Romans 13:14
Read Romans 13:14 Using Other Translations
What does Romans 13:14 mean?
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ
As a man puts on his clothes when he rises in the morning: the
righteousness of Christ is compared to a garment, it is the best
robe, it is fine linen, clean and white, and change of raiment;
which being put on by the Father's gracious act of imputation,
covers the sins and deformities of his people, defends them from
divine justice, secures them from wrath to come, and renders them
beautiful and acceptable in his sight: which righteousness being
revealed from faith to faith, is received by faith, and made use
of as a proper dress to appear in before God; and may be daily
said to be put on by the believer, as often as he makes use of
it, and pleads it with God as his justifying righteousness, which
should be continually: moreover, to put on Christ, and which
indeed seems to be the true sense of the phrase here, is not only
to exercise faith on him as the Lord our righteousness, and to
make a profession of his name, but to imitate him in the exercise
of grace and discharge of duty; to walk as he walked, and as we
have him for an example, in love, meekness, patience, humility,
and holiness:
and make not provision for the flesh;
the body: not but that due care is to be taken of it, both for
food and clothing; and for its health, and the continuance and
preservation of it by all lawful methods; but not so as
to fulfil the lusts thereof;
to indulge and gratify them, by luxury and uncleanness: it is a
saying of Hillell F11, (hmr hbrm rvb hbrm) "he that increases flesh, increases
worms"; the sense his commentators F12 give of it is, that
``he that increases by eating and drinking, until he becomes fat and fleshy, increases for himself worms in the grave:''the design of the sentence is, that voluptuous men, who care for nothing else but the flesh, should consider, that ere long they will be a repast for worms: we should not provide, or be caterers for the flesh; and, by pampering it, stir up and satisfy its corrupt inclinations and desires.
F11 Pirke Abot, c. 2. sect. 7.
F12 Bartenora in Pirke Abot, c. 2. sect. 7. Vid. Fagium in ib.
