Paul had been advising the Ephesians what they should and shouldn’t be doing to follow God. He challenges them to help expose sin. This devotion looks at bringing the lost into the light through our witness.
Nuggets
- We are to be witnesses to bring others into the light.
- God brings our sin into the light so we can confess it and get rid of it.
- Once we get sins out into the light, we can really see them as they are.
- When we hold our thoughts and actions up to doctrine, we can see where we are living as we should or where we are not.
Paul had told his readers that they should be imitators of God. They could do that by exhibiting His love to all.
Next, Paul cautions them about ungodly behavior. As a center for pagan worship, Paul knew they would have been tempted to either remain or go back to their former way of life.
Instead, Paul told them they were to help expose sin. They did this through love. Let’s look at what Paul has to say about this.
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
Bring Them into the Light
“Have nothing to do with the worthless things that people do, things that belong to the darkness. Instead, bring them out to the light” (Eph. 5: 11 RSV)
Okay, this is a twist. Paul had said before, “Therefore do not associate with them …” (Eph. 5: 7 RSV). Them — people.
Here in verse 11, Paul said, “Have nothing to do with the worthless things that people do, things that belong to the darkness …” (Eph. 5: 11 RSV). We are not supposed to associate with the acts themselves, thoughts, items.
Instead, we are to bring them out into the light. We are to be witnesses.
If we are going to witness to people, we cannot not associate with them. Otherwise, Jesus would not have eaten with the sinners (Mt. 9: 10-17; Mk. 2: 15-22; Lk. 5: 29-39).
We just have to be on guard. Satan is going to do his dirtiest.
Even If Too Bad to Discuss
“(It is really too shameful even to talk about the things they do in secret)” (Eph. 5: 12 RSV)
Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
Bringing them out into the light means people could conceivably find out about them, right? We won’t like it if it were our sins that were exposed!
But isn’t God good at doing just that? He digs down and brings the sin up.
What God is doing is rooting the sin out. He is bringing it to the light so we can confess it and get rid of it.
Isn’t that what we need to do? If we don’t acknowledge it as a sin, Satan will more than likely work to get us to commit the sin again.
God wants the evil out of us. He doesn’t it to remain in us. He wants us to be more like He made us.
Light Reveals All
“And when all things are brought out to the light, then their true nature is clearly revealed” (Eph. 5: 13 RSV)
Once we get sins out into the light, we can really see them as they are. We can evaluate thoughts and actions against doctrine.
Satan is going to try to stop us from doing that any way that he can. He is going to try to keep us believing that things are all hunky-dory. He is going to do everything in his power to make the norm acceptable.
It’s All About Waking Up
“for anything that is clearly revealed becomes light. That is why it is said,‘Wake up, sleeper, and rise from death, and Christ will shine on you’” (Eph. 5: 14 RSV)
When we hold something up to the light, we can see all the imperfections. When we hold our thoughts and actions up to doctrine, we can see where we are living as we should or where we are not.
Have you ever heard that last part of the verse? I don’t think I had — at least I don’t remember it.
Isaiah 60: 1 says, “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you” (RSV).
Think about it in terms of the Light. Jesus has come to earth and shown us the way we are to live.
Remember, we have said that glory is the expression of the qualities of God resulting from the authority of God.
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
Making the Connections
You might be thinking, “But I’ve already made a profession of faith.” Well, the Ephesians had, too. He was writing to the church at Ephesus.
Paul was preaching to the choir. And he was still hammering it home about grace and redemption.
Paul knew we would keep being tempted after we asked Jesus to be our Savior. He knew we would keep on sinning.
In order to help us, Paul gave us instructions as to what to do. “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path” (Ps. 119: 105 HCSB). It is a lamp — an instrument that funnels the Light where we need it.
How Do We Apply This?
So, how do we apply all of this?
In the last devotion, we said we had to pick our friends carefully. Are we trying to establish a relationship so that we can witness to them? If not, we need to consider putting other friendships as a priority.
No, that isn’t always an option. Maybe it is a family member. Then, we need to teach them, maybe by lifestyle, how Hod wants us to live. Hopefully, we can work it around to get the words in, also. We’ve talked before where lifestyle witnessing alone isn’t what God is after.
We’ve got to make sure we are actively witnessing for Christ. Oh, yes. I do not do as good of a job as I should. It is so much easier just to write to faceless people who read my blog than look someone in the eye and say, “Do you know Jesus?” That is the introvert in me.
But I need to be an extroverted introvert and ask anyway. We need to make sure we are asking the questions. People’s eternal lives are at stake.
Loving Heavenly Father. We are always going to be tempted. We will always need Your grace. We will always need Your mercy. Help us to bring our sins into the light so that we may confess them and get rid of them. Help us to resist temptation when we are around others who sin. Thank You for sending Your Son to pay the price for our sins. Amen.
What do you think?
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