Ephesians 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of light
When I was a child, sometimes my dad and mom would leave my sisters and me with a babysitter. Perhaps they were going out for Valentine’s dinner or to an engagement that would take them away from home. Whenever Dad would leave us in the charge of my aunt or someone else, he would always say, “Wil, Wendy, Wren, remember whose children you are.” What did he mean by that? Was he afraid I was going to have amnesia, like the moment Dad walked away I was going to say, “Oh, who am I? Who do I belong to?” No, he wasn’t worried about my memory. He was concerned about my actions. In other words, “Wil, you are a Rice, my son. You had better act right or you will wish you were a Smith when I get home.” So, remembering to whom I belonged was a matter of living in light of what I was, being in action what I was by position, the son of my dad.
In Ephesians the Bible talks about dear children and disobedient children. As to dear children, he is talking about the children of God. As to disobedient children, he is talking about those in rebellion. So, in essence Ephesians 5 talks about what believers are, what believers were, and what they should be. This is probably best put in a nutshell in Ephesians 5:8, “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.” You were, you are, and you should be.
As to what you were, he makes reference again to what he said in Ephesians 2:2-4. In time past you were darkness. Now, darkness is not a place you were without Christ. It is a thing you were, your very identity. So, what were we without Christ? Ephesians 2:1-3, 12 and 4:18ff tell us we were separated from God; we were dead; we were disobedient; we were deserving of God’s wrath; we were without Christ; we were in darkness, darkened, and blind. So, believers were darkness by definition. We were without Christ, therefore, we were darkness.
“You were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light.” How is that? “Ye are light in the Lord.” You are light. Light is not something you do; light is something by the grace of God that you are. You are in God’s family. You are in the light. You are living in the light. Ephesians 1:1 and 2:19 say that you are a saint. That is a position. Am I always a saint? If I have put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ, that is by definition what I am. I belong to God. I am a saint. I am separated to Him. It is a position. I may do, say, and think things I ought not. I might sin. But that is not what I am, that is what I was. I am, in position, a child of God. So, I was darkness, but now I am light. I am accepted in the Beloved One, not because of my works, but because of Christ.
So, you were darkness; you are light in the Lord; so now, walk as children of light. Ephesians 5 begins with this idea of walking. I am to be a follower of God as a dear child and walk in love as Christ. So, “walk as children of light.” In other words, my practice or walk should reflect my position, what I am. “Wil, remember whose boy you are.” What dad was talking about was living in light of whom I belong to and the dad who was coming home at the end of the week.
In Ephesians 5:3 Paul says that we are to put away fornication, uncleanness, and covetousness because it is not becoming of saints. Then he mentions other sins and says that they are not convenient or fitting. They are not a proper reflection of who I am in Christ. In verses 6-7 he says that we are not to be partakers with the children of disobedience. If I am a child of light, a child of God, then my actions need to reflect that. I need to live in light of who I am. Verses 9-10 tell us we are to prove what is acceptable and fruitful, do what is right, be imitators of Christ, and reprove what is unfruitful. Verse 11 says, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Have no fellowship with those things because they are shameful.
I am light. I am not perfect, but Christ is. When I am in Christ, I am, as far as fellowship with God is concerned, righteous. If you are in Christ, you were darkness, you are light, so walk as children of light.