LET US BEHAVE PROPERLY AS IN THE DAY: os en hemera euschemonos peripatesomen (1PAAS): (1Th 4:12; 1Co 14:40)  (Luke 1:6; Galatians 5:16,25; Ephesians 4:1,17; 5:2,8,15; Philippians 1:27; 3:16-20; 4:8,9; Colossians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:12; 4:12; 1 Peter 2:12; 1 John 2:6; 2 John 1:4) (Acts 2:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; 2 Peter 2:13)

"Let us live and conduct ourselves honorably and becomingly as in the [open light of] day..." (Amplified)

 Let us walk in loveliness of life, as those who walk in the day, and let us not walk in revelry or drunkenness, in immorality and in shamelessness, in contention and in strife. (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press)

Behave (4043) (peripateo from peri = about, around + pateo = walk, tread) (Click in depth word study on peripateo) is literally to go here and there in walking, to tread all around and most commonly in the NT is used figuratively meaning to conduct one's life, to order one's behavior, to behave,  to make one's way, to make due use of opportunities, to live or pass one’s life (with a connotation of spending some time in a place).  Peripateo then refers to one's manner of life, one's habitual way or bent of life or one's life-style. Paul often uses the metaphor of walking for the steady if unspectacular progress that should characterize the Christian.

Remember that the purpose of all knowledge (eg, all the great truth in Romans 1-11) is conduct. A Christian’s walk is a Christian’s life. Our walk and our talk should be twins going along on the same trail. Is your walk a "Bible" or a "libel"?

Evangelist D. L. Moody often said,

“Every Bible should be bound in shoe-leather.”

J Vernon McGee adds the practical comment on a believer's behavior or "walk" noting that

"Walking is not a balloon ascension. A great many people think the Christian life is some great, overwhelming experience and you take off like a rocket going out into space. That’s not where you live the Christian life. Rather, it is in your home, in your office, in the schoolroom, on the street. The way you get around in this life is to walk. You are to walk in Christ. God grant that you and I might be joined to Him in our daily walk." (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary:  Nashville: Thomas Nelson)

Ray Stedman comments on a believer's "walk" writing

"I like that figure because a walk, of course, merely consists of two simple steps, repeated over and over again. It is not a complicated thing. In the same way, the Christian life is a matter of taking two steps, one step after another. Then you are beginning to walk. Those two steps follow in this passage. Paul describes them as, "Put off the old man" (see Col 3:5-10) and "put on the new." (see specific attitudes and actions in Col 3:12-4:6) Then repeat them. That is all. Keep walking through every day like that. That is how Scripture exhorts us to live." (see full sermon True Human Potential)

The KJV Bible Commentary has a sobering comment writing that...

Those who have received the light, must walk in the light. The manner of life which spawns riotous living, drunken bouts, sexual orgies, and all forms of wanton revelry cannot be that of those who walk honestly or honorably. When a person claims to be a Christian, if he cannot change his life-style, he had better change his name. (Dobson, E G, Charles Feinberg, E Hindson, Woodrow Kroll, H L. Wilmington: KJV Bible Commentary: Nelson)

F Godet writes that...

Christian holiness is represented here as the highest decency (euschemonos, decently), to be compared with that full attitude of dignity which the rising of the sun enjoins on the man who respects himself. Worldly conduct resembles, on the contrary, those indecencies to which men dare not give themselves up except by burying them in the shades of night. Such a mode of acting is therefore incompatible with the situation of a man who is already enlightened by the first rays of the great day. (Godet, F L: Commentary on Romans. Kregel. 1998)
 

Properly (2156) (euschemonos from eu = good + schema = appearance) (found 3x in the NT Ro 3:13 1Co 14:40 1Th 4:12) means  pertaining to being a fitting or becoming manner of behavior in a becoming manner, decently, with propriety. The idea is that which is proper with the implication of pleasing or proper. Synonyms include decorously (marked by propriety and good taste), decently, honestly, in a seemly manner.

To behave properly ("behave decently" NIV) is to live in a way that pleases God. How do we behave properly? It begins back in (Ro 12:1), with a presentation, which is manifest in a transformation (Ro 12:2) so that we are able to live pleasing to God as manifest in our outward behavior (Ro 12:3-13:9).

As in the day - dear Christian friend, we belong to Christ, not to the powers of darkness! Where have you walked this past week...in the light or in the darkness?

William Newell notes that...

Men choose the night for their revels; but our night is past, for we are all "children of the light and of the day" (1Th 5:5). Let us therefore do only what is fit for the light and for the day. We belong to that "day" which our Lord's coming will usher in, -and that shortly! Therefore, let us walk as those already in the daylight of that day! Not in riotings and drunkennesses-Nocturnal revels such as characterized the Roman Empire of Paul's day, and the myriad drunkennesses of modern "night parties, " are in view here. How needful the warning to keep clear of these things in this hour when the time of "the iniquity of the end" (Ezekiel 21:25,29) is drawing nigh! Young people, rushing on to damnation, with "dates" beginning at 10 or 11 or even midnight, and ending perhaps at dawn, know well what "revellings and drunkennesses" are. Let the saints in horror shun them! (Romans: Verse by Verse)

Wuest adds that

"The idea of honesty (KJV translates "properly" as "honestly") is seen in the fact that Paul is exhorting the saints to give an honest impression of themselves to the world. They should conduct themselves in a manner befitting their high station in life, as saints of the Most High God. Their outward expression should conform to their inner regenerated being." Be what you are! (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Studies in the Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament: Grand Rapids: Eerdmans)

Paul then uses 3 "negative" couplets, which have the implication that one sin leads to another & that committing sin does not bring rest to the spirit but rather dissatisfaction that betrays itself by finding fault with others, as though they are responsible (most alcoholics will end up blaming everyone -- especially those nearest them -- but never themselves!) The addicted sinner tries hard to find a scapegoat & modern psychology aids his quest for this phantom demon by entertaining numerous "root" causes for the problem (except for the sin of Adam!)

MacArthur writes that...

"The Christian who is not living a holy and obedient life is a Christian who does not comprehend the significance of the Lord’s return. On the other hand, the believer who understands the coming judgment and is daily looking for His Lord to appear is a believer whose overriding purpose is to please and honor His Lord by consistent holy living." (MacArthur, J: Romans 9-16. Moody)

NOT IN CAROUSING (KJV "rioting") AND DRUNKENNESS: me komois kai methais: (cf. Gal 5:21 1Pe 4:3).(Proverbs 23:20; Isaiah 22:12,13; 28:7,8; Amos 6:4-6; Matthew 24:48-51; Luke 16:19; Luke 17:27,28; 21:34; 1 Corinthians 6:10; Galatians 5:21; Ephesians 5:18; 1 Peter 2:11; 4:3-5)

Although there is not adversative conjunction such as "but" note that Paul nevertheless is contrasting the way of life of a believer with the way of life that is perfectly acceptable and even expected by those who dwell on the earth. He conveys this contrast with a series of negatives arranged in three pairs, such that the members of each pair signify somewhat similar qualities.

Leon Morris observes that...

All six of these vices stem from self-will; they are all the outreach of a determined selfishness that seeks only one’s own pleasure. As Barrett puts it,

“All these practices constitute a failure in love, which ‘works no harm to the neighbour’ (see note Romans 13:10).”

It is not without its interest that Paul is writing these words to

“all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints” (see note Romans 1:7).

We should not think that first-century Christians came from the most upright and honorable sections of society (cf. 1Cor. 6:9-11 with its “that is what some of you were”). Rather, the gospel took up and transformed many who were the dregs of society. Paul is mindful of this and warns against relapse. (Morris, L. The Epistle to the Romans. W. B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press)

Carousing (2970) (komos) originally referred to a band of friends who accompanied a victor in a military engagement or athletic contest on his way home, singing with rejoicing and praises to the victor. But the word "degenerated:" until it came to mean "carousal" or a noisy, nocturnal and riotous procession of half drunken revelers and frolicsome fellows who after supper paraded through the streets at night with torches and music in honor of Bacchus or some other deity, singing and playing before houses of male and female friends (and causing a major public disturbance). Hence  komos  generally refers to feasts and drinking parties that are protracted till late at night and indulge in revelry.

F F Bruce writes that...

W. M. Ramsay (Galatians, 453) reminds us that among the Greeks ‘Komos, the Revel, was made a god, and his rites were carried on quite systematically, and yet with all the ingenuity and inventiveness of the Greek mind, which lent perpetual novelty and variety to the reveling. The Komos was the most striking feature in Greek social life.’ (Bruce, F. F. The Epistle to the Galatians: A Commentary on the Greek Text. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. 1982)

Komos is found 3 times in the NAS (not in the Septuagint - LXX) where it is translated carousing all three times by the NAS. The KJV translates it: reveling, 2; rioting, 1.

Gal 5:21 "envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn (warn you in advance - specifically before you die and have no opportunity to repent and believe in Christ) you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice (present tense = habitually, as their lifestyle) such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (i.e., they are not regenerated or born again by the Spirit!)

1 Peter 4 :3 For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.

Barclay writes that komos...

describes the kind of revelry which lowers a man’s self and is a nuisance to others...A komos was a band of friends who accompanied a victor of the games after his victory. They danced and laughed and sang his praises. It also described the bands of the devotees of Bacchus, god of wine. It describes what in regency England would have been called a rout. It means unrestrained revelry, enjoyment that has degenerated into license. (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press)

Drunkenness (3178) (methe) (ISBE entry) is the Greek word most often was used of intentional and habitual intoxication. It is worth noting that in two of the three NT uses (Gal 5:21 1 Pet 4:3) carousing and drunkenness are found side-by-side, which is not surprising to see one sin begat another.

Jesus used methe warning believers to...

Luke 21:34 "Be on guard (present imperative = command emphasizing the continual need to be on guard), that your hearts may not be weighted down (pressed down as if with a weight -- depressed, burdened = a mind that loses its alertness) with dissipation (unbridled indulgence in a drinking party) and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day (of Christ's return - which will come unexpectedly and therefore demands one to be watchful! Some would equate this "day" with the "rapture") come on you suddenly like a trap.

Methe is used 3 times in the NAS (Luke 21:34; Ro 13:13; Gal 5:21) and 13 times (Pr 20:1; 31:6; Isa 28:7; Jer 51:57; Ezek 23:33; 39:19; Joel 1:5; Hag 1:6) in the Septuagint - LXX.

In the ancient world drunkenness was not a common vice. The Greeks drank more wine than they did milk and even children drank wine because the water supply was inadequate and dangerous. Breakfast even consisted of a slice of bread dipped in wine. But they drank wine in the proportion of three parts of water to one to two of wine. Anything as strong as a 1:1 ratio was called “strong wine.” Greeks and Christians alike condemned drunkenness as a thing which turned a man into a beast. The Jews had an especially keen sense of the evil of drunkenness, knowing that it disabled that very part of a man that was created most in the image of God.

The TDNT has this note on the word group (methe, methuo, methusko = to get drunk)...

In 1Thes 5:6 Paul warns believers, as those who belong to the new aeon, to be vigilant and sober; drunkenness belongs to the night. In the parable in Mt 24:45ff. the bad steward, not living in eschatological tension, gives way to selfishness and hedonism, drinking with the drunkards. In 1Cor 11:21 the Corinthians disrupt the fellowship of the Lord's Supper; some are hungry while the wealthy are drunk. Unlike the feasts of Dionysus, the Lord's Supper is no place for intoxication. Intoxication is the direct opposite of spiritual drink. Thus Peter in Acts 2:15 resists strongly the accusation of drunkenness, and Paul in Eph 5:18 contrasts orgiastic enthusiasm with the infilling of the Spirit that comes to expression in praise, thanksgiving, and love (vv. 19ff.). (Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W.  Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Eerdmans)

William Newell notes that...

And the next things of the text follow these, as they have always followed them: Not in chamberings and wantonness- The word translated "chamberings" occurs three other times: Lu 11:7, Ro 9:10, Heb 13:4. Its being in the plural number here, and associated with the word generally rendered "lasciviousness, " suggests its horrid meaning. Schaff and Riddle well say: "Various forms of secret vice are here indicated by the plural. These sins are closely connected with the preceding (revellings and drunkennesses), often caused by them. The word translated 'wantonness' points to an abandoned sensuality." David said: "The floods of ungodliness (Heb. Belial) made me afraid" (Ps 18:4). So earth's steadily increasing tide of Noah's-day wickedness would terrify us, did we not know that the Lord is coming, to deliver His saints and to judge this very wickedness! (Romans: Verse by Verse)

NOT IN SEXUAL PROMISCUITY and SENSUALITY: me koitais kai aselgeiais: (1 Corinthians 6:9,10; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:3-5; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5; 2 Peter 2:14,18-20; Jude 1:23)

These two sins, sexual promiscuity and sensuality, are closely associated.

Sexual promiscuity (2845) (koite) which literally refers to a place for lying down and rest and thus refers to a bed or bedroom. Koite was used also of the den of an animal or the nest of a bird as well as of a box or basket.

In certain contexts it was used to refer to the marriage bed and conveyed the same idea of our English phrase "going to bed" does today. Koite is also described illicit sexual promiscuity, as in this present verse.

Barclay writes that koite...

literally means a bed and has in it the meaning of the desire for the forbidden bed. This was the typical heathen sin. The word brings to mind the man who sets no value on fidelity and who takes his pleasure when and where he will. (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press)

Luke uses koite literally writing...

and from inside he shall answer and say, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' (Luke 11:7)

Koite is used of the honored marriage bed, the writer of Hebrews exhorting the readers to...

"Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed (koite) be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge." Heb 13:4

Earlier Paul used koite to describe legitimate conception...

And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac Romans 9:10 (Comment: Here koite occurs in the expression koiten echousa, (literally = bed having) and is a euphemism for coitus, and, by expansion, conception and pregnancy.)

Koite is found 4 times in the NAS (Luke 11:7; Romans 9:10, Ro 13:13; Hebrews 13:4) and is translated bed, 2; conceived, 1; sexual promiscuity, 1.

Koite is found some 81 times in the Septuagint - LXX (Ge 49:4; Ex 10:23; 21:18; Lev 15:4-5, 16-17, 21, 23-24, 26, 32; 18:20, 22-23; 19:20; 20:13; 22:4; Nu 5:13, 20; 31:17-18, 35; Jdg 21:11-12; 2Sa 4:5, 11; 11:2, 13; 13:5; 17:28; 1 Ki 1:47; 1 Chr 5:1; Est 4:17; Job 7:13; 33:15, 19; 36:28; 37:8; 38:40; Ps 4:4; 36:4; 41:3; 149:5; Pr 7:17; Song 3:1; Isa 11:8; 17:2; 56:10; 57:7; Jer 10:22; 50:6; Ezek 23:17; Dan 2:28f; 4:5, 8, 10, 13; 7:1f; Hos 7:14; Mic 2:1, 12)

Sensuality (766) (aselgeia from aselges = licentious <> a = negates next word + selges = continent) originally referred to any excess or lack of restraint but came to convey the idea of shameless excess and the absence of restraint, especially with sexual excess. Thus like koite, aselgeia was used almost exclusively of especially lewd sexual immorality, of uninhibited and unabashed lasciviousness. It refers to the kind of sexual debauchery and abandonment that characterizes much of modern society and that is often flaunted almost as a badge of distinction! Aselgeia refers to uninhibited sexual indulgence without shame and without concern for what others think or how they may be affected (or infected).

The Greeks defined aselgeia as “a disposition of soul that resents all discipline,” as “a spirit that acknowledges no restraints, dares whatsoever its caprice and wanton insolence may suggest.”

Aselgeia is used 10 times in the NAS (not found in Septuagint - LXX) (Mark 7:21; Ro 13:13; 2 Cor 12:21; Gal 5:19; Eph 4:19; 1 Pet 4:3; 2 Pet 2:2, 2:7, 2:18; Jude 1:4) and is translated: licentiousness, 1; sensual, 1; sensuality, 8. The KJV translates it: filthy, 1; lasciviousness, 6; wantonness, 2 (KJV only has 9 uses).

MacArthur writes that...

Aselgeia (sensuality) refers to total licentiousness, the absence of all moral restraint, especially in the area of sexual sins. One commentator says the term relates to “a disposition of the soul incapable of bearing the pain of discipline.” The idea is that of unbridled self–indulgence and undisciplined obscenity... All people initially recognize at least some standard of right and wrong and have a certain sense of shame when they act against that standard. Consequently, they usually try to hide their wrongdoing. They may continually fall back into it but still recognize it as wrong, as something they should not be doing; and conscience will not let them remain comfortable. But as they continue to overrule conscience and train themselves to do evil and to ignore guilt, they eventually reject those standards and determine to live solely by their own desires, thereby revealing an already seared conscience. Having rejected all divine guidelines and protection, they become depraved in mind and give themselves over to sensuality. Such a person cares nothing about what other people think—not to mention about what God thinks—but only about what gratifies the cravings of his own warped mind.  (MacArthur, J: Ephesians. Chicago: Moody Press)

Barclay writes that aselgeia...

"does not solely mean sexual uncleanness; it is sheer wanton insolence. As Basil defined it, “It is that attitude of the soul which has never borne and never will bear the pain of discipline.” It is the insolence that knows no restraint, that has no sense of the decencies of things, that will dare anything that wanton caprice demands, that is careless of public opinion and its own good name so long as it gets what it wants...It has been defined as “readiness for any pleasure.”...The great characteristic of aselgeia is this—the bad man usually tries to hide his sin (they have enough respect for common decency not to wish to be found out); but the man who has aselgeia in his soul does not care how much he shocks public opinion so long as he can gratify his desires...the man who is guilty of aselgeia is that he is lost to decency and to shame... he does not care who sees his sin. It is not that he arrogantly and proudly flaunts it; it is simply that he can publicly do the most shameless things, because he has ceased to care for decency at all...Sin can get such a grip of a man that he is lost to decency and shame. He is like a drug taker who first takes the drug in secret, but comes to a stage when he openly pleads for the drug on which he has become dependent. A man can become such a slave of liquor that he does not care who sees him drunk. A man can let his sexual desires so master him that he does not care who sees him satisfy them...It has been defined as “readiness for any pleasure.”...Jezebel was the classic instance of aselgeia when she built a heathen shrine in Jerusalem the Holy City. Josephus ascribed it to Jezebel when she built a temple to Baal in Jerusalem. The idea is that of a man who is so far gone in desire that he has ceased to care what people say or think... Aselgeia is the insolently selfish spirit, which is lost to honour, and which will take what it wants, where it wants, in shameless disregard of God and man. (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press)

NOT IN STRIFE & JEALOUSY: me eridi kai zelo: (Galatians 5:15,21,26; Philippians 2:3; James 3:14-16; 4:5; 1 Peter 2:1,2)

Closely associated iniquities (1Co 3:3, 2Co12:20, Ga5:20, Php1:15, 1Ti 6:4), since the former is often the result of the latter.

Strife (2054) (eris) is translated as strife, persistent contention, bickering, petty disagreement, wrangling.

Strife (eris) conveys the picture of a bitter sometimes violent conflict or dissension & emphasizes a struggle for superiority. Strife is characterized by self-indulgence and egoism. It has no place even for simple tolerance, much less for humility or love. Contention applies to competition that shows itself in quarreling, disputing, or controversy & thus is manifest by an often perverse and wearisome tendency to quarrels and disputes. It reflects a spirit of antagonistic competitiveness that fights to have its own way, regardless of cost to itself or of harm to others. It is produced by a deep desire to prevail over others, to gain the highest prestige, prominence, and recognition possible. Wrangle  means to dispute angrily or peevishly & so to engage in argument or controversy. 

Jealousy (2205) (zelos from zeo = to be hot, to boil, figuratively to be "fervent" in spirit <> English zeal and zealous).  Zelos is most often used in an evil or negative sense, and with the latter context signifies envy, jealousy or anger. 

Zelos  pictures a particularly strong feeling of resentment and jealousy against someone.

According to Aristotle, zelos grieves, not because another has the good, but that he himself does not have it and seeks to supply the deficiency in himself. However, zelos may degenerate into a jealousy which makes war upon the good it sees in another, thus troubling that good and diminishing it. This is why we find zelos joined together with eris (2054),  strife or contention (Ro 13:13; 2 Cor 12:20; Gal 5:20). James twice connects "jealousy" with "selfish ambition" (Js 3:14, 16).

Earlier in Romans, Paul spoke of certain unsaved Jews who had an untaught and misdirected "zeal for God" (Ro 10:2).

MacArthur notes

"Strife and jealousy were the two specific fleshly sins that caused the deep, partisan divisions in the church at Corinth (1Cor 3:3). And, except for koiteµ, all of the sins mentioned in Ro 13:13 are specifically listed among the "deeds of the flesh" mentioned by Paul in Gal 5:19–21. And the basic evil connoted by koite is covered in that list by "immorality" and "impurity" (v19)."

These verses in Romans are famous because they are the instrument God used in the conversion of Augustine, (Aurelius Augustinus, 354 - 430), who was living the proligate lifestyle Paul outlines in Ro13:13. In Augustine's  Confessions, he  described himself as a serious sinner. From age 17 he had indulged in sexual immorality. And although raised in a Christian home, he had rejected Christianity by age 19. For 9 years he taught Manichaeism, a religious syncretistic dualism (originating from Persia in the 3rd century) that believed ridiculous notion that ascetic practices could release the spirit from matter. In 383, at age 29, Augustine moved to Milan to open a school of rhetoric, where he fell under the influence of Ambrose, whose sermons removed his intellectual objections to Christianity.

By 386 all that remained was Augustine's sexual addiction. “Make me chaste,” he would pray, “but not yet.” (clearly he was "making provision here for his flesh"). The “yet” came after a visitor told Augustine and his friend, Alypius, how two men had experienced dramatic conversions by reading the Life of Anthony. The story threw Augustine into turmoil. As he testified in his Confessions, he grieved and sought to break immediately with his besetting sin. Augustine wrote

"Because solitude seemed more appropriate for weeping, I stole away from Alypius. He was astonished to see me choked up, so he remained where we had been sitting. I flung myself down under a fig tree and released my tears. Streams gushed from my eyes, an acceptable sacrifice to you, my God. And I poured out my heart to you, saying, “How long? How long? Why not put an end to my uncleanness right now?” Then I heard the voice of a boy or girl coming from a house nearby, chanting repeatedly. "Take up and read! Take up and read!" (Tolle et lege. Tolle et lege) I knew such words were not part of any children's game, nor had I ever heard anything like it. So I interpreted it as a command from heaven to open the book and read the first chapter I should come upon. For I had heard about Anthony who was converted by hearing a gospel reading and taking it as a personal admonition. So I quickly returned to the place where Alypius was sitting and picked up the book of Paul's letters. I opened it and read silently the first paragraph that my eyes fell upon: "Not in orgies or drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh” (Rom 13:13-14). I did not need to read any further. Instantly as the sentence ended, all my gloomy doubt vanished, dispelled by a saving light infused into my heart."

And so it seems the famous Augustine was born from above as he read these verses from Romans. He went on to write the following words to the Lover of his soul...