Ephesians 5:11 Commentary and Bible Study

We also demonstrate this by disassociation, and this is the point where much of evangelicalism – which believes in the Scriptures and the word of God, the atoning death of Christ, and the gospel – this is the point at which many who believe these things stumble. They have no problem with the duty of living righteous lives and demonstrating the goodness of God – well we have a problem, of course, in performing it, but we have no problem with the principle that this is our duty. But the stumbling comes here: ‘Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.’Do not be attracted to the things of this world, and its activities, and its gossip, and its parties, and its sins. Literally it is, ‘no fellowship’, and it is the communion word: no communion, no partnership, no sharing with that. We are a distinctive people, and we are drawing men and women, lost souls, out of the world, not deeper into it. The great mistake of modern evangelicalism in so many respects is to lurch into this. It applies at a church level. If churches teach liberal theology and critical theology; if they do not believe in the inspiration of Scripture in its full and perfect sense, in the doctrines of the Bible, in the atoning death of Christ, we can have nothing to do with them. It applies to methods, to our methods of outreach: we don't adopt worldly, sin-based methods. It applies to our celebrations, in the family circle. There are certain things in the office that we must avoid. Have no fellowship, partnership, with the unfruitful works that belong to sin and the world and condemnation and darkness.‘But rather reprove them.’ That is a very interesting word in the Greek. It means bring hidden things to light. It is frequently translated as reprove or admonish – confute is a little better or confound – but it means bring to light hidden things. When I was a worldling and a sinner against God and opposed to him, I did not realise that I was a condemned sinner. Oh, I knew I did wrong things, but I did not realise the depth of my sin and condemnation and how deeply offensive these things were to God. The Greek word ‘reprove’ means bringing into the open the things that they do, so that they see it, and they grasp it. Paul in Romans 7:7 says that he had not known sin, but by the law, ‘for I had not known lust except the law said, thou shalt not covet.’ He did not know as a young aspiring scholar, full of lust, coveting position, wanting to be a member of the Jewish hierarchy, aspiring perhaps to be a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin Council, wanting to be a famous Jewish teacher, wanting to have a name that was known everywhere for his learning; he did not know that that was covetousness, that that was all for him. But one day God spoke to his heart through the law, and he realised this was deeply offensive to God. God brought the hidden thing to light, the lust of his heart. He realised he was a covetous sinner and he saw he was dead, condemned, without hope of God or of heaven. This is the effect we are to have on the world: do not join with them in sin, but rather reprove, expose their sins to the light.