and do not have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather also reprove [them],
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
for the things that are done by them in secret it is shameful even to say.
Paul has just told believers to have nothing to do with the fruitless works of darkness, and to expose them instead. So how do you expose evil you are not supposed to talk about?
Secret sins are as common now as they were then. Light exposes them, not our talk about them — and that exposure costs the one who shines.
Instead he should expose them — not necessarily by attacking the world's practices head on, but by a consistent godly life that reproves wrongdoing. Men's secret sins have as large a place now as in Paul's days. They are too shameful even to name. But the light exposes them and declares their true character, for light makes everything visible. Such exposing will not bring love to the witness, but rather hatred, as our Lord Jesus said: the world hates Him because He testifies that its works are evil (John 7:7). In His case the darkness hated the light; it was too much for them.
Everything turns on the word older versions translate "reprove." It does not mean scolding.
This word, reprove, occurs again, you will notice, in verse 13. Its meaning is not exactly admonish or rebuke, but rather expose. It is to expose, as by light, the true character of the works in question. If a believer shines out in his true character, his whole life will have that effect. His Master's life did this in the highest measure. Still, of course, there may be many times when words of rebuke are needed.
The Christian's answer to the world's vices is not debate. It is a choice about what fills the mind and the mouth.
We are not to argue about them or against them. We are simply and clearly to reject them. Even to talk about the vices practised in secret by the ungodly is a shame. The believer has far more profitable things to engage his thoughts and conversation.
Even rightly judging evil leaves a mark. One commentator shows why from Numbers 19.
It is a great thing for the Christian to be in the habit of living in what is good. We live in a world where we must deal with what is evil… But it will not do to be always occupied with it. It defiles even when we judge it. Think of the man who handled the ashes of the red heifer in Numbers 19. He was doing a service by gathering them up and laying them outside the camp. Yet he was unclean until evening, and the same was true of the man who applied them. It is soiling to our minds even to be judging evil.
Which sins count as the secret ones? The standard is Christ, not what other people notice.
We are to hate the unnoticed, quiet activities of the flesh as much as those that are openly filthy and corrupt. We are to loathe the secret, refined ways of selfishness as much as those that are open and shameless. To the Christian, Christ is the perfect model.
The effect goes beyond one person. Where Christians shine, public life changes — and the reverse is also true.
To speak of the things that the flesh can do in secret is shame. The light of Christ reproves the evil that it exposes. Where Christianity has shaped a land, people cannot publicly commit the gross sins that others commit openly elsewhere. The light in Christians is too strong. Sadly, as the light declines, sins again become more public and open.
- Light exposes. Exposure is what light does by being present. The believer's whole life shows the true character of dark works, though spoken rebuke is still sometimes needed.
- Light silences. The deeds done in secret are too shameful to name. So the Christian rejects them plainly instead of arguing about them or retelling them.
- Light guards. Even honest handling of evil leaves a stain. The man who gathered the ashes of the red heifer was unclean until evening. So the mind is not to live there.
- Light searches. Hate quiet, respectable selfishness as much as open filth. Christ is the standard, not public opinion.
- Light restrains. Where the light of Christ in Christians is strong, gross sin cannot go public. As that light fades, hidden sins come back into the open.
But all things having their true character exposed by the light are made manifest; for that which makes everything manifest is light.
Paul has just told believers to have nothing to do with the fruitless works of darkness. Instead they are to expose them. Here he says why that works: light brings everything into the open. Two questions follow. What does exposing ask of a Christian? And what does the closing clause about light mean?
The word does not picture a Christian telling other people off. It pictures what a lamp does to whatever it shines on.
Notice that this word, reprove, comes again in verse 13. It does not quite mean warn or rebuke. It means expose. It is to expose the true character of the works in question, the way light does. If a believer shines out in his true character, his whole life will have that effect, just as his Master's life did, in the highest measure of all. Of course there will still be many times when words of rebuke are needed.
Light does not just condemn from the outside, the way a rule does. It searches, and it shows things as they are.
It is not law, condemning by an outward standard held up against us. It is an inward and deeply searching divine capacity. Love is its source and its end, yet it spares evil even less, and it brings in good by the Holy Spirit in Christ... It belongs to light to show itself and everything else, and that is just as true in spiritual things as it is in nature.
The sentence does not stop at the verse break. It ends with a clause about light, and commentators differ over that clause. Some read it as a statement about anything that gets exposed. Others say light is what does the exposing. One writer, reviewing a new translation, argued the point sharply.
I have no doubt that this translation of Ephesians 5:13 is wrong. "Whatever is made manifest is light" is not only untrue; it is also not the point of the passage. The passage speaks of things being made manifest by the light. I admit the passage is difficult. But I believe the sense is, "what makes everything manifest is light," or, "it is the light which makes everything manifest." The form of the Greek word is found only here, and it would be a middle with an active sense.
Others say the sentence is true whichever way you take the word. And light does more than detect.
The last clause of this verse changes its meaning. It depends on whether you take the word translated "manifest" in an active or a passive sense. Either way it states an obvious truth. On the whole, the light seems meant to do more than detect. It also subdues and gives life.
If light exposes by shining, then a consistent life is itself the reproof. That is why the reaction is often hatred, not thanks.
Instead he should expose them. He need not attack the world's practices head on. A consistently godly life is itself a reproof of wickedness. People's secret sins fill as much room now as in Paul's day. They are too shameful even to name. But the light exposes them and declares their true character, for light shows up all things. Such exposing will not bring the witness love. It will bring him hatred, as our Lord Jesus said: the world "hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil" (John 7:7). In His case the darkness hated the light: it was too much for them.
Light and love are not rivals. And the light itself is not ours.
In verse 13 Paul continues along the line of holiness, righteousness and truth. But it is very important to see that the light of God never contradicts His love... Christ is always the true light. We have no light in ourselves, so even if we as Christians are called light it can only be light "in the Lord".
A verse about exposing evil is easy to aim only outward. It has a nearer target.
Bright sunlight shows up every detail of natural things. In the same way, the true light of God shows the real character of everything in the spiritual and moral realm. Are we willing to turn that light on our own conduct? And on popular religious schemes that compromise more and more of the truth of Scripture?
- Expose, not scold — "reprove" means to show a thing's true character, the way light does. Direct rebuke has its place, but it is not the main idea.
- Light acts — it is not an outward rule held up against evil. It is a searching power that shows itself and everything else, in spiritual things as in nature.
- Two readings — some say the Greek must mean "what makes everything manifest is light." Others say the truth holds either way: light both detects evil and subdues it.
- Shining costs — a godly life exposes darkness without attacking it. The darkness answers with hatred, as it did to Christ.
- Borrowed light — we are light only "in the Lord," so the first surface the beam should fall on is our own conduct.