Walking as Children of Light and Exposing the Darkness

John Quincy Adams - sixth President of the United States and mentor to Abraham Lincoln. He exposed slavery and Free Masonry for the wickedness that they were. Photo by By Southworth & Hawes (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.  ⁷ Therefore do not be partakers with them;  ⁸ for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light  ⁹ (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),  ¹⁰ trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.  ¹¹ Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;  ¹² for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.—Ephesians 5:6-12, NASB

Certainly no sound-minded person wakes each day with the intention of deceiving or being deceived, but how is it that people are deceived so much? Think about it. In every aspect of life, you find deceivers, even many calling themselves “Christians” who intentionally or unintentionally purport lies. They do it for a variety of reasons. Some do it for financial gain, some for attention, and some do it with good intentions.

This brings to mind a recent Wallbuilders radio show (June 11, 2012) that I listened to about the culture of death in our country and in Europe. To summarize one point the guest, Dr. Mark Mostert, made is that in the Netherlands polls are starting to show that the elderly are sensing a growing social pressure to get euthanized because they can be a burden to others and the medical system. Euthanasia is legal in some cases in the Netherlands, but it is becoming a slippery slope that is leading people to believe that they have the right to put themselves to death (or urge others to) for any reason. This is exactly what the devil wants.

Proverbs 14:12, NASB, says, “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” Jesus said that the devil is a murderer and the father of lies (John 8:44), and the devil is good at making lies seem tasty and pleasant to swallow. His intent is to kill you physically and keep your soul from being saved by Jesus Christ (if you are not already saved. I don’t believe you can lose your salvation).

Accepting, approving, and affirming ideas that go against God’s morality always leads to more death, both physically and spiritually. I’ve had more than a few conversations with Christians who say, “I don’t believe ____ (abortion or marriage between homosexuals are the usual issues) is O.K., but I don’t think it is fair to take the right to ____ away from others.” Therefore, they don’t vote or they vote in support of false morality, and in this way are partakers (v. 7). They also fail to convey the truth and expose the lies in order to counteract the slippery slope (v. 11).

The reality is that someone’s morality wins when there is a conflict of moral views, and if we want to love God and others, then we have to help them understand that God’s morality is the best (only) morality, and this must be done in a winsome way using reason, not just by spouting Bible verses without understanding the rationale behind them. Besides, the Bible is not the only proof that God’s ways our true. Nature reveals His truth as well.

As Christians, our goal is not to win non-Christians to our political beliefs. Our goal is to win them to faith in Jesus Christ, but when it comes time to vote, voting for candidates the assert godly moral values among other biblical worldviews is the most loving way to vote. It leads to life and blessing and prosperity in many ways (not necessarily materially). It is what is good for the proliferation of the gospel and society in general.

We must be careful. We must seek to know God through careful study and application of what He tells us in the Bible. This is the primary way to know the full, complete truth about the world around us. We must think critically about the words of others. We must ask, “What is this person really saying, and why?” Many public figures tell people what they want to hear, and the masses swallow it and are poisoned by it. Don’t let this happen to you! Discern what is good.