Living In The Light Series

Ephesians 5:8-14 [8] for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light [9] (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), [10]and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. [11] Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. [12] For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. [13] But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, [14] for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says, "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." (ESV)

For anyone who remembers the days when just one Spider-Man movie seemed impossible, it is an astonishing how comic book superheroes now dominate popular entertainment. There is a precise schedule of superhero movies to be released. Even with such a variety of movies there is a common light and darkness theme. The good guys shed light on and defeat the bad guys dark activities. (http://comicsalliance.com/your-supermovie-timeline-updated-with-marvel-studios-phase-three-releases-infographic/?trackback=tsmclip)

In Scripture the figurative use of light has two aspects, the intellectual and the moral. Intellectually it represents truth, whereas morally it represents holiness. To live in light therefore means to live in truth and in holiness. The figure of darkness has the same two aspects. Intellectually it represents ignorance and falsehood, whereas morally it connotes evil. The intellectual aspect of both figures pertains to what a person knows and believes, and the moral aspect pertains to way one thinks and acts.

Ephesians 5:8-14 continues the emphasis on believers’ being “imitators of God, as beloved children” that the Apostle Paul began to explain in the first verse of the chapter (5:1). The first way we are to imitate God is in His love, which Paul shows both in its true and in its counterfeit forms, with Christ Himself being our divine pattern (vv. 2–7). In verses 8–14 the focus is on our imitating God in relation to light. For a believer to imitate God, therefore, they obviously must share in and reflect God’s light. Paul moves from the ‘indicative’ of what (believers) are in the Lord to the ‘imperative’ of how they should live (O’Brien, P. T. (1999). The letter to the Ephesians (p. 367). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)

In Ephesians5:8–14 the Apostle Paul mentions five practical features we should recognize in order to faithfully Live in God’s light. He gives the 1) Contrast (Ephesians 5:8) , 2) Characteristics (Ephesians 5:9–10), 3) Command (Ephesians 5:11a) 4) Commission (Ephesians 5:11b–13) and 5) Call (Ephesians 5: 14) of Christians as God’s own children of light.

For Christians to be “Living in the Light” as God’s own Children of Light, one must see:

1) The Contrast (Ephesians 5:8)

Ephesians 5:8 [8] for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (ESV)

Paul here contrasts what every believer’s life was like before salvation with what God intends it to be like after salvation. In doing so he simply states what should be obvious: A person who has been saved from sin should be through with sin and should live as a redeemed and purified child of God. To illustrate that point the apostle uses the common biblical figures of darkness and light. His contrast begins looking back at one time. The past tense indicates a condition that no longer exists, and that truth is reinforced by the modifier were/formerly. Earlier in the letter, Paul says that we “were dead in [our] trespasses and sins,” that we “formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,” and that “we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest” (Eph. 2:1–3). He does not say, ‘You were in darkness,’ or ‘You were subjected to darkness.’ No! He says, ‘You were darkness.’ This is what the Bible tells the (unbeliever). You cannot walk in the light. Why? Because you are darkness. You cannot and you will not lead a holy, devout, and godly life. Why? Because (apart from faith in Christ) you are yourself unholy, profane, and ungodly.( Phillips, R. D. (2016). Ephesians (p. 384). Ross-shire, Scotland: Mentor.)

For Christians, both intellectual and moral darkness are a thing of the past (cf 4:17–20). The IMPERFECT ACTIVE verb in the first phrase describes their previous life (before salvation, in God’s eyes) as continuously sinning (cf. Gen. 6:5, 11–12: 8:21; Ps. 14:3; 58:3; Jer. 12:9) Before (believers come to) Christ our total existence—our being as well as our behavior—was characterized by darkness. There was no other aspect to our spiritual life than that of darkness. We were children of darkness and “sons of disobedience” (Eph. 5:6). We were not simply victims of Satan’s system but were contributors to it. Our very nature was characterized by sin. This darkness was the work of Satan (John 8:44; cf vv. 38, 41). It is the domain of Satan (cf Rom. 6:17–18, 22; 7:22; Ps. 119). This spiritual darkness brings God's penalty (Eph. 2:3, 5:6), and it leads to the ultimate destiny of eternal darkness (Matt. 8:12; cf 1 Sam. 2:9; 2 Pet. 2:17). (Utley, R. J. (1997). Paul Bound, the Gospel Unbound: Letters from Prison (Colossians, Ephesians and Philemon, then later, Philippians) (Vol. Volume 8, p. 126). Marshall, TX: Bible Lessons International.).