Ephesians 5:8-14

⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) ¹⁰and find out what pleases the Lord. ¹¹Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹²For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. ¹³But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, ¹⁴for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: 'Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.'

Paul gave us the motivation of Judgment Day, a future time that is surely a motivation that will only be meaningful and useful to those who know the grace of God. And that alone teaches us that grace is the underlying motivation of all these supports Paul builds up. Now Paul turns our attention from the future (Judgment Day) to the past (we were once darkness) and present (we are light in the Lord). Looking back to see what God has graciously delivered us from ought to be motivation to continue on that path of progress. And remembering who we are by that grace – children of God brought from darkness to light – ought to motivate us to never return to the darkness again. Paul again shows us what grace looks like.

In v8, Paul offers a great positive command that sums up his teaching. We shouldn’t focus on what not to do; rather, our efforts ought to be constantly on doing right. In other words, we do not merely abstain from doing evil; rather, we live as children of light, doing good by making the most of every opportunity (Colossians 4:5-6; 1 Peter 2:12). And Paul says that we were darkness. We weren’t merely in darkness. We were darkness! But now we who are in Christ are light. We aren’t merely brought into the light; we are light! And so Paul wants us to focus on being who we are. By being who we are, we will do good things.

It’s as if Paul says, “You were darkened by the confusion that you were at the center of the universe, and now you realize that there is a God and you are not Him. And you were created by Him, for Him, to worship Him, and enjoy Him forever, and that has radically changed your whole moral outlook and experience and character in this life. So, remember who you are! Remember that you are now a child of light, and live that out.” Christianity never asks you to be someone you’re not. Rather, first, understand who you were and who you are, then put off who you were and be who you are. “Live as children of light.” What does that look like? Paul shows us in v9, as a parenthetical remark. Living as children of light looks like goodness (generous benevolence to others), righteousness (thoughts, words, and deeds that are right in God’s sight), and truth (integrity, such that motives and actions are united, Coram Deo).

The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is God?” and answers, “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness [and then listen to the last three}, justice, goodness, and truth.” Notice the last three designations; they are the same as what Paul reveals as living in light. So we might conclude that to live as children of light, to exhibit goodness, righteousness, and truth, is simply living like God would live, wanting to be like Jesus. And so we ask, “What would Jesus do?” When it comes to trying to find out what please the Lord, we want to practice living as children of light until we can do it naturally, without having to “try,” much like athletic training or playing a musical instrument. Consider Eric Liddell, the fast runner in Chariots of Fire. He said, “God made me to run, and I run for His glory. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.” In other words, Eric Liddell is doing exactly what God made him to do, and he knows that the Father delights in him doing exactly what he was made to do, which brings God glory.

Finally, in v11-14, we are to do such good deeds that our light exposes the darkness in our midst for what it is. Our motive for doing good works is not self-recognition, but God-recognition. Specifically, in v13, we notice that the light exposes evil (John 3:19-21). One commentary says that some sin of unbelievers is so shameful that only the presence of a Christian can bring it to light and demand repentance. Otherwise, it will not be recognized as sin. But even when the light of godly people reveals sin, the sinner may harden his heart. V14 may be a hymn that shows how God calls the dead to life in this very way (sin exposure).