Churches Admonished

I Corinthians 11:20-27; Romans 13:13, 14; Ephesians 5:18-21

GOLDEN TEXT: “Let us walk honestly, as in the day.”—Romans 13:13

PAUL’S epistles were written to “the saints” (Rom. 1:7; I Cor. 1:2; Eph. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:2) and not to the world; hence, when speaking of certain sins participated in by the most depraved, we are not to suppose that the saints of the early church were given over to these things as were those of the world. In verse 13 the apostle is represented as saying to the saints that they should not indulge in rioting, drunkenness chambering and wantonness. It is certainly true that saints should not indulge in any of these things; but it is also true that no saint would think of indulging in such gross misconduct.

The apostle’s admonition, to our understanding, includes also those sins which are less gross. He urges us that in view of the time, and as children of the day, we should not engage in worldly revelries, time-killing pleasures, and that we should not be intoxicated with the spirit of the world. As we well know, some in the world have become intoxicated with the desire to gain money, wealth; others have an intoxication for business, or dress, or music, or art. But the Lord’s people who have been given a view of the new day, and the great work of God which is to be accomplished in that day, should be so absorbed in His work, and in our preparation for a share in the kingdom, that these other matters so alluring to the world, would be far from our conception and our course in life.

In urging the, saints to avoid chambering and wantonness, we understand him to be urging them to continence in their social relations—that the thoughts of the kingdom shall lift their minds and disengage their affections to a large extent, at least, from earthly desires and relations. Paul makes a statement to the Romans of the same character as to the Corinthians, saying, “Brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none, … and they that use this world as not abusing it.” (I Cor. 7:29-31) The apostle in this epistle to the church of God of Corinth puts limitations to this counsel, however, as expressed in verses 5-7 of the same chapter.

The apostle concludes with the exhortation that the saints, in walking as in the day, shall avoid strife and envy. Here he extends his view to take in sins which would affect the welfare of the church in general. The wrongs previously warned against would be especially the concern, and. affect the welfare of the individual; but when he comes to strife and envy he notes qualities which reach out and would not only imply a wrong condition of heart on the part of the transgressor, which indulged in would ultimately bar him from the kingdom, but which would be injurious to the whole body of Christ, the church.

These various dispositions against which Paul warns—carelessness of life, an overcharged or drunken condition as respects earthly affairs (Luke 21:34), and lack of self-restraint, self-control—would be apt to go hand in hand with a wrong spirit in the church. And thus he warns against a spirit of strife, contention, willfulness—not submitting to the divine Word and providence, but on the contrary, the arousing of jealousies, ambitions—on behalf of self or others—for prominence in the body. To the contrary of all this, the saints are to seek more and more to put on the Lord Jesus Christ—his meekness, his patience, his gentleness, his forbearance, his love, his willingness to be servant of all, his temperateness and moderation in all things, his full devotion to the Father, his complete submission to the Holy Spirit in all of his affairs.

In thus seeking to be like the Lord the saints are to “make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.” They will find the flesh continually insisting that it be recognized, that it be not mortified, that plans and arrangements shall be made for its comfort, pleasure, gratification. The saints, however, are to make no such provision; they are to ignore the flesh, to the extent they are able; they are to consider its tastes, appetites, and preferences as generally depraved, hence not to be gratified.

They are to do this so thoroughly that they will make no provision for it, but merely provide for the doing of the Lord’s will in all things, whether the will of the Lord be pleasant or unpleasant, agreeable or disagreeable to the flesh. Let us walk as becometh saints, showing forth more and more in our life, as well as in our speech, “the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.”—I Peter 2:9

QUESTIONS:

How should we understand the admonition of Romans 13:13?

How would failure to observe this exhortation affect unfavorably an individual, and probably also the church of which he is a member?

What does the exhortation mean, to make no provision for the flesh?

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