The Fruit of the Light
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March 16, 2014 |
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 "For the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth" (Ephesians 5:9).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
God is the One who created the heavens and the Earth with His word and He made man in His own image. So, God can also change everything to be made beautiful. He can give life to those who were on the way to death, set order to chaos and disorder, and give peace in the presence of argument.
Thus, when people meet Jesus Christ, they can possess a good, beautiful, truthful heart that is different from the heart they once had. They can also enjoy happy and healthy lives. If they accept Jesus Christ and are born again as children of the Light, they can bear abundant fruit of the Light and give glory to God.
Then, what is the fruit of the Light and what must we do to bear this fruit abundantly?
1. What is the fruit of the Light?
Ephesians 5:9 reads, "For the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth." Then, what do goodness, righteousness, and truth mean spiritually?
'Goodness' refers to the good and beautiful heart that is void of evilness. For example, it is to seek the advantage of others before oneself. It is caring for the sick and the poor, doing good for others and serving parents. It is not just the heart that acts with no impropriety toward others. It is the heart of humbling oneself in service to others, having peace with others, yielding, not having greed, not boasting, not showing off, and always rejoicing with the truth.
Next, 'righteousness' is to believe God's promise and to obey the Word of God. In other words, it is to cast off sins, to keep all commandments written in the Bible, to be cleansed of all unrighteous things, and to be faithful in life. It is to seek the kingdom and righteousness of God following His will. It is to behave well and to be right in all deeds. It is never forsaking the primary duty of man and never drawing back from what is right.
Lastly, 'truth' refers to not lying, keeping promises, and having an unchanging heart in any kind of situation. Many people don't keep their promises or what they said because they have not borne the fruit of the truth.
2. Why do these three aspects of goodness, righteousness, and truth have to go together?
Today's Scripture says the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth. Why should the three aspects come together?
People usually think that a person who has compassion for beggars and gives them money, who takes care of the disabled, or who takes a lead in doing what others hate to do, is of 'goodness'. But no matter what they do or how good their hearts are in doing it, if their intention or the consequence is not of goodness, it can't be deemed goodness in God's sight.
Thus, for such good deeds to be borne as the fruit of the Light, the goodness should have the righteousness of God.
Furthermore, goodness and righteousness alone can't achieve perfect fruit of the Light. This is because if it doesn't also have the truth in it, it doesn't mean anything.
In this sense, to act as children of the Light and bear the fruit of the Light, we have to practice goodness in the righteousness of God. Also, our deeds of goodness should not be for the purpose of revealing ourselves, but we should act in the Light with the love for God. Then, we can bear the fruit of the Light.
3. The blessing given to Abraham, who bore the fruit of the Light
The following verse Ephesians 5:10 reads, "…and learn what is pleasing to the Lord." The context of these words tells us that by bearing the fruit of the Light we must please the Lord.
Abraham, the father of faith, is a good example in the Bible of ones who pleased God. His life itself was the fruit of the Light.
Pursuing peace, Abraham gave away the better land to his nephew Lot. He had an incorruptible and good heart so he didn't want to take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that belonged to others. With both a good heart and righteous deeds, he pleased God.
That is why he could obey the Word of God telling him to 'go forth from his country and from his relatives and from his father's house' to the land which God would show him although he didn't know where to go. Also, it was deemed to be righteousness in the sight of God to believe His Word without doubt though it seemed impossible that it could happen (Genesis 15:6). That is, he and his wife were too old to bear a child but he believed the Word of God when God told him to look at the stars and said "So shall your descendants be."
Then, what kind of fruit of the truth did Abraham bear? Abraham's faith and deeds towards God were unwavering no matter what the situation or conditions he was in. This is the truth. He even obeyed without hesitation when God told him to offer up his son whom he had gained at the age of 100 (Genesis chapter 22).
As explained, Abraham bore abundant fruit of the Light that consisted in all goodness, righteousness, and the truth. That is why he was recognized as the father of faith and called the friend of God.
4. To bear the fruit of the Light abundantly
Ephesians 5:11-13 says, "Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light."
Thus, in order to bear the fruit of the Light, everything in us should be exposed by the Light first and we should come out of darkness and enter the Light. Here, 'to expose' one's faults does not simply mean to scold him for his fault but it means to do it to let him come into the Light.
Since I was a new believer, I have looked back upon myself diligently and tried to act perfectly according to the Word of God. When I found my shortcomings reading the Bible, I cast them off right then. If I had something that was hard to get rid of such as hatred or anger, I wrote them down on my notebook and prayed to cast them away until they were removed completely. While trying my best to find my shortcomings that were exposed by the Light and practicing the truth perfectly, God poured down overflowing blessings upon me.
If we practice the Word of God written in the Bible, blessing will come. Otherwise, trials and afflictions will come. Thus, I don't unconditionally comfort believers who are having hard time. I sometimes expose the reasons why they are under the trials and afflictions and reprove that they don't live in the truth. Of course, my heart aches doing so, but I know that they can come into the Light when I shed the light of the truth on them, correct their wrongdoings, and lead them to the right way. So, when reproof is necessary, I point the things out to give them realization.
Therefore, if you want to come to the Light, you must not hate being exposed by the Light. Even if you are reproved for your shortcomings or mistakes, you have to give thanks and rejoice from the bottom of the heart. All things become visible when they are exposed by the Light, for everything that becomes visible is light.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God who is the Light, wants to expose darkness by light and wants His children to bear abundant fruit of the Light through it. To come out of darkness and enter light, we should receive any kind of discipline or reproof with joy and thanks that arise from the heart. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will bear the fruit of the Light quickly and please God like Abraham, the father of faith.
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