What Does Light Have to Do With Darkness

“… What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?”

2 Corinthians 6:15b

11 / 18 / 06

(NIV used)

FIRST THOUGHT:

“So, How ya been?”

“Fine.”

“How’s the family?”

“Oh, good, thank you.”

“How about that game yesterday, huh? I can’t believe they won.”

“Yea, it was great.”

(Long pause … as they both reach for other things to talk about)

You can sure tell when there is little, if anything, in common between two people. How shallow and worldly the conversation! We’ve all been there. There is NO difference between someone who loves working on cars talking to someone who has not idea of how cars run and a believer speaking with an unbeliever. Both try to force a conversation, but have nothing in common. (Yes, even trying to force a conversation with someone who says that they are a believer, yet they do not want to talk about God). There is just nothing in common. Without God as a base, what is there to talk about? It’s like: What do we have in common without the Lord? I don’t love what you love, I don’t live to gain what you are striving to gain. What do we have in common with unbelievers? Yet there are many among us who seem to love both God and the things of this world … it just doesn’t make sense! “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial ? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore come out from them and be separate, says YHVH. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-17)

LIGHT is the work of God and His true children … obedience, what is good, truth.
DARKNESS is the work of Satan and his followers … disobedience, what is evil, lies.

Let us start from the beginning … and when some believe Satan and His followers fell from grace: “God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.” (Genesis 1:4) Even during creation, God separated good and evil, light from the darkness, the work of His Son from the work of Satan!

My friends, you can NOT love both the world and God. If the world loves you, most likely, you look like the world! If those in the world love you, most likely you are not looking like the light. If you live in obedience to God’s commandments, the darkness will hate you … period. For you will be exposing their darkness by simply being a light among them! “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you OUT OF THE WORLD. That is why the world hates you.” (John 15:18-19) and again “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15) Can you see? These are NOT my words, but our Master’s. How can you love God and also the things He is against? How can you love evil (disobedience) people and righteousness (obedience) at the same time? They have nothing in common with each other. I am not talking about hating the people, we are to have a passion to save the lost, but hate the life they lead!

BEFORE WE GO THROUGH THE VERSES, KEEP IN MIND …

LIGHT is the work of God and His true children … obedience, what is good, truth.
DARKNESS is the work of Satan and his followers … disobedience, what is evil, lies.

“Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.” (Luke 11:36)

Those who are walking in obedience to the light have come to realize the frustration of those walking in disobedience. They just don’t seem to understand why we obey God! On the other hand, we cannot forget either that neither did we understand before we simply obeyed out of faith!

- “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” (John 1:5)
- “He was in the world and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.” (John 1:10) (Remember … He is the ultimate light and we get our illumination from Him!)

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil (disobeys God) hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. (Light … obedience … exposes the darkness … disobedience) But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” (John 3:19-21) (It is ONLY through the sanctifying work of the Spirit that we can now shed sin, obey God out of a pure heart, thus being a light to the world!)

“When Yeshua (Jesus) spoke again to the people, He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) (Can you see the sanctifying work of the New Covenant? If we walk in HIM, we are able to shed sin. We will never walk in the darkness (disobedience), for we are now able to obey the commands of God (not perfectly, but hopefully, we will not be sinning intentionally!).

“Therefore do not be partners with them. For you were once darkness (sinners), but now you are light in the Lord. (He is able to take away our sins … so:) Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5:7-14)

“… to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” (Acts 26:18)

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Yeshua (Jesus), his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:5-7) (There is NO sin, or darkness, in God … Are you one of His children? Then you will be like Him … 1 John 3:9 … Go ahead, look it up!)

LAST THOUGHT … (This is nothing new! Hasn’t it always been this way? )

Isaiah 2:5 … “Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of YHVH.”

2 Samuel 22:29 … “You are my lamp, O YHVH; YHVH turns my darkness into light.”

Isaiah 5:20 … “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (Woe to those who call God’s Laws evil and their disobedience as though it were ordained by God!! Woe to those who call the obedient children evil for obeying the truth as commanded by God!)

Let us just think about it? What do we enjoy? Who are our friends (are they saved or are we “trying to witness to them” while we enjoy their companionship? Just like our words show what is in our hearts, those we enjoy show what we truly believe!

The Law: Who is it For?

DEVOTION
11 / 25 / 05
(comments in parentheses and emphasis are mine)

FIRST THOUGHTS:
• What is the truth about the Laws of God?
• It is apparent that when our Savior came, that the Jews obeyed them to be saved.
• The church interprets God’s Word as if to say all, but a choice few, of the Laws no longer valid.
• I have even heard that the Law is mandatory for everyone, regardless of whether or not they are a child of God.
• So, is there still a Law? If so, who is it for?
• After careful reading and study, it seems to me that God’s Laws are only for the family of God (Oh, they are AVAILABLE for all men, just like salvation. But, just like salvation, only those who believe become part of His family, and therefore, receive the gift of His Laws!).
• Think about it … those who say that they are children of God show what this means by the way they live out their lives. Through our words and deeds we show the world who OUR God is! How did His Son reveal Him? Through obedience (love of God) and laying down His life (love of neighbor)!

WAS THE LAW GIVEN TO THE WORLD, OR JUST TO GOD’S CHILDREN? READ FOR YOURSELVES:

• “Do not eat anything you find already dead.” (Yes, this is a Law for God’s children. Obviously, not a hard one to obey, I might add. The verse continues, as if we are asking God, “But Lord, then what are we to do with this dead carcass?” To me, God’s answer is hilarious. Now we, God’s children, cannot eat it, but He says that …) “You may give it to an alien living in any of your towns, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. But YOU are a people holy to the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 14:21a)
• “He has revealed His word to Jacob, His laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for NO OTHER nation; they (The other nations) do not know His laws. Praise the Lord.” (Psalm 147:19-20)
• (Even when it comes to lending to a brother in need, or loaning to a foreigner, it is the foreigner that we are not to hold to the same Law as a fellow citizen of God!) “You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you.” (Deuteronomy 15:3)
• (Okay, our forefathers are about to enter a foreign land by dispossessing of it. God is revealing to His children that this foreign nation does things that He does not permit them to do. Why? Because God is holy, we, His children are to be holy and we are a separated people unto HIM!) “The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for YOU, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so.” (Deuteronomy 18:14) (I ask you, can we, now that the Messiah has come, break any of these laws, now? Of course not! But WE are to uphold them!!! (Romans 3:30 … “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the Law.”) We cannot pick and chose which laws to obey just because of the traditions passed down through generations, even centuries, to us. Do not fear persecution of man, but of God who gave us this precious gift … His laws!)
• (Many Christians no longer believe the Laws given through Moses are for them, so the world is no longer envious of us! Let me ask you, how does your child show you that he understands what you told him to do? By DOING it correctly. THAT is showing that he understands!) “Observe them (the laws) carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations (those not part of the family), who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” … “And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?” (Deuteronomy 4:6 and
• (These laws of God, given to us, are actually a way to have a closer relationship with God, through His Son. They are even a possession that we can pass on, or give to our children. (They are better than any pearls or keep-sakes!)) “Moses charged us with a law, a POSSESSION for the assembly of Jacob.” (Deuteronomy 33:4) (Yes, we are that assembly. Along with all those who believed and lived by faith before us!!)
• (The law is not for the un-believers to obey! It is ours and is the very Law that the Spirit is writing on our hearts today (Hebrews 8:8-11). The Spirit does NOT write these precious laws on the hearts of someone who is NOT a child of God!) “He teaches your precepts to Jacob and your law to Israel.” (Deuteronomy 33:10a) (Again, we find God revealing later in Romans 9:6-8 WHO Israel really is … those who believe and live by faith.)
• (Finally, remember when Paul was sent to the Gentiles? The Gentiles did NOT have the Law, since it was never given to them! Paul makes it clear, as he witness to the un-believers, that he was NOT free from God’s law, but by witnessing to them, he was actually adhering to the law of Christ!) “To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am NOT free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law (Let us NOT forget, that it was the Gentiles obedience to the Law, in fact, that proved that the Spirit of God was in them too! “For it is not those who hear the Law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the Law who will be declared righteous.” (Romans 2:13). We are NOT justified by obeying the Law!! But the obedience to the Law shows that we have been justified (it is revealing the sanctifying work of the Spirit within us).

LAST THOUGHTS:
• I humbly introduce to those who want a closer relationship with their Lord, Jesus Christ, to allow His Spirit to have access to their hearts to write His law. Do not fear man’s rebuke (most comes from inside the church), but fear God. He gave us the right food to eat, the right Sabbath to obey, the correct festivals to celebrate (they ALL of which point to the work of His Son!!). His Laws even show us how to treat our neighbors as ourselves; How to give until we have nothing more to give, but need to receive back; How to lay down our life for another human being; How to pray for our enemies (not curse them) … By obeying God’s eternal Law, we teach our children who God is … unchanging and trustworthy!! Yes, OUR God is the same today as He was yesterday!!
• So how do you show God that you understand Him and love Him? (“THIS is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are NOT burdensome…” (1 John 5:3)
• So let us enjoy the gift God gives freely to His children, and sing as King David did in Psalm119:33 and 97 … “Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart.” and “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” (Remember, it is Christ who is the Word lived out … perfectly! In turn, by rejecting the Law … are they not rejecting who Christ is?)