; Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 1:13.—The habit resulting from these “deeds” is here figured as a night-robe, which is to be put off as the sleeper rises to conflict. (So Meyer.)

the armour of light] Lit. the weapons of the light. Not clothing merely, but arms and armour, must take the place of the night-robe. The “arms” are Divine grace with its manifold means and workings. See the elaborate picture in a later Epistle, Ephesians 6:11; a passage full of illustration for this context. The earliest use of the metaphor by St Paul is 1 Thessalonians 5:8; another close parallel. See also 2 Corinthians 6:7; 2 Corinthians 10:4; 1 Peter 4:1.—“Of the light:”—here perhaps the ideas of the daylight of sincerity and purity, and the day-light of glory which will end the conflict, are combined.

Observe how the re-animation of the life of grace is here, as often elsewhere, (cp. Ephesians 6:11; 1 Peter 4:1; and perhaps 2 Corinthians 5:20;) spoken of as if it were the beginning of it. The persons here addressed had already (on the Apostle’s hypothesis) truly “believed,” and were “walking after the Spirit.”

Bengel's Gnomen

Romans 13:12. Ἡ νὺξ) the night of this dark life, προέκοψεν, has come to its height; the day of complete salvation has drawn nigh,—the day of Christ, the last day, Hebrews 10:25, the dawn of which is this whole time, which intervenes between the first and second coming of our Lord. Paul speaks as if to persons awaking out of sleep, who do not immediately comprehend that it is bordering between night and day. He who has been long awake, knows the hour; but he to whom it needs now at last to be said, it is no longer night, the day has drawn near, is understood to be regarded as one, who is now, and not till now, fully awake.—ἔργα, the works) which they, whilst even still lying [and not yet awake] perform: comp. Galatians 5:19, note; works, which are unworthy of the name of arms. Farther, works come from internal feelings: arms are supplied from a different quarter; during the night men are without even their clothes; during the day, they have also arms.—ὅπλα, arms) this word is repeated from ch. 6. [13, Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness]: such arms as became those, who are light-armed [ready for action], as the breastplate and the helmet, 1 Thessalonians 5:8.

Romans 13:12

Vincent's Word Studies

Is far spent (προέκοψεν)

The A.V. gives a variety of renderings to this verb. Luke 2:52, increased; Galatians 1:14, profited; 2 Timothy 3:9, proceed; 2 Timothy 3:13, wax. The word originally means to beat forward or lengthen out by hammering. Hence to promote, and intransitively to go forward or proceed.

Let us cast off (ἀποθώμεθα)

As one puts off the garments of the night. For this use of the simple τίθημι, see on giveth his life, John 10:11.