The Motivation of the Christian Believer (Romans 13:11–14)

Welcome back to The Bible Project Daily Podcast! In today’s episode, we're exploring what really motivates the Christian life. Is it fear? Guilt? Love? Or something even deeper?

As we open Romans 13:11–14, the Apostle Paul tells us to wake up, not just because it’s morning—but because eternity is drawing near. What does it mean to live with a sense of urgency, with our eyes on the horizon of Christ’s return?

This passage isn’t just a call to behave better—it’s a wake-up call to live differently in light of the nearness of our salvation. So grab your Bible and let’s dig in together.

📄 Episode Notes: The Motivation of the Christian Believer (Romans 13:11–14)

Main Passage: Romans 13:11–14

Episode Summary:
In this episode, we reflect on one of the most urgent appeals in Paul’s letter to the Romans. Having spoken of motivations like fear, guilt, and love, Paul now introduces a deeper, time-sensitive motivation for the Christian life: the imminent return of Christ. The night is nearly over. The day is at hand. It’s time to wake up.

Together, we’ll unpack:

• What “salvation is nearer now” really means
• The three tenses of salvation: justification, sanctification, and glorification
• Why the doctrine of Christ’s imminent return isn’t a modern invention, but a deeply biblical and early Christian conviction
• What it looks like to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” today

Key Themes:

• Christian motivation
• The return of Christ
• Sanctification and urgency
• Living in the light of eternity
• The threefold structure of salvation

Quotes Referenced:

• Sanday & Headlam: “The language is that befitting those who expected the actual second coming of Christ almost immediately.”
• C.E.B. Cranfield: “The kingdom of God has come close... now actually confronting them in the person of Jesus.”

Takeaway:
Paul doesn’t want us to live in spiritual sleepwalking mode. He wants us to live awake—alert to the fact that the Lord is at the door. Are you living like that today?

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Chapters

• 9:35 [Ad] The One Shalom
• 10:23 (Cont.) The Motivation of the Christian Believer (Romans 13:11–14)

Transcript

 What motivates people to do what they do? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to that question. For some, the driving force is pleasure—they seek comfort, fun, and relaxation. Others are motivated by the pursuit of possessions. They work hard, to gain more—to achieve, to accumulate. Still others are driven by power, the desire to control or influence those around them. But what about us as believers in Jesus Christ? What should motivate us? As we continue our study in the book of Romans, we’ve now reached chapter 13. And here, the Apostle Paul highlights several different motivations for Christian behavior. In the early part of the chapter, for instance, he says we ought to submit to governing authorities for wrath’s sake—meaning we should fear the consequences of disobedience (Romans 13:5). That’s one motivation: fear. As one of my bosses said to me early in my career, tht the problem with you Christians, you think all motivators nee to be positive. But then Paul said we should also do so for conscience's sake—out of an inner sense of right and wrong. That’s another motivation: the desire to avoid guilt and live with a clear conscience. Right after that, yesterday in verses 8–10 were heard Paul talks about love—how love fulfils the law and should govern how we treat others. That’s a higher motivation still. But now, in verses 11–14, Paul introduces yet another motivation—one that he develops more deeply than the others. That suggests to me that this is not only significant but perhaps central to Paul’s understanding of what should drive the Christian life. Let’s read the passage together: “1 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. (Romans 13:11–14, NKJV) In these verses, Paul moves from motivation rooted in fear or guilt or even love to something else entirely: a motivation grounded in our awareness of time and Gods role in eternity. He’s saying that our behavior ought to be shaped by the knowledge that we are living in the final hours of the present age—and that the full arrival of our salvation is drawing near. Let me break that down. Paul begins by saying, “And do this, understanding the present time...” That phrase “and do this” in English is a bit abrupt. In the original Greek, it simply says “and this”—an emphatic shift in focus. Many commentators believe Paul is pausing here to underline something crucial, possibly returning to the central appeal he made back in Romans 12:1—that we present our bodies as living sacrifices. What time is he talking about? He says, “It is high time to awake out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.” That’s a vivid image. Christians, he suggests, are like people asleep at dawn. The alarm clock is going off, and it’s time to wake up. But what does he mean by “our salvation is nearer”? Didn’t we already receive salvation when we first believed? Yes—salvation he has already confirmed begins the moment we trust Christ. We are justified by faith. But Scripture also speaks of salvation as something future. There is a coming day when our salvation will be complete—when Christ returns, sin and death are fully defeated, and we are glorified in His presence. That’s the salvation Paul is talking about here. The final fulfilment of all God’s promises is nearer now than it was when we first came to faith. And that, Paul says, should motivate us. Not fear, not guilt alone—but the pressing reality that we are on the threshold of eternity. The night—the darkness of this fallen world—is nearly over. The day—the reign of Christ in glory—is about to break. That is what should wake us up, shake us out of our spiritual slumber, and energize us to live differently. So, Paul has moved from belief to behavior. Based on this awareness of the time, and he calls us to action: to cast off the works of darkness. To put on the armour of light. To walk in a way that fits the daylight of God’s kingdom. Avoid sinful indulgences—drunkenness, immorality, strife, envy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Live clothed in His character, guided by His Spirit. And don’t make room for the flesh—don’t feed your old nature. Why? Because time is short, and Christ is near. This bring us back to the three tenses of salvation and the imminent return of Christ I know I keep bringing this up, but I can’t help myself. I keep talking about the three tenses of salvation. But let me say it once more. The Bible teaches that salvation unfolds across three tenses: • I have been saved — that’s past tense. • I am being saved — that’s present tense. • I will be saved — that’s future tense. Each of these corresponds to a key aspect of Christian theology: • I have been saved from the penalty of sin — that’s justification. • I am being saved from the power of sin — that’s sanctification. • I will be saved from the presence of sin — that’s glorification. This framework is especially important to remember when reading the Book of Romans. Paul’s entire letter can, in a sense, be understood through this lens: justification, sanctification, and glorification. Now, when Paul writes what he does in Romans 13, he’s standing in that middle ground. He has been justified, and he is being sanctified—but he’s also looking ahead. He knows that his ultimate salvation, his glorification, is closer now than when he first believed. In verse 11 he writes: “Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” That’s obvious, right? Time has passed. And with every passing day, Paul is drawing nearer to the return of Christ. That’s his point. And he builds on it in verse 12: “The night is nearly ovr, the day is at hand.” That’s a powerful image. Paul sees the current age—the world we live in—as night. And he views the coming of Christ as the breaking of the dawn. The darkness is almost over; the light is about to break in. Paul is saying that the night is well advanced—literally, “far spent.” The day, the light, is just about to dawn. And “the day,” in biblical language, is a reference to what the prophets called “the Day of the Lord.” It’s a term used throughout the Old Testament and the New. Sometimes it’s simply called that day. It points to a future time of divine intervention—a time that includes the tribulation and culminates in the return and reign of Christ. And here’s the key question: What did Paul believe that made him write like this? What conviction shaped his view of time and history—and his daily behavior? Answer: He believed that Jesus Christ could return at any moment. That’s what drove him. That’s what framed his ethics, his urgency, his discipleship. He believed in the imminent return of Christ. This doctrine—the idea that Jesus could return at any moment—is known as the doctrine of imminency. And Paul is crystal clear about it here: “The night is far gone; the day is near.” It appears he genuinely expected that Christ could return in his lifetime. Now, do you believe that? Do you live with that same anticipation? Many Christians throughout history have. The early church certainly did. But, interestingly, not all Christians today believe this. In fact, some prominent Christian voices say the return of Christ is a relatively modern idea—something that didn’t show up until around 1830. Maybe you’ve heard that claim. The argument goes that the teaching of Christ’s imminent return only really took shape in the 19th century. But let’s be clear: just because a doctrine is clarified at a certain point in history doesn’t mean it wasn’t taught earlier. For example, the doctrine of justification by faith became the centerpiece of the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s, but that doesn’t mean that the bible and the apostles didn’t teach it. They clearly did! The same is true here. The New Testament repeatedly affirms the imminent return of Christ. Paul believed it. He taught it. And Romans 13 is one of the most explicit expressions of that belief. Let me quote you a couple of respected voices from biblical scholarship to show how clear this really is. First, from Sanday and Headlam—a classic commentary on Romans. Here’s what they say about Paul’s language in Romans 13: “The language is that befitting those who expected the actual second coming of Christ almost immediately.” In other words, Paul was writing like someone who truly believed Jesus could return at any moment. Here’s another quote, this time from C.E.B. Cranfield, whose two-volume commentary on Romans is considered one of the most rigorous in modern biblical scholarship. Reflecting on the phrase “at hand,” he notes that this same Greek expression appears in Mark 1:15, where Jesus says, “The kingdom of God is at hand.” Cranfield explains: “The meaning is that the kingdom of God has come close to men and is now actually confronting them in the person of Jesus.” In other words, when Paul says “the day is at hand,” he means that this coming day of the Lord—the return of Christ—is pressing in. It’s imminent. It’s close and it’s real. So, here’s the takeaway: Paul lived with the constant awareness that Jesus could come at any moment. That belief didn’t make him passive. It didn’t lead him to withdraw from the world. It inspired him to live with purpose, to put off the deeds of darkness, and to walk in the light. This is a clear instance of the New Testament’s persistent emphasis on the nearness of the end. Open your Bible almost anywhere in the New Testament, and you’ll see phrases like “The Lord is at hand”—which means He could come at any moment. Let me quote again for you. Cranfield. “It is well known that very many scholars regard it as an assured result that the primitive church was convinced that the end would certainly occur within at least a few decades, and that this conviction has been refuted by the indisputable fact of 1900 years of subsequent history.” By “primitive church,” he means the New Testament church. His point is that scholars generally agree the early Christians believed Jesus could return at any moment. Today some will try and tell you that because Jesus didn’t return in the first century, they argue the New Testament was mistaken. But what these scholars fail to understand is the doctrine of imminency. So let me explain: the doctrine of imminency does not mean that Christ will come soon in a chronological sense, but that His coming is pending. That’s the key word. The New Testament language forces us to conclude that the early church expected Christ could return at any moment. Scholars admit that. But some wrongly conclude the church was mistaken because He didn’t return. They miss the point: just because He could have come doesn’t mean He promised He would come within a fixed time. He could have returned then, and He can return now—and any moment in between. Let me illustrate. In here and in James 5, it says, “The Lord is standing at the door.” Imagine a door. Someone is on the other side of it, hand on the doorknob. If I say, “He is at the door,” what do I mean? I mean he’s ready to come in. He might turn the knob and walk in any second. But he could also stand there for days. The point is, nothing else has to happen before he enters, he is at the door. That’s what Paul means in Romans 13: the day is closer now than ever. The night is nearly gone; the day is at hand. I don’t know how close I am to that door. But I do know that the Lord’s coming is imminent—it could happen any moment. Do you believe that? “The Lord is at hand.” And Paul is saying, “ Wake up!” He is pointing out the fact that the answerto the question. Iss the Lord coming within my lifetime, is yes. But in the sense that he will either comewithin you chronological living lifetime, or the fact that you will live out this lifetime and then die and will be called, raised up to be with him. I the blinking of an eye. This belief, Paul says, should motivate how we live. He then gives four practical instructions in this text. Let’s look at them. First, verse 11: “It is high time to awake out of sleep.” Wake up! The night is almost gone. Day is nearly here. Many Christians are spiritually asleep—sluggish, inactive, unaware. Paul says: Wake up! What happens when you wake up? You become alert. You get active. You get moving. That’s the picture of the Christian life he wants to paint.. But how do you wake people up? It depends. Some people are light sleepers. Others sleep like the dead. Some wakes up at the faintest sound; another doesn’t stir even if when the alarm clock goes off. Spiritually, it’s the same. Some Christians wake up quickly when confronted by Scriptures/the Word. Others need a major jolt. Paul says: it’s time to stop slumbering. Some of you are spiritual sleepwalkers. But the dawn is breaking! Wake up—there’s not much time left to do what matters. Second, verse 12: “Let us cast off the works of darkness.” That means get up and take off your pajamas! Paul is using a metaphor here. If you’re getting up because morning is coming, you don’t walk around all day in your nightclothes. He’s saying: change clothes. Throw off your nightwear—that is, your sinful habits. What are these “works of darkness”? Verse 13 tells us: Not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. That’s a list of sins that belong to the night—to the old life. Paul gives three categories, each with two examples: Intemperance – “revelry and drunkenness”: this refers to partying, drinking, carousing. Impurity – Not in sexual immorality and debauchery”: these are sexual sins. Injustice – “dissension and envy”: Relational sins—conflict and jealousy. He pivots: strife, envy, jealousy, and contention—sins of the heart and of relationships, which hit closer to home. Paul says: Get rid of all of it. These are nightclothes, and it’s almost morning. These aren't just bad habits; they belong to the night. Christians are people of the approaching day, and these behaviours no longer suit them. Just as one removes pyjamas for the day, the believer must “put on the armour of light.” The Greek word translated "armour" can also mean "tools" or "instruments." Whether interpreted as armour (defensive readiness) or tools (active purpose), the idea is about preparation and identity for daytime living. Paul is calling believers not just to remove sin but to clothe themselves in the character and presence of Christ: Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh This is not moralism. It's spiritual transformation. The "day clothes" are Christ Himself—His character, His Spirit, His love. The works of the flesh mirror the “nightclothes” The fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, etc.—mirror the “day clothes” These are not abstract virtues. They are the very character of Christ, and putting them on means embodying His love and presence. The vivid metaphor continues: Some Christians keep changing clothes—on and off throughout the day. But Paul’s call is for decisiveness and consistency: don’t keep your nightclothes handy,throw them away. “Don’t make provision for the flesh, don’t even thing about those things, burn them. Throw them away.” This is a change of spiritual and mental attitude—a spiritual intentionality. Even though it’s still “night” in this world (the final Day has not yet come), believers are to live as if it has. This anticipatory living is rooted in the hope and certainty of Christ’s return. So, why Do This? Because Christ is coming. And when He does, we will see Him—and be like Him. Therefore: “Put on Christ right now.” What this is really All About is being conformed to Christ And this should become the interpretive lens through which all suffering, difficulty, and even failure can now be viewed. If God’s primary goal is to make us more like Christ, then nothing that happens—whether good or bad—is wasted. It all has divine purpose. Trials are part of the plan. Bad days are expected. The key is how we respond: do we allow our response to further shape us into Christ’s image? “What matters is that I respond properly so I can be conformed to the image of Christ.” This teaching is meant to be pastoral: not triumphalist, it should allow us to be honest about failure and struggles. It urges us to live with this eternity in mind. • Past: The mercies of God (Romans 12:1) • Present: Wrath, conscience, and love (Romans 13:1–10) • Future: Christ’s return and our final account (Romans 13:11–14) Each provides motivation, but the ultimate motivation is future-facing: “I’m going to stand before Him. I’m going to be with Him. I’m going to be like Him.” This is the climactic incentive: our end of time hope. We live today in light of that coming day. So: Wake Up, Get Dressed, Stay Awake. Think too the future: • Wake up from spiritual sleep. • Put off the works of darkness. • Put on the armour of light—Jesus Christ Himself. • Walk as if the day has already dawned. This is not mere morality or optimism—it is grounded hope. So, Hold the fort, for Jesus said, ‘I’m coming.’” It evokes courage, perseverance, and faithfulness in the trenches of life. It’s meant to make us feel like the settlers did in those old western movies, when the bugle sound. It meant for them, the Calvary was coming. Key Takeaways. The Christian life is about being conformed to Christ—everything serves that goal. Motivation flows from three directions: Past mercies, Present conscience/love, and Future hope. The believer’s ultimate motivation: Christ is coming soon. Therefore: Wake up. Put on Christ. Live like the day is already here. And the final exhortation: Hold the fort. The Calvary is coning, He’s coming.