What does "the night is far spent, the day is at hand" mean (Romans 13:12)?

The Apostle appeals to believers as "knowing the time". The world may be full of misgivings, their hearts failing them through fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; but this only proves that the world does not know the time. We know that all the confusion and unrest in the world only tells us that the day of glory is not far off. We are called to glory. "We rejoice in hope of the glory of God". "We are saved in hope". (Rom. 8:30; 5:2: 8:24); and we know that the full salvation for which we wait is nearer than when we believed. Knowing the time — that the dawn is breaking — it is high time to awaken from sleep.

(V. 12). "The night is far spent the day is at hand". When Christ was present in the world He could say, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world" (John 9:5). In those wonderful days, He proved that He alone could dispel the darkness by declaring the love of the Father. He proved, too, that He had the power and the grace to remove all the evil that the darkness had brought in. He relieved man of every pressure, met every need, and delivered from the power of the Prince of darkness. Hunger and want, pain and sickness, sorrow and death, all fled in His presence. Alas! men loved darkness rather than light. They loved the sins which, in the presence of the light, troubled their consciences. Being unable to pursue their sins, and gratify their lusts in the presence of the light, they put out the light of the world. Christ is gone, and His absence leaves the world in darkness. As they could not put up with the light of His presence, they have to put up with the wars, the want, the sorrow, and the distress which results from sin, during the night of His absence.

But the day is at hand — the day when He will return in glory to reign over the earth; when all evil will be put under His feet and Satan's power subdued. In that day, "The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shell flee away" (Isa. 35:10).

Let us understand clearly the force of the expression, 'the night,' for I believe it to be important in this pretentious age for Christians to get back to the simple expressions of the early times (I mean early in the true sense, the times of Peter and Paul), and to understand what the Holy Spirit says of the present testimony. In the simplest language, then, we may say that at Rome, when Paul wrote, there was an assembly of justified saints called to live a holy life here by the Holy Ghost, and to await the day when they should reign with Christ; the present time was called the night. And it is night still, whatever may be said as to progress. The Roman believers were surrounded by the glories of Rome in her splendour; they were in the very centre of the world, but they had nothing in common with it. Its works were the works of darkness, and they were called upon to put on the armour of light.

There is another powerful motive for the believer, the nearness of that day when all that is not of Christ must be detected and pass away. "And this, knowing the meet time, that already [it is] time for you to be aroused out of sleep; for now [is] our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, and the day is drawn nigh. Let us cast away therefore the works of darkness and put on the armour of light. As in daylight let us walk becomingly, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in chambering and lasciviousness, not in strife and envy; but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and take no forethought for the flesh for lusts." (Ver. 11-14.) For the earth the Sun of righteousness is not yet risen; for it the believer, though he has Christ the true light for himself, knows that it is night still. Yet daylight has dawned and the morning star arisen in his heart. Hence he sleeps not as do others; or, if he should, judges it as sin, for he is in the secret of the Lord and is charged with the gravest mission of love and holiness in the witnessing of His name as he passes through the world. Man slumbers heedless of danger, spite of solemn and reiterated warning. His evil conscience forbids his crediting the grace which is in God; his self-complacency blinds him to the moral beauty of the dependent and obedient Man, as well as to his own need of such a Saviour and such a salvation as God urges on him; and so he sleeps on till he perishes, waking up too late to the truth he has rejected and the grace he has slighted irreparably then. The believer with his soul saved already looks for a salvation worthy of Christ and of His redemption at His coming; and, though the interval may seem long sometimes, he knows that it is ever growing nearer. The works of darkness are therefore wholly incongruous and must be cast away. In such alas! the Gentiles used to walk when they lived in them; even as the Jews under the law occupied themselves with dead works. But now, dead to them, Christians would put on the armour of light; and though the day be not yet, they as children of it would walk comelily as in its light. What have such to do with revels and drinking bouts, with ways of lewdness and lasciviousness, with strife and envy? Are they not the blessed saints of God in full view of the speedy coming and day of the Lord? How suitable the call to put on the Lord Jesus Christ! As we have Him inwardly our life, may we wear Him outwardly, cherishing Him as our all, and make no provision for the flesh with a view to lusts. This were to revive the old man already crucified, to have believed and to hope in vain.

We have seen in verses 1 to 7 subjection to government; in verses 8 to 10 love to all men: now the chapter closes (vv. 11 to 14) with the armor of light. All of these things have a plain reference to testimony, and all are a decided protection for the saint. But subjection to authority or love to all men does not mean by any means the giving up of truth. The light of truth and honesty is to shine with undimmed brightness in all of this. If we are men who have any knowledge of the times, we know that it is high time to awake out of sleep. The world is in darkness, and utterly dead toward God. The believer is in the light, and is alive to God; but he may be sleeping — not using the light, yea hardly sensible of the infinite difference God has made between him and the world. But our salvation — that is, our deliverance out of the world, from the very sphere and presence of sin — is nearer than when we believed. If we were impressed with the realities of eternity when we first believed, how much more so ought we to be now, when we are nearer to the Lord's coming than ever before!

We who believe have salvation of our souls now: but the salvation of our bodies is a different subject, and will be accomplished perfectly at the coming of the Lord. Are we sensible of what a tremendous change this will involve? It will be a transfer from the circumstances of “the night” to those of “the day.” For while we ourselves are not “of the night,” but “of the day,” yet we live in the world in its time of night and are surrounded by men of the world who are “of the night,” and whose delight is in “the works of darkness.” But these circumstances are most certainly not to govern us. “The night is far spent, the day is at hand. ”Do we therefore want anything to do with “the works of darkness”? Let us rather cast them off as a filthy garment, and put on the protective armor of light.

We have now another thing. We are "children of the light and of the day." We walk in the night and in the darkness, but the darkness is passing away. The hour of dawn is approaching. It is already time to be aroused out of sleep. Our salvation, final salvation of course, is getting ever nearer, but for us, already the light shines upon us. If it has not come for the world, for us it has come. We are in it in such sort that we should be reflecting it. Heaven is open to us, and the glory in the face of Christ already shines upon us. Practically to enjoy this is to manifest it and to manifest what we are. It is to put on the armor of light. Who is unaware of what a defence light is in itself in the midst of darkness? The evil deeds of men are done in the darkness. Light reproves them. How blessed to walk in the joy of that which manifests us for what we are, and which, by its presence in us, rebukes evil and breaks, as it were, the power of temptation; but we have, therefore, to put on the Lord Jesus Christ in a practical way. It is, in fact, but to sit in the sun and the sun will make its mark upon us; but that means the heart laid hold of and therefore no thought of provision for the flesh, which, with its lusts, belong to the darkness.

Another principle acts also on the spirit of the Christian. It is time to awake. The deliverance from this present evil age, which the Lord will accomplish for us, draws nigh. The night is far spent, the day is at hand — God knows the moment. The characteristics which marked its approach in the days of the apostle have ripened in a very different way since then, although God, with a view to those whom He is gathering in, is still even now restraining them. Let us then walk as children of the day, casting off the works of darkness. We belong to the day, of which Christ Himself will be the light. Let our walk be in accordance with that day, putting on Christ Himself, and not being studious of that which is in accordance with the will and the lusts of the flesh.

394 "The night is far spent, the day is at hand." That brings home our present condition urgently to the church of God. From the moment that Adam fell, it was night, it was dark. It was still deeper night, as God went on dealing with man till Christ was rejected. And now the judgment comes. But it is just there the dawn begins. Man has departed from the light. The rulers of "the darkness of this world" is the expression. Before Christ came, it was night, because the sun had not risen; and when Christ was in this world, He was rejected. There was no connecting man with Christ but by His death. He came down to man, He visited him in grace; but "except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone." He was merciful, He might come down to others in the meeting of all their need, but He was alone except He died: and when Christ died, there was the closing of the practical judgment of all that man was, looked at as in the flesh. It was proved that no dealing of God could make the fig-tree bear figs, and God said, "Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever." He had gone on digging and pruning, but no fruit was borne; the gardener was cast out, Christ was rejected. But "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound," and God comes in in grace and sets a man at His own right hand. And now the night is far spent, the day is at hand. The very rejection of Christ, which proved fully and completely the entire darkness in which man was lying, set a new man, another man, according to God's counsels and heart, in glory at the right hand of God, displays this blessed One before our faith, and says, Look there, and you will find life. "Because I live, ye shall live also." You will find righteousness - everything - there.

"The night is far spent, the day is at hand." That brings home our present condition urgently to the church of God. From the moment that Adam fell, it was night, it was dark. It was still deeper night, as God went on dealing with man till Christ was rejected. And now the judgment comes. But it is just there the dawn begins. Man had departed from the light. The rulers of "the darkness of this world" is the expression. Before Christ came, it was night, because the sun had not risen; and when Christ was in this world, He was rejected. There was no connecting man with Christ but by His death. He came down to man, He visited him in grace; but "except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone." He was merciful, He might come down to others in the meeting of all their need, but He was alone except He died; and when Christ died, there was the closing of the practical judgment of all that man was, looked at as in the flesh. It was proved that no dealing of God could make the fig-tree bear figs, and God said, "Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever." He had gone on digging and pruning, but no fruit was borne; the gardener was cast out, Christ was rejected. But "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound"; and God comes in grace and sets a man at His own right hand. And now the night is far spent, the day is at hand. The very rejection of Christ, which proved fully and completely the entire darkness in which man was lying, set a new man, another man, according to God's counsels and heart, in glory at the right hand of God, displays this blessed One before our faith, and says, Look there and you will find life. "Because I live, ye shall live also." You will find righteousness — everything — there.

Then the thought of the Lord's coming is used to enforce all: "It is high time to awake out of sleep; for our salvation is nearer than when we believed." The night of this world is the absence of the Sun of Righteousness. Let us clearly conceive this. In the busy and pleasure-seeking course of this world, for him who has understanding, and to whom Christ is known, it is still night; the gloom of night is over it, but the day has dawned to his faith, the Morning Star is arisen in his heart, but the world is asleep in the still-continuing darkness of night. For us indeed the night is far spent, but the world is asleep in the night. The waking soul sees in the horizon the Morning Star, the dawn along its edge, and waits for day. The heart is in the day, and walks as in the day. As Christians, we have done with works of darkness. In conflict we are still; but our armour against evil, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, is the light in which we walk. The power of light, and truth, and godliness, and judgment of evil, which belongs to that day, is in our heart, and the weapons and snares of darkness are foiled and detected, getting no entrance into, no hold on, the soul. We walk honestly as in the day, we put on in our ways and heart the walk and character of Him who is the true light of it, the Lord Jesus Christ. Having the hope of being like Him there, we purify ourselves as He is pure, we walk as He walked. We do not provide for the lusts of the nature which belongs to the darkness to satisfy it, but walk as Christ walked. Such is the Christian in view of Christ's coming and bringing on this dark and benighted world the light and day of God, in His effectual power; and such are the two springs and characters of Christian conduct; recognition of, acting up to, every relative duty in love; and knowing the time, the near approach of day to which he belongs. Compare 1 Thess. 5. "The night is far spent, the day is at hand."

"It is high time to awake out of sleep: for our salvation is nearer than when we believed." The night of this world is the absence of the Sun of Righteousness. Let us clearly conceive this. In the busy and pleasure-seeking course of this world, for him who has understanding and to whom Christ is known, it is still night; the gloom of night is over it, but the day has dawned to his faith, the Morning Star is arisen in his heart, but the world is asleep in the night. The waking soul sees in the horizon the Morning Star, the dawn along its edge, and waits for day. The heart is in the day, and walks as in the day. As Christians we have done with works of darkness. In conflict we are still; but our armour against evil, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, is the light in which we walk. The power of light and truth and godliness and judgment of evil, which belongs to that day, is in our heart, and the weapons and snares of darkness are foiled and detected, getting no entrance into, no hold on the soul. We walk honestly as in the day, we put on in our ways and heart the walk and character of Him who is the true light of it, the Lord Jesus Christ. Having the hope of being like Him there, we purify ourselves as He is pure, we walk as He walked. We do not provide for the lusts of the nature which belongs to the darkness to satisfy it, but walk as Christ walked.

Such is the Christian in view of Christ's coming, and bringing on this dark and benighted world the light and day of God in His effectual power; and such are the two springs and characters of Christian conduct, recognition of, acting up to, every relative duty in love, and knowing the time, the near approach of the day to which he belongs. (See 1 Thess. 5) "The night is far spent, the day is at hand." J. N. Darby.