Walking Circumspectly in the Light

[MrJim]

Eph 5:8 –Eph 5:21 NKJV
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says:
“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.”
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.

1. What fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness?
2. Understanding the "will of the Lord"? GM has a thread on this...and we're supposed to understand..
3. What is submitting to one another in the fear of the God?

 

[PETE_]

Christians, by conducting themselves as children of light, expose the works of darkness. These deeds, however, refer here to the deeds of other believers who are not walking in the light. This is because only God can expose and convict unbelievers’ deeds. Believers, on the other hand, can expose evil deeds among other Christians within the church.http://christianforums.com/showthread.php?t=7280682#_ftn1
http://christianforums.com/showthread.php?t=7280682#_ftnref1

 

[Nadiine]

Christians, by conducting themselves as children of light, expose the works of darkness. These deeds, however, refer here to the deeds of other believers who are not walking in the light.

I would agree with this, if not for this segment right underneath the statement about exposing the deeds:

For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says:
“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.”

Christians already HAVE the light of [from] Christ and already rose from the dead with Christ upon their conversion. But they/we can so to speak be "asleep". That one thing I think could apply to believers - but I question the other 2.

I think this speaks not only of Christians but also the unsaved. I think it includes both.

 

[PETE_]

How do you think that fits with
1 Co 5:12-13

12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”b​

http://christianforums.com/showthread.php?t=7280682#_ftn2

 

[MrJim]

What is the "fellowship" spoken of here..?

 

[PETE_]

Participating with people who have common interests in common activities.

 

[MrJim]

Participating with people who have common interests in common activities.

Then the fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness has more to do with people than actions? Are the unfruitful works of darkness referring to people? Can you have fellowship with something other than people...? Is one fellowshipping with adultery in the commission of the sin?

 

[PETE_]

I think it is more of a joint participation in such things

 

[Criada]

I see this as an admonition not to join in the 'works of darkness', rather than to shun the people committing them... certainly in the case of non-Christians.
Jesus certainly had 'fellowship' with sinners.. He was criticised for eating with them and spending time with them. But He never condoned the sin..
We need to be in the world, to be friends with non-Christians, to spend time with them, or how are we to witness? But, in that, we need to be very clear about where we stand... and that we do consider some things to be wrong.

Submitting to one another, I think, means having the grace and humility to listen to our brothers and sisters, and to admit that we may, sometimes, be wrong

 

[Nadiine]

How do you think that fits with
1 Co 5:12-13

12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”b​

It's one thing to judge, it's another to fellowship w/ others without taking a formal judgment out upon them. I have unsaved friends and then there are friends I divided from when I became a Christian becuz their influence & lifestyles & things we did were something I had to cut off.

I know of 1 or 2 verses that instruct us to be careful who we keep company with - I think it's Paul who said that bad company corrupts good character. It's important who we keep company & spend time with; they directly influence us over time.

A Christian hanging out with a group of people doing drugs & going to rave parties each weekend isn't exactly healthy or good - while it may be very good for them to fellowship with other types of nonChristians they know who aren't out sinning for fun.
Same with living w/ a boyfriend/girlfriend. After a person is saved, they need to sever that living arrangement or get married or split up.
No judgment, just adjustment to obedience of God.

Neither set of people have to be "judged"... but separation is encouraged for our own good (in obedience) in some relationships.

That's kinda the way I was thinking about things - we might of not been on the same page earlier.

 

[GreenMunchkin]

What is the "fellowship" spoken of here..?

Hiya, Jimminy

I read a post just yesterday that answered that very question, I think:

Fellowship.
Fellowship is much deeper than what?
Relationship.
Fellowship is when we’re possessed by God and experience life in Jesus together.
As we open our lives up to God - allow Him to deal with deep issues of our hearts - as we learn to live in obedience to Him - that God takes this odd assortment of people - us - coming from different generations and backgrounds and needs - God takes us and binds us together in true fellowship in His Son Jesus Christ.
Here is the original by Doc - Clicky)

Christian fellowship - God-centred - will never include non-Christians, because their goal isn't to glorify Him. Whether they don't believe in Him, or hate Him, or for any number of reasons, they won't join in on that fellowship because it ought to be about the Lord. We should be building one another up; encouragement, edification. And a large part of encouragement and edification is correction and accountability. The Lord abides in us, and we in Him, so that's the part of each other we should fear. In a wonderful way, not a scary way. But if we were all to acknowlede that we all have Him in our spirits, our treatment of each other would change drastically.

Even the demons kneel before Him; we love Him, more than anything, and He abides in us, so we should love one another, too.

We aren't called to judge non-Christians. Pete gave the verse. We are to share the truth, and to love, and never judge. A real danger within Christianity is the belief that we're somehow better than non-Christians. As if we've somehow earned salvation by being 11lbs of awesome. We can't tease or bribe people into Christianity, but we can show them who He is. If someone sees who He is, it's hard to reject Him.

But that's not fellowship. It can be friendship, and love - who of us doesn't have non-Christian friends and family? But it won't be fellowship. As mush as the Lord wants everyone to come to Him - and He does, desperately - He drew a line, and He didn't involve Himself in the darkness, or pointless debate. He loved so much He was killed for it, but He never became one with the darkness.