What is meant by the expression “living in darkness”?

Question

At my church (Calvary Chapel) we have guest speakers from time to time. Many of them mention the same phrase "living in darkness", refering to the time before they were saved.

Are there Biblical (or more specifically New Testament) references to this concept and a description of what it entails or is it just a relative and subjective phrase coined by man?

Answer 1

Variants of the phrase appear several times in 1 John

1 John 1:5-6 (ESV)
⁵  This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ⁶  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

1 John 2:9-11 (ESV)
⁹  Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. ¹⁰  Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. ¹¹  But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Darkness is contrasted with the picture of God as light, and describes living in sin without knowing or seeing God.

Answer 2

Language is loose and everyone develops a certain lingo to describe theological concepts. The speakers you heard may have had a particular idea in mind when they said that phrase. E.g. They might have been thinking of particular sins in their lives. Even when you read "darkness" in the Bible, each occurrence of the word may be used differently and have a nuanced meaning. So it is good practice to look at the way the word is used in its own context within the Bible to determine what it actually means.

Having said that, it's safe to say that "living in darkness" general means "living in sin". And while "sin" can be described in terms of actions, like murder or fornication, it ultimately means rebellion against or rejection of God. Christians are those people who no longer walk in darkness because they live with God as their king. Non-Christian people, even if they "live a good life", continue to reject God and therefore remain in darkness.

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. (John 3:17-21)

And here's the paradox of the Christian life (which was expressed in those 1 John verses): Christians no longer walk in sin ... but we kinda do. What I mean is, Christians are those who acknowledge that God is king and therefore turn away from their life of rejecting God. But in practice, we see that Christians do still sin everyday. That's why we need Jesus as our saviour, because we never will be able to do it ourselves. Through Jesus we become perfectly righteous in our standing with God, as though we have a place in God's kingdom as his children already.

In light of this (no pun intended), when the New Testament commands Christians to keep turning away from their sins, it tells them to live out the reality of their heavenly status. It does not say to keep trying because you've slipped back over the fence to the darkness. Rather, it says don't go back because you don't belong there anymore.

7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. (Eph 5:7-11)

Answer 3

Despite your question asking about darkness, I will probably speak more about light. Because darkness and light interact (or I suppose do not interact).

Darkness, as the other answers have already stated is the lack of "light." And this is light, as described by Psalm 119:105.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

So in a sense, darkness is like being lost. That type of lost that describes not being physically lost, but lacking a direction and a purpose in life. Or maybe there is a direction, but it's the wrong direction. And God's word, is a light that guides us back to the correct path and directs us out of the darkness and towards God. This is still quite surface level. Let's go a little deeper.

As mentioned by the other answers, the word "darkness" is often used in the bible to describe a life of sin, a life that rejects God. If you think of the word darkness, and think about real life physical darkness, it is often very hard to see in the darkness. And in the darkness, you can hide a lot of things that you do not want people to see. (In the case that we're talking about, these 'things' are our sins.) stevenl mentioned Ephesians 5:7-11. Particularly, I want to look at Ephesians 5:11.

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

God's light purges the darkness and reveals sin. However, I'd like to add that this is not done in a condemning way, but rather in a way that will lead people to God and that will glorify Him rather than in a way that turns people away from God, as stated also in a verse that stevenl mentioned, John 3:17.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

We do not share God's light with the world to condemn, but rather to save.

So in conclusion, (there's kind of a bunch of off-topic stuff as well, but it's necessary) living in darkness is essentially to us, being lost. The people who are lost do not think that they are lost. They believe that the direction that they are chasing will lead to happiness and joy. The direction that they chase often leads into sin and disappointment, sometimes causing them to become more lost. We however, know that the true direction is to chase after God. That path should lead us away from sin (though we sometimes stray). When we interact with those who are "in darkness" we should be revealing the sin in their lives to them, not in a condemning way (this is hard), but in a way that leads them to the same path that we're on, into repentance.

I hope this answer helped! If you need more clarification about something, please do not hesitate to comment!