(8-12) The passing from darkness to light.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.
a. For you were once darkness: As Paul condemned those who practiced fornication, uncleanness or covetousness as the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 5:6), he also recognized that this was the exact darkness Christians had emerged from. But now, having been enlightened, we are to walk as children of the light.
i. Again, the theme is repeated: you are children of light, so live like children of light.
ii. Paul doesn’t only say that we were once in darkness. He says we were once darkness itself. Now, we are not only in the light, we are light in the Lord.
b. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth: In contrast to the walk in darkness and wrath is the fruit of the Spirit, more fully described in Galatians 5:22-23. Goodness, righteousness, and truth should mark us because we have the Holy Spirit in our life.
c. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them: Instead of associating with ungodliness, we expose the unfruitful works of darkness. However, we do not do this for the purpose of merely talking about them (which is shameful), but for the purpose of educating ourselves enough to avoid them.
i. Christians must guard against a prurient interest in the works of darkness, even in times of testimony or research.
ii. Paul was careful to say that we should avoid the unfruitful works of darkness, not the people who are in darkness.
B. Walking in the light.
1. (13-14) The fact of the light’s presence.
But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
a. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light: Even the things done in secret will be exposed. They will be made manifest by the light of God’s searching judgment.
i. This is a reason for avoiding and exposing the unfruitful works of darkness as described in Ephesians 5:8-12. Since those unfruitful works are destined for exposure and their day will be over, it makes sense for Christians to avoid such unfruitful works.
b. Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead: Our participation in the light is shown by our resurrection with Jesus (He made us alive together with Christ, Ephesians 2:5). Paul quoted what was probably a worship chorus from the early church to illustrate this truth.
i. Remember that this exhortation to awake comes to Christians. A Christian may be asleep and not know it. If you are asleep, you probably do not know it. As soon as you become aware of your sleep, it is evidence that you are now awake.
ii. “This sleepiness in the Christian is exceedingly dangerous, too, because he can do a great deal while he is asleep that will make him look as if he were quite awake.” (Spurgeon)
· We can speak when we are asleep.
· We can hear when we are asleep.
· We can walk when we are asleep.
· We can sing when we are asleep.
· We can think when we are asleep.
iii. “The man who is asleep does not care what becomes of his neighbors; how can he while he is asleep? And oh! Some of you Christians do not care whether souls are saved or damned… It is enough for them if they are comfortable. If they can attend a respectable place of worship and go with others to heaven, they are indifferent about everything else.” (Spurgeon)
2. (15-17) Walking in the light means walking in wisdom.
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
a. See then that you walk circumspectly: Because this light was given to us, we should walk circumspectly – carefully, wisely, not as fools.
i. Adam Clarke thought that the phrase not as fools was connected to the practices of devotion to the ancient god Bacchus, worship with drinking and partying. “Do not become madmen. Here is a most evident allusion to the orgies of Bacchus, in which his votaries acted like madmen; running about, tossing their heads from shoulder to shoulder, appearing to be in every sense completely frantic.”
b. Redeeming the time: There were two ancient Greek words used for time. One had the idea simply of day upon day and hour upon hour. The other had the idea of a definite portion of time, a time where something should happen. It is the difference between time and the time. The idea here is of the time; it is a definite season of opportunity that Christians must redeem. This same word is translated opportunity in Galatians 6:10.
i. Paul isn’t telling us to make the most of every moment, even though that is good advice. He tells us to seize opportunity for the glory of Jesus. It isn’t to make the most of time, but to make the most of the time.
ii. The idea behind redeeming the time is that you buy up opportunities like a shrewd businessman. You make the most of every opportunity for Jesus Christ.
c. Because the days are evil: This is another reason why it is important to walk wisely. Jesus spoke of a time when, many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold (Matthew 24:11-12). Surely we are in those times, because the days are evil.
d. Understand what the will of the Lord is: This is what real wisdom is. It is the contrast to being unwise. Our main understanding of the will of the Lord comes from a good knowledge of His word.