The Difference Between Darkness and Light (1)

As we’ve noted, Ephesians chapters 4-6 reveal seven ways in which we are to walk, each of which in-turn is based on related doctrine in chapters 1-3. The first reality of our Christian walk is to walk in unity (4:1-16), the second is to walk in purity (4:17-32), and the third is to walk in love (5:1-7). We come now to the fourth, Walk in Light (5:8-14).

Ephesians 5:8 declares: For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light. Light is a symbol used quite often in Scripture. Most every Christian has heard that he is to “walk in light,” but what does that really mean? As our study progresses, we’ll see exactly what it means to walk in light, or, more accurately, to walk as children of light, or, “walk according to light.” We need to examine three principles: the difference between darkness and light (v. 8); the details of walking according to light (vs. 9-10); the demands of walking according to light (vs. 11-14).

Here in verse 8, then, we see the difference between darkness and light. Paul emphasizes three points.

First, we see what we were when we were unbelievers—darkness. The literal idea of the Greek behind sometimes (pote) is “at one time” or “formerly.” The Believer was “formerly in darkness” in the past, but no longer is that true of the believer. The focal point, of course, is the word darkness (skotos), which obviously means the absence of light. We all know what darkness is like. I remember when I was about twelve years old, our family took a vacation out West and took a tour of the Carlsbad Caverns. At one point our tour guide told us to stand absolutely still because he wanted to show us what dark is. He then he turned out the lights in the cavern, and I’ve never forgotten that dark. It was the total, absolute absence of light.

The point of skotos, however, goes deeper; it’s “chiefly of the effect of darkness upon man,” which is his limited ability to see and his subsequence groping in uncertainty. One commentator puts it brutally, but truthfully, “Darkness is the emblem and region of ignorance and depravity.” Ironically, Socrates agreed, “There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance,” as did poet Robert Browning, “Ignorance is not innocence but sin.” So ignorance itself is sin. Why? Because whatever keeps us from God is sin, and ignorance does just that.

Ignorance is, indeed, man’s problem. As Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote in 1850, “Let knowledge grow from more to more.” But even in this age of incredible knowledge and astounding accomplishment, man is hopelessly ignorant. He is “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (II Tim. 3:7).

Most significant of all, the verse does not say we were “IN” darkness, rather it says we WERE darkness. To illustrate, it’s not as if we used to live in a dark room and resided there like a piece of furniture, rather we were actually part of the darkness itself. What is the significance? Generally speaking light pictures two things: in regard to the Intellect, it pictures truth; in regard to morality, it pictures holiness. In contrast, when speaking of darkness, we see that the exact opposite is true: in regard to the intellect, it pictures ignorance; in regard to morality, it pictures impurity.

As one studies history he finds this is to be true. For example, what is called the “Dark Ages” (about 590-1517) was a time of great ignorance, superstition, and immorality. Likewise, because of the darkness that resides in man, man has been ignorant, superstitious, and immoral down through the ages. We need only think of the immoral practices of pagan religion, not to mention the immoral practices of modern society, to see that man truly IS darkness.

But why is all this true historically? Because it’s true spiritually. Men do not sin because they are IN darkness; men do not sin because of their circumstances. Thinking that man does wrong because of his circumstances or environment is what has given way to the extreme “behaviouristic” psychologies of today, which say that a person does wrong because of the atmosphere in which he was raised, the way his parents treated him, the way society treated him, and so that person is not really responsible for what he does; he really can’t help being the way he is. This gives man an excuse for his actions.

Such a view of man is a lie. Scripture declares that men sin because they ARE darkness. In other words, they are not IN darkness, rather darkness is IN THEM. We saw this vividly back in Ephesians 2:1-3, which vividly outlines man’s depravity.