Corporations pay good money to convince you of something that you "need" to buy. But they also pay a lot of money teaching people how to spot lies. That is exactly what we, as children of the light, need to do. We need to be alert -- testing things according to the Word of the Lord.
A big problem in today's culture is the danger of people "following their hearts," instead of following God's Word. The world is always trying to lead us astray, and we are only to prone to go after our own "feelings" on matters. But here Paul is telling the Church that we must be on guard. We cannot keep on sinning, just because we enjoy the privileges of grace. We must put off the works of darkness; and although we cannot avoid the world, we don't have to have close fellowship with it.
Paul teaches us to be on guard, for we are always exposed to temptations by the sins around us -- and these sins may even be working within the Church. When we go to church, we are going as professing saints, to grow in faith and expose the works of darkness.
Why does God want us to expose these works of darkness? Because as God's children, we ought not to be walking in those dark ways any longer; we are to be walking in the ways of light. Formerly, we were slaves to the works of darkness; but now we have been raised up to new life in Christ! And it is because we have been made God's children that we become holy; we are called upon to imitate our Heavenly Father. If we find ourselves walking in darkness, then it is time for us to repent of our sins and pray to God for grace to walk in light and bear the fruits of the Spirit! |
