Live as Children of Light

“For you were once darkness, but now you are 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. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said:

“’Wake up, sleeper,

    rise from the dead,

    and Christ will shine on you.’” (Ephesians 5:8-14 NIV)

When we believe in Jesus Christ with God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, we exit our old lives of living in sin and for self, and we now enter into our new lives in Christ Jesus which are not like our old lives of living in sin. Therefore, as followers of Jesus Christ, which all of us should be if our faith in the Lord is genuine faith, we were ONCE (in the past) darkness (wickedness), but now we are LIGHT (truth, righteousness) in the Lord. So we no longer are to walk in the darkness but in the light (Christ, truth).

Now we are to live as children of the Light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth). We are no longer to live in deliberate and habitual and rebellious and defiant and premeditated sin against the Lord Jesus Christ. Sin must no longer be our master, but now Jesus Christ is to be our Lord and Master, and our lives are now to be surrendered to him, to doing his will for our lives. And now we are to live holy lives which are pleasing to the Lord, in the power of God.

Now, I hear some preachers today tell us that we don’t have to do anything to please our Lord, for he is already pleased with us if we have professed faith in him. But he is not pleased with us if our faith in him is not genuine God-persuaded faith, and/or if we are continuing in our sinful practices, and not in walks of holiness and righteousness, in obedience to our Lord. And the Scriptures teach us that we are to find out what pleases the Lord, and then we are to do what pleases him, too.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 15:58; 2 Co 5:9; 2 Co 9:8; Gal 5:6; Gal 6:8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 5:10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:9-14; 1 Thes 2:4; 1 Thes 4:1; 2 Thess 1:11-12; 2 Tim. 2:4,21; Tit 2:11-14; Tit 3:8; Heb 11:6; Heb 13:6; Jas 2:17; 1 Jn 3:22] 

So, as followers of Christ Jesus, not only are we to leave our lives of sin behind us to now follow our Lord in obedience and in surrender to his will for our lives, but we are to have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness (evil, wickedness, immorality), which means we should not even be being entertained by them via TV, movies, videos, cartoons, the internet, social media, music, and games. If any of those means of communication are entertaining us with what is immoral, we are to cut it out of our lives.

But rather we are to expose them. Yet, in our “Christian” culture here in America today, it is not socially acceptable to be someone who exposes the fruitless deeds of darkness which are going on in the name of Christianity, and under the guise of faith in Jesus Christ. But someone has to do this, for if we do not, many will be deceived into believing the lies that their sins no longer matter to God, and so they will go on living in sin, and Jesus will tell them, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness.”

So, we need to take this seriously, and we need to be more concerned about the salvation and the eternal destiny of our friends and neighbors and coworkers and family members than we are concerned with not offending them with the truth of the gospel which can save their souls from hell if they believe it and put it into practice, by the grace of God. Too many Christians are ”playing it safe” so that people won’t hate and reject them. But we need to be those who will speak the truth to save people’s souls from hell.

And this includes speaking the truth to all who profess faith in Jesus Christ, too, and this includes exposing the fruitless deeds of darkness for what they are, too, and the dangers of such for the life of someone who calls himself a believer in Christ. For far too many professing Christians, at least here in America, are depending upon a one-time profession of faith in Jesus Christ to keep them out of hell and to guarantee them heaven as their eternal destiny. But we need to know what the Scriptures teach about that.

For the Scriptures teach that if we walk (in conduct, in practice) in darkness (sin), but while we claim to be in fellowship with God/Christ, we are liars. And if we say that we know God, but while we do not make it our practice to obey his commandments (New Covenant), we are liars. So lip service only will not get us into heaven. It is only by the grace of God, via God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ that any of us can be delivered from our sins and have the hope of eternal life with God.

But Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, and that we might be crucified with him in death to sin, and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to righteousness. So we are not to let sin reign in our bodies to make us obey its passions and desires. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if obedience to our Lord is what we obey, it leads to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life in Christ our Lord.

“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.” (Ephesians 5:15-17 NIV)

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Peter 1:15; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

Caution: This link may contain ads