Romans 13:13
Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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Paul urges us to "walk properly," which isn't just about good manners but about a deep, visible decorum that reflects God's light. He contrasts this with specific, destructive behaviors like "orgies and drunkenness" and "sexual immorality and sensuality," highlighting that these aren't just personal failings but actions that draw attention and are inherently shameful in the light of day. The final pair, "quarreling and jealousy," points to how these outward excesses often lead to bitter conflict between people.
Paul is urging believers to live in light of Christ's imminent return, shedding the "works of darkness" associated with their former pagan lives. This exhortation directly follows the call to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ," meaning to embody his character and live by his power. The verse contrasts these renewed lives with specific vices that characterized the "night" of ignorance and sin.
Ever feel like you're just going through the motions? Paul calls us to more than just existing – he calls us to live with intention, with a certain way of 'being' that shines.
Paul uses the word 'honestly' (or 'decently'/'becomingly') to describe how Christians should live. This isn't about putting on a fake smile or a perfect facade. It's about a deep-seated integrity that shapes our outward actions.
Living with Purpose
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Paul lists some pretty intense stuff here. Why is he so direct? Because these 'works of darkness' actively oppose the new life we have in Christ.
The latter part of the verse is a stark warning against specific behaviors that belong to the 'night' – the time of ignorance and sin before coming to Christ.
The List of Sins:
Paul groups these sins, showing they often go hand-in-hand:
Why Renounce Them?
These are not minor slip-ups but represent a lifestyle that belongs to the old way of living, the 'night' that has passed. As believers who now live in God's 'day,' these practices are completely out of place and actively work against the renewal of our minds and spirits.
Understand the original words
peripateō · Greek Verb
In biblical language, this refers to one's conduct, behavior, or pattern of life; to walk is to live out one's faith in daily actions.
aselgeia · Greek Noun
Refers to unrestrained sinful behavior, particularly relating to physical desires, social disorder, and moral impurity.
Paul is urging the Roman believers to live a life that reflects their new identity in Christ, distinguishing themselves from the common vices of Roman society, which were often celebrated or tolerated in the wider culture. The contrast between 'day' and 'night' signifies the urgent call for believers to live transparently and morally, like those awake and active in the light, rather than indulging in the secret, debauched practices often associated with darkness.
c. AD 50-55— this verse
Paul Writes to the Romans
Paul, likely in Corinth or Ephesus, writes his most comprehensive theological letter to the church in Rome. He addresses various issues within the community, including how believers should live in a pagan society.
c. AD 30-60
Life in the Roman Empire
The Roman Empire is a dominant force, with a culture that often embraces public and private indulgence, including festivals, banquets, and sexual freedoms that clash with Christian ethics.
Early 1st century AD
Growth of Christian Communities
Christianity is spreading, and new believers, often converts from pagan backgrounds, are learning to navigate their faith within the existing social structures and norms of the Roman world.
c. AD 64
Great Fire of Rome
Although Paul's letter was written before this, the later persecution of Christians under Emperor Nero, possibly fueled by rumors of their involvement in the fire, intensified the need for believers to live distinctively and above reproach.
This passage lists 'sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, revelries, and things like these,' which directly mirrors the sins Paul warns against in Romans 13:13, emphasizing the contrast between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit.
Ephesians 5:11-14This passage encourages believers to 'have no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them' and to 'walk as children of light,' directly correlating with Paul's exhortation in Romans 13:12-13 to 'walk properly as in the daytime' and to reject the deeds of darkness.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5Paul here explicitly states that 'God's will is your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to possess his own vessel in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God,' echoing the call to avoid sexual immorality and sensuality mentioned in Romans 13:13.
1 Peter 4:3-5This passage describes past life as characterized by 'sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and illicit idolatry,' and contrasts it with the present calling to 'live soberly for righteousness,' providing a strong parallel to the 'works of darkness' that believers in Christ are to put off.
Colossians 3:5-8Paul urges believers to 'put to death therefore whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed,' and to 'put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk,' which directly aligns with the list of sins Paul addresses in Romans 13:13 as actions to be abandoned.
vincentRomans 13:13: "Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying."
Honestly (εὐσχημόνως)Honest is originally honorable, and so here. Compare Wyclif's version of 1 Corinthians 12:23 : "And the members that be unhonest have more honesty; for our honest members have need of none." From εὐ well, σχῆμα fashion. See on Matthew 17:2. Hence becomingly. Compare 1 Corinthians 14:40; 1 Thessalonians 4:12. The word refers mo…
pulpitRomans 13:13: "Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying."
Verses 13, 14. - As in the day, let us walk honestly (in the sense which honeste bears in Latin of decently, becomingly, with de. serum. The word εὐσχημόνως occurs also in 1 Thessalonians 4:12; 1 Corinthians 7:35: 14:40. It denotes here a walk of life the entire opposite of ἀσχημοσύνη (ch. 1:27), and of the things done in secret of which it is a shame…
Paul urges us to "walk properly," which isn't just about good manners but about a deep, visible decorum that reflects God's light. He contrasts this with specific, destructive behaviors like "orgies and drunkenness" and "sexual immorality and sensuality," highlighting that these aren't just personal failings but actions that draw attention and are inherently shameful in the light of day. The final pair, "quarreling and jealousy," points to how these outward excesses often lead to bitter conflict between people.
Paul is urging believers to live in light of Christ's imminent return, shedding the "works of darkness" associated with their former pagan lives. This exhortation directly follows the call to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ," meaning to embody his character and live by his power. The verse contrasts these renewed lives with specific vices that characterized the "night" of ignorance and sin.
Paul is urging believers to live in light of Christ's imminent return, shedding the "works of darkness" associated with their former pagan lives. This exhortation directly follows the call to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ," meaning to embody his character and live by his power. The verse contrasts these renewed lives with specific vices that characterized the "night" of ignorance and sin.
"Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy." — Paul urges us to "walk properly," which isn't just about good manners but about a deep, visible decorum that reflects God's light. He contrasts this with specific, destructive behaviors like "orgies…
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