.8. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now ye are light in the Lord: walk as children of light. 9.For the fruit if the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness and truth.
In these verses, Paul reminds the Ephesians of the difference in their lives since they accepted Christ as their Savior. Before Christ came into their lives they were, living in the darkness of sin, now since they have Christ in their lives they have moved into the light. In verse 9, he tells them what it means to walk in the light of Christ since they received Christ into their lives. When they were saved, the Holy Spirit came into their lives, and He would make a difference in their lives. The first "fruit of the Holy Spirit" is goodness. In the darkness of sin, Satan leads people away from goodness. What does it mean to live in goodness? The first thing that I think of is that it means that, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, we will be careful to think the right thing. Our thoughts guide the direction of our lives and when these thoughts are dark they lead to the wrong things. This, of course, makes a difference in the decisions that we make in our lives. Satan fills our minds with mischief and lead us to do the wrong thing. I don't think that I need to explain what "the right thing" is. Even when I was doing prison ministry, the inmates told me that they knew what the right thing was, but that they just didn't do it. The Holy Spirit will make a difference in what we say and in what we do and in how we relate to people. The second "fruit of the Spirit" is "righteousness." Goodness is based on what we think and do, righteousness is what we have by our faith in Jesus Christ. The righteousness of Christ means that we are in right relationship with Him, and that our relationship with Him makes a difference in our lives. It does not just make us think and do the right thing, but we will actually do the right thing because this is what Christs wants of us. Living in the righteousness of Christ will make a difference in what we think of ourselves. It will also make a difference in what other people think of us. It will make a difference in our prayer lives and in our interest in the Bible. It will make a difference in our relationships with people in our churches. The third "fruit of the Spirit" is "truth." In Christ we will be trustworthy, and that people will be able take us at our word. For example, there should be no trouble in buying a used car from a Christian, because he, or she, will tell the truth about the car. Jesus said that He is "the way, the truth, and the life." When Jesus comes into our lives, He brings His truth with Him and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we will live His truth in our private lives and in our relationships in the world. It is my prayer that in all of my dealings with people they will be able to trust me, and take me at my word, because they know that I am a Christian. Let's make this our daily prayer. I trust that I have dealt adequately with this subject. I'm sure I left out a lot, but I hope what I have shared will help you adequately understand Ephesians 5:8-9. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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