Let’s assume that you have been hurt, more than you ever thought you could. A friend has betrayed you by telling someone else a secret which you had revealed about yourself in strictest confidence. Now everyone knows it, and you are ashamed to show your face. How can you ever forgive that blabber-mouth?

Or maybe a co-worker has presented your idea as if it were his own. He has taken full credit for it and received all the glory for it, including a promotion and a raise. Now he is finding it difficult to look you in the eye. But you don’t even care. In fact, you don’t care if you ever see him again. How can you ever forgive him?

The possibilities for other ways to be hurt are endless. Someone lied to you, or spread a false rumor about you, or ruined a possession, or refused to believe you or listen to you. Your parents are continually trying to manipulate your life. Your ungrateful children have shamed you by repudiating everything you stand for. Your brother has swindled you out of the family inheritance. Your mate has abused you so badly you hardly have any self-esteem left. A so-called “friend” has alienated your mate’s affections. An ex-mate keeps trying to sabotage your life. A pastor has failed to stand by you when you needed him. How can you ever forgive?

There is little that affects our relationships so profoundly and adversely as an unforgiving spirit. Holding something against someone has a tendency to dominate our lives. We may not even realize it. We think we have it resolved in our minds. But all the time it is eating away at us, affecting our disposition, our physical health, and unquestionably affecting the way we treat the people who hurt us. It may be in small ways—looking the other way when they pass, refusing to smile, maintaining a coolness in our voices. It may be in more extreme ways like anger or malicious gossip. But it is always there, extinguishing the warmth and intimacy we long to enjoy with the people around us.

The Apostle Paul made an interesting point about forgiveness in his central passage on human relationships. “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:31-32). Did you notice how he contrasts destructive attitudes and practices like bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander and malice on one hand, with kindness, tenderness and forgiveness on the other? Would you like to rid yourself of those destructive chains that shackle your freedom to get along with other people? One key that unlocks that chain is forgiveness.

But it is so difficult to forgive, isn’t it? “How can I do it?” you ask. The secret is found right here in this verse: “forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” We forgive as God forgives. How is that? If we could learn some of the elements in God’s forgiveness, we would know how we can forgive.

He Is Understanding of Our Weaknesses

Forgiveness is a dominant theme in Psalm 103 (note especially verses 3 and 10-13). But look at the reason God is so gracious and compassionate as to pardon our iniquities and remove our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west: “For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust” (Psalm 103:14). He knows what we are like, how weak we are. In fact, when He became a man He shared the very same weaknesses. “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). He has been there Himself. He understands.

Forgiveness begins with learning to be understanding of others. That should not be too difficult. We know what we are like. At least if we are honest with ourselves, we do. We know how proud, how selfish, how spiteful, how jealous, how inconsiderate and how inept we can be. Why shouldn’t we show a little tolerance for those same faults in others? People who refuse to forgive may have the foolish notion that they themselves are almost perfect.

As McGinnis put it, “If we are to forgive freely, we need a tolerance of others as generous as the tolerance we display toward our own errors. It is remarkable how understanding we can be of our own flops in interpersonal dealings—we didn’t intend the error, or it happened in a moment of stress, or we weren’t feeling right that day, or we’ll know better next time. We tend to see ourselves not for what we are but for what we strive to be, whereas we see others for what they are.”⁹

Being understanding of others does not always mean that we will agree with them. Mary and I used to go around and around on this. “You don’t understand me,” she would say. “Of course I do,” I would insist. “But if you understood me you would agree with me,” she would counter. I didn’t think that was necessarily true and I would tell her so. But I have since figured out what our problem was. I understood her, but I was not being very understanding. And there is a difference.

To be understanding is more than comprehending words. It is trying to look at things from the other person’s point of view, whether or not we agree with them. It is trying to feel what they are feeling, and accepting their feelings whether or not we consider their feelings well-founded. They can usually sense that attitude in us—or the lack of it. And cultivating that attitude can help us forgive when the need arises to do so.

One spiritually-minded young wife shared with us how she managed to forgive her husband when he was short and irritable with her. She said, “I know that’s not the way he wants to be. He wants to be a man who pleases God, and usually he is. Some difficult circumstances have him out of sorts right now.” That is what it means to be understanding, and that attitude helped her forgive.

But understanding alone is not forgiveness. It is merely an important preparatory step. We see the heart of forgiveness in the next thing God does.

He Pays for Our Offenses

Have you ever had someone apologize to you, and you responded with something like, “Oh, don’t worry about it. It was nothing. It didn’t bother me at all”? You probably thought your attitude conveyed genuine forgiveness. But it didn’t. In fact, you had probably already complained to several people about what that person did to you, revealing that it really did bother you. And it probably affected the way you acted toward the person. Forgiveness is more than pretending the offense didn’t happen, or pretending it didn’t hurt. Forgiveness is facing the fact that it did happen and admitting that it did hurt, but deciding to pay for the offense ourselves.

That is what God did. In Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians he assures them that God was not counting their trespasses against them (2 Corinthians 5:19). How could a holy God not count our trespasses against us? Paul explains how. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (5:21). He could forgive us because He was willing to bear the penalty of our sin in the person of His son. Or as Peter put it, He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). When an offense is committed, somebody has to pay. When justice prevails, the offender pays. But when forgiveness is granted, the offended party himself pays.

Our sins offended God’s infinite holiness, but He Himself paid the debt they incurred. When Jesus Christ bowed His head in death, He cried, “It is finished.” That is one word in the Greek text, a word sometimes used in business transactions of the day. When written across a bill it meant, “Paid in full.” There is nothing we can add to what Christ has done, nothing we can do to deserve His forgiveness and nothing we can pay to secure it. God in His grace has paid for our offenses in full and has absolved us of our guilt forever. That grace is at the heart of forgiveness.

Our failure to appreciate this truth is one of the major reasons we find it so difficult to forgive others. That was the point of Jesus’ parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:23-35), which He told in answer to Peter’s question about how many times he had to forgive a brother who sinned against him. It was the story of a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. One of them owed him the enormous sum of $10,000,000. There was no way he could possibly repay it, so the king commanded that he and his entire family be sold in order to recoup a little of his loss.

“The slave therefore falling down, prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you everything’” (Matthew 18:26). He wants an extension of time. He thinks that given enough time he can pay his debt. “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt” (v. 27). He got a whole lot more than an extension of time. In an act of unparalleled mercy and grace, the king cancelled his entire debt, forgave him fully. He himself paid his slave’s debt in full.

That king pictures God, and what he did dramatizes the tremendous price God paid for our eternal forgiveness. But in the story, the slave never fully grasped what the king had done. He never received the king’s forgiveness. He still thought he had to pay, and that somehow he could pay. That is the point of what follows. He went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him the equivalent of about $20, and he grabbed him by the throat and began to choke him and demand his money. His fellow slave pleaded with him to have patience, promising to repay him everything he owed. But he was unwilling. He threw his fellow slave in prison until he should pay back his debt. What a hypocrite—to be forgiven so much but refuse to forgive so little!

That is exactly what some of us professing Christians are doing. We have little understanding of the reality and immensity of God’s gracious forgiveness. And because we misunderstand God’s grace and think we have to pay Him off with a certain level of performance for the forgiveness He has offered us, we think we have the right to turn around and demand payment from others before we have to forgive them. They have wronged us, so they owe us and now they have to pay. And we are going to see that they do, in one way or another. So we begin making our demands. We may demand an apology, insist that they crawl back to us and admit their blame. “It’s all your fault,” we insist. “Admit it.” We may demand that they try to undo the wrong they have committed against us, to change the unchangeable past. We may demand a guarantee that they will never do it again.

If they will not pay what we think they owe, we may punish them. We can do that with an angry tirade, or we can change our tactics and snub them with the silent treatment, acting as though they weren’t there. In addition to that, we will probably tell others about the awful things they have done to us so we can put them in a bad light with their friends. That will fix them. We may even take them to court. But one way or another, we are going to make them pay.

That was the problem in Corinth. Believers were taking each other to court over trivial matters. They had not grasped the meaning of God’s grace and the reality of how much God had forgiven them. “Why not rather be wronged?” Paul asked. “Why not rather be defrauded?” (1 Corinthians 6:7). It is far better to suffer insult, injury, loss or damage ourselves than risk the slightest possibility of inflicting it on other believers. That is the essence of forgiveness—paying the damages ourselves, canceling every demand, giving up the right to seek any kind of revenge, blatant or subtle, overt or covert. It is giving up our right to hurt others simply because they have hurt us. That is what God does for us, and that is what He wants us to do for others.

Do you remember what happened to the slave who refused to forgive in Jesus’ parable? When his fellow slaves saw what he had done, they were grieved and reported it to the king. He called the slave to him and said, “You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you entreated me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, even as I had mercy on you?” And he handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that he owed. Jesus concludes the story by saying, “So shall My heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart” (Matthew 18:35). That is a frightening thought. We are not sure who the torturers are, but some have suggested that they are the inner tormentors that plague the person who refuses to forgive—the acid of anger, resentment, bitterness, malice, guilt, depression and despair that eats at us and destroys us. What a horrible plight!

Dr. S. I. McMillen tells of a college student who came to his office suffering from burning sensations in his upper abdomen as well as acute indigestion. Medication did not seem to help, and the doctor was baffled with the case. One day a fellow student reported to him of hearing the young man give a heated diatribe denouncing some people who had defrauded his grandfather, and with whom he was determined to get even one way or another. The doctor confronted the student with his grudge and encouraged him to forgive, but he refused. His condition eventually got so bad that he had to drop out of school.¹⁰ As much as forgiveness may cost us, the expense is usually greater when we withhold it, particularly in terms of inner tormenters.

He Forgets Our Wrongs

God loves us, and love “does not take into account a wrong suffered” (1 Corinthians 13:5). The word Paul used in that description of love was an accounting term used of entering an item on a ledger so it would not be forgotten. When a person takes account of a wrong committed against him, he marks it down in his mental calculator so he can use it when he needs it. God does not do that. He chooses to push the clear button on His calculator and forever lose that derogatory information. Several times in Scripture He assures us that He will remember our sins no more (Jeremiah 31:34; Hebrews 10:17; Isaiah 43:25). How does God forgive? When He forgives, He forgets, and we need to do the same.

But now we have a problem because it appears as though our mental calculator has no clear button. We cannot actually erase an event from our brain cells. Medical science tells us it is always there, able to be recalled, unless, of course, we have shock treatments or brain surgery, neither of which is recommended to help us forgive properly. What then does it mean for us to forget?

First of all, when we truly forgive, the wrong will not dominate our thoughts anymore. When it comes to our minds, we will be able to dismiss it promptly. We won’t keep reliving it and talking about it to others. Some people say they have forgiven, but they can talk about little else. They want to keep rehearsing the awful thing that was done to them. Their inability to stop thinking about it and talking about it exposes their lack of forgiveness.

Second, the offense won’t hurt anymore. The fact will be there, but the deep emotions will be gone. We can think of it without bitterness and resentment, without feeling the pain all over again.

And third, we will be able to treat the offender as though the offense never happened. Not pretend that it never happened. It did happen, and we need to be honest about that. But treat him as though it never happened. If we forgive as God forgives and keep no record of the wrong, then it cannot possibly affect our actions. We will be free to reach out with warmth, kindness, openness and trust to restore the relationship. And that actually leads us to the last element of God’s forgiveness that we need to understand.

He Seeks Our Fellowship

The aim of forgiveness is reconciliation. There is no such thing as forgiveness that says, “Well, I’ll forgive him, but I don’t ever want to be close to him again. Let him live his life and I’ll live mine.” That is not the way God’s forgiveness operates. He seeks out sinful people like us (see Luke 19:10). He actually reaches out to His enemies and endeavors to reconcile them to Himself (Romans 5:10).

But as you might expect, reconciliation is a two-way street. In order for the sinner to be reconciled to God he must acknowledge his sin and repent. And there is a lesson in that for us. One-sided forgiveness on our part may relieve the bitterness in us and drain some of the tension out of the relationship. But there can never be true reconciliation until there has been loving confrontation and repentance, until the wrong has been worked through together, until both parties have acknowledged their wrong and both are willing to trust each other again. We cannot demand that other people repent. We cannot insist that they work through the wrong with us. But we can acknowledge our part of the wrong, then reach out to them and let them know we are willing to work at reconciliation. That is all God asks of us.

If you are the offended party, your responsibility is to take the first step. “And if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother” (Matthew 18:15). You must do it in love and meekness, but you must do it.

If you are the offender, again, your responsibility is to take the initiative. “If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering” (Matthew 5:23-24).

If your brother has something against you, then evidently you have offended him, and you are to make the first move. The Scripture knows nothing like, “Well it was more his fault. He should come to me.” God wants alienated brothers and sisters in Christ to be reconciled. And whichever role you fit, the offended or the offender, if you want to obey the Word of God you will reach out. Biblically, it is always your move.

Is there a wall between you and some other believers? You have been hurt, more than you ever thought you could. God wants you to forgive just as He has forgiven you in Christ. Be understanding toward them in their weakness. Be willing to pay for their offenses in full. Put the wrong behind you permanently, and then reach out in love to effect a reconciliation. You will contribute to greater harmony in the Body of Christ. You will feel better emotionally and physically. You will enjoy life more. You will find greater reality in your walk with God. You will experience greater effectiveness in your spiritual service. And God will be glorified!

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9 Alan Loy McGinnis, The Friendship Factor (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1979), pp. 159160.

10 S. I. McMillen, None of These Diseases (Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell, 1967), pp. 70-71.

7 Therefore do not be partakers with them; 8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; 12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. 14 For this reason it says,

“Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.”

Introduction

Several months ago, our blue Jetta was involved in an accident, rearranging the front end. I opted to repair the car myself. I went to a place that sold used Volkswagen parts. There were several Jettas in this small wrecking yard, with similar body styles. I was looking each car over to find the body parts which were in the best condition. Among these Jettas, I was more than delighted to find a blue one. Since its body parts were in very good condition, I bought them.

As I was completing this repair project, I was amused, and just a little proud that I had been able to obtain parts which were the same color. I didn’t even have to repaint the car! It was getting dark as I finished the car. My daughter, Jenny, and I decided to drive it to the service station and fill the fuel tank. Under the lights of that service station I realized something I had not previously known—Volkswagen has more than one dark blue. The new body parts were not the same color. The colors were similar, but not identical. In the darkness, the difference was unnoticeable, but in the light, the discrepancy was obvious.

Light has a way of exposing what darkness tends to conceal. That is precisely the truth upon which Paul bases his instruction in Ephesians 5:7-14. In chapters 4-6, Paul sets down the standards of the conduct which God requires of those who have come to faith in Jesus Christ. These high standards define the conduct which the gospel was purposed to produce (see Ephesians 2:8-10), which reflect the glory of God through the church (1:3-14), and which are pleasing to Him who saved us by His grace (5:10).

Light and darkness are prominent themes in Paul’s epistles.⁹⁷ These symbols are prominent in the gospels,⁹⁸ and in the teaching of our Lord.⁹⁹ They are employed as well by Peter¹⁰⁰ and John.¹⁰¹ The symbols of light and darkness are not new in the New Testament; they are themes which are rooted in the Old Testament, and which are drawn upon and applied in the New. In our text, Paul likens our former nature and conduct as “darkness,” contrasting our nature and conduct as Christians by likening it to “light.” Let us listen well, to grasp what it means to walk no longer as children of darkness, but to live as children of light.

Paul’s Argument

Paul’s argument is based upon a fundamental premise: Christians have undergone a dramatic transformation which is here described as having been transformed from darkness to light. In the Bible, salvation is never spoken of as a trivial matter. Those who are saved by faith in Christ are not merely improved, they are radically transformed. They have been delivered from death and given eternal life and have been saved from a life of sin to a new life which is characterized by good works (Ephesians 2:1-10). They have been delivered from slavery to sin and to Satan to become sons of the living God (see John 1:12; Ephesians 2:11-22; Romans 8:1-25). Here, in our text, Paul describes the transformation which the Christian experiences in terms of the change from darkness to light. His words in our text are similar to his teaching in the Book of Colossians:

9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:9-14).

This change in our condition should be accompanied by a corresponding change in our conduct. At the beginning of chapter 4, Paul exhorts each believer to walk in a way that is consistent with his calling as a Christian: “I, Therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called” (Ephesians 4:1).

The Christians “walk” or Christian lifestyle has been described in several different ways thus far in Ephesians 4 and 5. The Christian is to walk in unity and in community with his fellow saints (4:1-16).¹⁰² The Christian is to walk in a way that is dramatically different from his walk as an unbeliever (4:17-32). Christians are further instructed to “walk in love” (5:1-6). And now, Paul speaks of the Christian’s lifestyle as a “walk as children of light” (5:7-14). If we are to walk in a manner that is consistent with our calling, Paul instructs us, we are to live as those who are “children of light.”

It may be well here to pause for a moment, and to reflect on what Paul is telling us, for Paul’s teaching and the popular perception of Christianity differ greatly. The gospel is often presented as though faith in Jesus Christ requires no great change, and that one need but to “add” Christ to his experience, to “invite Christ into his life,” and then life will become more pleasant, but at little cost to the Christian. Jesus spoke of discipleship, and he cautioned those who would too quickly follow Him to “count the cost” (see Luke 9:23-24, 57-62; 14:25-25).

Becoming a Christian is not so much a matter of adding Christ to your life as it is abandoning your life to find true life in Christ. And when one thus trusts in the person and work of Jesus Christ, the change is not small. It is a radical transformation. It is a change from death to life, from darkness to light. Paul’s words indicate that our calling as Christians should have a radical impact on our conduct. We will never be the same again. We should never think or act the same. Our thinking and our behavior after our conversion should compare to our former “walk” as though it were night and day. Anyone who thinks of salvation differently would seem to do a disservice to the teaching of our Lord, and of the Old and New Testament writers.

While Paul has been privileged to reveal certain truths previously mysterious to the saints (Ephesians 3:1-13), his call to conduct our lives as “children of light” is not new. It is consistent with the teaching of the Scriptures of both the Old and the New Testaments. And so he calls our attention to this citation in verse 14: “For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.” As it has often been observed, this citation does not precisely match any Old Testament text. Some have therefore concluded that this must not be a citation of Scripture, but rather a reference to an early Christian hymn, or spiritual teaching known to Paul and the Ephesians. A number of the more recent commentators understand it in this way.

There are difficulties with this explanation. Not only do many of the older scholars reject it, but the way in which Paul introduces it strongly suggests to us that it is a Scriptural quotation. While several texts in Isaiah are suggested (9:2; 26:19; 52:1), the text which is most similar is found in Isaiah 60:1.

Hodge (along with other older commentators such as Calvin) concludes that this citation in verse 14 is intended by Paul to be understood as a quotation from the Old Testament. He writes,

“As this formula of quotation is never used in the New Testament except when citations are made from the Old Testament, it cannot properly be assumed that the apostle here quotes some Christian hymn, with which the believers in Ephesus were familiar, or some apocryphal book, or some inspired book no longer extant. We must understand him either as referring to many exhortations of the Old Testament Scriptures, the substance of which he condenses in the few words here used; or as giving the spirit of some one passage, though not its words. Both these methods of explanation may be sustained by appeal to similar passages.”¹⁰³

Hendriksen, in his fine commentary, seems inclined to agree with Hodge when he writes, “For myself, the more I study Isa. 60:1 in the light of its own context the more I begin to see certain resemblances.”¹⁰⁴ Hendriksen goes even further, however, by proposing a solution to the problem by suggesting that Paul may have been referring to the Isaiah text(s) and to a hymn at the same time:

It is conceivable that though Ephesians 5:14 is in the final analysis rooted in Isa. 60:1, the form in which the latter passage is here reproduced by Paul was that of lines from an early Christian hymn. The hymn, in other words, may have been based on the Isaiah passage.¹⁰⁵

Contemporary Christians often have difficulty understanding how the writers of the New Testament employ Old Testament texts, even when it is clear which text is being quoted. The reason is that our understanding, interpretation, and application of biblical texts is often too narrow. We expect the connection between the Old Testament text and its use in the New to be both obvious and direct.

Sometimes there is a direct, obvious correspondence between the Old Testament text and its appearance in the New. Such would be the case with some of the commandments (see Romans 13:8-10). If an Old Testament prophecy, this may have been evident even before the prophecy was fulfilled (see Matthew 2:5-6). The connection with New Testament events may also not have been understood beforehand (see Matthew 2:17-18). It may come as a complete surprise:

And he arose and took the Child and His mother by night, and departed for Egypt; and was there until the death of Herod, that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, “OUT OF EGYPT DID I CALL MY SON” (Matthew 2:14-15).

There are times when a New Testament writer may claim Old Testament support for his teaching, but does not actually cite a biblical text: “Let the women keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but let them subject themselves, just as the Law also says” (1 Corinthians 14:34). At other times, a text is cited, but somewhat loosely, and without a precise reference to its location:

But one has testified somewhere, saying, “WHAT IS MAN, THAT THOU REMEMBEREST HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT THOU ART CONCERNED ABOUT HIM? (Hebrews 2:6).¹⁰⁶

Not infrequently, an Old Testament text is cited in the New, but in a form that is less precise than the original text. This is sometimes due to the fact that the quotation is cited from the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament, frequently employed by the New Testament writers), a sometimes rather free paraphrase of the text, rather than a precise Greek equivalent of the original Hebrew text. At other times, the quotation by the New Testament author may not precisely follow any known Old Testament text. It may even be that the New Testament writer deliberately departed from the Old Testament text, for his own reasons.

Sometimes, a New Testament author may apply an Old Testament principle in a way that appears to go well beyond its original instruction. This may be due to the New Testament writer’s greater insight into the meaning and application of the Scriptures. In seeking to show how the Old Testament Law supported his teaching that those who minister the gospel should be financially supported, Paul cites this text which refers to the treatment of an ox:

I am not speaking these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does not the Law also say these things? For it is written in the Law of Moses, “YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING.” God is not concerned about oxen is, He? Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops (1 Corinthians 9:8-10).

I believe that there is yet another use of the Old Testament Scriptures, which both the Old and the New Testament authors often employ, which often goes over our heads, unnoticed. This is the use of symbolic terminology, which refers to previous events or to prominent biblical themes, with which the reader is expected to be familiar.

Let me seek to illustrate this from the Old Testament. The Old Testament prophets frequently referred to events which happened earlier in Israel’s history, often by the use of terms associated with those events. In the prophecy of Isaiah, for example, the theme of creation is often employed. God created the heavens and the earth. He also created the nation Israel. These events involved great miracles. The God who accomplished creation is the same God who now promises to do great things for His people. Reference to God’s previous work as the Creator gives assurance that He is able to accomplish that which is yet future. The “exodus motif” is yet another prominent theme to which the prophet Isaiah refers. In Isaiah, both the creation and the exodus are drawn upon to give the readers courage and confidence in the words which God is speaking through His prophet, Isaiah:

Do you not know? Hove you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable (Isaiah 40:28).

But now, thus says the LORD, your creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. For I am the LORD you God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place (Isaiah 43:1-3).

“I am the LORD, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.” Thus says the LORD, Who makes a way through the sea And a path through the mighty waters (Isaiah 43:15-16).¹⁰⁷

Paul frequently employs the imagery of light and darkness in his preaching and in his epistles (see Acts 13:47; 26:22-23; Romans 13:11-14; 2 Corinthians 4:3-6; 6:14-18; 11:13-15; Colossians 1:9-14; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; 1 Timothy 6:13-16). When he does so, I believe that he expects us to understand his references in the light (no pun intended) of the progressive development of the light/darkness theme in Scripture. I believe that his citation in verse 14 of Ephesians chapter 5 not only draws upon the “light” imagery of Isaiah, but also of the rest of the Scriptures. Let us pause to consider the development of this prominent and powerful image through the Scriptures.

The first creative act of God recorded in Genesis chapter 1 is the creation of light:

And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness (Genesis 1:2-4).

At the beginning of this creation account, the earth was dark and in disarray (formless and void). At the end, it has light and is ordered. The progress is from darkness to light and for disorder to order. Light was created by God to separate darkness and light. Paul will later draw on this creation of light and relate it to godly living (see 2 Corinthians 4:3-6).

In the Psalms, light and darkness are used symbolically. Light becomes the symbol for salvation (27:1), life (36:9; 49:19; 56:13), righteousness (37:6), truth (43:3), the Word of God (119:105, 130),¹⁰⁸ and God’s splendor and presence (104:2; 44:3; 89:15; 90:8). Darkness symbolizes ignorance (82:5). Of particular importance, light is symbolic of the Christ who is yet to come:

The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone. This is the LORD’S doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. O LORD, do save, we beseech Thee; O LORD, we beseech Thee, do send prosperity! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD; We have blessed you from the house of the LORD. The LORD is God, and He has given us light; Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. Thou art my God, and I give thanks to Thee; Thou art my God, I extol Thee. Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting (Psalm 118:22-29).

Proverbs speaks of the conduct of the godly using the imagery of light, while using darkness in reference to the wicked:

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble (Proverbs 4:18-19).

It is in Isaiah, however, that the symbolism of light and darkness becomes most prominent in the Old Testament:

Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the Lord (2:5).

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness (5:20)

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to His word, it is because they have no dawn (8:20).

The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them (9:2; see Matthew 4:15-16).

And the light of Israel will become a fire and his Holy One a flame, And it will burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day (10:17).

“I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you, And I will appoint you a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations, To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon, And those who dwell in darkness from the prison” (42:6-7).

“And I will lead the blind by a way they do not know, In paths they do not know I will guide them. I will make darkness into light before them And rugged places into plains. These are the things I will do, And I will not leave them undone” (42:16).

“He says, ‘It is too small and thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (49:6).¹⁰⁹

“Who is among you that fears the LORD, That obeys the voice of His servant, That walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God (50:10).

“Pay attention to Me, O My people; And give ear to Me, O My nation; For a law will go forth from Me, And I will set My justice for a light of the peoples” (51:4).

“Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.” … And if you give yourself to the hungry, And satisfy the desire of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness, And your gloom will become like midday” (58:8, 10).

Therefore, justice is far from us, And righteousness does not overtake us; We hope for light, but behold, darkness; For brightness, but we walk in gloom (59:9).

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth, And deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you, And His glory will appear upon you. And nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising (60:1-3).

“No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory. Your sun will set no more, Neither will your moon wane; For you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And the days of your mourning will be finished” (60:19-20).

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives, And freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn (61:1-2).

Other prophets join with Isaiah in using the imagery of light and darkness:

It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him (Daniel 2:22).

But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I fall I will rise; Though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is light for me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD Because I have sinned against Him, Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, And I will see His righteousness (Micah 7:7-9).

If darkness symbolized man’s sinful ignorance and actions, it was also employed by the prophets to speak of the coming day of God’s wrath. Some unbelieving Jews mistakenly looked forward to the coming of Messiah, thinking that it was a day of “light,” of divine blessing, when it was to be, for them, a day of “darkness,” of divine judgment:

Alas, you who are longing for the day of the LORD, For what purpose will the day of the LORD be to you? It will be darkness and not light; As when a man flees from a lion, And a bear meets him, Or goes home, leans his hand against the wall, And a snake bites him. Will not the day of the LORD be darkness instead of light, Even gloom with no brightness in it? (Amos 5:18-20),¹¹⁰

Before we give particular attention to Isaiah 60:1-3, let us press on to the New Testament, to see how the themes of “light” and “darkness” are taken up by our Lord and by the apostles:

At the time of His coming as a child, Jesus was worshipped as the “light” that was to come:

25 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, 28 then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, 29 “Now Lord, Thou dost let Thy bond-servant depart In peace, according to Thy word; 30 For my eyes have seen Thy salvation, 31 Which Thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Thy people Israel” (Luke 2:25-32).

John, in words reminiscent of the first chapters of Genesis, introduced his gospel by presenting Jesus as the “light.”

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 6 There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came for a witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light. 9 There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him (John 1:1-10).

Matthew also spoke of our Lord as the light. When Jesus left Nazareth and settled in Capernaum, Matthew informs us that this was a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy of the Messiah who was the light:

12 Now when He heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; 13 and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, 15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—16 “The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light, And to those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, Upon them a light dawned” (Matthew 4:12-16, citing Isaiah 9:1-2).

Jesus clearly and repeatedly spoke of Himself as the “light”:

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).

“While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5).

As the “light,” Jesus was God’s provision for salvation:

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. 18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 “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. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God” (John 3:16-21).

“I have come as light into the world, that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness” (John 12:46).

When our Lord died for sinners on the cross of Calvary, darkness supernaturally fell upon the earth for three hours. I believer that this “darkness” was symbolic of the divine wrath which God had poured out upon His Son, as our substitute.

45 Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:45-46).

Our Lord also declared that all who believed in Him were to live as “lights,” or as “sons of light.” They were therefore to be a reflection of His light:

35 Jesus therefore said to them, “For a little while longer the light is among you. Walk while you have the light, that darkness may not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. 36 “While you have the light, believe in the light, in order that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and He departed and hid Himself from them (John 12:35-36).

“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” (Matthew 5:14-16).

Little wonder that in Acts and the Epistles of the New Testament “light and darkness” are such prominent symbols. Saul’s conversion was one which resulted from our Lord’s appearance to Him in a blinding light (Acts 9:3-4, etc.). Paul understood that the gospel of our Lord was a “light,” not only for Jews, but for Gentiles as well:

“For thus the Lord has commanded us, ‘I have placed You as a light for the Gentiles, That You should bring salvation to the end of the earth’” (Acts 13:47).

“And so, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; 23 that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He should be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles” (Acts 26:22-23).

For the Apostle Paul, the imagery of light and darkness was a prominent theme:

11 And this do, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. 12 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. 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 the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts (Romans 13:11-14).

3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. 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 (2 Corinthians 4:3-6).

14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 17 “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. 18 “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).

9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:9-14).

1 Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6 so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 7 For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him. 11 Therefore encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11).

13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords; 16 who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen (1 Timothy 6:13-16).

Both Peter and John spoke of “light” as well:

9 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; 10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy (1 Peter 2:9-10).

5 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. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but 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. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us (1 John 1:5-10).

8 On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. 9 The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. 10 The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him (1 John 2:8-10).

And the nations shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it (Revelation 21:24).

3 And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him; 4 and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 And there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever (Revelation 22:3-5).

Little wonder, then, that Paul should speak of the Christian’s conduct in terms of the contrast between light and darkness. Living as light fulfills God’s purpose for Christians, as seen throughout the Scriptures, Old and New Testament. Our overriding purpose in life is not just to preach the gospel, to win souls, or even to make disciples. Our overriding goal is to reflect God to an ungodly world, and to a heavenly host, to the glory of God. The goals of missions, evangelism, and discipleship are an outgrowth of our function as lights. We proclaim the gospel and make disciples because this is what God has done, in Christ. We do these things because they are a part of living as lights in a dark world.

What Does It Mean To Live As Lights?

Having seen that we are obligated to live as lights, we must now turn our attention to the application of Paul’s instructions. What does it mean to live as lights? Paul does not leave us without guidelines in this matter. Our text not only contains Paul’s exhortation, it provides us with instruction concerning the implementation of living as lights.

We are not left to wonder what “light” is like. Light produces certain fruit. The fruit of the light,¹¹¹ Paul tells us, is goodness, righteousness, and truth.¹¹² Goodness is the predisposition to do that which is both wholesome and helpful, what is beneficial. Righteousness encompasses all that is consistent with the holy character of God and which meets the standards set down by His Word. Truth not only excludes falsehood, but it includes only that which God’s Word defines as true, truth as God’s Word declares it.

Living as children of light is living so as to manifest goodness, righteousness, and truth, as Paul has indicated in verse 9. Living as children of light can also be described as “trying to learn”¹¹³ what is pleasing to the Lord” (verse 10).

The children of light desire to live as light. Therefore, they do not merely avoid the thinking and the deeds of darkness out of a fear of divine chastening alone, but they genuinely desire to do what is right in order to please the One who delivered them from darkness to light. Where there are negative motivations for avoiding sin, the motivation of which Paul speaks here is a positive one. The children of darkness have pleasure as their goal, too, but they live in order to please themselves, not to please God.

While it is true that living as lights is for our own best interest, this should be a secondary motive, not a primary one. We should seek to please God and others before seeking to please ourselves (see Romans 15:1). All too often I hear evangelical Christian leaders urging Christians to act in a certain way primarily because it serves their own interests best. This is not the “high road” of the Apostle Paul, nor of any other writer in the Scriptures.

The expression “trying to learn” suggests something more to us. It suggests that learning to walk as children of light is an on-going process. The commands of the Scriptures, Old Testament and New, provide us with some clear absolutes as to what we must and as to what we must not do. But these commands do not cover every choice we are called upon to make.

Let me illustrate this in terms of marriage. When we marry, we make vows which express our commitment to our mate. We are obligated to keep our vows. But in addition to the keeping of these vows, there is a process of getting to know our mate (see 1 Peter 3:7), so that we may please them (see 1 Corinthians 7:33-34). There are many books published which “instruct” men on how to “please” their wives, but I believe that a wife’s greatest pleasure comes from her husband “learning” this on his own, and doing it out of the joy which he finds in pleasing her.

So it is with pleasing God. God delights in His children learning to know Him, and then doing that which we believe gives Him pleasure. What we decided to do (or to avoid doing) may not be what another believer chooses to do, but this is a matter of personal conviction, not of keeping a command. Pleasing God is a life-long process, one that is never complete, but one in which there should be both perseverance and growth.

Paul’s teaching in our text indicates that living as children of light will have a radical impact on our relationships. We have already seen this indicated earlier in the epistle. While we Gentiles were once alienated from Israel, her covenants, and her blessings, we have now been reconciled to God in one body, the church. We who were once at odds with Israelites are not united with them inseparably. This union was not grasped by the Old Testament saint (chapter 3), but it has become clear to the church through the teaching of Paul (4:1-16).

If, in Christ, we have become one new man (2:15) and one new building (2:19-22), we also discover that in Christ we have a new relationship with unbelievers, those who are still the children of darkness (see 2:1-3; 4:17-24). As children of light we now have far greater intimacy with those who, like us, are in Christ. But we also experience a corresponding detachment from the children of darkness.

Paul describes this detachment in terms of two prohibitions. The first is expressed in verse 7: “Therefore do not be partakers with them.” The second “do not” is found in verse 11: “And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them.”

In some of His final words to His disciples, our Lord indicated to them that their relationship with Him would bring about a corresponding animosity from those who rejected Him:

“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also” (John 15:18-20)

Years later, Peter writes to those who are suffering persecution at the hand of unbelievers and assures them that such is the normal reaction of those in darkness, whose deeds have been exposed by the light:

For the time already past is sufficient for your to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousals, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. And in all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excess of dissipation, and they malign you (1 Peter 4:3-4).

In Ephesians 5:7, Paul urges the saints to not become partakers with those who are godless because their actions are (1) improper for saints (5:3) and (2) because the wrath of God is the fate of those who live in sin (5:5-6). In verse 11 Paul presses the matter even further. Christians are to avoid participation in the “unfruitful deeds of darkness” because their task as lights is to expose the deeds of darkness.

Light reveals that which darkness conceals. Darkness conceals sin and even promotes it. Light exposes sin and thus living as children of light has the function of exposing the sins of those in darkness, which is the first and fundamental step in evangelism.

Our Lord Himself came as the “light” (John 1:1-13). Those who acknowledged their sin turned to Him for salvation, while those who preferred darkness to light rejected Him (see John 3:16-21). We, like Christ, are to live as children of light as a part of our calling to reflect and reveal Christ and to proclaim the gospel. It is the contrast in our conduct with that of the world which makes the gospel clear. It is by our contrast with the world that we fulfill our obligation as “lights”:

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing any more, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. 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” (Matthew 5:13-16).

The rub comes in determining where it is that we draw the lines of separation. We are not to be partakers with those in darkness (Ephesians 5:7), nor are we to participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness (5:11). Where, then, do we draw the line in terms of our relationships with the lost?

The Pharisees of our Lord’s day drew the line far too conservatively. They hypocritically drew the line at the level of association with sinners. To have any contact with sinners was thought by them to be ungodly. They were wrong, as our Lord made clear, both by His teaching and His preaching. Very early in His ministry Jesus offended the self-righteous Pharisees by His association with sinners. Jesus indicated that it was necessary to associate with sinners in order to save them:

27 And after that He went out, and noticed a tax-gatherer named Levi, sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” 28 And he left everything behind, and rose and began to follow Him. 29 And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax-gatherers and other people who were reclining at the table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax-gatherers and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:27-32).

The Corinthian church seems to have agreed with the position of the Pharisees, but they went to an additional extreme. They, like the Pharisees of our Lord’s day, seemed to hold the conviction that they could not associate with unbelievers (1 Corinthians 5:9-10). And yet, while they were careful to shun unbelievers, they were puffed up with pride in the fact that they accepted a man who professed to be a believer, yet who lived with his father’s wife, something which even shocked the pagans (1 Corinthians 5:1-5).

Paul’s teaching on separation and fellowship is clear. In general terms, as “children of light” we are not to have fellowship with darkness. More specifically, we are not to shun unbelievers, nor to avoid association with them. We are to avoid intimate fellowship with them, especially as they practice what is displeasing to God. As Christians, we are not to have fellowship with those who profess to trust in Christ, but whose conduct denies Him.

9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; 10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters; for then you would have to go out of the world. 11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he should be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one (1 Corinthians 5:9-11).

14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? (2 Corinthians 6:14-15),¹¹⁴

In some ways, I fear that the contemporary Christian church surpasses the error of both the Pharisees and the Corinthians. Both the Pharisees and the Corinthians drew the line somewhere, even if they drew it in the wrong place. We don’t seem to be willing or able to draw the line anywhere. Because we equate the success of a church with its size, we seem unwilling to discourage any from attending and taking part, let alone to act in discipline by putting someone out of the church.

As I read the Book of Acts, the church grew dramatically. In the context of the Book, Luke is careful to indicate that the church grew because of its faithful proclamation and practice of the Word of God (see Acts 2:43-47; 4:32-35; 6:1-7).¹¹⁵ Luke also indicates that the church grew as its purity was protected. Thus, as a result of the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, great fear came upon the whole church and the unbelieving community, and with it came more converts:

11 And great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all who heard of these things. 12 And at the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico. 13 But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem. 14 And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number (Acts 5:11-14).

The purity of the church does not hinder the proclamation of the gospel; it is an essential manifestation of the gospel. I believe that this truth underlies the words of Paul in our text. In other words, by living as children of light we not only practice the truth of the gospel, we proclaim it to an unbelieving world.

I fear that in many churches today which proclaim to be evangelical, we are not “manifesting the light” to the glory of God and to the health of the church, and to the salvation of the lost. To keep with the symbolism of light and darkness, I fear that some churches are trying to win the lost by “turning the lights down low.”

Allow me to explain. The underlying premise of the “lights down low” folks is that people won’t be attracted to a gospel which threatens their beliefs, values, and lifestyles. And so, in order to get people saved, we need to play down the negative aspects of the gospel (sin, righteousness, judgment) and slip the gospel in positively. We need to make the unbeliever comfortable with Christianity if we are to attract them to our churches. If sin and hell are unpleasant topics, then these should be set aside, at least for a time. Once people are saved, they tell us, then we can speak to them about discipleship. This sounds a whole lot like the “bait and switch” methodology of unscrupulous salesmen.

There are many difficulties with this philosophy and methodology. In the first place, it does not square with our Lord’s methods or teaching. There were many who seemed eager to follow Jesus, but He consistently warned them of the cost of discipleship. Neither does it square with the Lord’s teaching concerning the ministry of the Holy Spirit in evangelism, as found in the Gospel of John:

7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged” (John 16:7-11).

If the Holy Spirit is to convict men of sin, righteousness, and judgment, then surely we dare not avoid these truths in dealing with unbelievers. The very subjects which Scripture identify as the foundation and starting point of the gospel are those which the “low-light gospeleers” would set aside. The truth of the matter is that the gospel, in its pure form, is not appealing. Indeed, it is repulsive, to lost men. Nevertheless, it is our task to proclaim it in the simplest and clearest terms possible, relying upon God to draw men through the ministry of His Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 1:18–2:5).

Jesus did not come to minister to the healthy, but to those who are sick. He did not come to speak to those who were comfortable, but rather to those who mourned and were broken-hearted. He spoke words of comfort, healing, and salvation to the hurting, and He spoke words of rebuke and warning to those who were comfortable and complacent. Why should we do anything less?

As Paul’s words indicate, our task is not to ignore sin, but to expose it. This is done by living righteously, living as lights. Those whom God has chosen, He will draw to the light by His grace and through His Spirit. And those who love their sin and the darkness will seek to extinguish our light. And so it is that some of the texts which speak about light are found in close proximity to those which speak of persecution (see Matthew 5:10-16). We are not to identify with darkness, nor to withdraw entirely from it, but to live as lights in a darkened world, so that sin might be exposed by righteousness, to the glory of God, to the salvation of the lost, and to the blessing of the believer.

Conclusion

Let us conclude our lesson by seeking to sum up what Paul has said. First, the Christian’s conversion calls for a radically new lifestyle and a new relationship with the world and with unbelievers. Jesus is the light of the world, and all who name His name as believers are to walk in the light and to walk as lights, just as He did when He was physically on this earth.

Second, to walk as children of light is also to walk in love. All too many play down our obligation to walk as lights by emphasizing their intention to “walk in love.” We dare not attempt to separate these two aspects of our Christian walk. Paul has just spoken of our “walk in love” in Ephesians 5:1-6. Now, in verses 7-14, he presses on to remind us of our responsibility to “walk as light.” There is no conflict. If we do no walk as light we will not be walking in love. Love does not “support” the sinner and the expense of righteousness. Love admonishes, rebukes, and seeks to restore the sinner in the promotion and practice of righteousness. Note the close connection of “love” and “light” in Paul’s letter to the Romans:

11 And this do, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. 12 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. 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 the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts (Romans 13:11-14).

To walk as children of light is the ultimate calling of the Christian. It is in so doing that we obey and please God. It is in so doing that we glorify God. It is in so doing that the gospel is proclaimed.

Walking in the light will, in all cases, glorify God. It will in some instances result in the salvation of lost souls. It will in many cases lead to persecution. And it will also put us at cross-purposes with Satan. We should expect him to seek to blind men with respect to the light of the gospel:

3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).

Satan is not content to stop here. In his attempts to “turn out the lights” he goes so far as to disguise himself as an “angel of light,” thereby hoping to directly attack the church through deception and distortion:

13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their deeds (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

These false lights will be evident because their fruit will not be the fruit of the light, as Paul indicates.

Paul’s emphasis is not merely upon individual compliance with our duty to “walk as lights,” but on the task of the church, collectively, to be a light. The church must take a hard line toward sin. The church must act decisively and rigorously to root sin out of the church. We are not only to seek to “stimulate one another to love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24), but to rigorously root sin out of the church (see 1 Corinthians 5:1-13).

If I understand Paul’s teaching on “light” correctly (including his citation from the Old Testament in verse 14), it is not the unbeliever that is challenged to “wake up” and to “rise from the dead,” but rather the believer. This text, as I understand it, is not primarily a salvation text, but a sanctification text. We can be lights only in a reflective way. Christ is the only true light. We shine as He shines upon us. In Isaiah chapter 60, the exhortation was for the people of Israel to “wake up” and to turn from their sin to righteousness, from darkness to the light. Elsewhere, when Paul takes up the theme of light and darkness, he is exhorting Christians to wake up:

1 Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6 so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 7 For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him. 11 Therefore encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11).¹¹⁶

Only those who are in Christ can be lights. This compels me to ask you a simple question of the greatest import: “Have you seen the light?” Have you acknowledged your sin, Christ’s righteousness, and the judgment which awaits all who reject the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary? These are dark days. Those without Christ are not only darkness, subjects of the prince of darkness, but they also await the dark day of God’s coming wrath on sinners. Come to the light. Trust in Him who suffered and died for your sins, and whose righteousness can be yours by faith.

May God grant that we may not only see the light in personal salvation, but that others may see the light in us, as we live lives that are marked by goodness, righteousness, and truth, to His glory.

---

97 See Acts 13:47; 26:22-23; Romans 13:11-14; 2 Corinthians 4:3-6; 6:14-18; Colossians 1:9-14; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; 1 Timothy 6:13-16.

98 See Matthew 4:12-16; 26:45-46; Luke 2:25-31.

99 See Matthew 6:19-25; Luke 11:33-36; 22:53; John 3:16-21; 5:33-35; 8:12; 9:5; 11:8-13; 12:35-36, 46.

100 1 Peter 2:9-10.

101 See John 1:1-13; 1 John 1:5-10; 2:8-10; Revelation 18:22-23; 21:24; 22:3-5.

102 I acknowledge the fact that Paul does not employ the term “walk” in these verses, but it is evident that Christian unity and community is the central theme of verses 1-16. The Christian’s conduct is to live and serve in an interdependent relationship to the whole body of Christ.

103 Charles Hodge, A Commentary on Ephesians (Carlisle, Pennsylvania: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1991 [reprint]), pp. 215-216.

104 William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Exposition of Ephesians (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1967), p. 234.

105 Hendriksen, p. 235.

106 See also Hebrews 4:4.

107 See also 4:5-6; 40:26; 41:20; 45:8, 12, 18; 48:7; 51:13; 65:17-18, which are but a sampling of Isaiah’s allusions to God’s earlier actions in history.

108 Psalm 19 is particularly interesting, as God’s revelation is described as “light.” In those verses which speak of God’s revelation of Himself through His creation (verses 1-6), the sun is prominent as the light emitting source (verses 4-6). The psalmist then speaks of the revelation of God through His Word (verses 7-14). In Psalm 119, the Word is referred to as “light” (verses 105, 130). In Psalm 19:12, while the term “light” is not employed, the Word of God is spoken of as that source of illumination that reveals the psalmist’s secret and hidden sins.

109 Be sure to read the preceding context in verses 1-5.

110 See also Jeremiah 4:23; 13:16; Lamentations 3:1-2.

111 Some texts read “fruit of the Spirit” rather than “fruit of the light.” In the final analysis, we need not agonize over which reading is correct because those things which Paul identifies as “fruit of the light” in Ephesians chapter 5, are virtually the same as those which he also identifies as “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians chapter 5.

112 For “goodness” see Romans 16:14; Galatians 5:22; 2 Thessalonians 1:11. For “righteousness” see Romans 6:21f.; Philippians 1:11; Hebrews 12:11. For “truth” see 2 Corinthians 4:2; 6:7; 7:14; Galatians 2:5, 14; 3:10; Ephesians 1:13; 4:21, 24-25; 6:14; Colossians 1:5-6.

113 The term rendered by the expression, “trying to learn” here in Ephesians 5:10 is the same as that rendered “prove” in Romans 12:2. Foulkes writes concerning this term: “The participle here dokimazontes [‘trying to learn’] is from a verb that sometimes means ‘approving’ (as in Romans xiv. 22 and I Corinthians xvi. 3), but more commonly ‘proving’ for oneself, and so here ‘choosing.’” Francis Foulkes, The Epistle of Paul to The Ephesians (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1963), p. 146.

114 See also Matthew 18:15-17.

115 A case can also be made for the growth of the church due to the sovereign work of God, in spite of the actions of the church and its leaders. For example, consider the evangelization of Gentiles in spite of the reluctance and resistance of the Jews (see Acts 8:1-2; 10:1—11:22).

116 See also Romans 13:11-14 above.

December 29, 2013

A young man came to W. E. Gladstone when he was Prime Minister of England and said, “Mr. Gladstone, I would appreciate your giving me a few minutes in which I might lay before you my plans for the future. I would like to study law.” “Yes,” said the great statesman, “and what then?”

“Then, sir, I would like to gain entrance to the Bar of England.” “Yes, young man, and what then?”

“Then, sir, I hope to have a place in Parliament, in the House of Lords.” “Yes, young man, what then?” pressed Gladstone.

“Then I hope to do great things for Britain.” “Yes, young man, and what then?”

“Then, sir, I hope to retire and take life easy.” “Yes, young man, and what then?” he tenaciously asked.

“Well, then, Mr. Gladstone, I suppose I will die.” “Yes, young man, and what then?” The young man hesitated and then said, “I never thought any further than that, sir.”

Looking at the young man sternly and steadily, Gladstone said, “Young man, you are a fool. Go home and think life through!” (Told by Leonard Griffith, This is Living [Abingdon Press], pp. 48, 49.)

Since the old year is almost gone and the New Year is upon us, I thought it may be profitable to revisit the same text that we studied last time from a slightly different perspective, considering the topic of God’s time versus man’s time. In John 7:6, Jesus says to his half-brothers who advised Him to go up to the Feast of Booths and do some miracles to make Himself known, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune.” Jesus was drawing a contrast between how He lived in view of God’s time versus how His brothers lived their lives. I want to develop the thought:

Since life is short and eternity is forever, live by God’s time, not by man’s time.

The first point is obvious, and yet worth thinking about often:

1. Life is short and eternity is forever.

Billy Graham was once asked what he was most surprised by in life. He answered, “Its brevity.” (Christianity Today, 10/06, p. 90) An older man gave this perspective on how he viewed time differently as he aged (Dewey Gill, Reader’s Digest [5/83]):

Days were plentiful and cheap when I was young. Like penny candy. I always had a pocketful—and spent them casually. Now my supply is diminished, and their value has soared. Each one becomes worth its weight in the gold of dawn. Suddenly I live in unaccustomed thrift, cherishing hours the way lovers prize moments. Even at that, when the week is ended, it seems I’ve gone through another fortune. A day doesn’t go as far as it used to.

I can relate to those thoughts! We just came from being with my Dad on his 90th birthday. It was sad to see his declining physical and mental condition. But it was also sobering to think that in just over 23 years, if I’m still alive, I will be that old! Life is short and then eternity is forever!

If Jesus had been born in our times, His parents would have recognized that He was an unusually gifted child. They would have begun His education early, put Him on the gifted child track, and had Him preaching by age 12 when He made an impression on the scholars in the temple. By the time He was 20, He would have a huge international following. With a good public relations man, He could have learned to tone down some of His more offensive comments so that the religious leaders would not have plotted to kill Him. Think how much more He could have accomplished if He had lived to 70 or 80!

But Jesus, living by God’s time, didn’t begin His ministry until He was about 30 and after three short years He could pray (John 17:4), “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given me to do.” Amazing!

If we want to think like Jesus, we need to live with the awareness of how short life is and that one day we will give an account to God for how we spent our lives. In Psalm 90, as Moses thought on these things, he concluded with the prayer (90:17), “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; and confirm for us the work of our hands; yes, confirm the work of our hands.” If none other than Moses had to ask God to confirm the work of his hands, how much more do we need to pray that prayer repeatedly!

2. Jesus’ brothers were living by man’s time: Their time was always opportune.

Jesus told His brothers that they could go up to the feast whenever they wanted to go, because their time was “always opportune” (7:6). The implication is that they were not living under God’s time, as Jesus was. D. A. Carson (The Gospel According to John [Eerdmans/Apollos], p. 308) says that Jesus meant “that what they did was utterly without significance as far as God was concerned.” We can draw three implications about what it means to live by man’s time:

A. Those living by man’s time are not living under the lordship of Christ.

As John 7:5 adds, “For not even His brothers were believing in Him.” As we saw in our last study, Jesus’ brothers had grown up with Him, so they knew Him better than most people would have. They had heard His teaching and seen some of His miracles. They were good, religious Jews, who observed the various feasts in Israel, such as this Feast of Booths. But they didn’t believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord. They probably did not see their need for a Savior from sin, because they thought of themselves as good, religious Jews in comparison with the pagan Gentiles.

So if you want to live by God’s time and not waste your life living by man’s time, the first order of business is to trust in Christ as Savior and Lord. When you are born again, you repent of the sin of living for yourself and you begin to live for the glory of your wonderful Savior and Lord. You realize that if He is Lord of all, then He is Lord of your time. So you begin to seek Him earnestly to figure out how He wants you to spend your life. If you determine your goals and priorities apart from submission to God and His Word, then you’re living by man’s time, not by God’s time. Such living is ultimately futile.

B. Those living by man’s time go along with their culture apart from Christ.

Jesus draws a sharp contrast here between His brothers’ time and His time. If you’re using your time as our culture does, you aren’t living by God’s time. The brothers went up to this religious feast but they went without Jesus. They went because it was the thing that all Jewish men did at that time of the year. It was a God-ordained ritual, but they did it without reality because they did it without Jesus and without faith in Him. They were living by man’s time, not by God’s time.

We, of course, live in a godless, corrupt culture that exalts selfish pleasure and materialism as the ultimate aims in life. To go along with our culture and live for those fleeting pleasures is obviously to waste your life. But it’s possible to be a part of the Christian wing of our culture, to go to church and go through Christian rituals (such as communion) and yet leave Jesus out. You’re just doing it because it’s the thing that other Christians do. But that is to live by man’s time, not by God’s time.

C. Those living by man’s time operate by worldly wisdom, not by God’s wisdom.

As we saw last time, Jesus’ brothers offered some worldly-wise advice on how He could advance His “career.” They may have meant well, but as I pointed out, their advice was in line with Satan’s temptation for Jesus to jump off the pinnacle of the temple, have the angels float Him gently to the ground, and impress everyone with His miraculous powers. The brothers’ advice was, “For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” (7:4).

As Carson points out (ibid., pp. 306-307), by the world, Jesus’ brothers meant, “to everyone,” but John no doubt saw irony in their comment. We already know that such a display of Jesus’ miraculous powers would have the multitude clamoring to make Him a political Messiah (6:14-15), but it would not have resulted in genuine faith (2:23-25). In one sense Jesus had no intention of showing Himself to the world (14:22). And yet in another sense (Carson, p. 307), “it is in Jerusalem where Jesus reveals himself most dramatically—not in the spectacular miracles the brothers want but in the ignominy of the cross, the very cross by which Jesus draws all men to Himself (12:32) and becomes the Savior of the world (4:42).” The cross is foolishness to the wise of this world, but to us who are called, it is God’s power and wisdom (1 Cor. 1:23-24).

One of the books that has most impacted my life is Shadow of the Almighty [Zondervan], by Elisabeth Elliot. It’s the story of her first husband, Jim Elliot, who was martyred at age 28 in Ecuador (along with four other young men) by the fierce Auca tribe that they were seeking to reach with the gospel. When he was a college student, Jim had written (p. 15), “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Recently the news featured the story of chemistry teacher Ronnie Smith, a young husband and father who was shot to death by Muslim radicals while he jogged in Benghazi, Libya. He was there to show Christ’s love to those lost and hopeless people. I saw an interview with his wife, who said that she loves and forgives those who murdered her husband. The world would say that to go to a fierce, primitive tribe or to a dangerous place like Benghazi to share the gospel, is not wise. But God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. In the epilogue to Shadow of the Almighty (p. 246), Elisabeth Elliot wrote,

W. Somerset Maugham, in Of Human Bondage, wrote, “These old folk had done nothing, and when they died it would be just as if they had never been.” Jim’s comment on this was, “God deliver me!”

May He deliver us all from living by man’s time, in worldly wisdom, rather than by God’s time, in His wisdom. To understand how to live by God’s time, we must look at how Jesus lived:

3. Jesus lived by God’s time: He submitted fully to God’s plan for His life.

Throughout John’s Gospel, there is the repeated theme of Jesus’ “hour,” which refers to the cross (2:4; 7:30; 8:20; 12:23, 27; 13:1; 16:32; 17:1; see Luke 22:53). But here (7:6, 8) John uses the Greek word that refers to an opportune time. Jesus means that the God-appointed time for Him to go up to Jerusalem and reveal Himself was not yet at hand. In other words, in contrast to His brothers, who lived by the world’s agenda, Jesus lived by God’s agenda. This meant five things:

A. To live by God’s time, be directly accountable to Him for how you spend your time.

Jesus always had a sense of obeying the Father with regard to His use of time. He did not allow His own mother to determine when He should turn the water into wine, but He did it as the Father directed Him (2:4). Here, He does not allow His brothers’ advice to govern when He went up to the feast, but went in response to the Father’s timetable. He was accountable to the Father to do everything in His life and ministry as the Father directed.

I’ll grant that it’s not easy to determine God’s will for the specifics of our schedules, whether it concerns the major decisions in life or the daily and weekly schedules that we all must make. But we can determine our overall priorities and goals from the wisdom of God’s Word and prayerfully seek to use our time with the awareness that we will give an account to God for how we spent the time that He gave us. If I may be gently blunt, to spend countless hours watching TV or playing computer games is not a godly way to spend your life.

One New Year’s Day when I was in college, I spent the entire day watching all the college bowl games. By the end of the day, I felt rotten, as if I had stuffed myself on junk food all day. I realized that I had just wasted a precious day of my life. I swore off my TV addiction and have never gone back.

B. To live by God’s time, live with the purpose of glorifying God and accomplishing what He has given you to do.

Jesus came to do the Father’s will and to accomplish the Father’s work (4:34). He finished it in three years, as we have seen (17:4). Jesus’ purpose should be our purpose, namely, to glorify God on this earth and to accomplish whatever it is that He has given each of us to do.

Obviously, God does not call everyone to be a foreign missionary or to serve full time in ministry here at home. But He does call us all to live in such a way that we glorify Him in everything we do (1 Cor. 10:31). All behavior begins in our hearts or thoughts (Mark 7:21), so begin there, by ordering your thoughts in line with God’s Word (Phil. 4:8). All our behavior is to be governed by God’s love, which seeks the highest good for others (Rom. 12:9-10; 1 Cor. 13; 16:14). Also, God has uniquely gifted each one for service so that we might glorify Him (1 Cor. 12; 1 Pet. 4:10-11). So figure out what He has gifted you to do and structure your schedule so that you can do it.

C. To live by God’s time, develop a harvest mindset that views every situation in light of eternity.

As we saw in the story of Jesus with the woman at the well, the disciples had a temporal mindset. They were focused on getting Jesus to eat His lunch so that they could get on with their journey. But Jesus had a harvest mindset. He turned their focus toward what God was doing with His encounter with the woman and the Samaritans in that village (4:31-38). Jesus was aware of God’s perspective in every situation. He never acted out of selfish motives, but only for the purpose of furthering God’s kingdom. He told us that in contrast to seeking all the things that the world so eagerly seeks, (Matt. 6:33), “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

You’ve got to figure out how that verse applies to your sphere of influence. It may apply to rearing your children to know and follow Christ. It may apply to helping a family member, friend, co-worker, or stranger whom you meet come to know the Savior or to grow in Him. Ask the Lord to give you a harvest mindset.

D. To live by God’s time, use reasonable prudence, but do not put personal safety above doing the will of God.

Jesus stayed in Galilee because the Jews were trying to kill Him (7:1), but when it was God’s will for Him to go to the feast, He went. We see the same thing in John 10:39-11:15: Jesus was ministering out of the reach of the Pharisees who were seeking to kill Him, but when it was God’s time, He went to Bethany, just outside of Jerusalem, to raise Lazarus from the dead.

Jeremy Lundgren, our former youth pastor, is writing his master’s thesis on the theology of risk and safety: when is it right to protect yourself from possible harm versus expend yourself for the sake of the gospel? On some occasions, the apostle Paul escaped impending threats to his life (2 Cor. 11:32-33; Acts 17:10, 14; 22:18), but at other times, he was willing to walk into what almost certainly would result in either persecution or death (Acts 19:30-31; 21:11-13). I can’t give you a hard and fast rule for determining when to risk your life for the sake of the gospel and when to use caution and escape. But we all should have the mindset that our highest aim is to glorify God through the gospel. Sometimes that may entail exposing ourselves to substantial risks.

E. To live by God’s time, be willing to confront our godless culture.

Here, Jesus confronted His brothers’ worldly perspective. He never backed away from confronting the worldly or godless views of those He came into contact with, even though it inevitably led to His death. When He went to have lunch with a Pharisee, Jesus deliberately did not follow their custom for ceremonial washing before the meal and then He laid into the Pharisee for his hypocrisy in cleaning the outside of the cup, while inside he was full of wickedness. When one of the lawyers present heard Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees, he said (Luke 11:45), “Teacher, when You say this, You insult us too.” Did Jesus reply, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean any offense”? No, rather He said (11:46), “Woe to you lawyers as well!” And He proceeded to expose their many sins. Jesus always confronted the godlessness around Him.

This doesn’t mean that we should be rude or insensitive. Paul tells us that our speech should be both gracious and seasoned with salt (Col. 4:6). He tells us not to be quarrelsome, but to be kind to all and to correct with gentleness (2 Tim. 2:24-25). But probably most of us need to be a bit bolder than we are to speak out against godlessness when we encounter it. I appreciated reading that Rick Warren recently told Piers Morgan on CNN with regard to Warren’s opposition to homosexual marriage, “I fear the disapproval of God more than I fear your disapproval or the disapproval of society.” (http://piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com/2013/12/06)

Conclusion

To review and offer some specific action points, here are some steps to help you live by God’s time so that your life counts for eternity and isn’t wasted because you lived for man’s time:

(1) Make sure that you have trusted in Jesus Christ as Savior and that you are fully submitted to His lordship. Apart from that, anything that you do will be empty and vain at the judgment.

(2) Write out a one-sentence purpose statement for your life and two or three short-term goals that will help move you in that direction in the coming year. Granted, Jesus probably didn’t write out His life purpose in a single sentence, but He was clear enough about it that He knew when He had accomplished the Father’s work (John 17:4). The same could be said of the apostle Paul. He said (1 Cor. 9:23), “I do all things for the sake of the gospel.” He said that his aim was (Phil. 3:10), “That I may know Him.” He told Timothy (1 Tim. 4:7), “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.” Those aims are all in line and show that Paul lived with God’s purpose in mind.

(3) Clear your life of clutter and busyness that do not relate to your overall purpose. Kevin DeYoung’s recent short book, Crazy Busy [Crossway] is helpful in this regard.

(4) Figure out what God has gifted you to do and begin serving Him now. Don’t wait until some “better time” in the future. You may never get to such a time. Start now. What is your “mission field”? Who are the 8-15 people with whom you have regular contact that you can influence for Christ? God wants all disciples of Jesus to help make disciples who make disciples.

(5) Don’t despise the mundane as the place where God wants you to serve. You don’t have to go to the mission field or go into full time ministry to serve the Lord. You can serve and glorify God daily in your present circumstances. As Peter puts it (1 Pet. 4:11), “Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Application Questions

1. When we live under God’s time, how do we determine how much time to spend in leisure or recreation?
2. How can a Christian discover his/her spiritual gifts? (See my message on Romans 12:4-6.)
3. How does Matthew 6:33 apply to a believer who works in a “secular” job? How can he “seek first God’s kingdom”?
4. Prayerfully write a brief life purpose statement and 2-3 goals for the New Year.

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2013, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation