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Ephesians 5:8-10 - Children of Light.

Ephesians 5:8-10 (NIV) For 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) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord.

INTRODUCTION

As people who have light from the Lord, our actions will reflect our faith. Jesus stressed this truth in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:15-16). Our pasts may have dark times of cynicism, despair, shame, or self-doubt. Satan desires to lead us back into that darkness. We must reject him by intentionally living out what pleases the Lord (see Romans 12:2; 1 John 1:5). In this way, Christ's light will keep shining brighter in us. [Life Application SB 2019]

COMMENTARY PEARL

Children of Light
   An Amazing Fact: When "solar winds" - electrically charged particles flowing out from the sun - hit our atmosphere, the Earth's magnetic field traps and pushes most of them to the polar regions. The strange and beautiful light shows of the aurora borealis and aurora australis (northern and southern lights) are the result. These can be seen as a glow or as curtains or arcs. Green is the most common color, but they can also be pink, red, yellow, blue, or a combination.
   Light is an essential gift from God. "Let there be light" was His first command of creation. He knew how important it would be for us. A lack of light or low levels of light can cause depression in humans and animals. We need regular exposure to strong light for our physical and emotional well-being.
   The same is true in our spiritual lives. Without a regular supply of strong spiritual light, we can easily become discouraged and lose our way.
   The Word of God provides this light. "Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105).
   In John 8:12, Jesus says, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." Because of Him we can "walk as children of light... finding out what is acceptable to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:8, 10). We don't need to stumble around in the dark. Jesus promises to light our way. [Moving Mountains by Amazing Facts]

COMMENTARY

   Union with Christ, once formed, must be maintained. Christ said, "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me." This is no casual touch, no off-and-on connection. The branch becomes a part of the living vine. The communication of life, strength, and fruitfulness from the root to the branches is unobstructed and constant. Separated from the vine, the branch cannot live. No more, said Jesus, can you live apart from Me. The life you have received from Me can be preserved only by continual communion. Without Me you cannot overcome one sin, or resist one temptation.
   "Abide in Me, and I in you." Abiding in Christ means a constant receiving of His Spirit, a life of unreserved surrender to His service. The channel of communication must be open continually between man and his God. As the vine branch constantly draws the sap from the living vine, so are we to cling to Jesus, and receive from Him by faith the strength and perfection of His own character.
   The root sends its nourishment through the branch to the outermost twig. So Christ communicates the current of spiritual strength to every believer. So long as the soul is united to Christ, there is no danger that it will wither or decay.
   The life of the vine will be manifest in fragrant fruit on the branches. "He that abideth in Me," said Jesus, "and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing." When we live by faith in the Son of God, the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives; not one will be missing.
   "My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away." While the graft is outwardly united with the vine, there may be no vital connection. Then there will be no growth or fruitfulness. So there may be an apparent connection with Christ without a real union with Him by faith. A profession of religion places men in the church, but the character and conduct show whether they are in connection with Christ. If they bear no fruit, they are false branches. Their separation from Christ involves a ruin as complete as that represented by the dead branch. "If a man abide not in Me," said Christ, "he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."
   "And every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth [pruneth] it, that it may bring forth more fruit." From the chosen twelve who had followed Jesus, one as a withered branch was about to be taken away; the rest were to pass under the pruning knife of bitter trial. Jesus with solemn tenderness explained the purpose of the husbandman. The pruning will cause pain, but it is the Father who applies the knife. He works with no wanton hand or indifferent heart. There are branches trailing upon the ground; these must be cut loose from the earthly supports to which their tendrils are fastening. They are to reach heavenward, and find their support in God. The excessive foliage that draws away the life current from the fruit must be pruned off. The overgrowth must be cut out, to give room for the healing beams of the Sun of Righteousness. The husbandman prunes away the harmful growth, that the fruit may be richer and more abundant.
   "Herein is My Father glorified," said Jesus, "that ye bear much fruit." God desires to manifest through you the holiness, the benevolence, the compassion, of His own character. Yet the Saviour does not bid the disciples labor to bear fruit. He tells them to abide in Him. "If ye abide in Me," He says, "and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." It is through the word that Christ abides in His followers. This is the same vital union that is represented by eating His flesh and drinking His blood. The words of Christ are spirit and life. Receiving them, you receive the life of the Vine. You live "by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matt. 4:4. The life of Christ in you produces the same fruits as in Him. Living in Christ, adhering to Christ, supported by Christ, drawing nourishment from Christ, you bear fruit after the similitude of Christ. DA 676-677

LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY

Matthew 5:14-16 - Shining for Jesus!
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2025/20250409-1454.html

Romans 12:2 - Transformation: Glimpses into How It Is Done.
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2025/20250320-1424.html

John 8:12 - The Second I AM; JESUS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD!
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2025/20250131-1355.html

LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT

https://abible.com/links/