Walk as Children of Light

Paul does not merely say that believers were once “in” darkness; he says they were darkness, but now they are light in the Lord. They must therefore walk as children of light, testing what pleases the Lord and refusing partnership with the fruitless works of darkness. The section closes with a summons: “Awake, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

Where this fits in the story: light, awakening, and resurrection language belongs to a broad prophetic and new-creation trajectory. Isaiah’s calls to arise and shine and its resurrection language are important candidates behind the closing words.