Cast off

“The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light”.  Rom 13:12 

Cast off – In the English language, we have only two “voices” (a grammatical term) – active or passive.  But in Greek, there is a third voice, called the middle voice.  The middle voice signifies a special interest in the speaker about the action described, in other words, that whatever the action is, it is being done for self-interest, the action has a special effect on the person.  Today’s word, cast off, is found in the Greek New Testament only in the middle voice.  Whenever this word is used to describe an action, it is always an action that has particular personal significance.  It is an action that someone does for himself and on his own behalf.  This word comes from two Greek words – apo meaning “from” and tithemi meaning “to put in place”.  Literally, the word means to remove from its place. 

Paul tells us to WAKE UP!  The night is gone.  The day is approaching.  Get up and throw off those old habits and connections to the darkness that infected you.  Get rid of them, just like you would throw away the hospital garments you wore when you were deathly ill.  These things carry a disease that will kill you.  So, give them the heave-ho.  Do it now, today, just for you.  Put on something alive.  Throw off the old dead stuff and get going.  It’s up to you!