Walk as children of light Chapter 5v8-14
Paul uses the repeated ploy of comparing what they were to what they now are in Christ..."ye were once..but now..." once dead in trespasses and sins; once dominated by the world, the flesh and the devil; once doomed under the wrath of God; once distanced from God because of the providence of birth.....all these in chapter 2v1-chapter2v11. Now he says you were once darkness but now are ye light in the Lord. Salvation by the grace of God means that your sins have been removed, that you have been freed from the powerful and damaging influences that dominated you, that you have been delivered from Divine wrath, that you have been brought near to God...all of these; but it also means your life is changed, you are to live differently, you are to walk in light rather than darkness.
The former condition described by Paul is ominous; he says "ye were darkness...", not only that you were in darkness, but that you were darkness. Paul is revealing that true nature of sin, that it not only takes us away from God, but we become the very thing that is dominating us. The sin of man turns us into the man of sin, we become darkness because it dominates our thinking and our actions. Everything outside of the knowledge of God is darkness, and the world needs the light of heaven more and more. God has brought us into the light that His light, His truth, may be displayed in us. In other scriptures, darkness is said to be evil deeds, and so light will be good deeds, but such as are acceptable in the sight of God. Light here is defined as the fruit of the Spirit, that is the character of the Spirit shining through us supernaturally. This is demonstrated in three ways;
- All goodness agathos good constitution, good nature, useful, salutary, pleasant, agreeable, joyful, excellent, distinguished, honourable. It is to display every form of goodness in all situations.... all that would reflect the goodness of our God.
- All righteousness dikaiosune equity, fairness, unbiased, treating all with equal disposition, doing what is right in all situations, displaying the character of our righteous God.
- All truth aletheia truth in things pertaining to God, the duties of man, and religious doctrinal truth, as expounded by the Spirit Himself, and which reflects the God of truth, in contradistinction to which everything else is a lie.
All of this is to be of the standard which is acceptable to the Lord, and is to be put to the test in real life situations.
This will involve a separation from "the works of darkness" which are said to be unfruitful...not so much separation from people but from the works involving ungodly practices. "Have no fellowship" means not partaking of their deeds which are motivated by other than Divine influence. We are to restrain the works of darkness by reproving them, rather than acquiescing in them. Light works by dispelling darkness, not by merging with it. This goes as far as the small talk in which we indulge because it is a shame even to speak of practices which are done in secret, let alone what is now public banter. Light and darkness do not mix, and even the gossip of it, that would tend to give assent to it, is a denial of our new position. Light exposes darkness of the world, and, and reproof illuminates evil for what it is. Jesus said His disciples were the light of the world, and this is true only as we reflect Him. As the moon has no light in itself, but reflects the glory of the sun, so we should walk as children of light.
Paul completes the section in verse 14 by quoting a fragment of a well known hymn. This is not a direct quotation from scripture but it contains truth from scripture, as many hymns and spiritual songs do. The link here in the apostle's mind seems to be that reproof , rebuke of the works of darkness, and lives lived displaying light, should lead to others repenting and turning to the light. The saying contains the basic gospel truth....life from the dead, and illumination of the mind only to be found in Christ.
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