According to Philippians 2:15, Christians appear as lights to the world. We do this by living a righteous life before God and man. The previous verse in this passage says that we should stop grumbling and complaining so that we can be blameless before the world. (Click here for my article on grumbling.) In thinking about this, it helped to realize that any light that I have in me, is because of the light in Jesus. I don’t have to manufacture it, I don’t have to figure out where I can go to get it, I just need to abide. Here are some thoughts on this idea.
Jesus is the Light of the World
John 3:19-2119 “This is the judgment, that the Light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
One of the encouraging things about this passage is that Christians want to come to the Light and love the Light. We are striving to live for the truth and know Him. This gives us confidence in our faith, showing that we are not abiding in darkness.
Abiding in The Light
1 John 1 says that if we walk in the light, that is, walk in His Spirit, we have fellowship with each other. We have instant connection to other believers because of Jesus. God is light and when we abide in Him, we are in His light.1
The parable of the vine and branches in John 15 is a related idea. Jesus tells us that we can do nothing if we don’t abide in Him (the vine). However, if we abide in Him, then we can bear the fruit of righteousness in our lives which influences others for good. Abiding in Jesus means that we continue trusting in Him in our day to day, moment to moment lives. This is how we walk by faith.
Darkness to Light
When the Bible talks about our lives before we trusted Jesus for our salvation, it describes us as darkness. We lived in darkness, then believed, and are now living in the light. In Ephesians 5:8-10, it says,
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.”
The fruit of the Light in our lives is goodness, righteousness, and truth. It is instructive to note that even with that fruit, Paul says that we still seek to be pleasing to God with our lives.
Practical Darkness
Have you gone to the movie theater during the daytime? Once inside the theater your eyes adjust to the darkness. Going outside directly from the darkness to the bright sunshine is a shock because our eyes do not adjust quickly. This is a picture of the effects of the light on the darkness. The light is so bright, it makes us squint or we try to block the light. In some cases, we may even try to retreat back to the darkness because of the brightness of the light.
Our lives of light can have this kind of impact on others. Even just a little light can make a difference. They should know deep down that they are in darkness, but some either forget, are deceived and don’t recognize the darkness they are in, or have seared their conscience2 so that they believe they are not in darkness. Our light reveals just how dark the darkness is.
Conclusion
Even as I write this I think about my failings, when I don’t walk in the Light. I am thankful that I don’t have to depend on my own strength! What I need to do is to walk in the Light by abiding in Him. When I fail, I can remember the last part of 1 John 1:7 mentioned in the endnote earlier: “and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Appendix
A great psalm that helps me abide in God by faith is Psalm 23. Please see my article on that psalm titled, Psalm 23.
1 1 John 1:5-7 “And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
2 Referring to those excluded from the life of God in Ephesians 4:17-19, verse 19 says “and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.”