Romans 13:12

The night is far sent, and the day is at hand: let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

Paul's imagery here still refers to sleepers waiting too long to rouse out of slumber. They were such as had slept long past the normal time of awakening. It was not merely dawn, but daylight had fully burst upon them. This metaphor applied with specific force to the lifting of the long night of pagan darkness which had wrapped the world in Woe. Paul was saying that darkness was lifted a generation ago; the glorious daylight of the gospel is already shining. There are Christians, of all places, in Rome itself! The old sins and debaucheries of the pagan darkness must be cast off. The armor of light was available for all who would receive and wear it. That such was actually Paul's meaning here is evident from a comparison with Ephesians 5:14, quoted under Romans 13:11, above, where "Christ will shine upon you," does not mean at the judgment, but right now! Thus, "day" in this passage, having reference to the same time, means "at the present time, in the gospel age."

The armour of light ... is one of Paul's favorite metaphors for the gospel of Jesus Christ, which he called the "whole armour" in Ephesians 6:13-17). In that exceptional passage, Paul made the "whole armour" to be the truth, or the gospel of salvation. Even in the piece-by-piece consideration of the armor, their intimate connection with and identity with the word of God is evident.