Full of Light or Darkness?

Luke 11:33-36

“Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.” 

The human eye is symbolic of perception, intuition, discernment, and judgment. And light has to do with truth, righteousness, Jesus Christ, and the gospel of our salvation. So a healthy eye would be one of good judgment and discernment that makes spiritually and morally healthy decisions for one’s life and practice. But when someone’s judgment and discernment is bad, then he is one who makes bad (evil) choices, and not good ones.

Now it says here to be careful lest the light in you be darkness. And there I think of those who are buying into a false light, which is a false half-truth gospel message which has been altered to appease human flesh. This is the truth that is in them, so the light in them is darkness and not light. They think or they want to believe that what they have received is the truth, but some of them know it isn’t, but it fits with how they want to live.

And darkness is the opposite of light, so darkness has to do with what is evil, wicked, mischievous, malicious, immoral, deceptive, and disobedient to God and to his commands under the New Covenant. So if the light in them is darkness, then they are those who are living lives which are morally impure, dishonest, not trustworthy, wicked, and malicious, etc. For they want what they want despite knowing full well that what they are doing is wrong.

And the picture the Lord is giving me here is of someone who professes faith in Jesus Christ but who has accepted a false light into his life and not the true light. And so he is someone who leaves the “back door” open so that he can continue living in sin. For a “back door” represents what is secretive and underhanded, usually a door into something that is immoral or illegal, like perhaps a door into what is sexually immoral and addictive.

Now, even though he knows right from wrong, he chooses to do wrong, not all the time, but consistently and habitually. And even though God’s moral laws are telling him to “stop!” he keeps going forward in doing what he knows is wrong. And he chooses time and time again to do what he knows is evil, because he leaves that door open. And so he ends up repeating the same offenses over again because he won’t shut the door for good.

Luke 10:25-28

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

Now, as believers in Jesus Christ we are not under the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification and dietary laws and restrictions. But we are not to be lawless. We still have to obey God’s moral laws and any instructions given to us under the New Covenant. For Jesus Christ didn’t die on that cross just so we would have forgiveness of sin and the hope of heaven when we die. He died that we might die to sin and live to his righteousness (1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:1-23; Luke 9:23-26).

So, what this lawyer said is still true for us today. We must still love the Lord our God with our whole being and love our neighbors as ourselves. And this involves us being crucified with Christ in death to sin, and us being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And this requires that we obey our Lord’s commandments under the New Covenant and that we live righteously and no longer in sin, by God’s grace and in his power.

So, the commandments of our Lord are trying to get those who profess faith in Jesus Christ to stop sinning against the Lord deliberately, habitually, and even premeditatedly. The Lord is trying to get those who profess his name to stop chasing after what is dishonest, immoral, wicked, and evil, and to now serve him with their lives. And he is trying to get them to stop leaving those back doors open so that they don’t keep going back to the same addictive sins. For if sin is our practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

My Sheep  

An Original Work / June 24, 2012  

Based off John 10:1-18 NIV

My sheep hear me. They know me.

They listen to my voice and obey.

I call them and lead them.

They know my voice, so they follow me.

They will never follow strangers.

They will run away from them.

The voice of a stranger they know not;

They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that

I am the gate, so you enter in.

Whoever does enter

Will find forgiveness and will be saved.

Nonetheless whoever enters

Not by the gate; other way,

He is the thief and a robber.

Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,

Who laid his own life down for the sheep.

I know them. They know me.

They will live with me eternally.

The thief only comes to steal and

Kill and to destroy the church.

I have come to give you life that

You may have it to the full… 

They know my voice, so they follow me.

https://vimeo.com/114938263