The Book of Romans: A Call To Clean Living

 

The Book of Romans 

Welcome:

Good morning, Eastern Shore Baptist Church. It’s awesome to see you all today. It’s so fantastic to gather together with God’s people. Is’t it amazing to worship Him, to open His Word together, and just to be thankful of His goodness and grace in all of our lives. 

I also want to welcome our visitors this morning. We are honored that you chose to spend part of your Sunday here at ESBC. My name is Stuart Davidson and I have been so blessed to pastor this church for a little over 15 years now. We are all grateful that you are here.

If you are visiting, I want to make you aware of a resource that is available to you and to our entire church family. We have a prayer line that is open for anyone who has a need, or a burden, or simply needs someone to pray with them. There is no small request. No small prayer. We want to pray with you no matter the needs. The number to our prayer line is 251-222-8677. You can send a text message to that number at any time, and a member of our prayer team will receive it and begin praying for you right away. It is one simple way that we can come alongside you and lift you up before the Lord.

Again, thank you for being here today. It really is a blessing to worship together.

Introduction To Today’s Message:

As many of you know, I like to run…not a professional runner by any means, but I enjoy learning from people in the running world. I follow lots of professional runners online and on social media. With my interest in running, I have run across several fitness influencers and so have my boys. My two oldest boys are both athletes and very into the fitness world. Jay and Jack are both baseball players so they are very much so in the world of watching athletes, learning about supplements, and trying their best to stay healthy. In particular, my oldest son introduced me to a guy on Instagram named Ashton Hall. He is a 29 year old fitness influencer and former college football player who lives in Miami, and he has gone viral because of his lifestyle. You might even say that Mr. Hall is a bit unusual, a bit unconventional if you will. 

Ashton Hall films these intense early morning routines, sometimes 16 steps or more, showing everything he does to get ready for the day. He wakes daily at 3:52 a.m. sharp. He tapes his mouth shut during sleep to promote nose breathing. Don’t ask me why that is important because I do not know. He plunges his face into ice water and uses fresh banana peels for exfoliating his face pores. By the way, Mr. Hall only uses Saratoga Spring Water for his ice water face plunges. Again, no idea why but to each their own. He has intense early morning workouts that include meditation, massage, and journaling.  Juice cleanses, long workouts, recovery sessions, carefully planned meals, clean products, clean eating, clean everything. 

Millions of people have locked in on his life because they are fascinated by the discipline and the results.

His entire brand is built around the idea of clean living. Every detail is intentional. Every habit is measured. Every choice is filtered through one question, “Is this good for my body?” That level of discipline gets attention. That kind of routine produces results. You might argue that the results are not what you may be interested in and I might agree with you. However, that level of focus has garnered millions of followers for Mr. Hall.

For the record, there is nothing wrong with taking care of your body. That is a good thing. Scripture even teaches that our bodies matter and that we should be good stewards of what God has given us. Here is what is interesting to me. We are living in a time where people are more concerned about what they put in their bodies, yet far less concerned about what they allow into their hearts.

Let me say that for you one more time.

We are living in a time where people are more concerned about what they put in their bodies, yet far less concerned about what they allow into their hearts.

People will read every ingredient label on a bottle, yet rarely examine the condition of their own soul. 

People will detox their diet, yet ignore the sin that quietly settles into their lives. 

People will work hard to be physically clean, yet remain spiritually careless.

Romans 13 speaks directly into that kind of disconnect. Paul calls believers to a different kind of clean living, one that is not focused on outward appearance, yet centered on inward transformation. God has not simply called us to be disciplined in our routines. God has called us to be holy in our lives.

Friends, let me introduce you to the title of today’s message. You can see it there on your outline.

“A Call To Clean Living”.

Today’s Message:

“A Call To Clean Living”

Introducing Today’s Thought:

Friends, you can see today’s thought there on your sermon outline. I want you to fill in these blanks with me. 

“The day is drawing close. Discard your dark and dirty deeds.”

Romans 13:11 through 14 reminds us of something we do not always like to think about, our time is limited. The other day I was on Facebook and I saw that someone was trying to sell two plots, side by side, at Jubilee Memorial Gardens. Jokingly I looked at Angela and suggested that we might want to think about buying those plots. She looked at me a bit bewildered. She asked me “you planning on going somewhere”? Well no. No one ever plans for death to visit them. Death just shows up. Think about it church, every day we live is one day closer to eternity. Every moment that passes is one we never get back. Life has a way of reminding us of that. Bodies change. Energy fades. Strength is not what it used to be. Most of us can look back and say, I do not feel like I did when I was younger. Those changes, those fleeting feelings are reminders that this life is temporary.

Many people spend their lives focused on what is fading. They worry about appearance, status, success, and comfort, all things that will not last. Governments change. Institutions rise and fall. Even our own bodies show signs that they are wearing down over time. That reality can either lead a person to fear or it can lead a person to clarity.

Scripture calls us to that clarity. God calls us to lift our eyes off the temporary and fix them on what is eternal. Life is not about squeezing everything we can out of this world. Life is about living in a way that honors the Lord while we are here. That is why Paul gives this call to wake up, to clean up, and to live with urgency.

Today’s Thought:
The Day is Drawing Close! Discard Your Dark And Dirty Deeds!

Introducing Today’s Quote:

Friends, one of my great heroes in ministry and evangelism is Dwight L. Moody. For those of you who don’t know much about the man, Moody was a powerful evangelist in the late 1800s. Moody preached the gospel to thousands on both sides of the Atlantic. He was not formally trained, but God gave him a passion for souls and a real sense of urgency that marked all of his sermons..

Friends, right there on your outline again is our quote for today:

“I never preach a sermon without thinking that possibly the Lord may come before I preach another. I never plan a meeting without considering that before it is over, He may return. Everything I do, I try to do with the thought that He may come at any moment.”

Today’s Quote:

“I never preach a sermon without thinking that possibly the Lord may come before I preach another. I never plan a meeting without considering that before it is over, He may return. Everything I do, I try to do with the thought that He may come at any moment.” 

Dwight L. Moody, “The Life of Dwight L. Moody” by William R. Moody

That kind of mindset is pretty revolutionary when you really think about it. When you truly believe that Jesus could return at any moment, it transforms how you live, how you speak, and how seriously you take your walk with Christ.

Background of Today’s Scripture:

So friends, we have arrived at our text for the day. We are going to be reading from Romans 13:11–14.  We are near the end of a section where Paul is calling believers to live out their faith in practical, everyday ways. Paul is telling these Roman believers that you don’t have to do big, huge, massive acts of miraculous love to attract people to Christ. It is doing the fundamentals. Accomplishing the small acts that given enough time, time that is limited by the way, will draw people near the Gospel message. After emphasizing love as the fulfillment of the law, which we talked about last week, Paul shifts the focus to urgency, reminding the church that their salvation is closer than they ever thought. 

He uses the imagery of night and day to show that the darkness of this world is passing away and the return of Christ is drawing near. Believers are called to wake up spiritually, lay aside sinful behaviors, and live in a way that reflects the light of Christ, clothed in His righteousness and ready for His return.

So let’s open to Romans 13:11-14 this morning. 

Statement of Belief:

“We are opening the living and powerful Word of God…truth without error, breathed out by Him, and fully sufficient for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. It is our authority, our guide, and our hope. In honor of the God who gave us His perfect Word, I invite you to stand with me as we read it together.”

Today’s Scripture:
Romans 13:11-14 ERV

I say this because you know that we live in an important time. Yes, it is now time for you to wake up from your sleep. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. [12] The night is almost finished. The day is almost here. So we should stop doing whatever belongs to darkness. We should prepare ourselves to fight evil with the weapons that belong to the light. [13] We should live in a right way, like people who belong to the day. We should not have wild parties or be drunk. We should not be involved in sexual sin or any kind of immoral behavior. We should not cause arguments and trouble or be jealous. [14] But be like the Lord Jesus Christ, so that when people see what you do, they will see Christ. Don't think about how to satisfy the desires of your sinful self.

Pastor: “This is the Word of the Lord.”

Congregation: “Praise His name. Praise His Holy name.”

Paul’s Call To Make The Most of Our Time…

I. Time is Valuable vs. 11-12

Brothers and sisters, we are now to the central part of today’s message. Paul’s call to make the most of our time. 

Do me a favor this morning and fill in the blanks under Roman numeral one. Time is valuable. Time is valuable. 

There on your sermon outline is an explanation of this point.

“Time is short and eternity is near, so we must wake up spiritually and live with urgency today.”

One of my favorite movies of all time is Back to the Future. That entire movie revolves around time. Marty McFly finds himself in a situation where every second matters. He has a limited window to fix what is broken, to restore what has been lost, and to secure his future. Every decision he makes is shaped by one reality, time is running out. Miss the moment, hesitate too long, fail to act, and everything changes.

That is the tension you feel when you watch it. Time is valuable. Time is limited. Time must be used wisely. That is not just a movie idea, that is a biblical truth.

Scripture reminds us that life is brief. James says our life is like a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Psalm 90 calls us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Time is not something we control, it is something we are entrusted with.

On average, a man in the United States lives into his mid to upper 70s, while a woman often lives into her upper 70s or early 80s. That may sound like a long time, yet when you begin to break that down, it moves quickly. Years turn into decades, and decades seem to pass in a moment. Life has a way of speeding up the older you get.

Here is the reality, none of us are guaranteed even that.

There was a young man named Jimmy Gracey, a 20 year old University of Alabama student from Chicago. He was on spring break in Barcelona, Spain. He was a good kid, a smart young man, a junior in college, even serving as the chaplain of his fraternity. Everything about his life pointed toward a bright future. Then suddenly, he disappeared. For several days, no one knew where he was. His family waited. His friends hoped. Then on Thursday, they found his body in the ocean.

Jimmy Gracey did not wake up that morning expecting that to be his last day. That was not on his calendar. That was not in his plans. He had not put it in on his ical. Yet it happened.

That story is a sad sobering reminder that time is not promised. 

Tomorrow is not guaranteed. 

The next conversation, the next opportunity, the next moment, none of it is assured.

That is why Scripture calls us to live with urgency.

That means we do not delay making things right in our relationships. If you have a broken relationship, make it right. 

That means we do not wait to tell someone that we love them or that we care about them. 

That means we do not put off obedience to God. 

That means if we know someone who is far from Christ, we do not stay silent. 

If they were to step into eternity without Him, they would be eternally separated from God. That reality should stir something in us to speak, to love, and to share the gospel while we still have time.

Jesus lived with that kind of urgency. He walked this earth for 33 years, and His public ministry lasted only about three years. Every moment mattered. Every step had purpose. He came to accomplish the will of the Father, and He did not waste His time.

Everything around us reminds us that this world is temporary. Money will fade. Houses will crumble. Vehicles will rust and end up in a junkyard one day. Even our bodies will wear down and return to the dust. The one thing that will last forever is the human soul. From my estimation, we were put here to worship God and win souls. Worship and win. Win and worship. How are you spending your time? Are you making the most of the most important gift you have ever received?

That is why time is valuable. Time is the opportunity God has given us to invest in what lasts. Time is the opportunity to worship Him with our lives and to point others to Him. Time is the opportunity to see souls come to Christ.

Church, we are called to worship God and to win souls. That is how we make the most of our time.

Listen to Paul’s call to the Ephesians,

Ephesians 5:15–16, CSB

Pay careful attention, then, to how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil.

Paul’s Call To Make The Most of Our Time…

I. Time is Valuable vs. 11-12

II. Throw Away Your Vices vs. 13

Friends, let’s move to our second point. Roman numeral two, Paul’s call to make the most of our time, “throw away your vices.” There again on your outline is an explanation of the point. 

“We are in Christ. Therefore, we must turn from sinful behaviors that no longer reflect who we are in Christ.”

Go back to Romans 13 verse 13. 

“Let us walk with decency, as in the daytime: not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual impurity and promiscuity, not in quarreling and jealousy.”

What do I mean by “vice”?

Well I went to the Google machine. I looked it up. After reading this is what I came up with as a suitable definition. 

A vice is a repeated behavior or attitude that is morally wrong, spiritually harmful, and rooted in our sinful nature.

Biblically speaking, vices are those ongoing sins that a person clings to, practices, or excuses instead of turning from them. Examples would include things like greed, lust, drunkenness, jealousy, dishonesty, or pride.

A vice is a sinful habit you hold on to instead of handing over to God.

Paul makes it very clear. A life that has been changed by Christ should look different. There should be a noticeable break from the old way of living. There should be a turning away from sin and a pursuit of righteousness.

One of the clearest pictures of this in Scripture is Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was not just a tax collector, he was a chief tax collector. That meant he had authority, influence, and a system that allowed him to take advantage of people. Tax collectors in that day were known for extortion. They would collect more than what was required and keep the difference for themselves. Zacchaeus had built his life on dishonesty. He had grown wealthy by taking from his own people. He was viewed as a traitor, a thief, and a man with no integrity.

Then he met Jesus.

That encounter changed everything. Zacchaeus did not argue. Zacchaeus did not justify his behavior. Zacchaeus did not hold on to his sin. He responded immediately. He stood up and said he would give half of his possessions to the poor, and if he had cheated anyone, he would pay them back four times as much. That is not behavior modification, that is transformation. That is what happens when someone truly meets Christ.

Here is the truth. One of the clearest indicators that you are in Christ is your relationship with sin. A believer does not become sinless, yet a believer does become sensitive to sin. There is a struggle. There is conviction. There is a desire to turn away from what dishonors God.

If there is no struggle with sin, that is a problem. If there is no conviction when you sin, that is a problem. If there is no desire to repent, to change, to grow, that is a problem. A person who can live comfortably in sin, justify it, ignore it, and refuse correction should seriously examine whether they are truly in Christ.

Following Jesus is not casual. It is a commitment. It means that even when something is permissible, you choose not to do it because of your witness. It means you are willing to lay aside habits, attitudes, and actions that do not reflect the life you now have in Him. It means you care more about honoring Christ than you do about satisfying yourself. Just because you are legally allowed to drink doesn’t mean that drinking is good for your witness. Just because you can vape doesn’t mean that vaping is good for your witness. Just because you can wear certain clothing, doesn’t mean that that clothing is good for your witness. Just because you can use that sort of language or tell those jokes doesn’t mean that that language is good for your witness or that it glorifies Christ in any way. When you are living in Christ, you start thinking differently. You start acting differently. Your tastes for sin changes radically. What was once fun and fulfilling for you no longer gives you the same high, the same energy, or the same feeling. The things that you once desired have now become undesirable. What once was an addiction is now abhorrent. 

That is the call. Throw away your vices. Leave behind what no longer belongs in your life.

1 Peter 2:1, NLT

So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.

Paul’s Call To Make The Most of Our Time…

I. Time is Valuable vs. 11-12

II. Throw Away Your Vices vs. 13

III. Testify of Christ’s Victory vs. 14

Well friends, we’ve now finally arrived at our last point. Roman numeral number three, Paul’s call to make the most of our time. Time is valuable. Throw away your vices. And lastly, testify of Christ’s victory.

“When we put on Jesus, our lives should clearly show His victory over sin and point others to Him.”

Go back and let’s read verse 14. 

“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.”

The Greek phrase translated “put on” in Romans 13:14 comes from the verb:

Phonetic pronunciation: en-DOO-oh

In this context, en-DOO-oh is a command, meaning “clothe yourselves” or “put on yourselves.” This word was commonly used in everyday language for putting on clothing, like getting dressed. Paul is trying to use an everyday activity, something that we all do and have done for generations, putting on clothing, to teach a pretty complex spiritual idea. Just as you consciously choose what to wear each day, you are to intentionally clothe your life with Christ.

You wake up and choose to “put on” Christ, meaning you take on His character, His mindset, His righteousness, and His way of living. Just like clothing covers the body and is visible to others, putting on Christ means His presence should be evident in every area of your life.

So when Paul says, “put on the Lord Jesus Christ,” he is calling believers to wrap their lives in Jesus so completely that He is what people see.

It speaks of identity. It speaks of belonging. It speaks of representation. When you put on Christ, your life should reflect Him everywhere you go.

Think about it like a team jersey. When a player puts on that jersey, he is no longer just representing himself. He is representing the team. The name on the front means something. The colors mean something. The logo means something. Every action on the field reflects on the entire organization.

You cannot wear one team’s jersey and play for another team. That does not work.

In the same way, when we put on Christ, we are representing Him to the world. Our lives should show that we belong to Him. Our attitudes, our words, our choices, our priorities should all point back to Him. His victory over sin should be evident in how we live.

One of the clearest pictures of this in Scripture is found in John chapter 9. Jesus heals a man who had been blind from birth. The Pharisees bring him in and begin to question him. They are trying to trap Jesus. They are trying to discredit the miracle. They press this man over and over, asking him who did this and how it happened.

Finally, the man gives one of the most powerful testimonies in all of Scripture. He says, “I don’t know everything. I don’t have all the answers. All I know is this, I was blind, and now I see.”

That is a testimony.

He did not argue theology. He did not debate doctrine. He simply told what Jesus had done for him. His life had been changed, and he could not deny it.

That is what it means to testify of Christ’s victory. You are telling people what Jesus has done in your life. You are pointing to the fact that you were once lost, and now you are found. You were once in bondage, and now you are free. You were once dead in your sin, and now you are alive in Christ.

You do not have to know everything to share something. You just need to be willing to say, “Here is who I was, here is what Jesus did, and here is who I am now.”

That is what it looks like to put on Christ and live it out. Brothers and sisters, I want to close today’s message with Galatians 2:20. 

Galatians 2:20, NASB

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

I want to ask you this one last question as we close. 

If Jesus Returned Today, Would You Be Ready?

Closing Prayer:

Father God, thank You for the privilege of being in Your house, worshiping You, opening Your Word, and experiencing Your presence. It is always a joy to see one another and spend time together, yet there is nothing greater than spending time with You.

Lord, today You have reminded us that our time is short and that eternity is near. Help us to make the most of every moment You have given us. Teach us to value what You value. Give us hearts that are sensitive to sin, quick to repent, and eager to walk in righteousness. Strengthen us to lay aside the things that do not honor You and to live lives that reflect Christ.

Father, help us to testify of what Jesus has done in our lives. Remind us that we are tools in Your hands, and use us to point others to the hope, freedom, and victory. 

Lord, if there is anyone here today who has never trusted in You for salvation, I pray that today would be the day they step forward in faith. If there are those You are calling to join this church, give them boldness to respond. If there are those who need to follow through in baptism or take their next step of obedience, help them to respond without hesitation.

As we enter this time of invitation, we ask that Your Spirit would move. Speak clearly, draw hearts to Yourself, accomplish Your will in this place.

We love You, we trust You, and we ask all of this in the name of Jesus. Amen.