Ephesians 5:8,9 - Walk as children of light

5:8

"You were darkness", now "you are light". It wasn't just that we did dark deeds, we actually were darkness, but now we have become light. We need to live in line with our identity. There is a lot of talk about identity these days, with gender identity, identity politics etc. Our identity is that we are "light in the Lord" and "children of light", and we should live as such. Now notice something else that is relevant in the light of our identity obsessed age. We do not choose our identity, it is given to us by God. This applies to our gender. The Biblical view is that we live in harmony with our God given identity. This applies to being male or female, and, most of all, to our identity as children of God, children of light. We are here to live as children of light, and will never be happy unless we do so, nor will we be fulfilled. This will mean going against the tide of the world, but it has almost always been so.

5:9

"The fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true" (NIV). All the good things in the world ultimately emanate from the light of the Lord, from the goodness of God. All the good qualities in lives of individuals, and in society as a whole come from the light. The world will often try to deny this, saying they are either arrived at in an evolutionary manner, or are inherent in the nature of man. Experience and a little history are usually sufficient to show these arguments to be utter nonsense. We value freedom of speech, tolerance and equality, these are much more likely to be found in a society with a Christian ethos than one with an athesitic, secular or religious ethos. This is not to say that "Christian" countries are without fault, they are all imperfect, and sometimes descend into being a religious ethos, but look around the world. Countries that are ruled by a religious ethos such as Muslim countries are usually intolerant of other religions (though there was  an interesting article in the Spectator on Rwanda's approach to Islam). As India has been more dominated by Hinduism in government there has been an incease in persecution of Christians and Muslims. Atheistic countries are usually utterly appalling. Communist Russia was a prime example, as was China, and China is going back down that road, with increasing persecution of Muslims and Christians. As the West casts off its Christian heritage it is becoming increasingly intolerant, just try arguing against the West's mores on sexuality!