t thou this, O man, who judgest
them that practice such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt
escape the judgment of God?" "After thy hardness and impenitent
heart," he adds, thou "treasurest up for thyself wrath."

"Be not ye therefore partakers with them; for ye were once darkness,
but are now light in the Lord."

21. Peter similarly counsels (1 Pet 4, 3) to let the time past of our
lives suffice us to have wrought the will of the gentiles, and no
longer be partakers with them, but live the rest of our time to the
will of God. While we were gentiles we knew not that all those things
were sin, because of the darkness of unbelief, which prevented our
knowing God. But now we have become a light in the Lord. That is, we
have been so amply enlightened through Christ that we not only know
God and what he desires, and understand what sin and wrong are, but we
are also able to light others, to teach them what we know. Paul
commends the Philippians for being a light in the world, among an evil
and untoward generation. Phil 2, 15. And, similarly, when we were
gentiles we not only were darkened, not only were ignorant and went
astray, but we were darkness itself, leading others into the same
condition by our words and deeds. We have reason, then, to be thankful
unto him who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light (1
Pet 2, 9), and to "walk as children of light."

"For the fruit of the light [Spirit] is in all goodness and
righteousness and truth."

22. Since Paul is speaking of light, it would have been more to the
point had he said "fruit of the light," in accordance with the Latin
version, than "fruit of the Spirit," the Greek rendering. And who
knows but it may, in the Greek, have been altered to harmonize with
Galatians 5, 22, where Paul speaks of the "fruit of the Spirit"? It
matters little, however; evidently "Spirit" and "light" are synonymous
in this place.

"Goodness" is the fruit of light, or of the Spirit, as opposed to
covetousness. The Christian is to be good; that is, useful, gladly
working his neighbor's good. "Righteousness," as fruit of the Spirit
among men--for the Spirit also is righteous before God--is opposed to
covetousness. The Christian must not take another's possessions by
force, trickery or fraud, but must give to each his due, his own, even
to the heathen authorities. See Rom 13, 1. "Truth" is the fruit of the
Spirit as opposed to hypocrisy and lies. A Christian is not only