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The Gospel Observer
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them
to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19,20).
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September 16, 2012
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Contents:
1) Ephesians 5:8-13 (Tom Edwards)
2) News & Notes
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-1-
Ephesians 5:8-13
by Tom Edwards
In Ephesians 5:8, Paul shows the contrast of the brethrens' lives
before and after becoming Christians: "for you were formerly
darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord...."
The Bible, at times, uses the word "darkness" to figuratively
represent ignorance and sin -- and without Jesus and the gospel, we
would all be spiritually ignorant and still in our sins. As
Paul declares, "...the world through its wisdom did not come
to know God..." (1 Cor. 1:21). Man, however, often thinks he
knows the way, apart from the gospel; but he is only deceiving
himself. For the Bible points out that "There is a way
which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death" (Prov.
14:12).
Jesus truly is the only way out of spiritual ignorance and
sin. As the Lord Himself acknowledges in John 12:46, "I
have come as light into the world, that everyone who believes in Me
may not remain in darkness." The faith by which the believer
can walk out of darkness and into the light is a faith that
involves action -- just as literal walking also does. For notice the
Lord's similar remark in John 8:12: "...'I am the light of the
world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall
have the light of life.'" So, we can conclude that to truly
believe in the Lord also involves following Him -- and that is done
by submission to His word. Notice how this corresponds with
Matthew 7:21: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter
the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is
in heaven."
Spiritual ignorance and darkness are also figuratively expressed as
a "blindness." Consider, for example, John 9:39-41: "And Jesus said,
'For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may
see; and that those who see may become blind.' Those of the
Pharisees who were with Him heard these things, and said to Him, 'We
are not blind too, are we?' Jesus said to them, 'If you were
blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, "We see," your sin
remains.'"
The "those who do not see" are those who realize that they are
spiritually blind and in need of the Lord's help, whereas those who
claim that they can see are actually the ones who are spiritually
blind.
Sadly, most people are in this lost state; and Jesus shows why in
John 3:19: "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." So because of this love for sin rather
than for the light of God's truth, these people remain without
spiritual vision. Notice how Paul speaks of this in 2
Corinthians 4:3-4: "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled
to those who are perishing, 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."
If, however, we are truly following Jesus, the light of the world,
then note what also happens to us, according to Matthew 5:14: "You
are the light of the world...." This is because, as Jesus
shows in John 8:12, we then "have the Light of life" as one of the
benefits for following Him. Paul states, "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 Cor. 4:6). God shone miraculously into the
hearts of the apostles, through the Holy Spirit; but that same
message of light revealed to them can also radiate from our hearts,
when we take the time to study God's word and apply it (cf. Eph.
3:3-5). And when that is the case, we then bear "the fruit of
the light," as Paul shows in Ephesians 5:9, which is "goodness,"
"righteousness," and "truth."
So it should be one of our chief ambitions to come to a thorough
understanding of God's word. As Paul exhorts in Ephesians
5:10, we are to be "trying to learn what is pleasing to the
Lord." Going along with this, consider what Paul instructs,
just a few verses later: "So then do not be foolish, but understand
what the will of the Lord is" (v. 17). We need to know God's
will so that we can please Him, and pleasing the Lord was certainly
what the apostle Paul strove to do. For instance, he writes,
"Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent,
to be pleasing to Him" (2 Cor. 5:9).
Paul then gives a reason for this in the very next verse: "For we
must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one
may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he
has done, whether good or bad" (2 Cor. 5:10).
To acquire a full knowledge of God's will, in order to serve Him
acceptably and please Him, was also Paul's prayer for the
Colossians: "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, 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" (Col. 1:9,10).
Paul then gives the following instruction in Ephesians 5:11-13: "And
do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead
even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things
which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when
they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible
is light."
The instruction to not participate in the unfruitful works of
darkness was seen earlier, though worded differently in Ephesians
5:7, that we are not to be "partakers" with the "sons of
disobedience." Though we live in a world and interact (such as
through work, business deals, friendly encounters, etc.) with many
who reject the word of the Lord, we must be careful to not be
influenced into taking part in anything that the Lord would not
approve.
As Christians, we also need to be concerned with the right balance
in our lives, as seen in Paul's exhortation: There are things we are
to put off or abstain from, and things we are to put on or engage
in. And whatever falls under the category of the "unfruitful
works of darkness" is certainly something to be elminated from our
lives.
Though probably not meant in the figure, we can say that "works of
darkness" are "unfruitful" because they have no light (and are the
opposite of light). For even in the plant kingdom, plants need
not only soil and water, but also light that produces
photosynthesis.
Paul shows that rather than participating in those "unfruitful works
of darkness," we are to "expose" them with the "light" of God's
word. Ephesians 5:13 states that "...all things become
invisible when they are exposed by light...." Various other
translations render "expose them" (vs. 11) as "reprove them"; and
one version states "show how wrong they are" (CEV). It is the
same Greek word that is used in the following passages, in
which I made the particular word all capital letters: John 16:8 with
reference to the Holy Spirit who would "CONVICT the world concerning
sin, and righteousness, and judgment"; in Jude 1:15 in referring to
a prophecy of the Lord who came with many thousands of His holy ones
"to execute judgment upon all, and to CONVICT all the ungodly of all
their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of
all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him";
in 1 Timothy 5:20, where Paul instructs that elders "...who continue
in sin, REBUKE in the presence of all, so that the rest also may be
fearful of sinning." Another place where we see this
word used is within the list of qualifications for the
overseer: Titus 1:9 shows that he needs to be one who is
"holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the
teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine
and to REFUTE those who contradict."
After instructing the brethren to expose the unfruitful works of
darkness, Paul then says in Ephesians 5:12, "for it is disgraceful
even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret."
Though this is true of many ungodly people then, as well as now,
various commentators see this as making specific reference to the
different mystery cults of paganism. David Lipscomb, for
instance, writes, "It is thought that this refers to the impure
lascivious practices performed in the worship of the heathen
gods. All the worshipers indulged in lewd practices as part of
their worship. It was done in the secret recesses of the
temple." In some forms of heathenism, female priestesses
engaged in fornication with the worshiper as part of the worship.
The "in secret" in this passage (Eph. 5:12) does not mean that no
one knew about it, for Paul did; but it would involve that which
would not be known by the general public. But even secret
things can become visible, as we noticed Paul saying in verse 13,
"...when they are exposed by light."
What, however, does the phrase in that verse mean when it says,
"...for everything that becomes visible is light"? Normally,
we would think of the light as being only that which exposes things
-- and not the things themselves. But here Paul says that
"everything that becomes visible is light." The answer to this
can be seen in Thayer's definition of the Greek word. For not
only does it denote the light emitted, but also "that which is
exposed to the view of all, openly, publicly." So though that
object might have only a reflection of light, we think of it as
still having light. For instance, what about "the light of the
moon"? The moon doesn't actually have a light of its own, but
it reflects that of the sun. So "everything that becomes
visible is light" or, in other words, "is exposed to the view of
all," as seen in the definition. It has been made visible. And
this also explains how Jesus, the light of the world, can also call
us lights in the world when we are following Him and reflecting His
light in our lives.
The exposure of sin by the light of God's word might also remind you
of what Jesus states in John 3:20,21: "For everyone who does
evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds
should be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the
light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in
God." Later, in the Ephesian letter, Paul speaks of the
Christian's spiritual armor to help fight in a spiritual battle
against the dark forces of iniquity. And notice what else he
says about this kind of armor in Romans 13:12: "The night is almost
gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of
darkness and put on the armor of light." It is an armor of
"light" because it is of God, who is light; and light will always
triumph over darkness.
So let us who are Christians continue to abide in Paul's instruction
in Ephesians 5:8-13, to "walk as children of light" and bear its
fruit of "all goodness and righteousness and truth," as we ever
strive to learn of the Lord and to please Him, which also involves
our not participating "in the unfruitful deeds of darkness"; but,
instead, exposing them. For in doing so, we are following in the
steps of Jesus.
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-2-
News & Notes
Let those of us who are Christians continue to remember in prayer
the following:
Becky Robertson who recently had to have three painful shots
in her back, due to back-trouble she has been having. She also
had received shots for this a couple months ago to eliminate
pain. Let us pray that this second time will keep her free
from the back trouble. Pam MacDonald who also has been
having serious back trouble and will soon be seeing her doctor again
to find out what her next step should be; Linda Lefort (Harris
Lefort's sister-in-law) who has throat cancer, fluid buildup, and is
receiving hospice care; Bill Barfield (Virginia Fontenot's
brother) who was admitted to ICU last March and has been in a
step-down unit ever since; Jean Calloway who has been
having a foot problem; Shirley Young, who experiences
fibromyalgia every day; and Cheryl Crews, who is now
undergoing therapy three days a week for some of her physical
ailments.
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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation
1) Hear the gospel,
for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30,31).
2) Believe in the
deity of Christ (John 8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repent of sins
(Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith in
Christ (Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water
for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4;
Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet. 3:21).
6) Continue in the faith;
for, if not, salvation can be lost (Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet.
2:20-22).
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Park Forest
CHURCH OF CHRIST
9923 Sunny Cline Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70817
Sunday services: 9:00 AM (Bible class); 10 AM & 6 PM (worship)
Tuesday: 7 PM (Bible class)
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/go (Gospel Observer website)
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/audioser.html (audio sermons)