Live By The Spirit: Devotions With John PiperSample

You Are at War with Sin

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

—Romans 13:14

The assumption in the larger section of Romans 13 is that those who belong to Christ are “children of the day.” We have already passed from darkness to light. We have already been transferred from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of Christ. We are already new creatures in Christ. We are already children of God. What remains is for us to dress like it, to live like it, and to fight like it. The clothes and the fight do not make us children of the light. They show that we are children of the light.

Therefore, in Romans 13:14 putting on Christ each day doesn’t mean wearing him as a nuisance or a burden. As a child of God already, it means wearing him as protection (trusting him), wearing him as the supplier of all your future needs (hoping in him), and wearing him as your supreme treasure (loving him).

“Put on Jesus Christ” means put him on as the parachute because you are skydiving behind enemy lines. It means put him on as the high-impact, protective, anti-explosive suit when you disarm the bombs of the devil. It means put him on as the fire-proof suit when you rescue sinners from the flames of hell. It means put him on as a bullet-proof vest when you confront the pistols of sin and unbelief.

“Put on the Lord Jesus Christ” means put him on as a badge that admits you to all the resources of heaven that you need to do his will. It means put him on as the best intercom system that ever was so that there can be constant communication with the one whom you love above all others and who is himself everything you need. “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ” means trust him, hope in him, cherish him for all these things.

The night is far gone (Romans 13:12), the day is at hand; take off the pajamas of sin and put on the armor of light. The Christian life is not just waking; it is war. The armor of light is faith and hope and love. So put on faith in Jesus and hope in Jesus and love for Jesus. That is what it means to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.