“Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.”
| Greek Term | Transliteration | Parsing | Theological Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| καιρόν | kairon | Acc. masc. sg. (kairos) | The decisive time/season. Not chronos (clock time) but kairos—the eschatological moment demanding urgency. |
| εγερθῆναι | egerthēnai | Aor. pass. inf. (egeirō) | To be raised/awakened. The same verb used for Christ’s resurrection, here applied metaphorically to ethical alertness. |
| σωτηρία | sōtēria | Nom. fem. sg. | Salvation. Future, consummative salvation—glorification, including bodily resurrection. |
| ὅπλα τοῦ φωτός | hopla tou phōtos | Acc. neut. pl. + gen. neut. sg. | Armor of light. Military imagery—the ethical equipment appropriate to the coming day of resurrection glory. |
While this passage does not use explicit resurrection language, the verb egerthēnai (“to be raised/awakened”) is the very verb Paul uses throughout Romans for Christ’s resurrection. Murray notes that the choice of egeirō rather than a simpler word for “waking up” may carry resurrection overtones: believers are to “rise” ethically in anticipation of the day when they will rise bodily.
The “salvation” that is “nearer to us now” is, in Murray’s judgment, the consummative salvation of the last day—including the resurrection of the body, glorification, and the renewal of all things. Hodge agrees, noting that Paul’s eschatological urgency is driven by the shortening distance between the present age and the age to come.
The night/day metaphor (v. 12) is eschatological: the present age is “night” and the coming age of resurrection glory is “day.” Lloyd-Jones argued that the ethical exhortations of verses 12–14 (casting off darkness, putting on armor) are motivated by the nearness of the resurrection dawn. Believers live as those who belong to the coming day, even while the night lingers. Calvin commented that the entire Christian ethic is shaped by eschatological expectation—believers conduct themselves as those who will soon stand in the full light of the resurrection.
Theological Summary: Romans 13:11–12
The nearness of consummative salvation—including bodily resurrection—motivates present ethical urgency. The verb egeiro connects the metaphor of ‘waking’ to the theology of resurrection throughout Romans. Believers live in the ‘already’ of the night’s end, anticipating the ‘not yet’ of resurrection day.