What Is Acceptable
By Tomm | September 16, 2025 | Comments 0 Comment
Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
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).
Ephesians 5:1-2, 8-9
How shall we know what is acceptable to the Lord? Paul has been speaking of imitating God, of imitating Christ, and of walking as children of light. In the verses between the first and second portions of our text, he has listed various behaviors which are antithetical to the imitation of Christ. As we transition in our spiritual walk from the darkness in which we used to walk to the light in which we now walk, we will at times struggle with conquering these behaviors which characterize the old life. Having listed these sins, Paul points to the new way of life by saying, ‘walk as children of light.’ He goes on to iterate that ‘the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.’ As the Spirit of Christ works in us what is good, righteous, and truthful we come to an understanding of what is acceptable to the Lord. No growth in grace occurs without the direct tutoring of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit Who takes the things of Christ and shows them unto us. The Holy Spirit, as He indwells us, grows His fruit within us, and conforms us to the image of Christ. As He teaches us to walk as children of light, He brings us to have less and less affinity for anything that savors of the old dark things that are not like Christ, or acceptable to God.
Our Good and Wise God,
we rejoice that You bring us from darkness to light.
We praise You that You continue to work in us
to conform us to the image of Your Son.
Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning