The Demands of Walking According to Light (2)

The first demand of walking according to light in Ephesians 5:11-14 is be separate, (v. 11a).

Second, we are to take a stand in 11b-13: but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

Lest we think that it’s enough just to withdraw from sin, as a monk would do in the monastery, Paul adds that we are rather to reprove “the unfruitful works of darkness.” The Greek word behind reprove (elegcho) developed the principal meaning of convince and refute. So strong is this word, in fact, that, as the great reformer John Calvin rightly observes, “It literally signifies to drag forth to the light what was formerly unknown.” What a vivid picture! We drag error—no doubt kicking and screaming the whole way—into the light to expose it.

Paul, for example, declared in no uncertain terms that this is a pastor’s responsibility. On your own read what he wrote to Pastor Timothy (I Tim. 5:20; II Tim. 4:2) and Pastor Titus (Titus 1:9, 13). To say the very least, all this flies in the face of the attitude of our day. While the growing tendency in many churches is to avoid even the mention of false doctrine or sin, Paul’s repeated emphasis is the refutation of such practices. The ruling attitude in society today is “tolerance.” “How dare we say that something is wrong,” it is argued.

We should appreciate commentator Kent Hughes quite blunt but truthful observation: “According to the world, Christianity ought to be as broad and accepting as possible. And the fact is that clergy who think in this way, who baptize every form of sin as OK, become the darlings of the media. A cultured accent, a fuchsia-colored bishop’s shirt, and the urging to place condoms in Gideon Bibles will get you a spot on Good Morning, America. Our culture loves the ‘open-minded,’ nonjudgmental, ‘live and let live’ personality.”

Commentator William Hendrickson also addresses another attitude of our day when he writes: “One is not being ‘nice’ to a wicked man by endeavoring to make him feel what a fine fellow he is. The cancerous tumor must be removed, not humored.” Still the attitude today is to address people’s “felt needs” and avoid even mentioning sin.

The fact is, however, that to be tolerant of sin is not only to approve of it—to overlook and sanction it—but is even to be complicit in it, to actually be an active participant. God does not want His children to be tolerant but to be discerning. Back in the 16^th Century, John Calvin preached on Ephesians and spoke these words: “Most men and women nowadays wink at all manner of evil and disorder, and stop their ears at the things that they might ill heard, and every man seeks to conceal his fellow’s wickedness, men of men’s, and women of women’s. They might remedy a great number of enormities that are committed, but they would rather go and pollute their gowns and coats with other people’s dung and filthiness, than expose their vices. . . . The very way therefore for us to show in practice and in good earnest that we belong to God and are enlightened by His Holy Spirit and by His Word is to expose things which otherwise would, as it were, lie lurking a long time if we did not draw them into the light.”

Many today would read that and think, “But that was centuries ago and is just the old theology of a bunch of dead guys. We are much more enlightened today.” But that was precisely Calvin’s point. We are only “enlightened” if we love the light and expose error to be error. God demands that we take a stand for Truth, that we expose and rebuke sin. How, then, do we do that?

First, and foremost, we rebuke sin in the lives of those around us indirectly by just living Godly in front of them. The entire context surrounding our text, in fact, emphasizes a life of “goodness and righteousness and truth” (v. 9). The right attitudes, actions, words, values, motives, and priorities will be convicting to those whose lives are the opposite of those qualities.

Second, we rebuke sin directly. There will be times when sin must be openly rebuked. Now usually this is to be done by pastors through the pulpit ministry or through church discipline (I Cor. 5; Matt. 18:15-17), but there will be times when every Christian should humbly take a stand and speak against sin.

The Demands of Walking According to Light (1)

We come now to the third and final division of Ephesians 5:8-14. In verse 11-14, we see three demands of walking according to light.

 First, the Christian must be separate, as verse 11a declares: And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.

The clause unfruitful works of darkness paints a graphic picture. Unfruitful is akarpos. The root karpos appears some 66 times in the New Testament and carries the primary meaning of “the fruit of plants (Matt. 21:19) . . . or the “produce of the earth” (Jas. 5:7, 18).” The extended meaning of karpos, however, is more significant. As one authority explains, “The use of the term fruit expressly indicates that it is not a question of deliberate, self-determined action on man’s part. Rather it is that ‘fruit-bearing’ which follows from his turning to God and the power of the Spirit working in him.” In other words, just as fruit automatically comes from a plant or tree because it is its nature to do so, spiritual fruit is automatic in the Christian. We don’t produce fruit because of our effort, but because of the Spirit’s energy. Fruit comes because that is now our nature. That is why our Lord said, “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matt. 7:20).

With the prefix a, however, akarpos means the exact opposite, “unfruitful, fruitless, barren, unproductive.” Among its eight appearances in the New Testament, we find it in reference to the “thorny ground hearing” in the Parable of the Sower: “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful” (Matt. 13:22). Jude uses it to refer to apostates, who are “clouds . . . without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots” (Jude 12).

So just as fruitfulness is automatic because of natural inclination, so is unfruitfulness. The unsaved man does not have to work at being unfruitful; it comes naturally. As our Lord declared, “Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit” (Matt. 7:17-18).

The word work (ergon) is the result or object of employment, something to be done. Darkness is again skotos (as in v. 8), which speaks of uncertainty, ignorance, and depravity. Putting the clause together, then, as man gropes in ignorance and uncertainty, the result of all his employment is total fruitlessness and barrenness.

Paul, therefore, commands the believer, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Does this not make perfect sense? In light of such ignorance, uncertainty, fruitlessness, and barrenness, why would we want to have anything to do with it? As one commentator asks, “Who wants to spend his life in working a field which produces no fruit at all?” But as logical as it might seem, Paul still feels the need to give the command to Believers. Why? To show us that we must not fellowship with people who do such evil things.

To prove that principle, we must examine the Greek word for fellowship (sunkoinoneo). The root koinoneo means “to share in something” and implies that this sharing is with someone else. The prefix sun intensifies the word. So the full meaning is, “to become a partner together with others.” Paul’s point, then, is that the believer is not to become involved in sin even by association. Yes, we live in this world, but we are not of this world. No, we are not to be separate from contact with the world, but we are to be separate from conformity to the world.

In the Rebellion of 1798 in England, the United Irishmen, with the aid of France, attempted to secure the complete separation of Ireland from England. The United Irishmen were defeated at Vinegar Hill on June 21, which led to the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland under the name United Kingdom on January 1, 1801. The story is told that during that rebellion, the rebels took prisoner a little drummer of the king’s troops, and told him to beat the drum for them. The little boy laid his drum on the ground and jumped onto it, shredding the parchment, and then cried, “God forbid that the king’s drum should ever be beat for rebels.” The rebels promptly killed the little hero, but they could not erase the memory of such courage and loyalty. What a challenge to Christians to have no fellowship with that which betrays their Lord.

The Details of Walking According to Light (2)

Considering again Ephesians 5:9-10— For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth; Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord—we that the first primary characteristics of spiritual light is all goodness.

Second, there is all Righteousness, another principle Paul stressed often in his Epistles. In fact, these two are often stressed together, as they are here. The basic idea in righteousness is that of doing right. We can put the contrast this way: Goodness speaks of being right; Righteousness speaks of doing right.

In other words, while goodness speaks of our position before God, righteousness speaks of our practice toward men. We saw this principle back in Ephesians 4:24. In that context (4:19) the “Old Man” is “past feeling;” he does terrible things to his fellowman but feels absolutely nothing. In contrast, the “New Man” treats others rightly because he is light!

But may we also notice that the word all goes with righteousness as well as with goodness. We say this because since all appears at the beginning of the verse, this implies that it encompasses the whole verse. Not only is every aspect and the sum total of the Christian’s life to be moral, but every aspect and the sum total of it is to be righteous. In all areas of life we do right to those around us.

Second, there is all Truth. Here is the fifth of six occurrence of the word truth in Ephesians (1:13; 4:15, 21, 25; 5:9: 6:14). As we’ve noted, aletheia refers to that which is not concealed, the way things really are, that which is absolute, incontrovertible, irrefutable, incontestable, unarguable, and unchanging.

It is here in dramatic contrast to what Paul has said previously about the non-Christian. The non-Christian “deceives with vain words” (v. 6). The non-Christian (as well as the Christian who does not allow the Spirit to rule) “lies” (4:25). Furthermore, right in our present context Paul says, “It is a shame to even speak of those things which are done by them in secret.”

But truth is the exact opposite of all that, for where there is light there is truth. There must be nothing secret, hidden, deceitful, misleading, dishonest, underhanded, shady, or hypocritical in the life of the Christian. The Christian lives by truth. As we saw in our last chapter, we are not in light; we are light. Once again all goes with truth as it does with goodness and righteousness. In short, truth must characterize every aspect and the total sum of the believer’s life.

Finally, we see that verse 10 brings together the thoughts of verse 9 by showing the result that is produced by these three primary characteristics: Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. The Greek behind proving is dokimazō, a word we examined back in our study of discernment in 4:14, and which means “test, pronounce good, establish by trial.” A related word, dokimos, was originally used as a technical term for coins that were genuine. Paul uses dokimazō, for example, in I Thessalonians 5:21-22: “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.” He is saying, “Examine everything, put everything to the test, verify each item to see if it is genuine or if it is a fake.” If it’s good, seize it and hold on to it. If it’s not, however, we are to withdraw from it.

In the present context, then, we “test every thought, word, and act” to ensure that it is acceptable unto the Lord. And it’s those three characteristics—goodness, righteousness, and truth—that are the tests.

Even today in the marketplaces of the middle-east, the shops are often just small, open enclosures that while covered with a tarp or other material still have no windows. A customer contemplating buying a piece of silk or an article of beaten brass often will take it into the street and hold it up to the sun, so that the light might reveal any flaws that might exist. Before the advancement of computers for publishing, printers used a similar device to illuminate pages of material that he pasted together. Today a doctor puts an x-ray on a light box that illuminates the film. A draftsman, jeweler, and other such craftsman focus light on their work.

Those, and other examples we could list, demonstrate the necessity of light to see clearly, work carefully, and expose flaw. Likewise, the light of the Word of God does that in the spiritual realm. These three primary characteristics of spiritual light prove what is acceptable to the Lord; they prove what pleases Him. Moreover, these prove that your life is acceptable unto the Lord. So, as there are three primary colors in physical light, there are three primary characteristics of spiritual light. Dear Christian, may we say again, we are not to walk in light, rather we walk as light; we walk according to the attributes of light.

The Details of Walking According to Light (1)

We now turn to the second division of Ephesians 5:8-10. Now that we know the difference between darkness and light, we are prepared to examine the details of walking according to light, as Paul declares in verse 9-10: For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth; Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. We find here three things that prove we are walking according to light. By way of illustration, it is interesting to parallel this walking according to light with physical light. We all know that white light consists of all the spectral colors. We also know that there are three primary colors (red, blue, and green), and that any other color sensation can be duplicated by mixing varying quantities of these three. So, to parallel, we are about to examine the three primary characteristics of spiritual light.

First, is all goodness. Goodness was something Paul stressed often in his Epistles (e.g. Rom. 15:14; Gal. 5:22). We often hear the words “good” and goodness, but what exactly does that concept mean? There are three Greek words translated “good” or goodness in the New Testament.

One is kalos (137 times), which means “noble and beautiful.” Another is chrestos (7 times) which means “useful, good, suitable, proper.” But the word used in our text is agathosune (4 times), which comes from the root agathos (106 times). This important word refers to “virtue” and “uprightness of heart and life.” Therefore, to “be good” means to be virtuous, upright, and moral. What an admonition this is in light of the immorality of our day!

But the truth found in our text goes deeper yet with the word all. The Greek is pas, which is used, of course, as an adjective. Now, as one Greek authority points out, if pas is used with the article (“the”) it can have several meanings such as “all, whole, whoever, or generally.” But here in our text pas is used without the article. It can, therefore, mean one of two things: First, it can carry a distributive significance such as “each” or “every goodness,” or, second, it can have an elative significance such as “full” or “total goodness.” We submit, however, that in the final analysis BOTH of those should be true of the believer. Every single aspect of the Believer’s life AND the total sum of the Believer’s life is to be characterized by virtue, moral goodness, and impeccable character.

Corrie ten Boom’s father was a watchmaker, but there were times when business was down and there was financial need in the family. Corrie tells the story that during one of those times she watched how her father dealt with a wealthy customer who decided to buy an expensive watch with enough cash that would have meet all the family’s needs. But as she watched her father, who already had the cash in his hand, he did something that horrified her. She heard the customer say that he was buying the watch because Mr. ten Boom’s young competitor could not fix his old watch. Corrie’s father asked to see it, opened it, made a small adjustment, and handed it back saying, “There, that was a very little mistake. It will be fine now. Sir, I trust the young watchmaker. Someday he will be just as good as his father. So if you ever have a problem with one of his watches, come to me. I’ll help you out. Now I shall give you back your money and you return my watch.” Looking on in dismay, Corrie watched her father open the door for the man, bow deeply in his old-fashioned way, and the man walk out. She ran to her father with rebuke, only to be herself reproved gently and patiently through his steel-rimmed glasses, “Corrie, what do you think that young man would have said when he heard that one of his good customers had gone to Mr. ten Boom? Do you think that the name of the Lord would be honored? As for the money, trust the Lord, Corrie. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and He will take care of us.”

That is character; that is all goodness.

The Difference Between Darkness and Light (3)

Considering once again Ephesians 5:8—For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light—we see first what we were as unbelievers—darkness and second what we are as Believers—light.

Third, we new see what we do—walk as children of light. This is, of course, the powerful application of what we have seen thus far. As our text says we ARE . . . light, it now says we are to walk AS children of light. As noted back in 5:1, there is nothing more imitative than a child. That is one way in which he or she learns. So, as children of God we are to mimic the Father; we think like God, act like God, feel like God. Likewise here we are to imitate the light that we are.

In other words, it does not say that we are to walk IN light. To say that would be like saying that the sun shines in its own light. We often hear that the Christian is to “walk in light,” but that is inaccurate. Why? Because, if we take the above analogy of the sun a little further, if we walk in light we will cast a shadow. But God does not want us to cast a shadow; He wants us to shine AS light.

To go deeper, please meditate on this: since we ARE . . . light, we are to act like light; we are to have the attributes of light. By our conduct, we show that we hate darkness and love light and desire always to “shine as lights in the world” and to serve as light bearers “in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation” (Phil. 2:15). Again, we don’t shine IN light but AS light. We are actually a light source, just as one candle can be used to light another.

What, then, are the “attributes” of light? As we mentioned last time, generally speaking light pictures two basic thoughts. 

1. In regard to the intellect, light pictures truth. So, to walk according to light means that we walk according to Truth; we walk AS Truth.. No longer are we ignorant, for the truth of Jesus Christ is in us. Moreover, walking according to light means that we are growing in the knowledge of Christ day-by-day.

2. In regard to morality, light pictures holiness. To walk according to light also means that we live a pure, holy life; we walk AS holy people. As we have already studied in the section about “walking in purity” (Eph. 4:17-32), all that we say and do shines forth the light of Christ which is in us.

Writing to the most carnal group of believers recorded in Scripture, Paul says in II Corinthians 6:14-7:1: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.  Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

That passage is perhaps the most dramatic example of the contrast between darkness and light to be found in Scripture. Indeed, a true believer cannot commune with darkness or with those who live according to darkness.

The Difference Between Darkness and Light (2)

Considering again Ephesians 5:8—For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light—we see first what we were as unbelievers—darkness.

Second, we see what we are as Believers—light, which is the phos (English “phosphorus,” etc.) and refers to light itself, not merely a lamp, candle, or any other source of light. When we couple this with the words but now ye are, we see that as we were once darkness, we are now . . . light.

What seems obvious about darkness and light is that they cannot coexist. If you turn on a light in a dark room, darkness flees. But it’s not as obvious in practical application. People talk much about “gray areas” of conduct, avoiding the terms “right or wrong” and “truth or error.” But the Scripture contains no such “gray areas.” Conduct is either moral or immoral, good or bad, true or false, right or wrong.

Throughout history darkness has been characterized by ignorance and immorality, but a certain amount of enlightenment came when men grew in knowledge. For example, many historians refer to the 18^th Century as “The Age of Enlightenment” because men began to shun ignorance and superstition and seek knowledge and learning.

Again, all this is true historically only because it is true spiritually. Without doubt, it was the Reformation that began to bring light into the world. It was the reformers who proclaimed the light of the Gospel, and it was this that changed darkness into light. While not perfect, the Reformation did bring back the truth of salvation that had been lost for centuries.

Jesus Christ is, indeed, the only One Who brings light. He declared of Himself, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (Jn. 8:12). The imagery here is unmistakable historically but is often missed in our day. When we realize where our Lord was standing when He uttered those words, only then can we see the full significance of what He was saying. The setting of this statement was the Illumination of the Temple ceremony that took place during the Feast of the Tabernacles (or Booths). That feast, which began five days after the Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), involved the Israelites presenting offering for seven days while they lived in huts (booths) made of palm fronds and leafy tree branches to remember their journey in Canaan (Lev. 23:43).

It was at the end of the feast that the Illumination ceremony took place, which is described in The Mishna. The Torah, of course, was what the Jews called “The Law,” the first five books of the Old Testament. Questions arose concerning the meanings of these laws, so over the years an oral law called “the tradition of the elders” developed, which was eventually written down around A.D. 200and named The Mishna, which means “repetition.” We read there of four tall, massive golden candleholders that stood in the Temple treasury. On top of each was a large torch and bowl containing a hundred and twenty logs (app. 20 gallons) of oil. There was also a ladder for each candleholder, which a priest would climb, pour oil into the bowl, place a wick in it that had been made out of old garments, and then lit it. The Mishna records that “there was not a courtyard in Jerusalem which was not lit up from the light.”

It was on that spot, according to John 8:20, that Jesus stood when he uttered those words, “I am the light of the world.” What a scene! In essence, our Lord was saying, “While these great torches light all of Jerusalem, I light the entire world. Only if you know Me, will you know light.”

Such knowledge, however, is more that simply head knowledge, which is not enough. Why? Because ignorance comes not from lack of general knowledge, such as math, grammar, or other scholastic knowledge, rather from a lack of personal knowledge of Jesus Christ. If we are ignorant of Christ, we are ignorant of everything, simply because He created everything (Jn. 1:1-3).

Further, it’s the personal knowledge of Jesus Christ that really changes the heart and mind of man. This is proven beyond doubt by the fact that civilized cultures have always, at some time in their history, had a strong Christian influence. That is not to say that that culture is deeply devout in spiritual things, but rather that there is a basic concept of God and His Word. This is true in America. Though the founding fathers were not all New Testament Christians (some were Deists), they founded America on basic Biblical principles. It’s only Christ Who brings meaningful knowledge, morality, and ethics to any society. Apart from God’s Truth and standards, ethics are relative at best and impossible at worst. God is the only One Who gives us light, and we must start with Him.

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.