Jump Start # 216

Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

  Paul, in his typical manner of writing, tells the disciples what not to do and what to do. Put off and put on…Paul writes that way often. It’s very helpful. The positive does little good if the negative remains within us. But if we eliminate the negative behavior without adding the righteous behavior we are still not where we need to be. Put off and put on—that’s the concept. In Ephesians, it is put off the old man and put on the new man. In Galatians it is put off the works of the flesh and put on the fruit of the Spirit. In Thessalonians, it is put of darkness and walk in the day. Put off and put on.

  We begin with the positive: PUT ON the LORD JESUS CHRIST. Lord, meaning the one in authority, Christ, meaning the anointed one, the Messiah. We put on Jesus in baptism (Gal. 3:27). But more than that, we put on Jesus by following Him, obeying Him, and conforming our life to Him. It is, indeed, no longer we who live, but Christ lives in us. This is done by choice. This is an act of our will. It is much more than putting on nice clothes and going to church on Sunday morning. It is living as Christ would want you to on Tuesday afternoon. It is having the heart, the mind and attitude of Jesus all the time.

  Now, the negative is, “make no provision for the flesh.” The NIV states it this way: “do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” Paul had just stated in the verse before, “Let us behave properly.” You’d think if a person put on Jesus—that’s all that needs to be said. But we know better. We know how we are. He must remind us to put off the negative.

  This expression, “make no provision” is an interesting choice of words. Provisions are means or ways. Sometimes we use this word to describe supplies. If you’re going camping, someon might ask you, “what provisions do you have?” By that, they mean, “what are you taking with you.” This expression, “make no provision” was used by the Roman armies as they conquered different lands. A high ranking officer would be placed at the back of the line as the Romans advanced. As they crossed bridges, this officer would burn the bridge. The idea was, “there is no going back.” Either we fight and win or we fight and die, but there is no retreating. There was “no provision” for going back. There was no way to escape. The bridge was gone.

  We have since used this same expression to talk about when we leave one place of work for another. We commonly say, “don’t burn any bridges behind you.” The idea is, don’t leave saying dumb things and with an attitude. You never know. Someday you may want to go back there to work. You might need them as a reference. Don’t burn any bridges we say, because you might want to “go back.” 

  Here, Paul is talking about morality. Put on Christ, and burn the bridges behind you. Make no provision for going back. There is no leaving Jesus. Either He’ll take me to Heaven or I’ll die fighting but I’m not returning for where I came from. Specifically, Paul wants the Christians to “burn the bridges” of their sinful life. Don’t make returning to sin easy. Burn the bridges. Lifestyle changes is what Paul has in mind. It is more than just going to church on Sunday, it is having Christ live in you every day. For some of us, this means learning to talk without cussing. For others, it means learning to be truthful, all the time. Even if it hurts! For others, it’s changing the habits that hurt us spiritually. It may mean new places of entertainment. It may mean a new set of friends, because the old ones want you to cross the bridge back into the land of sin. Burn the bridge!

  Making a habit of starting the day with prayer helps. Getting in the routine of reading the Bible every day is awesome. Finding ways to do good for others, being generous as God is generous.

  Put on…put off. Now, make sure you get this right. Some put on Jesus on Sunday and take him off the rest of the week. That’s not what this passage is saying! Put Jesus on and don’t ever take Him off! He’s with you everywhere!

  And the bad stuff? Well, just burn the bridge!

Roger