[Scripture: Ephesians 5:8-20]
In today’s passages, the apostle Paul recommended two things to the Ephesian believers. The first one is to be knowledgeable Christians with eyes that see the unseen evil around us. The second is to become influential Christians who have the power of the Holy Spirit, know the hidden secret of God’s love, and live righteous and holy lives.
Christian Spiritual Principles
In Ephesians 5:8-21, Paul talked about two scriptural principles for being a knowledgeable and influential Christian who shines light into the world.
Scriptural Spirituality Principle #1
Christians must live in the light of the Lord. To live in the light of the Lord means to have fellowship with Jesus Christ in our daily lives because Jesus Christ is the light of the world. If we believe in him, he will dwell with us, and we will be children of light. Living our lives according to God’s words and His teachings is the way to become children of the light.
The opposite side of the life of the light is a life of darkness. The biblical meaning of living in darkness is to have fellowship with this broken world without spiritual discernment of what is good or how to please God. Sometimes Christians unintentionally break God’s law without realizing it because they are not mature enough to recognize evil that’s against God’s will.
There are two kinds of sinful activities that displease God in the Bible. The first is a deliberate act of disobedience to the word of God. That is willful and intentional sin against God, just like those who do not believe in Jesus. The other is the sin of ignorance against God’s will. Christians who do not walk in the light could do this kind of sin.
The Story of a Dead Mouse
I joined the army when I was 21. During that time, I had to commute to my camp, so I had to find a place to live. It wasn’t easy to find a place in the surrounding neighborhood. Finally, my brother found a one-room cabin on the mountainside. That night I asked a friend to come over and help me fix the house. He came over, and we made a schedule for the next day. After planning that out, I was in a good mood, so he and I went to the bar, had a beer, and then we went home around midnight. In that house, we couldn’t find the switch to turn on the lights. We searched for the switch a couple of times but there was nothing there, so we decided to sleep on the floor. I slept well, and the next day, I woke up and realized that we had slept in trash. The worst thing that I found was a dried up, dead rat. That meant I slept on him. I didn’t know it was there because of the darkness.
The definition of darkness is absence of light. If there is no light, darkness fills the space. Psalm 119:105 says God’s word is a lamp that guides our feet and is a light for our path. If Christians do not keep and hold the word of God as the light of the world, that means, we will lose the light and stay in darkness.
Is it possible that Christians could live in the darkness? Yes, if they lose the source of the light that shines, they would be in the darkness. Matthew 25:7-8 says, “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’” In the parable, the source of their light is the oil that the five bridesmaids should prepare so they could burn it in their lamps. Oil in the Bible is often associated with the presence of the Holy Spirit. If the oil ran out, the lamp must have gone out. After that, they tried to buy more oil, but it was too late. They couldn’t attend the best part of the wedding.
When I drive on the highway, I’ll often see a man walking on the highway with a red fuel tank because his car ran out of gas. The fact that he ran out of gas means he did not check and stop by the gas station on his way. If he stopped by the gas station and filled the gas task, he would not have experienced that problem.
In the same way, if you experience running out of spiritual vitality in your Christian life, it is time to come to the spiritual gas station. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” In John 15:5, He says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” If we abide in Jesus, we will be filled with his Spirit. Our spiritual gas station where we can fill up our spiritual vitality is the place where Jesus is.
Scriptural Spirituality Principle #2
In Ephesians 5:18, it says, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs and make music in your heart to the Lord and always giving thanks to God.” John Wesley said the means of grace by which Christians could receive the grace of God were through reading the Word of God, prayer, and singing.
Pastor and theologian Tim Keller said there are three questions we can ask to test what’s happening inside of us when we feel our Christian joy has dried out.
- Are you doing things that are violating your conscience? A bad conscience will destroy your fellowship with God.
- Secondly, look at your relationships. Are you bitter, or are you isolated?
- Do you really understand the gospel?
His main point is that we should examine our connection to the source of spiritual vitality.
In conclusion, Ephesians 5:8-21 gives us scriptural spirituality lessons about how to live as children of light and as the vessels of the Holy Spirit.
- Jesus Christ has come to us as a light that shines to the darkness. If we follow his teachings and his spiritual principles, we will have the light of life. In John 8:12, it says, “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’”
- If we “speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs and make music in your heart to the Lord, and always giving thanks to God,” we keep the Spirit of God in us.
2021.12.12. Pastor Cloud Poy
@ Photo on Unsplash
