What does Romans 13:11 mean?

Paul prefaces his statement here with "besides this." The "this" in question seems to be everything Paul has written from the start of chapter 12 through the previous verse. He has described what it means to live as a Christian on this side of eternity. Using a series of commands, many of them difficult to follow, Paul has painted a picture of a believer as a person who sets himself aside for the good of others and radically trusts God to provide all that is needed.

Now Paul begins to describe why it is so essential for Christians to live this way. Time is of the essence. The world is changing right now. Paul writes to the Roman Christians that the hour has come for them to wake up, in the sense that the sun is about to rise. It's time to get to work.

The schedule of day and night drastically controlled the world of Paul's day. With no artificial lighting, firelight—feeble by modern standards—was all that stood between people and darkness. Most work stopped as soon as the sun went down and started again when the sun rose. Paul is urging Christians to see, in a spiritual metaphor, that the sun is about to rise. It's time to get up.

What does it mean that the sun is rising? Paul describes the moment as one in which salvation is closer now than when his readers first trusted in Christ. Does this mean that Paul did not think of Christians as being saved? Not at all. The New Testament often describes salvation as something that has happened, is happening, and will happen. In this case, Paul is referring to salvation in the sense that all who are in Christ will have reached eternity, that the time of ultimate victory and judgment is fast approaching.

Paul believed that day could come at any time. Two thousand years later, we are still looking forward to it.