THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Matthew 5:14-16  You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

 

Christ brought us out of spiritual darkness into the light because He is the light of the world (John 8:12). If we are in Christ, Christ lives in us. We don’t try to be the light of the world, we are the light because of God’s work within us, transforming our lives into His image. Our new nature is full of light. If we want to walk in the light, we simply follow Jesus.  He is the light.

Spiritual darkness is in the nature of man. The trouble with man is not in his intellect, it is in his nature – the passions and the lusts. The nature of light is to expose, make visible. When we turn on a light in a room, that which was invisible in the room becomes visible. Light reveals. We, who are the light of the world, make visible the deeds which come from those who live in spiritual darkness. Plant your city on a hill where you can be a source of light to others’ lives.

How do we let our light shine before men?  By our good deeds.  ‘Good deeds’ is a general expression to cover everything a Christian says and does because he is a Christian – every outward and visible manifestation of the Christian faith, an outward demonstration of an inner faith.  For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10)   Good deeds are as natural to the new nature as darkness is to the old nature.

We are saved by faith, but we are saved unto good works.  We don’t show off our good deeds in order to be saved or so that others might notice us, good deeds come naturally to those who have the nature of God within them.  The refrain from many people is that Christians are hypocrites.  In my travels all over the world, Christians are the first to offer help because they have a new nature of generosity living within them.  Our good deeds reveal the nature of the new life we have within us, and God gets the glory (1 Peter 2:12).  So, don’t hide the evidence of your new birth under a bushel, let your good deeds shine before others so that they might give praise to God.

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