Shine the Light
by Andy Lapins

In the book of Ephesians the Apostle Paul gives us a brief description of the spiritual condition of the lost. In this portion of scripture he is specifically referring to the Gentiles but this certainly applies to every unconverted person.

“They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.” Ephesians 4:18

Paul wrote something very similar in his letter to the Romans. Romans 1: 21 “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Paul is basically saying that because of people’s sin and rebellion towards God their hearts and minds have become darkened. He also said that sinners are ignorant and their thinking is futile. The sinner walks around in spiritual darkness and cannot see or understand his or her need for repentance and faith in Jesus Christ in order to be saved from God’s coming wrath (Romans 2:5). This is why Paul writes in I Corinthians 1:18 “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing”. The glorious message of God reconciling sinners to Himself through Jesus Christ is stupid to the unregenerate sinner because they do not sense any need for such an act to have been done. Sin has made them ignorant and has plunged their minds into complete spiritual darkness.

When we minister to the lost we need to think about them in this way, that they are wandering around in utter darkness. The realization of this should then help us to understand something that is most necessary in evangelism, and that is to shine the light of Christ. Think about it in this way. Imagine that I come to you one day and blindfold you. I then bring you into a room with no windows and no lights. I shut the door and take off your blindfold. You are standing in complete darkness. Because of the darkness you will be completely ignorant of everything that is in that room. That room might be filled with harmful things that you would want to avoid at all cost or it may contain wonderful things for your enjoyment and pleasure. The fact is that you would be completely ignorant because of the darkness. Now let’s say that I brought you into that room to surprise you with a gift or to give you something to bless you. What would I then need to bring into the room to displace your ignorance with understanding? The answer is obvious- light. The moment that I switch the lights on, the light replaces the darkness and you will immediately go from a condition of ignorance to one of understanding. With light in the room you will be able to see and understand everything that is right in front of you.

Even though God’s presence and grace is evidently displayed all around us in creation (Romans 1:20) the sinner does not realize this because of the spiritual darkness in their minds and hearts. So then one of the logical and most necessary needs in evangelism is to bring light into the darkened minds of unbelievers so they can go from a condition of ignorance to one of understanding their need for repentance and faith in Christ.

The Bible does give us instructions on how we can do this and what we can use. Psalm 119:130 says, “The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” The Bible, God’s holy Word contains spiritual light for the sinner and must be used to bring them to a place of understanding. This is why I always encourage Christians to use scriptures when they witness as much as possible. I encourage Christians to memorize the Word of God and use their Bible as much as possible when they are witnessing. As a Christian quotes or reads a scripture to a non-Christian, and then explains its meaning, what is actually happening during that time is that spiritual light and understanding is coming into the darkened mind of that person. The Christian may not even realize that this is taking place but it is. A sinner must hear and understand God’s Word in order to transition from a place of ignorance to one of Biblical understanding. Use scripture as much as possible when you are witnessing and be confident of what God says about His Word: Isaiah 55:11 “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” One of the purposes of the Word is to bring light and understanding into the ignorant and darkened mind of the sinner.

The Bible also speaks of something else we need to use to shine the light of the glorious Gospel into the hearts and minds of sinners. Proverbs 6:23 (KJV) says, “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light”. As Christians we need to know how to properly use the Law of God, the Ten Commandments, when we witness. The Ten Commandments show a sinner the sins that have separated them from their God (Isaiah 59:2) and shows them why they need to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Romans 3:20 states, “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” The Law makes a sinner become conscious to the sins that previously they had been completely ignorant of in their lives. The law gives a non-Christian a clear understanding of how God sees them. When the Ten Commandments are proclaimed then explained a sinner can clearly understand that they have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and are currently condemned by the Judge of the Universe (John 3:18). This is absolutely vital because if a sinner does not understand that they have sinned they will sense no need for salvation. If a person is not completely convinced that they have a disease they will sense no need at all to go to the doctor. The Law, i.e. the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) clearly diagnoses the deadly disease of sin and brings necessary light into the darkened minds of self-righteous sinners. Let’s be found faithful shining the light of the Gospel!