A ROYAL NATURE

We are kings (vv, 5-6);

When we trusted Christ, we entered into the kingdom of God (John 3:13 ), but we are also awaiting the full revelation of His kingdom when He returns (2 Tim 4:3), Paul made it clear that people who deliberately and persistently live in sin will nor share in God's kingdom. "They which practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (Gal. 5:21, literal translation), "Whoremonger" is a translation of de Greek’s word pornos, from which we get our word pornography. It means one who practices fornication-—illicit sex."

The morally unclean sod the covetous will join the fornicator in judgment. Paul equated cove tones with idolatry, for it is worshiping something other than God.

The warnings deal with the habitual practice of sin, not the occasional personal act of sin. David committed adultery, yet God forgave him and one day took him to heaven. Indeed, David was disciplined for his sin, but God accepted him.

In Paul's day, there were false Christians who argued that believers could live in sin and get away with it. These deceivers had many arguments to convince ignorant Christians that they could sin repeatedly and still enter God’s kingdom, "You were saved by grace!" they argued, "Therefore you said and the sin that God's grace might abound!" Paul answered that foolish argument in Romans six. “Sin in the life of a believer is different from sin the life of an unsaved person!" Yes-it's worse! God judges sin no matter where He finds it, and He does not want to see it in the life of one of His own children. I believe that no faithful Christian can ever be lost, but he will prove the reality of his faith by an obedient life.

Many professors are not possessors (Matt. 7:21-23). A Christian is not sinless, but he does sin less and less—and less! The Christian is a king, and it is beneath his dignity to indulge in the practices of the lost world that is outside the kingdom of God.

1. A NATURE OF LIGHT (w. 7-14).

This figure is the main thrust of the passage. for Paul admonished his readers to "walk as children of light." You will want to read 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 for a parallel passage explaining the contrasts between the child of God and the unsaved person. Paul did not say we were "in the darkness" but "were darkness." Now that we are saved, "what communion hath light with darkness?" After all, light produces fruit, but the works of darkness are unfruitful regarding spiritual things. "For the fruit of the Spirit (or "the light") is in all goodness and righteousness and truth." It is impossible to be in darkness and light at the same time!

The light produces "goodness," one manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). Goodness is "love in action." Righteousness means rightness of character before God and rightness of actions before men. Both of these qualities are based on truth, which is conformity to the Word and will of God.

Jesus had much to say about light and darkness. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matt, 5:16. "Everyone that does with evil hath the light, neither comes to the light, list, his deeds should be reproved. But he that do with truth, to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are rot in God John 3:20-21 .

Opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (Heb. 4:13). Every time I take a plane to a meeting. I must surrender myself and my luggage to a special inspection, and I am happy to do so because this inspection helps to detect bombs. I have never been afraid to walk through the "detection tunnel" or have my luggage pass through the X-ray equipment because I have nothing to hide.

An author asked Charles Spurgeon for permission to write his life story, and the great preacher replied, "You may write my life in the skies—1 have nothing to hide!

Bur walking "as children of light" also means revealing God's light in our daily lives. Our character and conduct bring God's light into a dark world. As God's lights, we help others find their way to Christ. The sight of the unsaved person is blinded by Satan (2 Cor. 4:3-4) and sin (ph. 4:17-19). Only as we witness and share Christ can the light enter in.

A healthy person can assist the sick, and a child of God can lead the lost out of darkness into God's marvelous light.

Light reveals God; light produces fruit, but light also exposes what is wrong; no surgeon would willingly operate in darkness lest he makes a false sore and takes a life. How could an artist paint an accurate picture in darkness?

The light reveals the truth and exposes the true character of things. This is why the unsaved person avoids the church and the Bible. God's light shows a person’s true character, but the exposure is not very complimentary. As we Christians walk in the light, we refuse to fellowship with the sakes and expose the dark things of sin for what they are.

I am come a light into the world," said Jesus (John 12:46). He also said to His disciples, "Ye are the light of the world" (Matt. 5:14).

It is indeed a high calling to imitate God and to walk in love after the measure of Christ, but it will be impossible unless we open our innermost hearts to the Holy Spirit. We must not only sacrifice ourselves for others but there should be a fragrance in all that we do. “An odor of a sweet smell.” Note carefully the injunctions of Eph 5:3-4, primarily as they concern speech. By our speech, we betray the proper condition of our hearts.

We must be as distinct from the worldly as light is from darkness. There should be no twilight in our testimony for our Lord, though there may be considerable obscurity in our views of truth. Whatever is unfruitful, whatever we should blush to have transcribed and read to the world, whatever would be inconsistent with the intense, clear light of the throne of God and the Lamb, must be avoided. We must walk in the light of the Lord. Then we ourselves shall become luminous, as some diamonds do after being held in sunshine. People who love darkness will avoid and hate us; but their treatment may be only a cause for our own encouragement, as God becomes increasingly precious to us.

When you think of light, you think of waking up to a new day, and Paul presented this picture (Eph. 5:14); paraphrasing Isaiah 60:1, you have The same image in Romans 13:11-13 and 1 Thessalonians 5:1-10. That Easter morning, when Christ arose from the dead, was the dawning of a day for the world. Christians are not sleeping in sin and death. We have been raised from the dead through faith in Him. The darkness of the graveyard is past, and we are now walking in the light of salvation. Salvation is the beginning of a new day, and we ought to live as those who belong the light, not to the darkness. "Lazarus, come forth!"

The believer has no business in darkness. He is a saint, which means he is a partaker "of the inheritance of the saints in light" (Col. 1:12). He is sitting because he has been delivered "from the power of darkness" and has been translated into the kingdom of his dear Son" (Col. 1:13). He is light in the Lord" (Eph. 5:8).

2. A NATURE OF WISDOM (5:15-17)

Circumspect comes from two Latin words that mean "looking around." The Greek word carries the idea of precision and accuracy. "See that you walk carefully, with exactness" is the meaning. The opposite would be walking carelessly and without proper guidance and forethought. We cannot leave the Christian life to chance. We must make wise decisions and seek to do the will of God.

Ephesians 5:14-15 are related to these verses. Paul appeared to be saying, "Don't walk in your sleep! Wake up! Open your eyes! Make the most of the day!" It is sad to see many professed Christians drift through life like sleepwalkers, never really making the most of opportunities to live for Christ and serve Him. Paul presented several reasons why we should be accurate and careful in our walk.

It is a mark of wisdom (v. 15).

Only a fool drifts with the wind and tide. A wise man marks out his course, sets his sails, and guides the rudder until he reaches his destination. When a man wants to build a house, he first learns his plans so he knows what he is doing.

How many Christians plan their days so that they see their opportunity? We cannot know what a day may bring forth James 4:13-17 . But it is also true that a planned life can better deal with unexpected events. Someone said. "When the pilot does not know what port he is heading for, no wind is the right wind." Life is short (e 16a). "Buying up the opportunity— taking advantage of it." An old Chinese adage says, "Opportunity has a foresight, so you can seize it when you meet it. Once it is past, you cannot seize it again." The English word opportunity comes from Latin and means "toward the port." It suggests a ship taking advantage of the wind and tide to reach the harbor safely. The brevity of life is a strong argument for making the best use of the opportunities God gives us.

The days are evil vs 16b),

In Paul’s time, Roman persecution was on the way (1 Peter 4:12-19); how foolish to waste opportunities to win the lost when soon those opportunities might be taken away by the advances of sin in society! If the days were evil when Paul wrote this letter, what must be their condition today?