Ephesians
5:7
"Be
not ye therefore partakers with them."
God
has given every believer enough understanding and knowledge of Him, the Word, that with
just a little effort, and it does not take a lot, but with just a
little effort we can line these things up with the Word and see
immediately when they are false. And if it’s false we are to run
from them, and this is what Paul is admonishing us to do. And example would be, "If someone teaches you that you must do
works for salvation, then that’s contrary to what Paul teaches the
believer. So run from that kind of teaching. Paul teaches that
salvation is a free gift we receive when we just simply believe this
Gospel as outlined in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4." Redemption is another matter all together, it requires.......repentance and not a repentance of mind but rather from the heart or soul. Because it is within it that sin lies as a hard shell and so does the seed of God as a pearl of great value to God. This is why Job asked what is man that You are so mindful of him (Job 7:17, Psalm 8:4, 144:3).
Ephesians
5:8
"For
ye were sometimes (at one time in) darkness but now are
ye light in the Lord: (consequently since we have come out of
darkness) walk as children of light:"
Again
we can take that into any kind of an every day experience. It is no
fun to walk in the pitch dark, is it? Well it’s the same way
spiritually, when people are walking in a spiritual darkness, they
are in utter confusion, they just don’t know up from down. And this
is where most of the world is walking tonight, but we as believers
don’t have that problem, we are not walking in darkness. We can
walk with surety that we are in the light and the light, as we will
see in John 3, is Jesus Christ.
John
3:19-21
“This
is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every
one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest
his deeds should be reproved. But he that does truth comes to the
light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in
God.”
What does it mean, "does truth"? First the word does; has many means and they are acquired in the way it is used within a sentence, that determines it's meaning, for us here it means to acquire Truth. Remember when Jesus stood before Pilot and was asked, what is Truth........Jesus remained silent before him. Why? John tells us in chapter 1:14, 17 Jesus is identified as Truth and Grace in Light. To walk as children of Light we have to become a disciple and just how is this done? By nullifying self and taking up of His cross daily in order to keep self in subjection to God and not have it in His face (Exodus 20:3).
"(For
the fruit of the Spirit is in all (things) goodness and
righteousness and truth;)"
Who
in the world can find fault with those three words? Who can find
fault with goodness? We don’t know who could. Who can find
fault with righteousness? Who in the world could find fault
with truth? The world is always looking for truth, but the
only problem is they are looking in the wrong places. See these are
three words that are the epitome of the Christian experience, and so
consequently, "if we walk in the light, as John puts it in
his little epistle, for Christ is the light, then we have fellowship
with Him, and He in us there is no darkness at all." As a
result of our walking in the light we should be able to put forth
goodness and righteousness, and truth, which no one should be able to
find fault with. Remember as we walk in the light, and as we are the
epitome of goodness, righteousness, and truth, at the same time what
are we doing?
Ephesians
5:10
"Proving
what is acceptable unto the Lord."
We
are not proving what is acceptable to society or friends and
relatives, but to God. That is all that counts. Are we doing what is
pleasing in His sight, or are we simply pleasing the world around us?
This is what people do not like to hear. They will say things like,
your to spiritually minded and that we are no earthly good.....but
this is to be our normal way of life. God is to rule His house and if
He is not, then we have placed another in His place (see Exodus
20:3), I could say, in His face, and not change this verses meaning.
To be acceptable to the Lord we have to maintain an attitude like
Jesus did...in having the mind of Christ at all times, which is to be
spiritually and heavenly minded. We see this when after being baptized He was
taken into the wilderness and there His new spirituality was tested.
When He returned He was stronger spiritually then He had been in His
youth.
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