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.
Wherefore he says, Wake up, [thou] that sleepest, and arise up from among the dead, and the Christ shall shine upon thee.
Light shows things for what they are, and Paul now breaks into a wake-up call. Two questions follow: is he waking a dead sinner or a sleeping Christian, and where do the words come from, since no Old Testament verse matches them?
Paul introduces the line as if citing Scripture, yet no such sentence exists in the Old Testament. One writer compares two other New Testament quotations that also depart from the exact Old Testament words:
In both of these Scriptures the spirit, not the letter, is what applies to the point in hand. Used this way, it carried divine authority. So in the passage from Ephesians there can be little doubt that Isaiah 60:1 was in Paul's mind. There we read, "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you."
Commentators differ on the background. Some point to Isaiah 60, others add Isaiah 52. All agree the words are an adaptation, not an exact quotation.
The person addressed is already alive. He lies among the dead, but he is not one of them:
In verse 14, a sleeping man is called to "awake," not a dead man: he is a believer, but sadly, in what a state. A man asleep is no better than a dog asleep. Neither one notices anything around them.
What Christ promises him says the same thing. He does not need life. He needs light:
The Scriptures alluded to seem to be Isaiah 52 and 60. But the application here is clearly to believers, sleeping among dead men or dead things. They are called to arise, so that Christ may give them light — not life, which would be their first need as unbelievers.
Sleep does not end the believer's life. It ends his usefulness:
Sorrowful condition for a saint to slip into! What use is a sleeper as a witness to God and the truth? Thanks be to God, such are not dead. The spark of divine life is there, and nothing can put it out. But they have sunk into a state of spiritual numbness. They have lost their enjoyment of heavenly grace and their usefulness in testimony.
The promise here is not a thing but a Person:
The unbeliever is dead to God. The true believer, if he does not pay attention to these exhortations, may fall into a condition of sleep. In that sleep he is like a dead man. In such a condition he will not profit from the light of Christ. … It has been well said, "It is Christ Himself who is the source, the expression, and the measure of light for the soul that is awake."
Older translations read "Christ shall give thee light." That is the wording these writers quote. The ESV has Christ shining on the sleeper. Either way, the light comes from outside him, and only then is there something to reflect.
One writer paints it as a picture. The sleeper does not make the light; he lets it in:
Awake, rise and open the shutters of your dark chamber of deathlike sleep. Then the sun can shine in, and Christ can give you light. And if there is in your heart some secret idol-chamber — love of money, or worldliness, or something else that has slipped in between Christ and you and taken His place in your heart — open the door. Let the light of Christ and His word shine in and expose the idol in all its ugliness.
The danger is greatest where the truth is best known:
It is a solemn thing that this call goes to the company who know more than many, as at Ephesus. They had the highest truth, and were in danger of going to sleep over it.
- Sleep. The one called is a believer, not a corpse. He lies among the dead and looks just like them.
- Call. The words echo Isaiah 60:1. They carry its sense, not its exact letter.
- Rise. Christ gives him light, not life; he has life already. This is a call to recovery, not conversion.
- Shine. He gets Christ Himself — the source, the expression and the measure of all the light an awake soul enjoys.
- Reflect. A sleeping saint has no testimony. Only a soul Christ shines on can show anything of God to a hostile world. Those who know the most truth are in the most danger of dozing over it.