Ultimate Salvation Is Near

April 17th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Romans 13:11-12 Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. 12 The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

In view of the Christian’s command to love his neighbor as the fruit of his salvation (not the root of salvation) and the fulfillment of the law of God, believers in Christ are to be reminded of the “time” (Gr. kairos) in which they live—the era or season. This “time” concerns the era after Christ’s resurrection, awaiting His return. This era, season, or epoch, is one for action, not self-centered leisure. Kairos and its OT Hebrew equivalent are used frequently in relation to periods of time. For example, during David’s reign as king, the sons of Issachar were described as “men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do” (1 Chron. 12:32). Jesus used this term while being tested by His adversaries to perform miracles as a sign that He was the Messiah. In response, Jesus chastised them for not understanding the “times” (Matt. 16:1-3), for if they had understood the “times” (or era of the Messiah) they would have concluded that He was indeed the Messiah. Being in the very center of the era (time) of the Messiah, they missed it!

Paul, however, was speaking to redeemed Christians in Rome who knew the time/era which was the time of the Messiah. This does not mean that Paul and the early Church believed that Jesus would return in their lifetimes per se; he merely understood that his generation, as do all generations after Christ, lived during the era in which the second coming of Christ (the Parousia) was imminent—the same era as today. In light of this truth, he was striving to admonish believers everywhere to wake up from their slumber, metaphorically speaking, put off the works of darkness (wicked and loveless deeds), and put on the armor of light (the love of Christ).

When Paul says that “salvation is nearer to us than when we believed,” he is stating the obvious—that although salvation was initially accomplished upon simple faith in Christ alone, one’s ultimate salvation awaits the day of Christ’s coming, or one’s death. Of course that day becomes nearer with every passing heartbeat! The “night is almost gone” is merely that for the believer their darkness has passed. The “day” of Christ, being “near,” is therefore imminent!

In John 3:19, Jesus makes clear that evil people (godless unbelievers) prefer the dark to the light—“dark” being a metaphor for evil and “light” for the Truth. After all, men’s deeds are evil, and when those deeds are exposed, there is shame. While there is cover in darkness, there is exposure in the light. Evil deeds most often occur under the cover of darkness, and although the doers of wickedness assume they are hidden, the light of God exposes them. Those who crave the darkness are actually admitting to their hatred of the light. It is one’s willful ignorance of God that Paul calls “night.” For willfully ignorant people have left the light (cf. Rom. 1:18-23) while they live and sleep peacefully in their sins. By contrast, those who live by “light” are those who have received divine truth—the Son of righteousness who shines through them. Those who are “awake” are those who are equipped like a soldier for battle to serve and glorify Christ. They are armed with the “armor of light” which enables believers “to stand firm against the schemes of the devil” in their struggle against the rulers, powers, world forces of this present darkness, and the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:11-12).

Food For Thought
Christians are not to live as though this life will continue forever. It won’t! We are to eagerly await our coming Savior (Heb. 9:28) when the day of our complete transformation into Christ’s image will be finalized (1 John 3:2). And on that day we’ll eat the Supper with Jesus (Matt. 26:29) and enjoy the fellowship of His Church from that day and into eternity.