…for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light…

      Ephesians 5:8

The word “former” means that something is no longer. When you hear someone say, “that is my former house,” or “that was my former job,” we know that they mean they no longer live there or they no longer work there. In our spiritual lives, we need to appreciate the importance of “former.” 

When we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, we become a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our former lives are gone and our new life in Jesus begins. But if there is no apparent change in us, in our behavior, attitudes, priorities, or motives, how can we say that we have begun a new life in Jesus? Consider the following:

…that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

      Ephesians 4:22-24

Scripture is very clear about what true, authentic salvation looks like. As Christians, we lay aside our old self and we put on the new self. We can use the analogy of buying a new coat. We may like the old one. Although it is wearing out, we’re comfortable with it because we have been wearing it for a long time. You might even say that we have it well “broken in.” But in order for us to put on the new coat, which is new to us but far superior to the old one, we must take off the old one. We simply cannot wear the old and new one at the same time. This is true of our spiritual lives. We might like our old self. After all, it is much more comfortable living life, in this world, by the world’s standards. Less resistance, less friction with others, and if we’re honest, most of us probably don’t like the proposition of rejection from others. We don’t get up in the morning wanting to find conflict but in the Christian life, we are living godly lives in an ungodly world therefore, there is going to be friction. This is the essence of a changed life in Christ…life change…our former life is gone and our new life has begun and it’s an eternal one. This is the picture of believer’s baptism (our first act of obedience once we have been saved). As we go beneath the water, that is a symbol of our dying to our former life and when we are brought up out of the water, that is symbolic of our being raised with Christ and the beginning of our new life in Him!

So let’s look at what Paul is saying in today’s verse…it’s really as simple as these three statements:

1. “You were formerly darkness”

2. “Now you are Light in the Lord”

3. “Walk as children of Light”

So what Paul is saying is this:

You are no longer in darkness, now you have been saved, redeemed, and restored, so live like it! There should be an expectation of change in the Christian life. If our lives look like the rest of the world or if our lives look the same as they have always been, even when we were apart from Christ, then we need to examine what exactly we believe has and is going on in our spiritual lives. 

For Paul to say, “you were formerly darkness,” means that we are no longer living there. Every man, woman, and child that you and I will run into in our lives is either no longer in darkness (because they belong to Christ) or they are still living there. There’s no neutral ground or halfway in between. It’s either light or darkness. Thats’s why Paul uses rhetorical questions when he says the following:

Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial (Satan), or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God…

2 Corinthians 6:14-16a

Do you see the problem with blending in as a Christian? This world doesn’t need chameleon Christians who just adapt their behavior to the current environment in which they find themselves. No, what the world needs is to see Christian men and women live according to the truth of God’s Word and without compromise. Only then will we see revival, spiritual awakening, and people’s lives changed for eternity.

Is your former life just that…”former” or do you still have a lot of the “old self” creeping into your lifestyle? Why not make a stand today, in the power of God’s Spirit, to rededicate your life to Christ and begin living a life that is no longer in darkness!

Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.

      Isaiah 43:19