Instructions for the New Year

Since the New Year is here and we are contemplating the passage of time, the inspired words of the apostle Paul in Romans 13:11-14 are apropos:

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 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. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Three instructions stand out in this passage.

1. Wake Up

Paul says it is high time to awake out of sleep. The apostle was concerned about followers of Christ falling into a spiritual stupor. He frequently writes to Christians to wake up. Not only does he tell those in Rome to do so, but in Ephesians 5 Paul emphasizes the need to be awake and make the most of the time (v.16) after quoting from the prophet Isaiah: “Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light” (Eph. 5:14). To his converts at Thessalonica, whom he had to abruptly leave after their conversion (Acts 17:1-10), Paul wrote: “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation” (1 Thess. 5:6-8).

2. Get Dressed

Paul’s instructions to put on these pieces of the armor in 1 Thessalonians 5:8 brings us to the second instruction–being properly attired. The works of darkness are to be cast off; the armor of light must be donned (Rom. 13:12). We put on the Lord Jesus Christ initially in baptism (Gal. 3:27); yet, Paul exhorts Christians to put on the Lord Jesus Christ in their behavior (Rom. 13:14). Colossians 3:8 lists sins we must put off. Colossians 3:12 give virtues we must put on as the elect of God. A parallel in his epistle to the Ephesians is, “that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph. 4:22-24). Ephesians goes on to detail certain sinful habits and dispositions to “put away” (Eph. 4:25-31); moreover, it details the whole armor of God which Christians must “put on” (Eph. 6:10-17).   Almost as if we were changing out of graveclothes (Jn. 11:44), the Christian has been given new life and must put off the former sins associated with spiritual death and put on the Christian armor associated with light and life.

3. Walk in the Light

The daily activity of the Christian is described as walking honestly, as in the day (Rom. 13:13). Paul warned Christians how to walk (Eph. 4:17, 5:15). This is similar to the familiar passage John gives on walking in the light (1 Jn. 1:5-9). What habits will you break, form, or continue in 2025? Let us examine ourselves so that our habit is to walk in the light of God’s word (Psa. 119:105).