Christ's Men from Head to Foot

The night is nearly over, the day has almost dawned. Let us therefore fling away the things that men do in the dark, let us arm ourselves for the fight of the day! Let us live cleanly, as in the daylight, not in the delights of getting drunk or playing with sex, nor yet in quarrelling or jealousies. Let us be Christ's men from head to foot, and give no chances to the flesh to have its fling (Romans 13:11-14, Phillips).

Contrary to popular opinion, the kamikaze suicide technique employed by the Japanese forces during WWII, did not originate with Japan. The first pilot to fly his plane into an enemy ship was an American.

It hadn't been planned by the pilot; it was a spontaneous act. When the American soldier's plane had been severely struck by enemy fire, he made a quick decision. Since he was going down anyway, having no chance of survival, he was heard to say, "I'm going to give it my best; I'm going to give it my all." And with those words his plane slammed into a Japanese ship.

God calls the Christian to "give it his best"—in the power of the Spirit. In the above paraphrase Paul exhorts the Romans, "Let us be Christ's men from head to foot." The NIV reads: "clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ." The meaning is the same: "give yourselves totally to Christ."

There are two areas in which Christians are exhorted to be explicitly "Christ's men from head to foot."

First, Let us be Christ's men from head to foot in view of our Lord's soon return. Verses 11 and 12 read: "Why all this stress on behaviour?. . . . Every day brings God's salvation [the return of Christ] nearer than the day in which we took the first step of faith."

Jesus informed His disciples that He would return to earth when the world resembled the days of Noah: "For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark" (Mt. 24:38). Doesn't sound too bad, does it? Except for this: they were simply living every day without any reference to God. The flesh was being fed—eating, drinking, marrying—while the spirit was being starved.

On another occasion Jesus warned His disciples to "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation [i.e., intemperate living; wasteful expenditures; self-indulgences]" (Lk. 21:34).

Do we get the message? In view of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, it is no time to become careless, half-hearted, indulgent, lax. "Let us be Christ's men from head to foot."

Returning home from church one Sunday morning—where she had been taught about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ—a little girl was quizzing her mother.

Paul is saying in view of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ: Let's "comb" our hair . . . "Let us be Christ's men from head to foot."

Second, our text says, Let us be Christ's men from head to foot with respect to specific kinds of behavior. In the words of the NASB: "Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy" (vv. 12-13).

When we are totally Christ's persons we abstain from what is forbidden, we use moderately what is permitted, and we live in love with our fellow man. We can't live the sanctified life while indulging in the flesh. We can't be totally surrendered to Jesus Christ and not keep in check our natural appetites and passions.

God's people are under siege. One by one many of God's children are caving in to the temptations of the flesh. Satan is making havoc of the Church of God. No longer is the enemy "out there"—he's "in here"—the Church!

It's time God's people say, "Enough." No more compromise with sin. No more playing around the spiritual edges. Let's be done with the shadows and shades. Let's live in the light like children of the day; let's throw open the blinds and let the light come in.

The fact of the matter is, many of God's people are simply backslidden. You can't toy with sin . . . dabble in sin . . . not be repulsed by sin—and be right with God. When we get thoroughly right with God we leave the sin business; and to stay thoroughly right with God we stay clear of sin. Our Father God is not content with us until we are "Christ's men from head to foot."

In his autobiography entitled Song of Ascents, E. Stanley Jones recalls how he was walking to the beat of another drummer following his conversion to Christ.

"Sometimes while I was going to church, the gang on the street corner would call out, 'Hello, Stan, going down to see Jesus?'

"The inward answer was, 'Yes, glory be!' For going to church was just that: 'To see Jesus.' But their taunts grew fainter and fainter, and finally died as they saw I was lost to their crowd."

And then Jones concluded: "I was marching to the beat of another drummer, and I was trying to keep in step with Him. The siren voices of the crowd had lost their charm, I was on the way."

When the Christian is fully clothed with Christ, it necessarily impacts his lifestyle, his behavior, his attitudes, his decisions. One cannot wear Christ as a garment while living for self and the world. When clothed with Christ one will instinctively feel uncomfortable with the world's dirt.

If as the Holy Spirit searches your heart you discover you are not totally Christ's, that there are, indeed, pockets of resistance and reservation in your heart; that you have frequently been giving in to the flesh, why don't you make your prayer the prayer of the hymn writer?

"Let us be Christ's men [and women] from head to foot."