36
The Details of Walking According to Light
Eph.
5:9-10
(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
We now
turn to the second division of this context. Now that we know the difference
between darkness and light, we are prepared to examine the details of
walking according to light.
Before
dealing with these details, we must mention a textual note. Our Authorized
Version reads for the fruit of the
Spirit, but two early Greek manuscripts use the word photos
(“light”) instead of pneumatos (Spirit). As usual, however, the overwhelming majority of Greek
manuscripts support pneumatos.[1] While some argue that “light”
better fits the context, we could also argue, as does another commentator, that
“fruit of the light is an unusual phrase” and so “fruit of the Spirit”
(Gal 5:22–23) is more familiar and perhaps more understandable.”[2]
Both, however, are simply
irrelevant because the text says Spirit. Some ten years earlier Paul wrote to the Galatians
about the “the fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22-23), so is it not possible that
he mentions it again here? In both places, in fact, “goodness” is part of the fruit. In defense of for the fruit of the Spirit,
another commentator writes, “‘Goodness and righteousness and truth’ are outward
evidences of ‘love, joy, peace . . . etc.’”[3] And Albert Barnes adds, “That is,
since the Holy Spirit, through the gospel, produces goodness, righteousness,
and truth, see that you exhibit these in your lives, and thus show that you are
the children of light.”
What,
then, are the details (characteristics) of walking according to light?
We find in our text three things that prove we are walking according to light.
By way of illustration, it is interesting to parallel this walking according to
light with physical light. We all know that white light consists of all the
spectral colors. We also know that there are three primary colors (red, blue,
and green), and that any other color sensation can be duplicated by mixing
varying quantities of these three. So, to parallel, we are about to examine the
three primary characteristics of spiritual light.
I. All Goodness (v.
9b)
all goodness
Goodness was something Paul stressed often in his Epistles (e.g. Rom.
15:14; Gal. 5:22). We often hear the words “good” and goodness, but what exactly does
that concept mean? There are three Greek words translated “good” or goodness in the New Testament.
One is kalos
(137 times), which means “noble and beautiful.” Another is chrestos (7
times) which means “useful, good, suitable, proper.” But the word used in our
text is agathosune (4 times), which comes from the root agathos
(106 times). This important word refers to “virtue” and “uprightness of heart
and life.” [4] Therefore, to “be good” means to
be virtuous, upright, and moral. What an admonition this is in light of the
immorality of our day!
But the
truth found in our text goes deeper yet with the word all. The Greek is pas,
which is used, of course, as an adjective. Now, as one Greek authority points
out, if pas is used with the article (“the”) it can have several
meanings such as “all, whole, whoever, or generally.” But here in our text pas
is used without the article. It can, therefore, mean one of two things: First,
it can carry a distributive significance such as “each” or “every goodness,”
or, second, it can have an elative significance such as “full” or “total
goodness.”[5] We submit, however, that in the
final analysis BOTH of those should be true of the believer. Every single aspect
of the Believer’s life AND the total sum of the Believer’s life is to be
characterized by virtue, moral goodness,
and impeccable character.
Corrie ten Boom’s father was a watchmaker, but there were times when business was down and there was financial need in the family. Corrie tells the story that during one of those times she watched how her father dealt with a wealthy customer who decided to buy an expensive watch with enough cash that would have meet all the family’s needs. But as she watched her father, who already had the cash in his hand, he did something that horrified her. She heard the customer say that he was buying the watch because Mr. ten Boom’s young competitor could not fix his old watch. Corrie’s father asked to see it, opened it, made a small adjustment, and handed it back saying, “There, that was a very little mistake. It will be fine now. Sir, I trust the young watchmaker. Someday he will be just as good as his father. So if you ever have a problem with one of his watches, come to me. I’ll help you out. Now I shall give you back your money and you return my watch.” Looking on in dismay, Corrie watched her father open the door for the man, bow deeply in his old-fashioned way, and the man walk out. She ran to her father with rebuke, only to be herself reproved gently and patiently through his steel-rimmed glasses, “Corrie, what do you think that young man would have said when he heard that one of his good customers had gone to Mr. ten Boom? Do you think that the name of the Lord would be honored? As for the money, trust the Lord, Corrie. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and He will take care of us.”[6]
That is character, that is all goodness.
II. All Righteousness (v. 9c)
and [all] righteousness
As with
“goodness,” righteousness
is another principle Paul stressed often in his Epistles. In fact, these two
are often stressed together, as they are here. The basic idea in righteousness is that of doing
right. We can put the contrast this way:
·
Goodness speaks of being right;
·
Righteousness speaks of doing right.
In other
words, while “goodness” speaks of our position before God, righteousness speaks of our practice
toward men. We saw this principle back in Ephesians 4:24. In that
context (4:19) the “Old Man” is “past feeling;” he does terrible things to his
fellowman but feels absolutely nothing. In contrast, the “New Man” treats
others rightly because he is light!
But may we
also notice that the word all
goes with righteousness
as well as with “goodness.” We say this because since all appears at the beginning of
the verse, this implies that it encompasses the whole verse. Not only is every
aspect and the sum total of the Christian’s life to be moral, but every aspect
and the sum total of it is to be righteous. In all areas of life we do right to
those around us.
III. All Truth (v. 9d-10)
and [all] truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
Here is
the fifth of six occurrence of the word truth in Ephesians.[7] As we’ve noted, alētheia
refers to that which is not concealed, the way things really are, that which is
absolute, incontrovertible,
irrefutable, incontestable, unarguable, and unchanging.
It is here
in dramatic contrast to what Paul has said previously about the non-Christian.
The non-Christian “deceives with vain words” (v. 6). The non-Christian (as well
as the Christian who does not allow the Spirit to rule) “lies” (4:25).
Furthermore, right in our present context Paul says, “It is a shame to even
speak of those things which are done by them in secret.”
But truth is the exact opposite of all
that, for where there is light there is truth. There must be nothing secret, hidden, deceitful,
misleading, dishonest, underhanded, shady, or hypocritical in the life of the
Christian. The Christian lives by truth.
As we saw in our last chapter, we are not in light; we are light.
To
illustrate, what a lie it is today that every married person has some secret
from his or her spouse. I’ve not only heard this lie from the world’s
psychologists, but I’ve hear it from “Christian counselors” as well. Another
example is that if nothing else showed that a Christian has no place in a
secret lodge or organization, this alone should be enough. Oh, how we need
Christians today who will live according to Truth! Once again “all” goes with truth as it does with goodness and
righteousness. In short, truth must characterize every aspect AND the total sum
of the believer’s life.
Finally,
we see that verse 10 brings together the thoughts of verse 9 by showing the
result that is produced by these three primary characteristics: Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
The Greek behind proving
is dokimazō, a word we examined back in our
study of discernment in 4:14, and which means “test, pronounce good, establish by trial.” A related
word, dokimos, was originally used as a technical term for coins that
were genuine.[8] Paul uses dokimazō, for example, in I Thessalonians
5:21-22: “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all
appearance of evil.” He is saying, “Examine everything, put everything to the
test, verify each item to see if it is genuine or if it is a fake.” If it’s
good, seize it and hold on to it. If it’s not, however, we are to withdraw from
it.
Martyn
Lloyd-Jones reminds us of our motive in all this:
The Christian’s motive is not to live up to a certain code of morality, it is not to avoid the criticism of others, it is not to be on good terms with himself, it is not to be a paragon of all the virtues, it is not to cut a great figure or have a great name among men . . . The Christian is a man who is not interested in abstract virtues as such, even though they be goodness, righteousness, and truth; he is interested in them only because his is interested in the Lord . . . “Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.”[9]
In the
present context, then, we “test every thought, word, and act”[10] to ensure that it is acceptable unto the Lord. And it’s
those three characteristics—goodness, righteousness, and Truth—that are the tests.
Even today in the marketplaces of the middle-east, the shops are often just small, open enclosures that while covered with a tarp or other material still have no windows. A customer contemplating buying a piece of silk or an article of beaten brass often will take it into the street and hold it up to the sun, so that the light might reveal any flaws that might exist.[11] A doctor puts an x-ray on a light box that illuminates the film. Before the advancement of computers for publishing, printers used a similar device to illuminate pages of material that he pasted together. A draftsman, jeweler, and other such craftsman focus light on their work.
Those, and other examples we could list, demonstrate the
necessity of light to see clearly, work carefully, and expose flaw. Likewise, the light of the Word of
God does that in the spiritual realm. These primary characteristics of
spiritual light prove what is acceptable to the Lord; they prove what pleases
Him. Moreover, these prove that your life is acceptable unto the Lord. So, as
there are three primary colors in physical light, there are three primary
characteristics of spiritual light. Dear Christian, may we say again, we are
not to walk in light, rather we walk as light; we walk according
to the attributes of light.