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FOR YOU WERE FORMERLY DARKNESS:
ete (2PIAI) gar pote skotos:
(Eph 2:11,12; 4:18; 6:12;
Psalms 74:20; Isaiah 9:2; 42:16; 60:2; Jeremiah 13:16; Matthew 4:16;
Luke 1:79; Acts 17:30; 26:18; Romans 1:21; 2:19; 2Corinthians 6:14;
Colossians 1:13; Titus 3:3; 1Peter 2:9; 1John 2:8)
For (gar)
introduces an explanation (Always stop and ask "What the for
there for?") and in this case Paul gives a special reason for them to
remain entirely separate from the sons of disobedience. His point here
is that as believers now, their past state (darkness) and their
present state (light) are in striking contrast.
As John Eadie
explains Paul's word for darkness here...
is the abstract—darkness
itself—employed to intensify the idea expressed. Darkness is the
emblem and region of ignorance and depravity, and in such a miserable
condition they were “once.” But that state was over—“the dayspring from
on high” (Lk 1:78, 79) had visited them. (John Eadie, D., LL.D. The
Epistle of St Paul to the Ephesians)
You were -
is emphatic (placed first in the Greek sentence for emphasis) to throw
stress on the fact that all the horrible behaviors he had just described
were now behind them. In darkness we chased sin, but beloved, be sober
minded, because now sin chases us! It tries to draw us back into the
darkness. The idea
is that "You Gentiles who are now believers were. So do
not again become darkness!". We need to be constantly mindful
from whence we came, that the glorious contrast of truth of where we are
seated (in the heavenlies in Christ) and the power we possess (every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus) does not become a
fading, dim memory.
Remembering keeps us humble and thankful and re-kindles in our hearts an
appropriately high view of our "so great a salvation".
Formerly (4218)
(pote) is a generalization concerning time and means at some time
and when referring to past time as in this verse means once or at one
time in the past. Paul does not want them to dwell on their past, but he
does want them to remember what the darkness was like and how great has
been the deliverance from darkness to His marvelous light. Meditate on
this truth beloved, the next time you are being tempted to drift back into the
darkness to become partakers with those whose only world is darkness. And then make the choice to not
put on those filthy, rotten garments you once wore when you were
darkness in the old
man in Adam. Now, you can say no to the flesh and the siren
seductions of darkness
because you are light in the Lord! Hallelujah! Walk out now in the light
of the victory and surpassing power which Christ Jesus the Lord secured for you at Calvary, the victory over the
darkness of the world, the flesh and the devil, the prince of darkness.
Darkness
(4655)
(skotos
from skia = shadow thrown by
an object. Skia it can assume the meaning of skotos and indicate
the sphere of darkness) is literally that sphere in which light is
absent. It not the related word skotia which refers more to the
consequences of darkness but refers literally to physical darkness, the
essence of darkness.
In this passage Paul uses skotos
figuratively to describe the abysmal spiritual darkness of every
unregenerate person. Note Paul does not say that
we were in the darkness but that we were the
very essence of darkness!
Since unbelievers
are in the darkness of their spiritual blindness, the Bible often
uses light to picture salvation (Acts 26:18, 26:23; 13:47; Mt 4:16; Jn
1:4,5,7,8,9; 3:19, 20, 21; 8:12; 9:5; 12:36; 2Co 4:4; 6:14; Ep 5:8, 14;
Col 1:12, 13; 1Th 5:5; 1Pe 2:9; 1Jn 1:7; 2:8, 9, 10, cp Is 35:5; 42:6;
61:1).
NIDNTT explains that
In classic Gk. darkness
applies primarily to the state characterized by the absence of light
(phos) without any special metaphysical overtones. The thought is
chiefly of the effect of darkness upon man. In the dark man gropes
around uncertainly (Plato, Phaedo, 99b), since his ability to see is
severely limited. Thus the man who can see may become blind in the
darkness, and no longer know which way to turn. Hence darkness appears
as the “sphere of objective peril and of subjective anxiety” (H.
Conzelmann, TDNT VII 424). Since all anxiety ultimately derives from the
fear of death, the ominous character of darkness culminates in the
darkness of death which no man can escape (cf. Homer, Il., 4, 461).
Darkness is therefore Hades, the world of the dead, which already
reaches out into our world in the mythical figures of the Eumenides, the
children of Skotos and Gaia (Soph., Oedipus Coloneus, 40).
Freed from their proper, temporal
sense, the words of this group can be used in a metaphorical sense to
describe human ways of life and behaviour. Thus they can describe a
man’s seclusion or obscurity. They can also indicate the secrecy,
furtiveness or deceitfulness of his activity, the abstruseness of his
speech, lack of enlightenment, insight and knowledge. “The word does not
attain to high conceptual rank in philosophy. Mention of darkness serves
to set off light; it has no philosophical content of its own” (TDNT VII
425 f.). (Brown,
Colin, Editor. New International Dictionary of NT Theology. 1986.
Zondervan)
Skotos can
refer to literal darkness as occurred on the day of Jesus' c rucifixion
(Mt 27:45) or darkness as opposed to light in the creation (2Cor 4:6).
Skotos is used as another name
for the place of punishment, eternal misery and eternal separation from
God.
Skotos
figuratively can refer to spiritual or moral darkness (including
a lack of understanding) as in the following examples
"(Jesus declared) And this is the
judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the
darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil.
(John 3:19)
"(the gospel would) to open their
eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the
dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of
sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in
Me.' (Acts 26:18)
If we say that we have fellowship
with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice
the truth (truth is not only something we should believe and teach but
also something we should practice, otherwise our life is a "lie")
(1John 1:6)
For He delivered us from the domain
of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved
Son, (note
Colossians 1:13)
The night is almost gone, and the day
is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and
put on the armor of light. (see note
Romans 13:12)
Absence of light
leaves room for evil and sin. In this sense darkness may be
described as evil.
In his first
epistle Peter used skotos figuratively explaining to the
believers that...
you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal
PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, that you
may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of
darkness (the moral and spiritual condition that enshrouds this
present world and all those who do not know Christ) into His marvelous
light (note
1 Peter 2:9)
Darkness is used
to describe the spiritual powers of Satan and his evil empire...
"While I was with you daily in the
temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of
darkness are yours."
(Luke 22:53)
For our struggle is not against flesh
and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world
forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of
wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians
6:12 note)
In Acts 13:11
skotos is used to refer to physical blindness or inability to see
(literally)
Note that skotos is the essence of darkness, darkness itself and
as applied to sin is the essence of sin. On the other hand the closely
related word skotia speaks more of the consequence of darkness,
and so the consequences of sin is the darkness that man has to live in,
that darkness entering into Adam in the Garden of Eden.
Ponder what Peter
is saying in view of John's declaration...
And this is the message we have heard
from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there
is no darkness at all. (1John 1:5)
The opposite of
light is absolute darkness. Where God is there can be no darkness.
Conversely where the darkness is indicates separation from God. God’s
children have been "qualified... to share in the inheritance of the
saints in light... delivered... from the domain of darkness
and transferred... to the kingdom of His beloved Son" (note
Col 1:12-13). The children of the
devil, especially his servants who masquerade as ambassadors of light,
walk around in spiritual darkness (and separation from God) today, but
their darkness is but a foretaste of the utter "black darkness" that
awaits them when they die. Not only is their eternal destiny of
purposeless existence horrible but Peter graphically describes their
present life as utter emptiness and purposelessness. All life lived
without the spiritual goals of glorifying God and worshiping Him is an
empty and purposeless existence.
Jesus
described the ultimate destiny of the lost declaring...
but the sons of the kingdom (speaking
of the Jews who had the special privilege as the chosen nation) shall be
cast out into the outer darkness (the final hell); in that place
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Mt
8:12)
"Then the king said to the servants,
'Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in
that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (describes the
extreme torment that sadly will be true in hell).' (Mt
22:13)
"And cast out the worthless slave
into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth. (Mt
25:30
Steven Cole
commenting on this section of Ephesians writes that...
Darkness symbolizes Satan’s
evil domain (Is 49:24,25, Lk 11:21, 22, Col 1:13, 2Ti 2:26, Heb 2:14,15,
1Jn 3:8, 5:19, 1Pe 2:9 Rev 20:2,3), and the sinful deeds of those
who do not obey God. It also represents the spiritual ignorance of those
whose sin has blinded their eyes from the light of God’s truth (Eph
4:18; 2Cor. 4:4,). Light pictures the knowledge of the truth that comes
when God shines into our lives. As Paul wrote (2Cor. 4:6), “For God, who
said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in
our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the
face of Christ.” Light also pictures the holiness of God (1Jn 1:5), who
dwells in unapproachable light (1Ti 6:16, Ps 104:2, Hab 3:4, Mt 17:2, Re
21:23, 22:5). So as believers, we are called to walk in the light, just
as He Himself is in the light (1Jn 1:7), living with every area of our
lives exposed to God (Heb 4:13, Pr 15:3).
(Ref)
As Expositor's
says...
They were darkness itself,
persons...so utterly sunk in ignorance of Divine things, so wholly lost
in the evils accompanying such ignorance. (Nicoll, W Robertson, Editor:
Expositors Greek Testament: 5 Volumes. Out of print. Search Google)
Darkness
describes the character of the life of the unconverted as void of truth
and virtue in intellectual and moral matters. It's all the things Paul
has already described about the Gentiles in their unconverted state.
It's all the things he has described which characterized the old self or
old man. Formerly all of those things was the only life they knew.
For example, John
writes...
And this is the message we have heard
from Him and announce to you, that God is light (He is not like light
but He is the Light, the very eternal essence), and in Him there is no
darkness (skotia) at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship
(something in common with God -- Who is light) with Him and yet walk (present
tense
- continually, habitually, as our lifestyle
living)
in (in the sphere of) the darkness (skotos), we lie and do not practice the truth;
7 but (note the definite contrast) if we walk in the light as He
Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the
blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1Jn 1:5-7).
Comment: Although you will
read a few evangelical commentaries (eg, Constable's Expository Notes)
that say that the one habitually walking in darkness is a believer who
is simply out of fellowship with God, such an interpretation does not do
justice to the general context or the specific verse. If a person is
habitually conducting their life in the sphere of darkness, then
they are not born again. God is light and in Him there is absolutely no
darkness. Therefore, what possible fellowship could light have with
darkness (2Co 6:14)?
Steven Cole explains that...
To understand this paragraph, we must
see that John is writing against the false claims of the false teachers.
Their claims are introduced by the phrase, “if we say" (1Jn 1:6,
8, 10). John here shifts the we from the apostles to a
hypothetical group that may include anyone, but especially targets the
false teachers. Their first claim was, “We have fellowship with God”
(1Jn 1:6), but John says that their lives did not back up their claim.
They walked in darkness, they lied, and they did not practice the truth.
Similarly John MacArthur
writes that...
In spite of their claims to
enlightenment and although the false teachers may have claimed
fellowship with Christ, their walking in darkness refuted such claims,
and consequently, demonstrated their lack of genuine salvation. The
reference to “lie” in 1Jn 1:6b refers to the claim of fellowship in v.
6a. do not practice. This points to their habitual failure regarding the
practice of the truth.
(MacArthur,
J.: The MacArthur Study Bible Nashville: Word
or
Logos)
KJV Bible Commentary
agrees commenting on 1John 1:6 that...
It is obvious that if there are false
teachers or any others who claim to have fellowship (Greek koinonia)
with God (having something in common with God), and at the same time
(both verbs are in the progressive
present in Greek)
continue to live according to the standards of darkness only, there is
no way around the conclusion that they are lying!
(Dobson,
E G, Charles Feinberg, E Hindson, Woodrow Kroll, H L. Wilmington: KJV
Bible Commentary: Nelson
or
Logos)
The realm of
darkness is presided over by the power of darkness
"While I was with you daily in the
temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of
darkness are yours." (Lu 22:53, Col 1:13-note)
Comment:
Power is
exousia, the right and the might that
God allowed Satan to have for that time. Darkness is the domain of
Satan.
Satan rules
those headed for eternal darkness
but the sons of the kingdom shall be
cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth. (Mt 8:12).
These are springs without water, and
mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved.
(see note
2 Peter 2:17)
Unregenerate
mankind loves spiritual darkness John explaining that...
And this is the judgment, that the
light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the
light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the
light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be
manifested as having been wrought in God." (John 3:19-21). (Comment:
Quite clearly John explains that
people
don’t want the light because they like the deeds of the darkness and
they do not want to be exposed.)
In
Romans 1
explains how men suppressed the truth about God's natural revelation and
the subsequent spiritually downward decline...
For even though they knew God, they
did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in
their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (See
notes
Romans 1:21)
Isaiah
prophesied
of the deliverance of the Gentiles from darkness
writing...
But there will be no more gloom for
her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun
and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it
glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of
the Gentiles. 2 The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light
(Messiah, the Light of the world); Those who live in a dark land, The
light will shine on them. (Isaiah 9:1-2
quoted in Mt 4:16)
Luke wrote of the coming of Messiah,
the Light of the world...
Because of the tender mercy
(strongest word in Gk for feeling of compassion) of our God, With which
the Sunrise (Messiah's coming would be like the coming of dawn, light
driving away darkness) from on high shall visit us, 79 TO SHINE UPON
THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH, to guide (the pix of
opening up the way by the removal of obstacles so that the desired goal
may be reached) our feet into the way of peace." (Luke 1:78-79)
It is that very
darkness from which salvation in Christ delivers sinners.
Again therefore Jesus spoke to them,
saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk
in the darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)
(Jesus again said) "I have come as
light into the world, that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in
darkness. (John
12:46)
For He delivered us from the domain
of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, (See
note
Colossians 1:13)
But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal
PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, that you
may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness
into His marvelous light; (see note
1 Peter 2:9)
(Luke records Jesus' charge to Paul
as he sent him to the Gentiles to...) Open their eyes so that they may
turn from darkness to light and from the dominion (exousia)
of Satan to God, in order that (purpose clause) they may receive
forgiveness (aphesis - means sending away) of sins and an inheritance
(contrast with
Ephesians 5:5 - notes)
among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me." (Acts
26:18)
So how are believers to respond? What
is true about us now in regard to the darkness? Paul summarizes how we
should relate to the darkness writing...
The night is almost gone, and
the day (of our Lord's return) is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside
the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and
drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and
jealousy.
14 But put on
(like a new garment) (aorist
imperative) the
Lord Jesus Christ, and make
no provision (present
imperative
= with negative means stop making
provision) for the
flesh
in regard to its
lusts.
(See notes
Romans 13:12;
13:13;
13:14 )
BUT NOW YOU ARE LIGHT IN THE
LORD: nun de phos en kurio:
(Isaiah 42:6,7; 49:6,9;
60:1,3,19,20; John 1:4,5,9; 8:12; 12:46; 1 Corinthians 1:30;
2 Corinthians 3:18; 4:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:4-8; 1 John 2:9-11)
But now -
who "you were" showing a dramatic contrast with who "you are".
Light
(5457)
(phos) can refer to literal light but here is used figuratively
as those enlightened with the truth. Don't miss it - Paul says
these Gentile believers are light itself, not a lamp!
Cole writes
that...
Paul does not say that we used to be
in the darkness, whereas now we are in the light, although this is true
(Col. 1:13; John 8:12; 1Pet. 2:9; 1 John 1:5, 6, 7; 2:9). Rather, he
says that we used to be darkness, but now we are
light in the Lord. Being children of light implies that this
profound change comes from God’s power in the new birth. It is an act of
His creative power. Just as He at the first created light out of the
darkness, so now He has changed us from being darkness itself
into being light in the Lord. Most of us have had the experience
of visiting a cave where the guide turned off all of the lights for a
few seconds (which always seem like minutes!). You can’t even see your
hand in front of your face. For a few awful seconds, you realize what it
would be like to be totally blind.
Paul says that we formerly were
darkness. We were spiritually blind. We not only didn’t see God’s
glory and truth, we didn’t have the ability or desire to see such
things. We didn’t sense our need for the Savior, because we thought we
were good enough to go to heaven and we didn’t understand the absolute
holiness and justice of God. So we lived entirely for ourselves and our
own pleasure, avoiding the thought of death and eternity. But, when God
saved us (Titus 3:5, cp Gal 2:16, 17, 18, 19, 20 21), He opened the eyes
of our understanding so that we saw “the Light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Christ” (2Cor. 4:6). We saw our true
condition as guilty sinners, but we also saw the all sufficiency of
Jesus and His death on the cross to cover all our sins. We had a new
understanding of God’s Word and a new desire to know God and His truth
more and more. We now hate the sin that we formerly lived in and we long
to be like our Savior, holy in all our ways. We now walk in the light,
rather than in darkness, because God has made us light in the Lord.
While some of us (and I am one) can’t say exactly when this change took
place, you know that it took place, because you know that God changed
your heart. “You were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the
Lord” (Ep 5:8). To walk as children of light, you must be a child of
light by God’s saving power.
(Ref)
In his book
Illustrations of Bible Truth, H. A. Ironside included the story of a
new convert who gave his testimony during a church service. With a smile
on his face and joy in his heart, the man related how he had been
delivered from a life of sin. He gave the Lord all the glory, saying
nothing about any of his own merits or what he had done to deserve the
blessings of redemption. The person in charge, who was very legalistic,
didn’t fully appreciate the reality of salvation by grace through faith
alone, apart from human works (Eph 2:8,9). So he responded to the young
man’s comments by saying,
“you seem to indicate that God did everything when He saved you. Didn’t
you do your part before God did His?”
The new Christian
jumped to his feet and said,
“Oh yes, I did. For more than 30 years I ran away from God as fast as my
sins could carry me. That was my part. But God took out after me and ran
me down. That was His part.”
Expositors
Greek Testament comments that...
The completeness of the change is
indicated again by the use of the abstract term—so possessed and
penetrated were they by that truth that they could be described not
simply as enlightened but as themselves now light. And this ‘in the
Lord,’ for it was in virtue of their fellowship with Christ that this
new apprehension of things came to them, transforming their lives.
(Nicoll, W Robertson, Editor: Expositors Greek Testament: 5 Volumes. Out
of print. Search Google)
Lord
(2962)
(kurios)
means lord, master, owner or the one
who has absolute ownership power. Jesus is referred to some ten times
as Savior and some seven hundred times as Lord. Kurios
translates Jehovah (LORD in OT) in
Septuagint (LXX)
7000 times. Kurios
signifies
sovereign power and absolute, supreme authority. It is the one who has absolute
ownership and uncontested power.
Barber
explains now you are light in the Lord this way...
It is all because of Him. Outside of
Him there is no light. In Him is where the light is. Remember, I am not
the light. He is the light. I am light because the Light is within me.
He has come in and turned it on, and now I can understand and
comprehend. I can walk the way He wants me to walk. His Spirit can teach
me the things I need to know, and I can live a life that reflects the
essence of light. We were once darkness. Now we have been made light.
Not just put in the light, we are now made light because He is in us.
The Light is in us (Jn 8:12, 1Jn 2:9, 10, cp Jn 3:20, 21, 11:10, 12:36)...We are accountable for sin now...Now that you are
in Christ, you are responsible to call them by name because you have
light within you and you know what you are doing is by your own choice.
You choose not to put that garment on (the garment of the "Old
Man").
You have light in you. That is why confession of sin is such an
important word in the vocabulary of the believer. (Reference)
WALK AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT:
os tekna photos peripateite (2PPAM):
(Eph 5:2; Isaiah 2:5; Luke
16:8; John 12:36; Galatians 5:25; 1Pe 2:9, 10, 11; 1John 1:7)
Paul had just
reminded them of their new position in Christ (children of light), but
position is not a guarantee that we will live that way consistently. And
so in
this verse Paul gives a command saying in essence "Make it your
habit to live what you are and Whose you are!", in other words, in a way consistent with your
character as redeemed men and women illuminated and sanctified by virtue
of your
union with the Lord Jesus Christ (See discussion of
in Christ
and
in Christ Jesus
).
Walk
(4043)
(peripateo
from peri = about,
around + pateo = walk, tread) (Click
word study on
peripateo)
means literally to walk about here and there or to tread all around.
Peripateo then came to mean, to make one’s way, to make progress, to
make due use of one’s opportunities and finally (as used by Paul in
Ephesians), to live, to regulate one’s life, to conduct one’s self.
Most of the NT uses refer to the daily conduct of one's life or how one
orders their behavior or passes their life.
In contrast to
those who walk in spiritual darkness, Paul uses the
present imperative
to command believers to
continually walk in the light into which they have been transferred.
Keep walking in the light, step by step, ever making progress.
Walk as children
of light for as Paul says
"what fellowship has light with darkness?" (2Cor 6:14)
The point is that
there is none. Thus it makes "good sense" that those who walk in the
darkness (as manifest by their deeds just described) would not enjoy
fellowship in the Kingdom of Light in the presence of the One Who Alone
is the Light of the World and in Whom there is no darkness at all.
John Eadie
explains that...
Negatively they were not to be
partakers; but neutrality is not sufficient—positively they were to walk
as children of the light. “As children of light,” they were to show by
their conduct that they loved it, enjoyed it, and reflected its lustre.
Their course of conduct ought to prove that they hated the previous
darkness, that they were content with no ambiguous twilight, but lived
and acted in the full splendour of the Sun of Righteousness, hating the
secret and unfruitful deeds of darkness referred to in the following
context. First, the apostle has referred to love as an element of
Christian walk, Eph 5:1,2 (note);
and now he refers to light as an element of the same walk; different
aspects of the same spiritual purity; love, and not angry and vengeful
passions; light, and not dark and unnameable deeds. (John Eadie, D.,
LL.D. The Epistle of St Paul to the Ephesians)
Children
(5043)
(teknon from tikto = bring forth, bear children, be born)
means literally "a born one" and refers to a child as viewed in relation
to the one who bore him (in this case of course the Spirit of the Living
God). It follows that teknon takes on special theological
significance when the Bible calls believers the children of God.
God's spiritual children possess His divine nature (not little gods),
the nature of light. In
Ephesians 5:1, Paul
used teknon in his reference to the Gentile saints as beloved
children (teknon).
Children of
light - Describes the nature of the
Father (1Jn 1:5) that is in us now which equates with His light that is within us
(Jn 8:12, 12:36, Jn 3:20, 21, 11:10)..
We are born of Him Who is light and we are the children of light. It was
because of His light that we saw our sinfulness and became His children.
Light
(5457)
(phos) is used figuratively of believers who shine forth Christ
in them the hope (absolute certainty of future good) of glory. Paul is
giving his warning to those who are children of God, thus light in the
Lord, thus, children of light (cp 1Th 5:4, 5, 6-note)
Expositors
adds that...
If these Ephesians were now ‘light
in the Lord,’ it was not for themselves only but for others. They
were called to live a life beseeming those to whom Christian
enlightenment and purity had become their proper nature.” (Ibid)
Jesus
calls for all of His disciples to be lights declaring...
You are the light of the world. A
city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp, and put it
under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it gives light to all
who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that
they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
(see notes
Matthew 5:14; 15; 16)
Charles Hodge writes that...
As light stands for knowledge, and as
knowledge, in the scriptural sense of the word, produces holiness, and
holiness happiness, so darkness stands for ignorance, and such ignorance
inevitably produces sin, and sin misery. Therefore, the expression you
were once darkness means, “you were ignorant, polluted, and wretched.”
But now you are light in the Lord—i.e., in virtue of union with the
Lord, you are enlightened, sanctified, and blessed. Live as children of
light—i.e., as the children of holiness and truth. Children of light
means “enlightened,” and “children of famine” means the famished: see
Ephesians 2:2. The exhortation is that they should walk in a way
consistent with their character, as people illuminated and sanctified by
their union with the Lord Jesus. (Ephesians 5:3-20)
Comment: Paul's letters are
replete with the charge to believers to walk consistent with their
position and privilege in Christ - Ro 13:13-note;
Eph 4:1-note,
Eph 5:15-note,
Php 1:27, 28, 29-note,
Col 1:10-note,
Col 2:6-note;
1Th 2:11, 12-note,
1Th 4:1-note,
Peter also alluded to a worthy walk - 2Pe 1:4-note,
based on the truth just stated 2Pe 1:5, 6, 7, 8, 9-note;
2Pe 3:11-note;
2Pe 3:14-note)
><> ><> ><>
F B Meyer has the following
devotional comments...
God is light; and when we live in
daily, hourly communion with Him, in such a frame of mind as that His
name is frequently in our hearts, or murmured softly by our lips, or
spoken as a talisman when temptation is near, we may be said to be
walking in the light. And it is just in proportion as our steps
tread the crystal pathway of light, that our understanding becomes
enlightened. In God's light we see light. When the heart is pure, the
eye is single.
The contrary to this is also true. When we are alienated from the life
of God, our understanding is darkened to the truth of God. The seat of
infidelity is in the heart. Once let a soul become shut out from the
life of God through the hardening of the heart; once let it give itself
up to lasciviousness, and to make a trade of uncleanness with
greediness: then the light of the knowledge of the glory of God beats
against a shuttered window, asking for admittance in vain.
If you would know God, you must resemble God. If you would learn God's
secrets, you must walk with God. If you would know the doctrine, you
must be willing to do his will.
But there is something even better than walking in the light; it is to
become children of the light. What an exquisite conception! Dewdrops
sparkling in the light of dawn; star-dust glittering on the vault of
night; humming-birds flashing in the tropic sun; children dancing in
light-hearted glee, none of these are so truly sons of light as they who
have been begotten by the Father of Lights; who carry within them the
Light that lights up hearts, and who, in goodness, righteousness, and
truth, prove what is well-pleasing unto the Lord. Let us live as such. (Our
Daily Walk)
><> ><> ><>
WALKING IN THE
LIGHT
F B Meyer
Our Daily Walk
"God said, Let there be Light; and
there was Light."--- Gen1:3.
"Ye were sometimes darkness, but
now are ye light in the Lord: Walk as children of Light."-- Eph5:8.
ST. PAUL makes use
of this passage in Genesis, when He says, that "God who commanded the
fight to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
He seems to go back in his experience to that remarkable vision on the
road to Damascus, when the light shone, and he saw the face of the Lord
Jesus. It was as though he had passed through the experience of chaos,
while kicking against the goad of conviction, and at that moment, which
he could never forget, God said: "Let there be light." Looking up, he
saw the light of the glory of God reflected in that dear Face that
looked down on him with ineffable love. It was life out of death; light
replaced darkness, and peace chased away the last vestige of storm.
This is ever the
result and climax of the work in our hearts wrought by the Holy Spirit.
He leads us out of darkness; He takes of the things of Christ and shows
them unto us. His one aim is to glorify our Saviour, and to make Him the
Alpha and Omega of our faith, as we walk in the light.
When I was in
Tasmania, I was shown a great mountain range on which was a vast lake,
fifty-two miles in circumference. The overflow yielded a perennial
waterfall of a thousand feet, the force of which was translated into
electricity which made light and power cheap for great factories and for
domestic needs. It seemed to me, as I thought about it, that the great
sheet of water resembled the Love of God, in its longing to help
mankind; that the descending waterfall might be taken to illustrate the
Incarnation of our Saviour, who was the Sent-One of the Eternal Trinity;
and that the electric current, invisible but mighty, was typical of the
Holy Spirit, who brings to our hearts the Light and Power of the Divine
Nature. The lesson is obvious, that as the manufacturer or the scientist
invents machinery to meet the conditions on which alone the electric
current can do its work, so must we learn to adapt ourselves to receive
and transmit the power and light of God, which comes to us through our
union with Jesus.
PRAYER -
May the Holy Spirit keep us ever walking in the light of Thy
countenance. May He fill our hearts with the sense of Thy nearness and
loving fellowship. Order our steps in Thy way, and then walk with us,
for in Thee is no darkness at all. AMEN.
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