1) We are God’s holy people – When we believed and were born again our unrighteousness was exchanged for Christ’s righteousness. We went from being sinners who would receive the wrath of God to being saints who would enjoy the presence of God. We became His holy ones – yes still prone to sin but now with a Savior who takes our sin away.
2) We live in a world of unholy people – Unless you live in a monastery you know this to be true. And this passage makes it clear. Every day we face sexual immorality, greed, obscenities, vulgar talk, etc. It is tough to live in an unholy world and not be tainted.
3) We enjoy dabbling in unholiness – It’s kind of like going to the ocean when their is a rip tide warning in effect. We know that we should not go in but that doesn’t stop us from playing in the shallow water. Every year I hear of people who drown because they got sucked into a rip tide – when they knew better than to flirt with danger. That’s what we do – we dabble, we flirt – not even aware of the danger that is waiting to suck the life right out of us.
Paul pleads with us in this passage to REMEMBER and REFLECT on what our life was like prior to Christ. It was darkness! And to REJOICE in the fact that now we are children of light. And to live as children of light. To stop playing with the darkness – experimenting with it to see how much we can get away with and still be okay with God – but instead to do EVERYTHING to find out what pleases the Lord.