Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
Romans 13:11
We all should thank God for salvation through Jesus Christ. His shed blood on the cross, death, and resurrection makes a better life possible and eternal life a reality.
In our text, however, the word “salvation” does not refer to the grace of God Christ followers have accepted.
Apostle Paul refers to a future date and a future event. As time passes, this salvation becomes nearer, and one day, it will become a reality.
Some people will be asleep when this day arrives, so Apostle Paul exhorts believers to wake up
Today, I want to expound on this message, so our salvation, when it arrives, will not find you sleeping.
High Time
Notice that now is not the time. It is high time. The time is long overdue. It’s about time for our salvation. What will you do about it?
Think about a metal detector on the beach. You might go a long time without any indication of metal. Soon, however, you hear a clicking sound, a tone, or a flicker of a meter. That indicates you’re getting close to a metal object. As you get closer, the signal intensifies. Eventually, you find yourself above the target.
That’s what high time means.
Signs of the Times appear everywhere. As those signs intensify, you know you’re getting close to our salvation. That’s why it’s important to…
Know the Time
Jesus rebukes those who cannot discern the signs of the times as hypocrites:
In the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?
Matthew 16:3
Not knowing the time reveals you as a hypocrite or unbeliever. Each of us can discern the signs of the times.
When Apostle Paul says, “Knowing the time,” he expects his audience knows the time!
Relative Time
Apostle Paul compares the current time to the time “when we believed.”
When did you believe? If you have believed, you come closer every day to the salvation of which Paul now speaks.
A Fixed Time
The Greek word ὥρα used here refers to a specific time. A particular moment.
An Eventful Time
Thayer defines “high time” as “the time when one must undergo the destiny appointed him by God.”
This time is a definite time, a point of time, a moment.
This reminds me of Hebrews 9:27:
It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Hebrews 9:27
Both saved and lost have an event, an appointment, in their future where they meet their destiny. In our text, however, Paul speaks only to the destiny of believers.
Awake out of Sleep
Sleep
Do not miss your destiny! Stop sleeping! That message comes clear to us from our text, “It is high time to awake out of sleep.”
Does the apostle speak of literal sleep? No. The underlying word rendered “Sleep” refers to “spiritual torpor” (Strong G5258). What is torpor?
a. Absense of suspension of motive power, activity, or feeling; inertia; suspended animation or development; morbid inertia or insensibility, stupor. b. Intellectual or spiritual lethargy; apathy, listlessness; dullnes; indifference.
Oxford Unabridged Dictionary (1933), Volume 11, Page 144
The charge here is that the people (including us) have become inactive in our faith. Apostle Paul says, “Get motivated. Your salvation draweth nigh!” He wants us to stop being indifferent about spiritual things and start serving God with vigor, knowing that God will snatch us from His coming wrath.
Awake
Apostle Paul implies “We” in this text. All of us should awake out of this sleep.
Here, the underlying word tells us that Paul does not speak of awaking from literal sleep. Instead, he speaks of the idea of “collecting one’s faculties.”
It’s time to get yourself together. Now is the moment to concentrate. It’s time to realize the lack of time and the imminent arrival of your destiny.
Jesus illustrates how believers should live regarding the imminent end of our time:
I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
John 9:4
Our Salvation
The phrase “now salvation draws nearer as we believe” emphasizes the imminent nature of salvation, underscoring its proximity with each passing moment. This idea underscores the urgency of the believers’ spiritual readiness and their need to remain vigilant in their faith.
By using the word “nearer,” the author suggests a progressive movement towards the ultimate realization of salvation. This word reminds believers of their limited time on earth, the coming deliverance, and the need to prioritize their spiritual growth and relationship with God.
According to Kittel & Friedrich (TDNT), in the Greek world, the underlying word here refers to salvation from danger:
In the sense of an acutely dynamic act in which gods or men snatch others by force from serious peril.
TDNT 7:965
When you receive the new birth, God saves you from the peril of judgement for your sin and everlasting punishment in Hell.
My text, however, speaks to those who already have accepted the new birth. Therefore, it signifies a future salvation (or snatching from serious peril) for those who believe.
Can we expect God will snatch us, by force, from serious peril? This future “snatching” could mean just that. It may refer to the “catching away” of believers at a moment prior to the dawning of the tribulation period.
1 Thessalonians 5:8 also exemplifies the notion of a future salvation from wrath, separate from the salvation received by grace through faith.
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 Thessalonians 5:8
If we already have salvation, why hope for another? Most likely, Apostle Paul speaks of salvation from the coming judgment and wrath which will engulf the world during the last days.
I point you to Romans 5:9
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Romans 5:9
Those who believe received salvation for their souls, but they also look forward to a future salvation event.
According to Thayer, the word means
Future salvation, the sum of benefits and blessings which Christians, redeemed from all earthly ills, will enjoy after the visible return of Christ from heaven in the consummated and eternal kingdom of God: Romans 13:11…
Thayer’s Greek Lexicon
Respond
Heed the call of Romans 13:11. Jesus will soon come to deliver us from the coming peril. Knowing this, we have a limited time to work for God’s kingdom. Let’s get motivated. Allow Christ’s return to awaken you. Let’s overcome our inertia as believers, and start reaching the lost and changing the world.
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