^13:11 And knowing this time, because it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we believed. [n. 1060]
^13:12 The night is passed, but the day is at hand. [n. 1066] Let us, therefore, cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. [n. 1070]
^13:13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day: [n. 1073] not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy. [n. 1074]
^13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ: and make not provision for the flesh in its concupiscences. [n. 1079]

1060. After showing how man should behave in a pious manner toward God by using his gifts properly and paying his neighbor the debts owed him, the Apostle now shows how he should act with probity in regard to himself.

With respect to this he does two things:

first, he proposes the suitability of the time;

second, he exhorts them to virtuous works, at let us therefore cast off.

In regard to the first he does three things:

first, he mentions the suitability of the time;

second, he assigns the reason, at for now our salvation is nearer;

third, he employs a figure of speech, at the night is passed.

1061. First, therefore, he says: we have stated what you should do. And you should do it not only for the reasons already given, but also because knowing this time, i.e., you ought to consider the nature of the present here, because as it says in Ecclesiastes: every matter has its time and way; even the stork in the heavens knows her times (Eccl 8:6); and the turtledove, swallow, and crane keep the time of their coming; but my people know not the ordinance of the Lord (Jer 8:70).

1062. He shows what the time is suitable for, when he says: because it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. This is not a reference to the sleep of nature, sometimes called death, as in 1 Thessalonians: we would not have you ignorant concerning those who are asleep (1 Thess 4:13), and sometimes the repose of the animal powers, as in John: if he is asleep, he will recover (John 11:12). Nor is it a reference to the sleep of grace, sometimes called the repose of eternal glory, as in a psalm: in peace I will lie down and sleep (Ps 4:9) and sometimes the rest of contemplation even in this life: I slept, but my heart was awake (Song 5:3). But it is a reference to the sleep of guilt, as in Ephesians: awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead (Eph 5:14), or to the sleep of negligence, as in Proverbs: how long will you lie there, O sluggard? (Prov 6:9).

Therefore, it is full time now to wake from the sleep of guilt by doing penance: awake after you have rested (Ps 127:2) and from the sleep of negligence by taking care to act properly: arise, O princes, oil the shield! (Isa 21:5); let not the hour for rising sadden you (Sir 32:15).

1063. Then when he says, for salvation, he assigns the reason for what he had said, saying: for now our salvation is nearer than when we believed. The Apostle is referring to the salvation of eternal life about which it is said: my salvation will be for ever (Isa 51:8).

Man is ordained to this salvation, first of all, by faith: he that believes and is baptized will be saved (Mark 16:16). But man gets closer and closer to it by good works and increased love: draw near to God and he will draw near to you (Jas 4:8).

This, therefore, is what the Apostle says: it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep, for now, when we have made progress by good works and increased love, our salvation, namely of eternal life, about which Isaiah says: my salvation will be forever (Isa 51:8), is nearer than when we believed, i.e., than when we originally received the faith.

1064. This nearness can be understood in two ways.

First, in regard to time, by which holy men, as they make progress in good works, draw closer to the end of this life, after which they receive their reward.

The other is the nearness of preparation, because by increased love and good works performed, a man is prepared for that salvation: those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast (Matt 25:10).

1065. But inasmuch as the Church reads these words during Advent, they seem to refer to the salvation which Christ worked during his first coming. Accordingly, we can understand the Apostle speaking in place of all believers since the beginning of the world. For as the time of Christ’s Incarnation drew near, and the predictions of the prophets grew in number, it could be said: our salvation, namely, Christ, is nearer than when we believed, i.e., when men in the very beginning started to believe in the future coming of Christ: soon my salvation will come and my deliverance be revealed (Isa 56:11).

They can also be taken to refer to the time of mercy, when one begins willing to depart from past sins. For at that time he is closer to his salvation than previously, when he had a dead faith: resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you (Jas 4:7).

1066. Then when he says, the night is passed, but the day is at hand, he uses a figure of speech to clarify his proposition. The import is that the entire time of the present life is compared to night on account of the darkness of ignorance with which the present life is encumbered. We are swallowed up in darkness (Job 33:4). Isaiah says of this night: my soul yearns for you in the night (Isa 26:9).

But the state of future happiness is compared to day on account of God’s splendor with which the saints are enlightened: the sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you by night, but the Lord will be your everlasting light (Isa 60:19). This day is referred to in a psalm: this is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it (Ps 118:24).

1067. It can also be understood that the state of guilt is being compared to night on account of the darkness of guilt. About this darkness a psalm says: they have neither knowledge nor understanding; they walk about in darkness (Ps 82:5). About this night Wisdom says: over those men alone heavy night was spread, an image of the darkness that was destined to receive them (Wis 17:21).

But the state of grace is called day on account of the light of spiritual understanding which the just have, but the wicked lack: light dawns for the righteous (Ps 97:11); the light of justice did not shine on us (Wis 5:6).

1068. Or it can be understood that the time before Christ’s Incarnation is being compared to night, because it was not yet clear but wrapped in darkness: we have the prophetic word made more sure. You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place (2 Pet 1:19). About this night it says in Isaiah: watchman, what of the night? (Isa 21:11). Hence, just as shadows appear at night, so during that time the practices of the law were in vogue, but these were only a shadow of what is to come (Col 2:17).

But the time after Christ’s Incarnation is compared to day on account of the power of the spiritual sun in the world: but for you who fear my name, the sun of justice shall shine (Mal 4:2). Hence the Lord says: I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day (John 9:4); then he adds: as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

1069. The saying, the night is passed, can be taken for any of the three nights mentioned. For a large part of the life span of those to whom he was writing was already far gone; the night of guilt had passed, as had the period of the law before Christ.

But it seems that the saying, but the day is at hand, must be understood as referring to the day of future glory, which was at hand for the believers in Christ to whom he was writing, although it had not yet arrived for them.

In keeping with the foregoing explanation, the time of Christ’s grace, although it had already arrived as regards the passage of time, is nonetheless described as drawing near through faith and devotion; just as it also says in Philippians: the Lord is near (Phil 4:5), and in a psalm: the Lord is near to all who call upon him (Ps 145:18).

It can also apply to those who begin to repent of their sins; for such persons the day of grace is at hand.

1070. Then when he says, let us, therefore, cast off, he concludes the exhortation to an honorable life.

First he gives the exhortation;

second, he clarifies it, at not in rioting.

In regard to an honorable life he touches on three things.

1071. First, the removal of vices, as he concludes: If the night is passed, let us cast off the works of darkness, because, as it says in Ecclesiastes: every matter has its time and way (Eccl 8:6). Hence, when the night is gone, the deeds of the night should cease.

Here the works of sin are called works of darkness: first, because in themselves they lack the light of reason with which man’s works should be illumined: the wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness (Eccl 2:14); second, they are performed in the dark: the eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight (Job 24:15); third, because by them a person is brought to darkness: cast them into the darkness outside (Matt 22:13).

1072. Second, he summons them to put on the virtues. As if to say: since the day is at hand, be dressed as suits the day and put on the armor of light, i.e., the virtues, which are called armor because they protect us: put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (Eph 6:11).

They are called the armor of light, because they are decorated and perfected by the light of reason; hence it says in Proverbs: the path of the just is like the light of dawn (Prov 4:18); and because they are tested by light: he who does what is true comes to the light (John 3:2); and because others are enlightened by virtuous acts: so let your light shine before men (Matt 5:16).

1073. Third, he urges them to use the virtues and make progress when he says: let us walk honestly, as in the day. For these two things seem suited to the day: first, becoming conduct, for in the day everyone tries to present himself becomingly before others. But not so in the night. Hence, it says in 1 Thessalonians: for those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober (1 Thess 5:7). Hence it says in 1 Corinthians: let all things be done decently and in order (1 Cor 14:40).

Second, man walks in the day, not at night; hence it says in John: if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles (John 11:10). Therefore, because it is day, we should walk, i.e., advance from good to better: walk while you have the light (John 12:35).

1074. Then when he says, not in rioting, he explains what he had said.

First, he explains how the works of darkness are to be cast off. These are sinful works, some of which he mentions. First, he mentions those which pertain to the corruption of the concupiscible appetite, whose corruption is intemperance in regard to pleasures of touch and to food. First, therefore, he excludes intemperate use of food when he says: not in rioting: be not among wine bibbers or among gluttonous eaters of meat (Prov 23:20). This, of course, can be a mortal sin from the fact that according to the law one is condemned to death for this sin. For it is said of a stubborn son: this our son is stubborn and rebellious: he is a glutton and drunkard. Then they shall stone him to death with stones (Deut 21:22).

One is said to pass the time in reveling, not if he eats with the magnificence that accords with his state, as King Ahasuerus commanded a splendid banquet to be prepared in honor of Esther, when she was made queen (Esth 2:18), but when he does this beyond the limits of his state, and especially if his main interest centers on this, as those about whom it is said: such persons do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly (Rom 16:18); their god is their belly (Phil 3:19).

1075. Second, he excludes intemperance in drink, when he adds: and drunkenness, which refers to excessive drinking, which places a man outside the bounds of reason: wine created to make men glad, not drunk (Sir 31:27).

It should be noted that drunkenness is a mortal sin by its genus, namely when a person gets drunk on purpose, because he seems to prefer the pleasure of wine to the full use of reason. Hence it says in Isaiah: woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink (Isa 5:22). But if one gets drunk unintentionally, for example, because he was not aware of the strength of the wine or because he did not suspect he would get drunk on such wine, it is not a mortal sin, because he did not get drunk on purpose but accidentally. However, this cannot happen with persons who get drunk frequently. Hence, Augustine says in a sermon on Purgatory that drunkenness is a mortal sin, if it is a frequent occurrence. The Apostle thus significantly uses the plural number: not in riotings and drunkenness.

1076. Third, he excludes intemperance in regard to bodily rest when he says: not in chambering, i.e., not in excessive sleep, which he fittingly forbids after rioting and drunkenness, because it follows from them. Furthermore, there can be mortal sin in this, when for the sake of bodily rest and sleep, a person neglects what he ought to do and is inclined to commit evil deeds: woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil upon their beds! (Mic 2:1).

The Apostle’s words can also refer to the trappings of lust. Hence the harlot is quoted as saying: I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon (Prov 7:17). Because you went up to your father’s bed, and did defile his couch (Gen 49:4).

1077. Therefore, fourth, he fittingly excludes intemperance in regard to sex when he says: and impurities, i.e., venereal actions which are called shameful, because they do not avoid what is especially shameful and worthy of confusion: both because all pleasures of touch, gluttony and lust are common to us and brutes, so that one who pursues them inordinately becomes bestial. Do not become like the horse and the mule, who have no understanding (Ps 31:9). And because it is especially in venereal acts that man’s reason is totally absorbed by pleasure to such an extent that he cannot understand, as the Philosopher says in the Ethics. Hence it says in Hosea: harlotry and drunkenness and wine take away the understanding (Hos 4:11); they did not repent over their licentiousness and fornication and uncleanness (Rev 9:21).

1078. Then he excludes those sins which pertain to the corruption of the irascible appetite when he says: not in contention. Contention, as Ambrose says, is an attack on the truth, performed with confident shouting. It is also possible that these words forbid all quarreling, not only in words but also in deeds, which very frequently begin with words: it is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife (Prov 20:3).

Contention generally arises from envy; therefore he adds: and envy. Hence it says in James: where jealousy and selfish ambitions exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice (Jas 3:16).

1079. Second, he explains how we should put on the armor of light, saying: but put on the Lord Jesus Christ in whom all the virtues were present most abundantly, according to Isaiah: seven women shall take hold of one man (Isa 4:1).

We put on Jesus Christ, first, by receiving the sacrament: all you who have been baptized in Christ have put on Christ (Gal 3:27).

Second, by imitation. Stripping yourselves of the old man with his deeds, and putting on the new (Col 3:9); and put on the new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of truth (Eph 4:24). For a person who imitates Christ is said to put on Christ, because, just as a man is covered by a garment and is seen under its color, so in one who imitates Christ the works of Christ appear. Therefore, we put on the armor of light, when we put on Christ.

1080. Third, he explains what it is that we should walk honestly, as in the day, when he says: make not provision for the flesh in its concupiscences. For the beauty of becoming conduct lies in the fact that man does not prefer the flesh to the spirit but the spirit to the flesh: we are not debtors to the flesh that we should live according to the flesh (Rom 8:12).

It should be noted that he does not say make not provision for the flesh absolutely, because everyone is bound to take care of the body in order to sustain nature: no one hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it (Eph 5:29); but he adds, in its concupiscences, so that we do not follow the disorderly desires of the flesh: walk by the Spirit and do not gratify the desires of the flesh (Gal 5:16).