13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. 14 For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Exposure of sinful living is no small thing, either in terms of frequency of reference in Scripture, nor in terms of weightiness. We so easily fall to the unconscious (or even conscious) idea that God ignores our less than spiritual behavior. Determination to sin puts the Lord on the shelf in the back room of our spiritual lives. To use a different metaphor, more appropriate to our text today, we just turn out the light and hopefully God doesn’t see or at least He won’t really care.
However, Scripture repeatedly warns us that we can’t hide from God, nor conceal our sin from Him:
“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (Heb 4:13).
“If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You” (Ps 139:11–12) .
“For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes” (Jer 16:17).
“It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him.” (Dan 2:22) .
In the context of our passage today, this exposure to light comes through the holy lives of Christ’s followers. Their mere presence provides light that exposes sin. What behavior once seemed innocuous, often in the presence of a Christian, becomes seen for what it is, namely, sinfulness. It is like someone turning on a flashlight in a darkened room. And those who are sinners become “light” themselves through the exposure to the light through other believers. While a bit cryptic, the idea is that through the testimony of believers (spoken and lived), others come to see their sin in the light of holiness, leading to their repentance and faith. Light, as a general rule, has a way of reproducing itself (MacDonald). Therefore, Paul quotes a saying that was in common circulation at that time (possibly loosely based on Psalm 60:1), encouraging the Ephesian believers (and us as well) to take the message of salvation to unbelievers who live in the darkness, in order to awaken them from spiritual deadness.
Lord, shine the light of Your truth and holiness in my life, search me and know me and see if there is any sinful way in me (Psalm 139:23-24).
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