Driving Out The Darkness Series

Ok Kenny, but just how do I do that?

Well we have to go on to verses 9 and 10 (read). In these verses Paul mentions the fruit of the Spirit. Now I’ve seen some fruity people that claimed to be Christians, but that’s not what Paul is talking about here. He mentions ‘goodness,’ righteousness,’ and ‘truth.’

Goodness is the same term that Paul mentions in Galatians 5:22 when he lists the fruit of the Spirit, and what goodness describes is a type of generosity, a willingness to help others, even if you have to get your hands dirty to do it. It’s a selflessness that is evident and obvious. The word “righteousness” has to do with integrity. Righteousness has been imputed in the believer. This has to do with living in an upright, moral, and decent way that is obvious to everyone. It doesn’t mean you won’t slip up now and then, it means that you don’t call evil good and good evil, it means that your yes is yes and your no is no, it means that you are a person who stands for truth and justices. And truth is the next fruit that Paul mentions. We’ve talked about this already, when we went over chapter 4, and so for a quick re-cap this means that we are people who tell the truth in love.

The light of Christ in our lives transforms us, it drives the darkness away, and it’s not only obvious in the way we live our lives, it also transforms our minds so that we have sort of an inherent knowledge of what it means to please God. In vs. 10 Paul says, “Finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.” This goes along with what Paul writes in the book of Romans chapter 12:2 (Read). This finding out is a proving, or a testing. When we have a belt test in our martial arts class it is a proving of what they’ve learned. So this light that transforms us is the light with proves us or tests us… it exposes the flaws and weak points, and lets us know what we need to work on, and what we’ve accomplished.

How do we renew our minds? How do we find out what is acceptable to the Lord? What does God use as His proving grounds? His word. It was God’s Word that brought light in the beginning, it was God’s Word made flesh, His only begotten Son Jesus Christ our Lord that brought light to us, and we are light only in the Lord. It is God’s Word which continues to transform us by the renewing of our minds. We are to test and prove what is right and acceptable to God by the Word, not some heart felt emotion, not by some warm fuzzies, its God’s Word.

It’s this light that drives the darkness away. Look at verse 11 and 12… this is important. I’ve counseled many people who were not living like they should. I’ve spoken with people who’ve found themselves in various situations where they were living in sin, even people who have made a profession of faith in the Lord. And I always tell them, that one of the most important things they can do is get as far away from whatever it is that is pulling them into sin. Whether its people, whether it’s a lifestyle, whether its TV, whatever it is, if its dragging you down. I know a person who has made a profession of faith, but they got into the party life, they got into doing things that they knew were hurting them and their family, but… that lifestyle seemed fun. Sin seems fun for a season, but the end thereof is death.