THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Jesus is in the world and is the light of the world¹. But when He stated Himself as the light, He wasn’t present the same way He’s now. After Jesus consummate what He had determined, His church was edified to continue His ministry among men². That’s why Jesus told His disciples³: You are the light of the world⁴. While Jesus is the light for who He is and what He has done, His church is the light for doing Jesus’ will, or in other terms, for what Jesus does through it. Therefore, His church is the body of Christ⁵, the physical medium through which He reveals Himself as the light.

His church isn’t a religion, denomination, sect, extremist group or another kind of association humanly instituted. It’s wrong to think that being part of any institution automatically makes someone part of the body of Christ. But, certainly, in every institution that have Jesus as their centre and the Bible as the flawless Word of God there are people who belong to His church.

Some experience supernatural manifestations in His name and believe, erroneously, that’s a warranty of their belonging to the body of Christ. Jesus in a speech said that many will mention these events but He never knew them⁹; and, revealed a condition to be part of His church: living to do God’s will¹⁰, that’s expressed in His commandments.

The revealed condition supports what Jesus will tell to those who belong to His church when the Judgment Day arrives: come, because you did well to other and that was like doing it to me¹¹. Evidently, being part of the body of Christ isn’t for those who just believe, or just have faith, but for those who have faith and show it through works, like the apostle James highlights in his epistle¹².

The body of Christ, in a simplified way, is the group of those who believe and trust in Jesus as the Only who justified and forgives sins⁶ and the Only through whom men can reach God⁷; and, for all this, start living with the unique purpose of obey His commandments, which Jesus resumed in loving God above all and the other, even those who devise evil, as their selves⁸.

At saying you’re the light, Jesus places the responsibility of doing works over those who are part of His church with the purpose to be Him, His body, to the world. The church as body of Christ and light of the world must be in action, do works, just like Jesus as the light did¹³. All who want, and believe, to be part of His church must have fellowship with Him, have fellowship with those that are also part of His church¹⁴ and also to walk just as He walked¹⁵. Jesus himself said that who believes in Him would do His works and would do them greater¹⁶. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven¹⁷.

¹ John 9:5
² Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-20; Acts 1:8
³ Matthew 5:1,2
⁴ Matthew 5:14
⁵ 1 Corinthians 12:27; Colossians 1:24
⁶ Matthew 7:22-23
⁷ Matthew 7:21
⁸ Matthew 25:34-40
⁹ James 2:14-26; 4.17
¹⁰ John 1:29; Luke 7:48-50
¹¹ John 14:6; 1 Timothy 2:5
¹² Matthew 5:43-48, 22:37-40; Mark 12:29-31; Luke 6:27-36; 10:26-28; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8
¹³ John 9:4,5
¹⁴ 1 John 1:5-10
¹⁵ 1 John 2:6
¹⁶ John 14:12
¹⁷ Matthew 5:16