“Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. Don’t participate in the things these people do. For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.” Ephesians 5:6-9
Paul jumps off the scripture passage we examined yesterday about not allowing immorality, including dirty jokes and such, to be a part of a believer’s lifestyle. He tells the Ephesians (and us), to not “be fooled” by people who practice such things.
Sin originated with deception. In the Garden of Eden, Eve was fooled, by satan, into partaking of sin by eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He appealed to her senses, inticing her with how good the fruit on the tree looked, and challenging her to doubt God’s goodness by saying that, “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5 ) The falicy in that statement wes that Adam & Eve were ALREADY like God, in that they were made IN HIS IMAGE! So Paul is telling us to not be fooled into participating in such activities and not to be fooled by those who do!
Today, however, I want to focus on vs 8, which says, “For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!”. Light and Darkness are themes throughout the New Testament. Peter writes in I Peter 2:9 that “God has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light”. Jesus taught in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
There’s no need for a Christ follower to stumble in the darkness of sin when the “Light of the world” lives inside of them! Jesus even went a step further in telling His followers, “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. (Matthewcalle80scivy9zdxsmartmusicbbn)
This is all in sharp contrast to the “darkness” that chapter 4:18 describes! Paul thus admonishes the Ephesians to, “live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.”
Refusing to live in the Light as a Christ Follower would be like living in the present day and yet refusing to employee the blessing of electricity! DON’T CHOOSE TO LIVE IN THE DARK!
Think about it!
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