by David Gibson<\/p>\n
Since ancient times, down to our day, certain religions, philosophies, and secret societies have promised enlightenment to their initiates, granting them an inside knowledge unavailable to the uninitiated. Some of these groups have even threatened with death any initiate who would dare to reveal their secrets.<\/p>\n
In Christ, however, there are no secrets. What had been kept under wraps during Old Testament times has now been revealed through the gospel (Ephesians 3:1-10).<\/p>\n
In Christianity, there are no esoteric symbols or covert rituals. The knowledge revealed in the New Testament is free for all to learn and live by–then share with those yet in darkness. All who humble themselves in faith, repentance, and obedience to the gospel are welcomed into the fellowship of the truly enlightened.<\/p>\n
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life<\/em>” (John 8:12).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Christ commissioned the apostle Paul to take the gospel to the Gentiles “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me<\/em>” (Acts 26:18).<\/p>\n
“. . . the god of this world <\/em>[Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God . . . . For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ<\/em>” (II Corinthians 4:4, 6).<\/p>\n
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light<\/em>” (I Peter 2:9).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Enlightened indeed!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by David Gibson Since ancient times, down to our day, certain religions, philosophies, and secret societies have promised enlightenment to their initiates, granting them an inside knowledge unavailable to the uninitiated. Some of these groups have even threatened with death any initiate who would dare to reveal their secrets. In Christ, however, there are no…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[168,761],"class_list":["post-92752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-light","tag-understanding"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14195,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-a-change-in-the-law-mean-god-changes-his-mind-a-lot\/","url_meta":{"origin":92752,"position":0},"title":"Does a change in the Law mean God changes His mind a lot?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Since God changed His Law, then apparently God changes His mind a lot. Answer: Actually God planned the change all along. The Law of Moses defined sin and bound it to mankind, but it could not in itself save. It spoke only of future salvation. \"For the law made\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49302,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-bible-is-right\/","url_meta":{"origin":92752,"position":1},"title":"The Bible Is Right","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton It is right because it not only claims to be the word of God (II Timothy 3:16-17) but because it proves to be the word of God. How? It is the only book that was written over a 1500-year period by 40 different writers of various\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Bible-with-notes-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":46745,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/talking-with-a-muslim-about-religion\/","url_meta":{"origin":92752,"position":2},"title":"Talking with a Muslim about Religion","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Titus 1:10-16 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How do you talk with someone about religion when there is little common ground? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A good way to start is to find something in that religion that is true and that can be used as a basis of discussion. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In a false\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23058,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-work-of-the-holy-spirit-in-teaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":92752,"position":3},"title":"The Work of the Holy Spirit in Teaching","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 31, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton The teaching in the Bible about the work of the Holy Spirit is plain, but many in today's religious society confuse the issue. Part of the confusion is the mysticism that made to surround the Holy Spirit and his work. We are not satisfied with simple\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/Bible-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":95167,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/woke\/","url_meta":{"origin":92752,"position":4},"title":"Woke?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 19, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton I think people in the \"woke\" movement need to truly wake up. 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The conclusion drawn from that fact is that \"therefore\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92752\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}