In our study of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, we were first challenged to pursue understanding—we are blessed in the heavenly realms; we can know Christ more and more, and as we know him he will become for us our only prize, our greatest treasure; we are God’s completed work, created in Christ Jesus to do good works; and we are completed in Christ, each of us belong and have an important place in God’s family and in what he is doing in and through the church.
Having pursued such understanding, we go on to hear from Paul an invitation to receive grace. The first favor we receive is the gift of Christ himself dwelling in us through the Holy Spirit. As people of his presence, then, we are invited by that same grace to both proclaim Christ and present Christ to the world.
So, Paul says, those who have pursued understanding and received grace are to live on another level. Live differently. Don’t go by that old familiar pattern. Put off the old and put on the new. Living on another level begins with living a life of love.
Now Paul is charging us to not only live a life of love, but to live as children of light. At issue is our conduct. A life of love concerns itself with the manner in which one acts toward others. A child of light concerns himself with conduct that is personally and morally fitting for those who are blessed and have Christ dwelling in them. This text demands that we ask ourselves as we study it, "Am I living as a child of light?" "Am I projecting light into a dark world?"
The importance of this question is increasingly real to us in the wake of the turmoil currently affecting the Catholic church. Allegations of sexual abuse and the mishandling of the cases of suspected molesters in the church has greatly affected the church’s ability to be light. Even the mention of such iniquity has cast a cloud of darkness over the church. Consider a couple of comments posted on Yahoo in recent weeks:
"The beginning of the end for the Roman Catholic church. Money and power was more important than faith for centuries." -- ricardo4max
"Sure, it probably will (survive). I have stopped going as of Easter, though. It is a disgrace and it makes me sick. I can pray at home and God will hear me. I don’t need to go and give money to collections so they can buy more porn. What a joke the Catholic Church is. Disgusting." -- Burton96
Now, I want to be clear that I am not reading these things to blast the Catholic church. I use this example so we may see how our morality effects our light. In these highly publicized cases, we can see how the conduct of a few can cast darkness over an entire church. And rest assured, the tragedy that is occurring in the Catholic Church is only a magnification of what happens every time you or I or anyone who claims to be light acts in a way that is not fitting for those who are blessed and bear the name Christian. Make no mistake, people watch what we do and measure it against our message. This is the thrust of Paul’s message to the church in Ephesus and to us today. So ask yourself today, "Am I living as a child of the light?
First, let us define the light. Our greatest help in defining the light is, perhaps, by defining the darkness. After all, where there is light there is no darkness at all. So if we can determine what darkness is, we’ll know that light is where there is no darkness.
Let us mark one side of the room "darkness" and the other side "light " (Lights on that side) When Paul is speaking of darkness and light, he is contrasting different levels of understanding, one of which is separated from God and the other which knows him. It’s not an issue of good and evil, like in Star Wars when Hans Solo uses the force to fight "The Dark Side." It’s a matter of understanding vs. Not understanding. He used the Gentiles as an example for defining the darkness, saying, "They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more." (Eph. 4:18-19). Those in the dark live without understanding. Without understanding a man or woman has no basis for their conduct apart from what feels right. They don’t know God. They cannot understand his ways. So they can only act on an instinct that is corrupted by selfishness. So they indulge themselves with a continual lust for more and more. It might look like evil. It might not. But it is conduct that comes from having no light.
That’s how an addict gets hooked. Nobody takes their first drink or hit of pot or shoots heroin in the arm thinking, "Hey, I’m gonna get hooked on this stuff. Won’t that be cool? I won’t be able to keep a job. I’ll destroy my marriage. I’ll spend all my paycheck either trying to feel good or at least trying to feel better from the pain I’m constantly feeling." Nobody does that! The pornography addict doesn’t call up that first page on the internet with anything in mind other than "it’s just a harmless peek." It feels good. Try it out! No big deal. But when you act out of darkness rather than light, your heart is getting harder and your desire is getting stronger and pretty soon you are stuck in habitual sin. That’s the road to becoming liars or thieves or abusers or adulterers. It all starts with a darkness of understanding.
How can you tell if you have given yourself over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity with a continual lust for more? Move ahead to Ephesians 5:3.
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. (Ephesians 5:3-7)
When Paul warned the Ephesians that there should not be even a hint of sexual immorality, any kind of impurity, or of greed, he knew exactly what needed to be addressed. He had gone into Ephesus years earlier to find a booming economy and a city steeped in sin. Consider this: If you were to visit Seattle, you’d want to see the Space Needle or the Pike Place Market. When you go to San Francisco, you want to see Fisherman’s Wharf and the Golden Gate Bridge. In New York City, you’d go see the Statue of Liberty or a Broadway show. In first century Ephesus, the main attraction was the temple of Artemis. The temple was run by a fertility court and even had temple prostitutes. For two and a half years Paul preached there and laid a foundation of understanding for the believers in that city. It’s safe to say that much of his preaching in that city was directed at the sexual misconduct that had become such a way of life for the people of Ephesus—even the people who had transferred their trust to Jesus. This letter to the Ephesians came 10 years after he left the city under great pressure because of his threat to the temple tradesman and hucksters.
The church in Ephesus was full of people who were grossly effected by the licentiousness of the culture in which they lived. Do you think we are any different? Our culture is steeped in sexual immorality, all kinds of impurity, and of greed. From corporate culture to pop culture we are surrounded by all kinds of vice. And just like the church in Ephesus, we are very much capable of incorporating that vice into our life, even though we claim to live by faith and with virtue. But Paul tells us there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, for these things are improper for God’s holy children.
So, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality. The word used there is porneia, which is where we get the word pornography. The word is a rather broad term that includes any sort of sexual activity outside of the marriage bond. Pre-marital sex, adultery, homosexuality, pornography and sexual fantasy—all are the product of giving in to what feels right over holding out for what is right. Are you practicing sexual immorality? It doesn’t matter what everyone around you, the TV and movies, or even the beer commercials tell you, if your life has even a hint of sexual immorality, you are not actually living the high life. Instead, you are living the dark life. There is no light in you.
Paul goes on to warn us that there is more than sexual immorality that will disqualify us from the prize. We who believe are not to have even a hint of any kind of impurity. This is a strong statement that serves as an etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, to Paul’s warning about sexual immorality. Any kind of impurity in your life is a sign that you are both capable and willing to indulge in every kind of impurity. So there must not be even a hint of impurity in your life.
You know, this really strikes me. We get all alarmed if someone in the church has an affair, and perhaps rightfully so. But how often do we laugh off our indulgence in other kinds of impurities? How often do we rationalize our hints of impurity by comparing ourselves to others rather than comparing our conduct to God’s Word and his call for purity? Do you think for a minute that God’s reputation will not be compromised if you are dishonest or flirtatious or a drunkard or a gambler or some other sort of hell-raiser, just as long as you are faithful to your wife? Get serious! Character does matter! So we must not have even a hint of any kind of impurity. That’s a very strong demand that will only be heard by those who understand the price by which they were bought. If it bothers you, I suggest perhaps you do not understand.
And finally, Paul says we must not have even a hint of greed. If you’re having trouble making the connection, let me help you. These things we are talking about--greed, sexual immorality, and any kind of impurity—are all about discontentment. The greedy person is never content with what he or she has. They always want more because they are never satisfied. So they worship their wallets instead of God. People are not the objects of God’s affection, they become the means to our own ends.
Anything we do that displeases God is ultimately due to our dissatisfaction with God’s character and a lack of trust in his ways. When we have even a hint of these things, we’re saying that we don’t trust God. We are saying, "God, I don’t trust you to make me happy" Or, "I don’t trust you to make my life meaningful." In any case, we are telling God that we have a better plan for our lives than he does, so we take it upon ourselves to engage in whatever suits our fancy. And once we have a hint of these things, we have a continual lust for more—more money, more sex, more things, more sensual experiences. Let me tell you, that is the behavior of someone who is dark in their understanding. It is the bondage of the fool who, even if he is attending church on a regular basis, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Either he doesn’t understand he is blessed or doesn’t understand behavior like that brings the wrath of God. They are the actions that come out of darkness, and they are improper for those who have laid claim to the grace made available to us through the costly death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, Paul declares, obscenity, foolish talk, and coarse joking—these are the language of the darkness. Is that you?
Paul gives us an alternative: Live as children of light. Live as children of understanding. The language of the light, Paul says, is thanksgiving. The heart that is set on God and trusts in his character and his ways is a heart that is born out of the light of understanding.
For you were once darkness, but now you are the light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. (Ephesians 5:8-14a)
My children were born out of the seed of my wife and me. My DNA and Tammie’s DNA make them what they are. Children of light are born out of the DNA of God’s seed. God’s goodness, God’s righteousness, and God’s truth (and, by the way, there can only be one truth), are what makes a child of light what they are.
Children of light are born out of goodness. They understand that what God says is good is good. They affirm God’s value over an item or action or attitude. At the end of each day of creation, God looked over what he had made and said, "It is good." Psalm 34:8 tells us to "Taste and see that the Lord is good." Psalm 145:9 reveals "The Lord is good to all." Children of God understand that goodness and God go hand in hand. So if an action is in keeping with God’s character or his word, it is good. Sex within marriage—good. Sexual immorality—not good. Generosity—good. Greed—not good. Understand?
Children of light are born out of righteousness. They understand that righteousness and God are inseparable. God is righteous and can only be associated with those who are righteous. Fortunately, he makes righteous those who have believed in his Son Jesus. To be righteous means to be right with God, having a clean slate. Those who understand put their trust in Jesus and know their slate is clean. They then live as children of light to make every effort to demonstrate both rightness with God and their likeness to Jesus their Savior and Sanctifier.
Finally, children of light are born out of the truth. Those who understand do not buy in to the empty words and self-seeking philosophies of the day. They are not defined by political correctness, but by the word of God alone. Truth rests here—in The Bible—which describes the person and work of Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. If we’re going to be the children of the light, then we must have a firm commitment to let God alone, through his word, define the truth for us.
Are you allowing him to do that? Is your conduct coming out of his goodness, his righteousness, and his truth? Or is it coming out of your own idea of what your conduct ought to be? It’s a huge danger sign when everyone in a kingdom is doing what is right in his or her own eyes. That, of course, is happening in America, where we assume freedom means the liberty to do as you please, sleep with who you please, and be as offensive as you want to be. But it must not happen in the kingdom of God. It is not appropriate for a child of the light.
Measure it this way: Do you conduct yourself through the filter of whether or not the things you do are alright with God? In other words, do you ask yourself if what you are contemplating doing or saying is okay? If so, I would suggest you are not concerning yourself with living as a child of the light. You see, a child of the light will actually try and find out what pleases the Lord—not what God allows, but what pleases him—so he or she can do and say those things.
Wake up O sleeper! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.. (Ephesians 5:15-20)
Wake up O church! Let Christ shine on you. Let Christ shine the light of understanding on you. Live in such a way that the light of his understanding will shine through you. That’s living on another level. So, live as children of light.
