Once Darkness, Now Light

Introduction :

Apparently there is a recession going on that has some people scratching their heads. Consider our times — Permissive views of sexual activity outside of the confines of marriage have been normalized. You would get laughed at if you told someone you held to a traditional sexual ethic between one husband and one wife in the same marriage. There are apps available that at the drop of a download make sexual activity transactional with a stranger; Pornography among men and women are so prolific that one professor had to cancel his study because he couldn’t find a control group of people who hadn’t watched porn before. Consider our times and that can give you a clue about how surprising it was to read a major and popular article on the Atlantic, which stated that we are in the midst a sex recession. In our day and age you would think this to be odd — More people, particularly teenagers and young adults are having the type of sex that our text calls sexual immorality and impurity less. Why?

Going through the reasons why is not the point of our text this morning. It is safe to say that the article didn’t give the reason that our text does. In other words their reason for not engaging in immoral sexual acts and impurity is diametrically opposite to the Christian reason. There is a different why. There is a different motivation.

Motivation matters. Why we do what we do carries a great weight.

unpacks the big idea and the motivation for us, as believers, this morning.

For at one time you were darkness but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.

This text call us to align our lives with who we are as Christians. In other words our lives are to reflect who we are now and not who we were as unbelievers. What I hope for us to see this morning is that there has been a fundamental shift in our identity and therefore a fundamental shift in why we do what we do.

Consider two points from our text —

Identity informs our behavior

Identity informs our engagement

Identity Informs Our Behavior

What we saw last week in is that we are to be imitators of God in our kindness, compassion and forgiveness of one another. We are to be kind to one another because he has been kinds to us. We are to be compassionate to one another because he, in Christ, has been compassionate to us. We are to forgive one another because He forgave us in light of what Jesus has done for us. Verse 2 tells us that imitation of God turns out to be imitation of Christ in that we are to walk in love as we have been loved. I am glad to remind you again that Christ loved us and demonstrated that love by giving himself sacrificially up for us. In Christ, as the acceptable and fragrant offering, we are forgiving of our sins and in Christ we find an example to emulate.

Notice the hard contrast between verse 2 and verse 3 and 4.

And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God, BUT sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

Here we see conduct and conversation that are antithetical to walking in love. We see what is not appropriate and what is. Consider the conduct. What must not even be named among saints? There must not even be a hint of four things.

Sexual immorality — What Paul has in mind here is any sexual activity that is outside of the bonds of marriage. This term covers every kind of sexual sin. From soft porn to hardcore pornography; from sexting to premarital sex and all the bases in between; from extramarital affairs to prostitution to the entire spectrum of sex acts celebrated in the LBGTQ community — if it involves any sexual activity outside of a marriage between one man and one woman it is not proper in the body of Christ.

The second thing there must not even be a hint of — All impurity. Closely associated with sexual immorality, impurity is the uncleanness of heart that comes from sexually illicit acts. It is a sense of defilement that must not even be named among the saints.

The third conduct is a word that has fallen on hard times — covetousness. A more up to date word would be greediness. A person who is greedy desires more that one’s due and that greediness can be expressed sexually or materially.

The fourth conduct is filthiness — This could include dirty ways of speaking but it is broader in that it also means shameful and obscene conduct. Conduct that is filthy is out of place.

Consider the conversation that is out of place.

Foolish talk

Crude joking

Here comes the question. Why are these forms of conduct and conversation out of place in the community of the church? Why must they not even be named amongst believers? Paul once again shows us the importance of identity. His reasoning is that identity informs our behavior. Look at verse 3 and 4 again -

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, AS IS PROPER AMONG SAINTS. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, WHICH ARE OUT OF PLACE (IN THE COMMUNITY OF THE SAINTS).

Has anyone ever gotten in trouble before and your parents sat you down and reminded you who you were and how your identity is incompatible with what you did? You are a Tilahune. Tilahunes don’t do that. You are a Hilbrand. Hildbrands don’t act like that. What where they doing? They were teaching you that who you are fundamentally determines how you should act. In other words’ identity informs behavior.

How you noticed how much identity formation is a part of this letter? In every single chapter we have heard about who we are and yet this letter is not centered on us. Speaking about our identity is not a self-help exercise to psyche us up into action. (I’m a boss) Who we are is solely connected to who the Triune God is and what has been done for us. Our identity marker in this text is that we are saints. This means that we are God’s people called to belong to him. This identity that we have shouldn’t result in pride because it should be very clear to us after spending time in that we are not God’s people because of what we bring to the table. All we bring is our deadness of sin. How is it that we who were dead in disobedience and yet lived in the passions of our flesh can be counted as God’s people? How is it that that we who were by nature children of wrath be considered saints? How does that happen if not for the grace of God and the love of Christ demonstrated on our behalf?