Ephesians 5:7-14 Light Exposes Darkness
Ephesians chapter five began with Paul instructing us to be imitators of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are to love as He did; be without sexual immorality, impurity or covetousness; we are to control our tongues and regularly offer thanks to God. Plus we are not to be deceived by empty words of those who have rejected God’s truth. In the next seven verses Paul will amplify how these empty words can be a problem for a Christian.
He begins with a warning that we are not to be partners with those “sons of disobedience,” those that, “exploit you with false words” (2 Peter 2:3b, ESV). The word ‘partner’ is the Greek word symmétochos which is used only twice in the Bible, both times here in Ephesians. Paul last used it in Ephesians 3:6 where it was translated in the ESV as ‘partakers’, something someone would jointly do or partake in with another person.
In these verses Paul reminds us that there is a struggle between good and evil, between those things of God and those things that are not of God, between light and darkness. As discussed in Chapter 17 we learned that with God, things are indeed black and white while the world prefers shades of gray. Jesus made it clear, ”Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” (Luke 11:23, ESV, similar to Matthew 12:30) There simply is no such thing as a partial Christian, as we were all 100% bought by the blood of Jesus; we are indeed God’s possession (see Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 6:20-21; 7:23 and Hebrews 9:12-14).
Paul continues to instruct us on how we are to walk; this time he calls us to walk like children of light. Just like how additional light helps us to see better, especially when we need to see something in greater clarity or see more details, the fruit of Spiritual light allows us to see what is good, right and true. This discernment allows us to identify God’s truth when we read a book or listen to a person talk. Spiritual discernment begins with knowing the Word of God. Regardless of what may change in the world or how some may want to reinterpret God’s Word, God never changes and neither does His Word (read Numbers 23:19; Malachi 3:6; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 13:8 and 1 Peter 1:25). Unfortunately, as we discussed in Chapters 10, 11, 14 and 16 the church has a problem with unity. The source of most of these disagreements or perceived causes for separation is due to varied opinions on how to interpret the Bible.
Paul also calls us to, “try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord,” to refuse participation in any, “unfruitful works of darkness,” but instead expose them for what they are, each one of these three points (discern, refuse and expose) being an action item. In other words these are not to be ignored nor are they optional. We cannot idly sit back while the church is slowly diluted by lies, schemes, deceptions and fraud, all perpetrated by false teachers and those that were mislead (people that unintentionally followed along).
7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Paul does not want us to not be partners with, “the sons of disobedience,” (phrase comes from previous verse, see verse 6) while it may be easy to disassociate with thugs, murderers, thieves, rapists, child molesters and other hard-core criminals, it is different when it comes to people who appear normal and talk like Christians. That is why it is easy to be deceived, we would never know if there is anything wrong until we hear and discern who and what they are. Sometimes even after we see them in action or see that there is something obviously wrong, we may still want to justify or perhaps choose to ignore. We are not to condone by continuing our relationships, we need to speak up and if necessary move on without them.
Before we accepted Jesus we were spiritually in the dark and were slaves to sin and corruption. As sinners we did as we pleased, not as God wanted us to do. As light exposes the truth about something or someone, darkness hides the truth. We are to walk as children of light and to describe what that means. Paul uses a lesser-known phrase, “the fruit of light,” which is very different from the fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23). The “fruit of light” is defined here by Paul as the having the ability to tell good from bad, right from wrong and truth from that which is false or wrong. In other words Paul is saying that the fruit of light is discernment. Even though discernment is not one of the Spiritual fruits listed in Galatians 5:22-23, Paul refers to the fact that Christians have access to understanding and discernment (read Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 6:4; Philippians 1:10 and 1 Thessalonians 5:21, remember that the word can also be translated test, approve,examine, etc.) We can be Spiritually discerning two ways, the first being guided by the Holy Spirit and the second through knowledge of the Word of God (see also Philippians 1:9; 2 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 5:14; James 1:5; 2 Peter 3:17-18). To discern what is pleasing to God means we need to know how to obey Him and to know His character. How do we do that? We do it by continually reading and growing in His Word, which never changes.
Paul reminds us that we are not to be involved with any, “unfruitful works of darkness,” these are those things that are useless or otherwise worthless. Paul does not specify what these are, however we can easily connect those sins he has already mentioned in chapters 4 and 5 (deceit, stealing, bitterness, anger, immorality, greed, covetousness, idolatry, etc.) to this description. We could also include seeking or accepting alternate priorities in life (such as pursuing a social gospel, ecumenical ideology, different beliefs, incompatible philosophies or any works-based theology).
We are to ‘expose’ those “unfruitful works,” by using the Word of God. Paul said in his second letter to Timothy, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16, ESV) How do we reproof or correct? The Bible provides many ways beginning with Jesus telling us how to handle problems in the church (see Matthew 18:15-20 as an example). Paul said we are to rebuke, preach and teach others the truth (see also 1 Timothy 5:1, 20; 2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:13 and 2:15) Peter said we should always be ready to give a defense for God’s truth but only do so in love (read 1 Peter 3:13-17).
In verse 12 Paul returns to the subject of what is and what is not appropriate for us to talk about (see verses 3-4) but then in verse 13 he says that anything exposed by the light (the truth) becomes visible, therefore we are always to speak the truth. If we remain quiet, the enemy wins, its that simple, if something looks or sounds wrong, speak up!
A portion of Isaiah is quoted in verse 14 (see Isaiah 51:17; 52:1; 60:1-2) saying we are to awake and rise from the dead and prophetically adds that the glory of Christ will shine on us (similar to Isaiah 55:6-7). Paul is calling our attention to the fact that there are some Christians that have become complacent and are no longer responsive, almost like they have fallen asleep. Paul is shouting, “wake up” and arise from your Spiritually dead slumber and let your light shine on others in the world. God’s light is of no use unless you use it, don’t tolerate darkness around you, make it what it is hiding visible!
Sin in any Christian’s life is a problem. If you have some chronic sin in your life you need to give it to Jesus immediately. If there is some known sin in your church, regardless of how it may be perceived, pray for the people involved and when necessary use the process given to us by Jesus in Matthew 18:15-20. You are not doing anyone, especially the church body, any good if you are aware of outward sin and do nothing about it. Unfortunately there has been a trend for Christians and non-believers alike to use the phrase, “judge not, lest ye be judged” (or some other variation of Matthew 7:1). This verse has become one of the more popular verses of the Bible, why? Because it is misinterpreted by most readers to not judge, period (an interpretation that is aided by several Bible versions and translations that say, “Do not judge”). The verse refers to being a hypocrite, not just being a judge, as Jesus later calls us to ‘inspect’ the fruit of others (read Matthew 7:15-20). Even though we might receive scorn for bringing up a potential sin issue or some other concern from a fellow believer (the emotion of guilt can often often trigger an ugly defensive response), that is what the Bible teaches we are to do.