Ephesians 5:6

Eph_5:6

Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

A caution and a commination

I. A caution against error.

1. That we may not deceive ourselves. Frequent warnings are given against this self-flattery (1Co_6:9; 1Jn_3:7; 1Co_15:33; Gal_6:7). Men do what they can to live securely and undisturbedly in their sins, and to guard their hearts against the apprehension of all danger and punishment.

2. That we may not be deceived by others. There were false teachers in those early days, that countenanced profane and licentious Christians; some that taught fornication was an indifferent thing, or at least no such great matter, or not so dangerous.

II. A denunciation of Gods wrath

1. The evil denounced, The wrath of God cometh; meaning by wrath, punishment from God, who is angry and displeased with these sins.

2. The meritorious procuring cause, For these things, fornication, uncleanness, and such like gross sins. God is not severe upon ordinary failings and frailties, but these sins are of another nature.

3. The persons upon whom this vengeance cometh; it shall light upon the children of disobedience.

I. What are the vain words or pretences by which they usually harden their hearts?

1. That God will not call them to an account, or punish them for their sins. If you think He will not, it is because He hath no right, or no power, or no will to do it. You cannot say no right, because man is His creature, and therefore His subject. You cannot say no power, for our life is in His hands.

2. That God will be merciful to them; though they sin against Him, they shall notwithstanding escape well enough; that He will not be severe against His creatures. But you reflect but upon one part of Gods nature, His mercy, without His holiness and justice, and so fancy an unreasonable indulgence in God.

3. That they are Christians, and by external profession have received the faith of Christ. But the name will not save you without the power (2Ti_2:19).

4. That none is perfect, and the rarest saints have fallen into as great faults, and so are persuaded that these gross sins are but frailties and human infirmities. If David fell, why may not I? was an old excuse in Salvians time. Did not they smart grievously for these sins? and was not their repentance as remarkable as their fall?

5. Others say they are justified, and depend on the righteousness of Christ. You may, if you have a right to it; but He that doeth righteousness is righteous (1Jn_3:7). Where Christ is made righteousness, He is also made sanctification (1Co_1:30).

6. That if they be in an unjustified state for the present, they hope they shall repent at last, and then they will leave off their sins, and cry to God for mercy. But you live in fiat disobedience to God for the present, whereas the Holy Ghost saith, Today, etc. (Heb_3:7).

7. That they do make amends for a course of sin in one kind by abounding in other duties. But God will be obeyed in all things. These are some of the sorry fig leaves by which men hope to cover their nakedness, those sandy foundations upon which they build their hopes.

II. The reasons how it cometh to pass that such gross self-flattery can possess their minds. Though it be as plain as noonday that they that live in gross sins shall be damned, yet the most profane have good thoughts of their condition.

1. The causes lie in themselves; as--

(1) Self-love, which is very partial, and loath to think of the evil of our condition (Pro_16:2).

(2) Unbelief el Gods Word and Divine promises and threatenings. Unbelief and obstinate impenitency always go together.

(3) Non-attendance to Gods warnings, if they are not guilty of express unbelief (Mat_22:5).

(4) Non-application: Lo! this, we have searched it; hear it, and know it for thy good (Job_5:27), What nor consider, nor apply, no wonder if self-love carrieth it; and in the greatest soul dangers they flatter themselves into a fools paradise, that they shall do well enough though they live in their sins.

2. The devil joineth with our self-love, and lulleth us asleep in our carnal security and abuse of grace (Gen_3:4-5).

3. He stirreth up instruments, that, with the charms of false doctrine, he may hinder the sight of sin and fears of judgment, and strengthen the hands of the wicked (Jer_23:17).

Let no man deceive you.

1. It is sure you are not justified while you are yet in your sins.

2. How much God is concerned to right Himself, the honour of His providence, and the truth of His Word, against such as flatter themselves in their sins (Deu_29:19-20). It should doter us from wilful and heinous sins to think of the wrath of God that shall come upon those that live in them. First: It is a powerful motive; for Gods wrath is very terrible.

Consider--

1. The intension of this wrath. It is compared to a consuming fire (Heb_12:29). It is a fire that burneth, not only to the ground or the surface of the earth, but to the lowest hell (Deu_32:22).

2. As to extension; the wrath of God compriseth all those evils which are the fruit of sin, be they bodily or spiritual, in life or death, or after death.

Secondly: It is a kindly motive. That is a question whether it be so or no; therefore let us state the matter.

1. We are principally to avoid sin as sin, and as displeasing to God (Gen_39:9).

2. We must abstain from it, as it will bring down wrath and judgment upon us. So God urgeth this argument (Eze_18:30).

3. The poena damni, to fear the punishment of loss, is out of question. A man cannot love God and not fear the loss of His favour.

4. The poena sensus, the punishment of sense, is necessary also to quicken men to their duty, and to guard their love, and to show that God doth not make little reckoning of sin (2Co_5:11).

5. The effect which it must produce is not such a fear as driveth us from God, but bringeth us to Him; not torment, and perplexity, and despairing anguish (1Jn_4:18), but flight and caution.

6. Punishments on others are for our warning. When Gods judgments are upon others for sin, His hand is to be observed with great reverence; as David (Psa_119:119-120). To teach us in what rank to place principles of obedience.

There are several principles by which men are acted and influenced.

1. Some are false and rotten; as custom: As I have done these so many years (Zec_7:3). Vainglory: To be seen of men (Mat_6:1). Rapine: To devour widows houses (Mat_23:14). Envy (Php_1:15-16).

2. Some are more tolerable; as the hope of temporal mercies (Hos_7:14).

3. Some are very good and sound; as when duties are done out of obedience to God, upon the urgings of an enlightened conscience, without the bent of a renewed heart; for a regenerate man obeyeth, not only as enjoined, but inclined. The principle is sound in the other, but the heart is not fitted.

4. Some are rare and excellent; as when we love God, not only for His benignity, but holiness, and eye our reward for His sake, and love the glory of God above our own happiness, and can subordinate the happy part of our eternal estate to His glory (Rom_9:3). That their condition is of all most miserable who are not only sinners, but stubborn and obstinate in their sin.

The wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience.

1. Who are the disobedient? It may be said of two sorts--First of all, men in their natural condition with respect to the law: The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Rom_8:7). And, secondly, of those that refuse the gospel: In flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel (2Th_1:8). What shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel? (1Pe_4:17), viz., those that will not submit themselves to God, or be persuaded to forsake their sins. Now, as to the disobedient sinners.

1. They are slaves to sin (Tit_3:3).

2. They are of the devils party (Eph_2:2).

3. They are rebels to God (Job_24:13). (T. Manton, D. D.)

Children of disobedience

I. Who are children of disobedience.

1. Those who are not only sinners, but stubborn, obstinate, and ignorant sinners; such as are prone to all evil, and are not only indisposed, but averse from all good.

2. This good is either to be determined by the light of nature or the light of the gospel.

(1) Wicked men are called children of disobedience because they rebel against the light of nature (Job_24:13).

(2) Those that have heard the gospel, and will not suffer themselves to be persuaded to embrace the blessed offers made therein, nor will they give up themselves to the obedience of Christ. Their condition is more terrible, for these are desperately sick, and refuse their remedy (1Pe_4:17).

3. This obstinacy and disobedience is aggravated.

(1) From the person who is disobeyed. It is not our counsel, but Gods.

(2) From the manner of the persuasion, which is by the Word and Spirit. In the Word there are the highest motives to allure, the strongest arguments to persuade, the greatest terrors to scare men out of their sins.

(3) From the plenty of offers. God hath called often and long: He that, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy (Pro_29:1). It is dangerous to slight frequent warnings; these are obdurate in their sins.

(4) From the concomitant dispensations of providence. When our obstinacy and resolved continuance in sin is not broken by afflictions; as Pharaoh was Pharaoh still from first to last.

4. This disobedience, the longer it is continued, the more it is increased.

II. The misery of their condition. It is either matter of sense or matter of faith; of sight, because of present judgments, or foresight, because of the threatenings of the Word.

1. It is matter of sight, as God doth inflict remarkable judgments on obstinate sinners in this life, to teach His children to beware of their sins. These judgments are either spiritual or temporal.

2. It is matter of faith and foresight. And so by this wrath of God is meant eternal destruction, which cometh upon them for their disobedience, which is a sin of the highest nature, and a chief cause of their damnation. At death they feel the sad effects of it (1Pe_3:19-20).

III. Why this should deter Gods people from being partakers with them. Here I shall inquire

(1) What it is to be partakers with them.

(2) Why Gods wrath should deter us from this?

1. What it is to be partakers with them.

(1) There is a principal sense, and chiefly intended here, that we should not follow their example.

(2) There is a limited sense of the phrase, Neither be partakers of other mens sins (1Ti_5:22). There it signifieth not committing the same sins, but being accessory to the sins of others.

(a) By counselling (2Sa_13:5).

(b) By alluring and enticing (Pro_1:10).

(c) By consenting (1Ki_21:19).

(d) By applauding or flattering, and lessening the sin (Rom_1:32).

(e) Conniving, contrary to the duty of our place (1Sa_3:13).

2. Why the wrath of God should deter us from this.

(1) Because of the unpartiality of Gods judgment.

(2) Because of the greatness of His mercy.

Use--

1. To show us that we are not to be idle spectators of Gods judgments on others, but judicious observers and improvers of them. Observe here--

(1) The use of observing Gods providences on others.

(2) The manner of it.

First, The use and benefit of observing Gods providences is great in these particulars.

1. To cure atheism (Psa_58:11).

2. To make us more cautious of sin, that we meddle not with it.

3. To humble us, and make us more earnest in deprecating the wrath of God, and suing out our pardon in Christ. We see sin goeth not unpunished. Alas! if God should enter into judgment with us, who could stand? (Psa_143:2).

4. To make us thankful for our mercies and deliverances by Christ, that, when others are spectacles of His wrath, we should be monuments of His mercy and grace. Were it not for the Lords pardoning and healing grace, we had been in as bad a condition as the worst (Rom_11:22). Secondly, the manner of making these observations. This is needful to be stated, because men are apt to misapply providence, and to sit as a coroners inquest on the souls of their neighbours, and so rather observe things to censure others than for their own caution.

Rules concerning the observation of Gods providences towards others.

1. Certain it is that judgments on others must be observed. Providence is a comment on the Word, and therefore it is stupidness not to take notice of it. They that will not observe Gods hand shall feel it. If we will not take the warning at a distance, and by others smart and rebuke, there is no way left but we ourselves must be taught by experience. He that will plunge himself into a bog or quagmire, where others have miscarried before him, is doubly guilty of folly, because he neither feareth the threatening, nor will take warning by their example and punishment. Observe we must (Amo_6:2).

2. This observation must be to a good end; not to censure others, that is malice; or justify ourselves above them, that is pride and self-conceit, condemned by our Lord Christ (Luk_13:2-5).

3. In making the observation we must have a care that we do not make providence speak the language of our fancies. (T. Manton, D. D.)

Evil effects of bad company

We are informed by chemists that one grain of iodine will give colour to seven thousand times its own weight of water. One indulgence in bad company is enough to communicate much of its contagion to your moral being. If you handle pitch with your bare hand it will adhere for days or weeks, so the connection which you may form with bad company, will pollute you in a way which a whole life may not suffice to remove. (John Bate.)

Reproving evil company

The Rev. John Elliot was once asked by a pious woman who was vexed with a wicked husband, and bad company frequently infesting her house on his account, what she should do? Take, said he, the Holy Bible into your hand when bad company comes in, and that will soon drive them out of the house. (K. Arvine.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3) Look about thyself and be independent and benevolent!

(Eph_5:6-14.)

6Let no man [no one] deceive you with vain [empty] words: for because of these 7things cometh the wrath of God upon the children [sons] of disobedience. Be not ye [Become not] therefore partakers14 with them. 8For ye were sometime [once ye were] darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9(For the fruit of the Spirit [light]15 is in all goodness and righteousness and 10, 11 truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto [well-pleasing to] the Lord. And have no fellowship16 with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather [even] reprove them. 12For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret [For the things done in secret by them it is a shame even to speak of].17 13But all things that are [being] reproved are made manifest by the light! for whatsoever doth make manifest [everything which is made manifest]18 is light. 14Wherefore he saith, Awake [or Up!]19 thou that [who] sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Eph_5:6. The transition. Let no one deceive you with empty words, μεδεὶς ὐμᾶς ἀπατάτω κενοῖς λόγοις.—The precept: “let no one deceive you,” is entirely general, but limited by the context to social intercourse; there being nothing to indicate a further extension. Hence “no one” is to be applied to members of the Church and the non-christians who are, or come, near them; “deceive” including unintentional as well as intentional leading astray. Accordingly the reference is not, as in Col_2:8, to philosophers and Jewish errorists (Grotius), nor merely to frivolous Christians (Olshausen), or to those heathen who had remained unbelieving (Meyer). The loquacious persons spoken of are false teachers with “empty words.” This phrase means discourse wanting in truth, life and spirit; hoc genus est, species tres Eph_5:4. (Bengel). [Alford: “Empty—not containing the kernel of truth, of which words are but the shell—words with no underlying facts.”—R.] Comp. 1Co_15:38. Bullinger: Erant apud Ephesios homines corrupti, ut hodie apud nos plurimi sunt, qui hæc salutaria Dei præcepta cachinno excipientes obstrepunt: humanum esse, quod faciunt amatores, utile, quod fœneratores, facetum, quod jaculatores, et idcirco Deum non usque adeo graviter animadvertere in istius modi lapsus.20 Stier is not altogether incorrect in finding an ironical opposition in: ἀπατᾷν κενοῖς, exhorting thus: let them speak only in vain (1Co_15:14; 1Co_15:58).

For because of these things, διὰ ταῦταγάρ, introduces a reason; “because of these things” pointing beyond the genus (“empty word”) to the species (Eph_5:4), just as in the parallel passage, Col_3:6 (δί ἅ). [The context is decisive against the reference either to the ἀπάτη of the “empty words,” or to this and the sins mentioned in Eph_5:4. See Ellicott and Alford.—R.]—Cometh, ἔρχεται, marks the fact as present, like “hath not” (Eph_5:5); it is neither=venire solet (Erasmus), nor a general asseveration without any temporal qualification (Harless), nor does it point to the future (Meyer, Schenkel, Bleek); the punishment has already begun. See Rom_1:18.

The wrath of God, ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ.—This also is not to be considered as quiescent until the final Judgment. It already comes both externally and internally as correction and punishment, upon the sons of disobedience, ἐπὶ τοὺς υἰους τῆς ἀπειθείας (Eph_2:2).—This designates more strongly than ἀπειθείας those who still or again oppose God and His word within the Church. [“The active and practical side of the ἀπειθῶν (Joh_3:36) is here brought out. The word is a valuable middle term between unbelief and disobedience, implying their identity in a manner full of the highest instruction” (Alford).—R.]

Warning against association with wicked men; Eph_5:7-10.

Eph_5:7. Become hot therefore, μὴ οὖν γίνεσθε.—Οὖν, “therefore,” marks the specializing of the warning and that it rests on “the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience” as its basis, while γίνεσθε, “become,” indicates that this state of things is not yet present, and at the same time the danger of its entrance and its quiet, unnoticed and unregarded development.21 Vulgate: Nolite effici! Bengel: Ne ira super vos veniat!

Partakers with them, συνμέτοχοι22 αὖτῶν, i.e. with the sons of disobedience. It is inappropriate to refer αὐτῶν to vices (Schenkel), and to understand συνμέτοχοι (Eph_3:6) of the portion of the wicked (Koppe, Stier, who includes this also). The reference to the punishment is the foundation of the warning against companionship with them.

Eph_5:8 presents a new reason, taken from their experience of grace, their grasp on the Lord and their task For once ye were,23 ἦτε γάρ ποτε!—That is, thanks to God, it is past! Hence ἦτε stands emphatically first; and Luther with his weiland [=to the antique “sometime” of the E. V.] aptly recalls a past condition, referring to a new life.—Darkness, σκός, abstraction pro concreto, emphasi egregia (Bengel). [They were not only living or abiding in it, but themselves actual and veritable darkness (Ellicott).—R.]

But now are ye light in the Lord, νῦν δὲ φῶς ἐν τῷ κυρίῳ.—This, without ἔστι, is quite as emphatic and brief. “Light,” as in 1Jn_1:6; Joh_8:12, is a comprehensive designation of the Divine life and character, both ethical and intellectual in its meaning, in contrast with darkness (Eph_4:18; Act_26:18; Col_1:12-13; 1Pe_2:9). These nominatives emphasize the being full, permeated by, and are stronger than ἐν σκότει (Rom_2:19; 1Th_5:4), ἐν φωτί. [Comp. Usteri, Lehrbegr. ii. 1, 3, p. 229, on the terms φῶς and σκότος.—Hodge weakens the sense into “enlightened,” but “light” has here an active sense, which prepares the way for the subsequent exhortation, since they were not only to walk worthy of the light but be light to others (Eph_5:13).—R.] The added phrase, ἐν τῷ κυρίῳ, excludes the notion of having earned the present condition, marking the operation of the Lord, in order to excite thankfulness for constancy, fear of apostacy and backsliding, without the ability of helping one’s self.

Walk as children of light, ὡς τέκνα φωτὸς24 περιπατεῖτε.—The status is marked by ὡς, “as.” What ye are (“children of light”), be in deed and truth (“walk”)! Energetically added, without any conjunction, as growing out of what precedes, as its result.

Eph_5:9. For the fruit of the light, ὁ γὰρ καρπὸς τοῦ φωτός.—This is introduced as a ground (γάρ). The children of the light are referred to the fruit of the light, in order to excite them to a corresponding walk. This fruit consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth [ἐν πάσῃ, ἀγαθωσύνῃ καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ ἀληθειᾳ]—“Fruit” is in the singular, and yet three terms follow, as in Gal_5:22 : “the fruit of the Spirit” is followed by nine, in order to render prominent its unity in contrast with “the works of the flesh” (Eph_5:19 ff.) in their sundered character, their opposition to each other.

Goodness, ἀγαθωσύνη, the opposite of which is κακία, is distinguished from χρηστότης, which is mentioned in connection with it (Gal_5:22), in this, that it refers to the depth of the disposition, χρηστότης more to the character of its manifestation; both denoting goodness however. Here are designated the character and conduct as regards possessions of every kind, which one has and knows another to stand in need of.

Righteousness, δικαιοσύνη, the opposite of which is ἀδικία, respects relations and the ordering of the same, claims which can be made, and obligations, which should be fulfilled, and is just in regard to all these, taking pains that nothing, neither the least nor the most difficult, receives detriment.

Truth, ἀλήθεια, the opposite of which is ψεῦδος, concerns the agreement of what is internal and external, of thought and word and deed, of goodness and righteousness, so that one is not served at the expense of the other, and harmony exists. The terms are not to be divided according to the three categories: inwardly, toward man, toward God (B-Crusius), or source, outwardly, inwardly (Schenkel).25 “All,” πάσῃ, denotes the extent of the manifold manifestations (Php_4:6 : ὅσα), it is not then=all kinds. Others explain differently, but it is generally agreed, that ἐατι or συνέστηκε should be supplied. [Comp. Winer, p. 173, against the acceptance of a Hebraism here (ἐν=Beth essentiæ, Gesenius, Lexicon, under ב, C.—R.]

Eph_5:10. Proving, δοκιμάζοντες.—Grammatically this participle may be the mode of the walking, Eph_5:9 being taken as a parenthesis. So Bengel, Harless, Meyer, Schenkel [Hodge, Eadie, Ellicott, Alford], and others. But the exhortation may also be regarded as concluded in Eph_5:8; nor does Eph_5:9 give in the main the impression of being a parenthesis, while the participle can be, according to Winer (p. 545), taken imperatively with ἐστε supplied, as occurs at least ten times in Rom_12:9-13. So Koppe, Stier, Bleek and others. [Such a construction is certainly allowable, where the context plainly requires it, but is not to be accepted when a simpler view is so obviously suggested as in this case.—R.] The former view is favored by the connection of “proving” and “walk,” since through the walk as a child of the light material and power for the proof grows and ripens. [On the word see Trench, Syn., II. § 24.—R.] Investigation and discrimination are required of the children of light; independently, not “tossed as waves and carried about—in the sleight of men” (Eph_4:14), they should prove, what is well-pleasing to the Lord, τί ἐστιν εὐαρετὸν τῷ κυρίῳ.—“What,” τί, defines that all things, even the most refined traits and forms, are to be proved. The question is, Is it “well-pleasing to the Lord,” i.e., to Christ, who with His Word is the objective measure. [“The Christian’s whole course is a continual proving, testing of the will of God in practice: investigating not what pleases himself, but what pleases Him” (Alford).—R.] Comp. Rom_14:23; Rom_12:2; 2Co_5:9; 1Th_5:21.

Warning against fellowship with evil works; Eph_5:11-13.

Eph_5:11. And have no fellowship, καὶ μὴ συνκοινωεῖτε.—“And” connects the imperative with the similar admonition, Eph_5:7, there “with them” is added, here “with the works,” the latter referring to fellowship with the works, the former with the persons The verb is a strengthened form26 (Php_4:14, Rev_18:4), from συνκοινωνός (Rom_11:17; 1Co_9:23, Php_1:7; Rev_1:9); it is a compound not usual with the Apostle, denoting however the fellowship on one side alone. Hence συν is not to be referred to the disobedient, and κοινωνεῖν to the works (Meyer).

With the unfruitful works of darkness [τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς ἀκάρποις τοῦ σκότους].—The prominent word ἔργοις, “works,” is followed by ἀ κάρποις, “unfruitful,” distinguished by the article, in contrast to: “the fruit of the light” (Eph_5:9).27 The expression is not without a certain mildness, like “empty words” (Eph_5:6), yet without being weak, simply denying the fruit, without positively referring to the corruption and condemnation (Eph_4:22; Rom_6:21; Rom_8:13; Gal_6:8). The expressions: “dead works” (Heb_6:1; Heb_9:14), “wicked works” (Col_1:21), are similar. The added genitive: τοῦ σκότους, “of darkness,” appends the positive element (Rom_13:12); Gal_5:19 : τῆς σαρκός.

But rather even reprove them.—Non satis abstinere est (Bengel); hence μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ, “but rather even.” Lev_19:17. Ἐλέγχετε requires rebuke, punishment, conviction, as in Joh_3:20; Joh_16:8 The object is not expressed; but the context supplies it: αὐτά (them, i.e. the works). The mode is determined by the context, since the evil works are to be punished: through proper conduct in word and work, verbis et factis luce dignis (Bengel). Meyer and Schenkel incorrectly apply it to oral rebuke alone, against the passages in John, from which an oral conviction and punishment cannot be deduced. Comp. Joh_8:9. The result: conversion, improvement, is in no way indicated, hence not to be accepted (Olshausen).

[Alford, Eadie and Ellicott favor the reference to oral rebuke; certainly it seems a prominent thought, but see on the next verse. The last named author thus marks the antithesis: “Do not connive at them or pass them over unnoticed, but take aggressive measures against them; try and raise the Gentiles to your own Christian standard.” Hodge takes the verb as meaning: to convince by evidence, deducing from this statement: “The ethics as well as the theology of the Bible are founded on the principle that knowledge and holiness, ignorance and sin, are inseparable.” Hence that our duty is simply to let “the light of Divine truth shine into the darkened minds of men, and upon their evil deeds.”—R.]

Eph_5:12. For the things done in secret by them it is a shame even to speak of.—[See Textual Note 4]. Evidently a reason (γάρ) for what was said in ver, 11 is here introduced. Bengel correctly indicates one part of it: cur indefinite loquatur Eph_5:11 de operibus terebrarum, quum fructum lucis Eph_5:9 definite descripserit,28the other is at any rate, why he has expressed himself so briefly, generally, without qualification: ἐλέγχετε. It is incorrect to take γάρ=although (Koppe), or to insert “although” (Rueckert).—Τὰ γάρ κρυφῆ γινόμενα ὐπ̓ αὐτῶς, i. e, the children of disobedience (Eph_5:6), or “those doing the works of darkness” (Winer, p 134), can only be the works mentioned before, but more definitely characterized, in order to give a motive for the propriety of the requirement. Two elements now brought forward, constitute the characteristics of these works: κρυφῆ, “in secret,” the main point standing first, and γινόμενα the second. The former marks the works as those to which ever clings something unknown, unrecognized, that may not appear, but will remain in concealment, ashamed of itself however bold; the latter, which is not==ποιούμενα, marks their involuntary, habitual character, not isolated but peculiar, while ὑπό expresses the guilt of those who do them. Stier aptly compares with our passage the profound description of the “rebels against the light” (מֹרְדֵי־אוֹד, Job_24:13-16) and “the hidden things of darkness” (1Co_4:5; Joh_3:20-21); accordingly it is not to be referred exclusively to sins of debauchery, orgies [Holzhausen] and the like, although these are included; nor are we to understand only heathen sins of the most objectionable character. The works of darkness are stretched in a way that is universally and continuously valid; of such works “it is a shame even to speak” (Eph_5:3-4). Evidently λέγειν is not merely narration, indifferent mention, but includes disapproving, rebuking mention as well. Paul requires an ἐλεγχειν without a λέγἐιν, “without one’s taking all their dirt into his mouth” (Berlb. Bible), hence through the walk in word and work, so necessary on this account. Mat_5:16; Php_2:15.

[The main difficulty here is the question of connection. The views of Bengel and Koppe have been already suggested, and seem unsatisfactory. That of Braune (so Stier, Peile, Bloomfield, following Theophylact and Erasmus) depends on the meaning of ἐλέγχετε, and since this seems to include verbal reproof, the restriction here is at least improbable. Harless and others connect the verse with “have no fellowship,” but this identifies “works of darkness” and “things done in secret” almost too strongly, and as Ellicott suggests, gives undue prominence to the negative part of the command, while the phrase “but rather even,” as well as the subsequent context makes “reprove” the leading thought. Taking ἐλέγχετε in its proper sense, and accepting the connection of this verse with it by γαρ, two views present themselves: that of Alford and others.: “I mention not and you need not speak of these deeds—much less have any fellowship with them—your connection with them must be only that which the act of ἔλεγξις necessitates:” and that of Meyer, Ellicott, Eadie and others: “By all means reprove them, and there is the more need of it, for it is a shame even to speak of their secret sins.” This is preferable, and the reproof of the works of darkness can take place without speaking of the more disgusting forms.—R.]

Eph_5:13. But all things, τὰ δὲ πάντα, denotes what is described in Eph_5:12. [So Meyer, Ellicott and others against Rueckert and Alford), who take the phrase as of general application.—R.]—Being reproved are made manifest by the light, ἐλεγχόμενα ὑπὸ τοῦ φωτὸς φανερῦται.—The light is God’s, in His Word, in our conscience, character and conduct; the Christian persons falling into the back-ground behind the “light” which works in and out from them: this must work for its own sake, the efficiency does not enter with reference to our persons. Hence ὑπὸ τοῦ φωτός belongs both to ἔλεγχόμενα and φανεροῦται, as the position indicates also, since otherwise it would be repeated. In ἐλεγχόμεςα the success of the ἔλέγχετε is set forth: you do not proceed ineffectually against the works of the children of disobedience, they are rebuked, struck, could not avoid it; your light has become a punishment for them. When this takes place, they are made manifest, what is “in secret” in them, becomes plain and its scandalousness is recognized; ἐλεγχόμενα is therefore a presupposition to φανεροῦται, not an extension of the predicate, but a limitation of the subject, τὰ πάντα. The context however suggests: the reproved acts or conditions become so to the possessor: to him they are now manifest as reproved, as reproved with right, and both reproved and manifested through the light of the truth in Jesus Christ and His people.

[It seems to be an unsatisfactory way out of the difficulty respecting the connection of ὑπὸ τοῦ φωτός, to join it to both the participle and the verb, and Braune is probably led to adopt it by his desire to maintain the thought of a tacit reproof. To join it with the participle (De Wette and others) is open to objection, for this gives the ἔλέγχειν a specification not in accordance with Eph_5:12, while, equally with Braune’s view, it makes φῶς entirely too ethical, it being properly metaphorical in both clauses. The connection with the verb is more natural, “by the light” receiving emphasis from the order in the Greek. So Meyer, Ellicott, Eadie and most recent commentators. The participle is a predication of manner or time (“being reproved,” or “when reproved”) joined to the subject. See note at the close of the verse.—R.]

For everything which is made manifest is light.—Πᾶν τὸ φανερούμενον, following φανεροῦται, is passive (Winer, p. 242); all, that is illuminated, made manifest, φῶς ὲστιν, itself gives light, has the nature and efficiency of light. This very general proposition is limited by the character of the subject (Bengel: sermo de homme ipso, Eph_5:14), to the persons who permit themselves to be reproved, who must permit themselves to be enlightened, in order to become manifest, shined upon and illuminated, and finally to become themselves light. Bengel: Antanaclasis; nam φανεροῦται est passivum; φανερούμενον medium, quod manifestari non refugit. With Stier we may find here a recalling of: “once ye were darkness, now are ye light” (Eph_5:8), in order that in thankfulness and mildness towards those in the same condition in which they formerly were, they may apply the reproving and manifesting walk. Because what is shined upon, illuminated, itself shines, walk then so, that ye shame, reprove, convince those who are busy with the works of darkness, bringing them to the light; thus ye will best help them, as ye yourselves have been helped. The first part of this verse indicates the immediate result, the second the end of the ἐλεγχθῆναι or ἐλέγχειν. Bengel: Simul hinc patet facilitas (Stier: because without speaking, hence without special knowledge of him who is to be reproved), justitia (Stier: because to the darkness the judging light is of right due), salubritas (Stier: because these can thus become light themselves) elenchi.—There is here no reference to the Gnostic light-theory of the Valentinians (Baur), since these on the contrary wrested and distorted this passage after A. D. 150. Quite as untenable and inapt are those explanations which take φανερούμενον as active and πᾶν as the object—accusative (Grotius), or apply the ἐλέγχειν only to oral rebuke (Meyer, Schenkel and others), or regard the neuter as masculine merely (Storr and others).

[The view of Meyer is on the whole most satisfactory: “But all things (all those secret sins), when they are reproved, when that ἐλέηχετε has been effected on them, are made manifest by the light, by the light of Christian truth, which is efficient in your reproving, are brought to light as to their true moral quality, unveiled and made clear to the moral consciousness; by the light, I say, they are made manifest, for—in order to prove by a general proposition, that this cannot take place except by the light—all that which is made manifest, that is brought out of its concealment and brought to light in its true character, is light, has thus ceased to have the nature of darkness and is now of the character of light. The basis of this proof is the syllogism: “Quod est in effectu (φῶς ἐστι), id debet in causa (ὑπὸ τοῦ φωτός).” This is equally simple and grammatical. It avoids the common mistake of referring the words too definitely. Commentators have run into much perplexity by not accepting occasional general propositions; comp. Gal_3:20. Eadie, following Calvin and others, still maintains an active or middle sense, objecting to the passive that light does not always exercise this transforming influence. But this objection holds only against a too strictly ethical sense of φῶς, to which Olshausen, Stier, Hodge (and Braune) incline. Objectively taken, it is universally true: everything shone upon is light.” “Whether this tends to condemnation or otherwise, depends on the nature of the case, and the inward operation of the outwardly illuminating influence” (Alford, Ellicott). See the last named for a clear statement, and comp. Harless, Eadie, but especially Meyer in loco.—R.]

The conclusion; Eph_5:14.

Eph_5:14. Wherefore he saith [διὸ λέγει; Braune: It is said: comp. Eph_4:8.—R.]—“Wherefore” refers to what precedes, and in accordance with the purport of the citation, to all that is said of the walk in the light, not merely to Eph_5:13 (Schenkel), but to Eph_5:8; Eph_5:11 also, in order to render the exhortation more complete and forcible through a citation.29 Hence λέγει is as in Eph_4:8. This quotation of the Apostle is not to be weakened, because no corresponding passage is found in the Old Testament, neither Isa_60:12 (Calvin and most) nor Isa_26:19 (Beza and others) nor Isa_52:1-2, or Isa_9:1; it is not supposed that he cited a saying given directly to him (Jerome) or an apocryphal passage (Morus and others). Certainly we should not accept a lapsus memoriæ, as though he wished to quote from canonical Scripture and happened on an apocryphal passage that could not be authenticated (Meyer, who compares 1Co_2:9), and quite as little a combination of the passage from Isaiah (Schenkel, who refers to Rom_9:33; Rom_11:8; Rom_11:26).30 Least of all is λέγει=φησί, they said, it is said (Bornemann). The most probable explanation is, that it is a quotation from a Christian hymn that had grown out of Isa_10:1-2. This is confirmed by Eph_5:18-19, as well as by the significance of church hymns beside the Scripture. So Theodoret with reference to 1Co_14:26; Severianus in Tischendorf (ed. 7, vol. ii. p. 457). Bengel: Simul videtur in mente habuisse formulam, quæ in festo buccinarum adhiberi solita fuerat. Et fortasse illo anni tempore scripsit hanc epistolam. 1Co_5:7. Bleek in loco and Stud. und Krit. 1853, p. 331. Stier and others: A word of God is introduced as speaking to the Christian.

[There is one insuperable objection to these views of Braune, Stier, Bengel, Bornemann, as well as to those of Rhenferd (one of our Lord’s unrecorded sayings), Wesley (the general tenor of Scripture), Barnes (who sees no reason for accepting a quotation at all), and that is Paul’s use of λέγει, his formula of citation from the Old Testament; especially in conjunction with διό. If we accept a Christian hymn based on the passage in Isaiah the difficulty is not removed, but the way opened for the multiplication of difficulties. If God speaks, (as Braune implies) through a paraphrase in the form of a Christian hymn, much more does he speak, when His Apostle interprets or applies His written word. The best solution is that of Alford:“In the first place, by the introduction of ὁ Χριστός, it is manifestly a paraphrase, not an exact citation. The Apostle cites, and had a perfect right to cite, the language of prophecy: and that he is here doing so, the bare word ‘Christ’ shows us beyond dispute. I insist upon this, that it may be plainly shown to be no shift in a difficulty, no hypothesis among hypotheses—but the necessary inference from the form of the citation. This being so—of what passage of the Old Testament is this a paraphrase? I answer of Isa_60:1-2. There, the Church is set forth as being in a state of darkness and of death (comp. Eph 59:10), and is exhorted to awake, and become light, for that her light is come, and the glory of Jehovah has arisen upon her. Where need we go further for that of which we are in search?”—The view of Ellicott is similar: “St. Paul, speaking under the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is expressing in a condensed and summary form the spiritual meaning of the passage.” He thinks the prophet’s immediate words supply in substance the first part of the quotation, while the latter part is the spiritual application of the remainder of the verse, and of the general tenor of the prophecy. Alford’s view is safe, and rests on the Lord’s own saying: “Search the Scriptures, they are they which testify of me” (Joh_5:39).—R.]

Up! thou who sleepest, ἔγειρε ὁ καθεύδων.—[The word ἔγειρε is not the active for the middle but is the common form of rousing (Fritzsche).—R.]—This can be addressed only to the Christian (Rom_13:11-12), who at God’s call opens his eyes; the Lord has come to him, awakened him, so that he, awake and alive, looks about him. [It is more correct to regard this as addressed to those who are not yet Christians, but about to become so through the effectual call of God.—This is perhaps Braune’s view, see Doctr. Note 3.—R.] The beginning of knowledge is thus denoted. Still there is yet a struggle with sleep; the eyes close again; the light of day dazzles.—And arise from the dead, καὶ ἀνάστα ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, is the advance to rising from the couch, standing up and preparing for work. Ἀναστῆναι ἐπὶ ἔργον ἐγερθῆναι ἐξ ὕπνου. The sleeper is inactive, as one who is dead.—The promise incites: and Christ shall shine upon thee, καὶ ἐπιφαύσει σοι ὁ Χριστός.—The figure is that of the morning, when day breaks and man meets the sun and daylight. Christ is the light, makes the day that shines upon and enlightens us, in order that we may become light for others, as the context requires. On the forms ἀναστα and ἐπιφαύσει see Winer, pp. 76, 85.

[The question of the connection of this verse deserves some further attention. Braune apparently follows Stier, who thinks the quotation is introduced to exhort: “Become light, that ye may be able to convict others,” which accords with his view of silent reproof. But this seems to be stepping aside from the more obvious sense. Hodge takes it as a confirmation of the assertion of the preceding verse: everything made manifest is light. This is true, but scarcely a sufficient reason for its introduction. Meyer paraphrases διό thus: Because the reproof is so necessary, as I have indicated in Eph_5:12, and so wholesome in its effects as shown in Eph_5:13, therefore, etc., and then says that the call of God confirms the necessity of the reproof, and the promise: “Christ shall shine upon thee,” supports the wholesome influence of the light, under which the reproof places them. This seems preferable. So that the purpose of the Apostle is to show by a paraphrase from the Scriptures that the effect of the light is such, and that therefore Christians should reprove in order that others may become light through the illumination here promised. In general what is made manifest is light (Eph_5:15), but Christ’s shining makes new light in a spiritual sense. Let your light shine, so as to reprove, in the hope that Christ will shine on the convicted heart. This seems to be the view of Alford, and is approached by Erasmus and Rueckert.—R.]

What Jerome says is interesting: scio me audisse quendam de hoc loco in ecclesiam disputantem—testimonium hoc, inquit, ad Adam dicitur in loco calvariæ sepultum, ubi crucifixus est dominus,—illo ergo tempore quo crucifixus dominus super ejus pendebat sepulchrum, hæc prophetia completa est: surge, Adam, qui dormis et exsurge a mortuis et non ut legimus ἐπιφαύσει σοι Χριστός, i.e., orietur tibi Christus, sed ἐπιφαύσει, i.e., contingent to Christus, quia videlicet tactu sanguinis ipsius et corporis dependentis vivificetur atque consurgat.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. One of the weightiest points in the formation of the Christian life is the conversation and intercourse with others, the social life. Here foresight and circumspection are necessary. Sociality is a gift and has a task, and both of these are twofold: Every one has both for himself and others. For himself, that he does not suffer detriment through the idle, flat, empty, useless character of the same. There may enter a somnolence of the awakened Christian impulse and life, of moral endeavor, of zeal in sanctification, through dissipation, gossipping, amusement and jesting, or excitement of carnal zeal, dainty, proud and high-flown character, onesidedness and injustice in opinion and conduct. For others, that he promotes their advancement, and in the interchange of sentiment and experience elevates, confirms, clarifies, rectifies, and complements them. Do not enter into more intimate intercourse with him, who cannot and will not be to you what you ought to be to him, or guard against his influence over you, taking heed if you cannot alter him, that you do not at all events conform him in his character. You should not withdraw yourself from others, but so act that you are not withdrawn from God, who has drawn you to Himself. What He has given you hold fast, so that no one deprives you of it. Do not let what He has planted in you be rooted up by the words of others. Let the fruit of His light ripen, and do not allow it to be eaten up by the worms of the world’s culture.

2. Consider the two in connection: proving what is God’s will, and reproving your neighbor. The former comes first, the latter is second. The former requires care in intercourse with God through His word, personal growth in His grace and knowledge, intimacy with Him, walking in His light, as His child. The latter, on the other hand, that you become for your neighbor a conscience outside of and beside him, as your own conscience has borne witness to yourself, or that like Sarah you speak silently in your conduct (1Pe_3:1); very little depends on words, at least on many of them, only on apt ones, without scolding; be free and frank, true in love and lovely in truth (Eph_4:15). He who is not yet your brother, may and ought to become so; but you should no longer be to him what you were before Christ won you: a companion in his evil works and words.

3. In the concluding verse the grace of God is rendered strongly prominent, but in such a way as to indicate that it is in vain, if man’s own act is not also present and he does not lift himself up by applying the power brought nigh and proffered him, his own strength increasing with the use of the power from on high which he appropriates. If he when awakened does not open his eyes and wake up, if when called he does not get up from his couch, he does not reach Christ’s light or the walk in the day; this however takes place only in consequence of the initiative of Divine and imparted power.31

4. Finally it may be said, that as Paul immediately afterwards speaks of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Eph_5:19), so he here places on an equality with canonical Scripture the Christian hymn which grows out of God’s word. Hence the importance of church hymnology. By this too we must test every hymn and hymn-book, that nothing apocryphal or heretical throws what is Scriptural into the back-ground, but that the truly Christian element of the hymn animates, furthers and subserves the Scriptures in the congregation, in the public service and in the household. [While compelled to object to the premise here laid down for the reason stated in the additional Exeg. Notes on Eph_5:14, we may well approve of the influence, which is valid on other grounds than the supposed citation of a Christian hymn. See further Doctr. Notes on the next section.—R.]

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Comp. the Doctr. Notes.

You should not fly from men, yet you should not become their admiring slave, nor esteem yourself less than God has esteemed you, nor forsake His truth to accept human errors. Society has her assemblies generally in the evening; how much is there spoken in the artificial life of crowded halls resounding with human voices, with spirit and wit (but generally without this), confidently and with the approval of the mass. But as you go home in the quiet night, under the twinkling light of the stars or the shining of the moon, test what you have heard: Can you still highly estimate it? Have you not oftenest felt its emptiness with inward sadness? You have often thought, I would have got more by staying at home and chatting with my wife and children or with some friend! How then if you test it by God’s word, by Christ’s life? Prove all thereby!—Let no one say to you: You must believe without examining. But do not let any say of you, that you do so.—The world may ask: what is useful? what is admirable? what is lovely? what is customary? do you only ask: what is right and well-pleasing to the Lord?—Harless very properly says: Punishment is light! But Stier is quite as correct in saying; Light is punishment!—It is good to be convinced by the light, whether it breaks forth from the walk and word of a friend or a foe. To change one’s way on account of the light is well, but when it comes from an opponent, then to do so is deserving of praise. It really amounts to nothing to accept a rebuke out of fear or gratitude, or any spirit of calculation: it is however a special gift of God, when one receives and is affected by the primitive element of the light, altogether irrespective of the man who bears the light, be he dear, influential, powerful or not. For only thus does the recipient become himself light.—Cherish a spirit of independence not merely against others for the truth, but also for others against falsehood; it is the latter that especially needs nurture.—Christ will enlighten thee here, but glorify thee hereafter, if indeed you are really an enlightened Christian and not merely a man shone upon!

Starke:—It is an old trick of Satan’s to patch up the worst vices with the form of virtue and give them a free pass in the world under a false name. Craftiness is termed prudence, extravagance generosity, vindictiveness high-spiritedness, arrogance neatness, lechery politeness, avarice economy, etc.—True Christians are not credulous, silly and unreasonable people, but lights in the Lord, on the contrary the godless are such, 1Th_5:5.—Where goodness, righteousness and truth cannot be met with, the Spirit of God certainly does not dwell.—Love and goodness must not go so far as to make justice and truth suffer: when these virtues, united together, kiss each other, all goes right. Christian reproof is one of the most excellent obligations of love; from its omission the lack of love and fidelity may certainly be perceived.—As much wickedness is done by the godless in secret, never coming to light; so on the other hand much good is done by the pious, that might be mentioned with praise, yet is concealed out of humility. For them it suffices that God and their own hearts know of it.

Rieger:—One of the greatest vexations, and at the same time a correct judgment, respecting the world is, that she has so many people who talk to please her and adorn her filthiness. But all these vain words will not cover her from the wrath of God. Goodness is the imitator of God in His love, by means of which we avoid anger, hatred, tumult, blasphemy, avarice. Righteousness prevents stealing, the unmerciful shutting of the hand against the needy, and avarice which like a weight of lead sinks one into darkness. Truth shuns lies, shameful words and buffooneries, foul talk, vain and seductive discourse.Thus Christian prudence is attained, which never seeks to go as far as it can without sin, but after the manner of well-behaved children, is ever concerned to meet God’s approval.

Heubner:—With vain words, i.e., deceiving talk, as though these vices belonged to things indifferent. This evil, perverted moral sense begets unbelief of morally strict Christianity and thus brings down God’s wrath.—The Christian is an interested participant and yet separate and peculiar.—On the Epistle for the third Sunday in Lent; Eph_5:1-9. The Divine walk of the Christian. 1. Description. a) In general: Imitation of God, Eph_5:1; b) in particular: holy love (Eph_5:2) and pure, spotless life (Eph_5:3-4). 2. Its necessity. a. For our own salvation; for without such walk we have no part in the kingdom of God and of Christ (Eph_5:5); b) for the salvation of others: for only such a walk can reprove the evil, corrupt principles of the world, and make out of unbelievers, children of wrath, believers, children of grace. What would the world be without Enochs? (Eph_5:6). 3. Means. a) Separate yourself from the company of the ungodly, leave the path of sinners, else you cannot walk godly (Eph_5:7). b) Accept the light of grace, that your darkness may be enlightened (Eph_5:8). c) Use the light however as you receive it, beginning with God’s help to exercise your spiritual strength.—The imitation of God, to which the Christian is obligated. 1. In what it consists: a) In accepting the temper, which makes us like to Him as children to a Father (Eph_5:1); b) especially in love and holiness (Eph_5:2-4). 2. What makes this our duty: a) Our Christian calling, which should distinguish us from idolaters (Eph_5:5); b) our happiness, our freedom from the wrath of God (Eph_5:6). 3. What strengthens us thereto: a) Holding to the Church and accepting the light of the Word (Eph_5:7-8); b) seeking the Spirit of God.—The spirit of Christian investigation is nothing else than Christian conscientiousness, with this rule: what pleases God? What pleases man is a matter of indifference.—The Christian is in duty bound to speak earnestly and decidedly against evil; he dare not be silent, where he ought to speak, still less approve with the men-pleasing spirit of the worldly wise.—The ground of this earnestness and reproof is the shamefulness of the world’s vices.—What is made manifest through rebuke—is generally brought out of the darkness, in which shameless vice conceals itself, and placed in the light, so that it is thus evident to all as wicked. This is indeed the main matter.—All that is made manifest through reproof, so that the man is really made conscious of his sins,—is thereby overcome. This is the only path by which the Divine light rises within man in the place of darkness.—One must be roused, shaken, in order to be brought to consciousness. Out of the sleep of sin, in which he is not aware of the evil, he must be awakened, in order then to see what is in him.

Passavant:—It is indeed an unhappy thing to be a companion of sinners, in follies and vices, in which one becomes a means of annoyance, corruption and distress to another, only to be companion in his shame and pain, hereafter in the despair of the Judgment Day.

Stier:—Words awaken lust, lust bears sin, this is the irresistible and dangerous course of deceit, against the first appearance of which in words we cannot too carefully guard ourselves.—Where there is unbelief, there is also the wrath of God!—Have nothing in common with them, for you are unwilling to have this wrath in common with them!—Not reproving is equivalent to having fellowship.—Darkness can become light only by means of a shining light, and the walk in the light is of itself able to judge and transform the darkness.—Let yourself be enlightened, that you may live, and become alive that the light may ever more fully shine on you!

Genzken (Preparatory Discourse): Jesus my consolation (Eph_5:2), my love (Eph_5:1-2), my Shield (Eph_5:3-7) and great Reward (Eph_5:8-9).

On the Epistle for the third Sunday in Lent (Eph_5:1-9):—Kapff:—What belongs to the walk in the light? 1. Fellowship with God in Christ; 2. Laying off all ungodly doings; 3. Living according to God’s good pleasure (justification, repentance, sanctification).—Rautenberg: That is real love, which goes even unto death for the brethren. 1) It covers a multitude of sins; 2) is the fulfilment of the law; 3) is well-pleasing to God; 4) brings blessedness.—How important are the sufferings of Christ for our sanctification! The Holy Ghost works in us through them 1) powerful, sacred shame, 2) pure, self-sacrificing love.—The sacrifice of Christ a sweet-smelling savor to God—on account of the love 1) which brought it; 2) which makes room for it; 3) which is awakened by it.—Thym: The eternal love, 1) in its archetype, 2) its express image, 3) its copy.

[Hodge:

Eph_5:6. It is not only among the heathen, but among the mass of men in all ages and nations, a common thing to extenuate the particular sins to which the Apostle here refers. It is urged that they have their origin in the very constitution of our nature; that they are not malignant; that they may co-exist with amiable tempers; and that they are not hurtful to others; that no one is the worse for them, if no one knows them, etc. Paul cautions his readers in every age of the Church not to be deceived by such vain words.

Eph_5:10. Christ is here recognized as the Lord of the conscience, whose will is to us the ultimate standard of right and wrong. It is thus that the sacred writers show that Christ was their God—not merely the God of their theology, but of their religion.

Eph_5:13. According to the Apostle, the relation between truth and holiness is analogous to that between light and vision. Light cannot create the eye, or give to a blind eye the power of vision; but it is essential to its exercise. Wherever it penetrates it dissipates darkness, and brings every thing to view, and causes it to produce its appropriate effect. So truth cannot regenerate, or impart the principle of spiritual life; but it is essential to all holy exercises; and wherever the truth penetrates, it dissipates the clouds of error, and brings every thing to view, so that when spiritually discerned it produces its proper effect on the soul.

Eph_5:14. The light which Christ sheds around Him has power to awake the sleeping dead.—R.]

Footnotes:

[14]Eph_5:7.—[Here as so frequently in compounds with συν in Paul’s Epistles, συνμέτοχοι is better supported than the usual and more euphonic συμ μέτοχοι. (Rec). The former is found in א. A. B.1 D.1 F. G., accepted by Tischendorf, Alford, Ellicott and many recent editors.—R.]

[15]Eph_5:9.—[The reading of the Rec.: πνεύματος, is supported by D.3 K. L., most cursives and some fathers, but is how generally rejected as a gloss from Gal_5:22, φωνός being sustained by א. A. B. D.1 F., good cursives, Syriac and other Versions, Latin fathers.—The parenthesis is to be retained, see Exeg: Notes.—R.]

[16]Eph_5:11.—[Συνκοινωεῖτε (א. A. B.1 D.1 F. G. L., Tischendorf, Ellicott).—R.]

[17]Eph_5:12.—The E. V. has unnecessarily transposed the order in this verse. A literal rendering would be: “For the things which in secret come to pass by them it is shameful to speak of.”—R.]

[18]Eph_5:13.—[These alterations are required by the views expressed in the Exeg. Notes, and may be accepted as indicating in general the opinions of recent commentators.—R.]

[19]Eph_5:14.—The Rec. reads ἔγειραι (Lachmann], which has no uncial support. Ἔγειρε is accepted by nearly all recent editors and commentators, since it occurs in א. A. B. D. F. K. L., and other authorities.—R.]

[20][“The Apostle generally condemns all apologists for vice, whoever they might be. They would of course be most commonly found among the heathen, and to them the passage most naturally points. The palliation or tacit toleration of vice, especially sensuality, was one of the most fearful and repulsive features of heathenism; see specifically Tholuck, Influence of heathenism, Part iv. 2.”—Ellicott. Comp. the citation from Whitby and Gauthy in Eadie. The “vain words” were publicly spoken then, now they come in more concealed form, but the same lies are uttered still on the same subject and with like result, immediate and ultimate.—R.]

[21][The force of γίνεσθε is not to be explained away, Alford indeed strongly objects to it here as unnecessary and unsuitable, but he seems to entertain a prejudice against it. A German from his familiarity with the distinction between Sein and Werden in his own language is usually delicate in his perception of the same distinction in other languages.—R.]

[22][See Textual Note1 for the authority in favor of thus spelling the word.—R.]

[23][This order seems to bring out the emphasis best. Comp. Harless and Ellicott in justification of the omission of μέν here (against Rueckert).—R.]

[24][The absence of the, article with φωτός is regarded by Alford as significant: “here it is light, as light, which is spoken of.” Ellicott however thinks the omission is due to the principle of correlation: “if the governing noun is without the article, the governed will be equally so.”—R.]

[25][Meyer properly observes that these three words present the whole of Christian morality under its three aspects, the good, the right, the true. It may be added that this verbal triad, presenting the one fruit of the light is less sentimental, but more substantial than the hackneyed cluster of words: the true, the beautiful, the good. “The right” too often gives way to “the beautiful,” so called.—R.]

[26][De Wette’s rendering: “take no part in,” would require a genitive after the verb; the other is more literal, and is now accepted by Eadie, who at first followed De Wette.—R.]

[27][Comp. especially Gal_5:19; Gal_5:22, where there is a similar contrast, on which Jerome remarks: vitia in semetipsa finiuntur et pereunt, virtutes frugibus pullulant et redundant.—R.]

[28][So Œcumenius, Baumgarten, Matthies, but the Apostle was not apt to pause thus in his rebuke of sin; comp. Rom_1:24-32; 1Co_6:9; 1Co_6:20; Gal_5:19-21; 1Ti_1:9-10.—R.]

[29][Alford explains: “Seeing that everything that is made manifest becomes light—is shone upon by the detecting light of Christ—objectively—it only remains that the man should be shone upon inwardly by the same Christ revealed in his awakened heart. We have then in Scripture an exhortation to that effect.”—R.]

[30][The German has an obvious typographical error. It reads Johanneischen Stellen, passages from John. Schenkel really defends the view, “that the Apostle has freely combined several Scriptural passages in accordance with their sense and from memory,” suggesting Isa_52:1; Isa_26:19; Isa_60:1. This view is favored though not definitely adopted by Hodge and Eadie. Undoubtedly, the Apostle combines passages (Rom_9:33; Rom_11:8; Rom_11:26), but not so loosely. We may defend either a quotation according to the sense, or a literal combination, not both, especially in connection with the notion of free quotation from memory. Paul interpreted the Scriptures, whose words he well knew; a lapsus memoriæ was scarcely possible in his case as a man, much less as an inspired man.—R.]

[31][Eadie compares the command of Eph_5:14 to “that given by our Lord to the man with the withered hand—‘Stretch it forth.’ The man might have objected and said, ‘Could I obey thee in this, I would not have troubled thee. Why mock me with my infirmity, and bid me do the very thing I cannot?’ But the man did not so perplex himself; and Christ, in exciting the desire to obey, imparted the power to obey.” If every man would understand the philosophy of waking up before he gets up, what a world of sleepers we would have!—R.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5:6 The anger of God will fall at his final judgment (see Rom 1:18; Col 3:5-6; cp. John 3:36).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Eph 5:6. Κενοῖς λόγοις, with vain words) by which the anger of God is despised, and by which men strive to withdraw themselves from their duty, to consider good as nothing, and to extenuate and varnish over evil [in which moreover all things everywhere abound.—V. g.] This is the genus; there are three species at Eph 5:4. So the LXX., μὴ μεριμνάτωσαν ἐν λόγοις κενοῖς, Exo 5:9.—διὰ ταῦτα, because of these things) because of fornication, etc.—ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ, the anger of God) The antithesis to the reconciliation [on God’s part to man, by His forgiving in Christ], Eph 5:2, ch. Eph 4:32.—ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῆς ἀπειθείας, on the children of disobedience) in reference to heathenism.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eph_5:6. Let no one deceive you with empty words! In those against whom the warning is here given, Grotius sees partly heathen philosophers, partly Jews, which last omnibus Judaizantibus, quomodocunque vixissent, partem fore dicebant in seculo altera; Olshausen (comp. Bleek) thinks of frivolous Christians of antinomian sentiments, who would in future emerge; Meier, of teachers of Gentile tendencies. In accordance with the context (ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῆς ἀπειθείας, συμμέτοχοι αὐτῶν, ἦτε γάρ ποτε σκότος) we have to understand Gentiles who have remained unbelieving, who in their intercourse with the Christians sought to palliate those Gentile vices, to give them out as matters of indifference, to represent abstaining from the same as groundless rigour, and thereby to entice back the Christians to the Gentile life. Their discourses were κένοι, inasmuch as the corresponding contents, i.e. the truth, was wanting to them. Comp. Col_2:8; LXX. Exo_5:9, al.; Plat. Lach. p. 196 B; Dem. 821, 11; Hom. Od. xxii. 249, and the passages in Kypke, II. p. 299 f.; also κενολογία, empty talk, Plut. Mor. p. 1069 C; κενολογεῖν, Isa_8:19.

διὰ ταῦτα γὰρ κ.τ.λ.] for certainly very serious consequences follow these vices: on account of these vices (διὰ ταῦτα emphatically prefixed) comes (down) the wrath of God upon the disobedient, for this vicious conduct piles up the load of guilt one day to receive punishment (Rom_2:5), from which they could be liberated only by means of faith in Christ, the despising of whom leaves them to abide under the wrath of God and to encounter the judicial execution of it. To refer ταῦτα to the deceiving with empty words (Chrysostom places both explanations side by side; comp. Theophylact and Oecumenius), has against it not so much the pluralsince ταῦτα often also in classical writers denotes (see Winer, p. 146 [E. T. 201]) one notion or thought (according to the aggregate of its several marks)as rather the unsuitability of the sense in itself and to the following μὴ οὖν γίνεσθε κ.τ.λ. as well as to the parallel Col_3:6.

ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ] Not the punishment of the present life is meant (Calvin, Meier, and others; Matthies combines present and future), since the ὀργὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ is the opposite of the βασιλεία, Eph_5:5; but the wrath of God in the day of judgment, which future, as in Eph_5:5, is realized as present. Comp. 1Th_1:10.

The υἱοὶ τῆς ἀπειθ. are here those refusing faith to the gospel, and thereby disobedient to God. It is otherwise Eph_2:2. Comp. Rom_11:30; Rom_15:31.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eph 5:6 . μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς ἀπατάτω κενοῖς λόγοις : let no one deceive you with vain words . A solemn warning, made the more pointed by being given without any connecting particle. κενός is “vain” in the sense of empty , without the substance of truth or reality, and so = sophistical; cf. κενολογεῖν in Isa 8:19 . But what is the reference? Some think heathen philosophers and Jews are in view (Grot.), or Judaisers in particular (Neand.), or antinomian Christians (Olsh.), or teachers of Gentile tendencies (Meyer), or false brethren in the Churches (Abb.). But the expression is a general one, applying to all who sought by their sophistries to palliate the vices in question or make them appear to be no vices. These would be found mostly (though by no manner of necessity exclusively) among the heathen, especially among such Gentiles as heard the truth and remained unbelieving. This is most accordant with the descriptive terms which follow, viz. υἱοὺς τῆς ἀπειθείας ; μὴ … συμμέτοχοι αὐτῶν ; ἦτε γάρ ποτε σκότος . (So Mey., Ell., etc.) διὰ ταῦτα γὰρ ἔρχεται ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ : for because of these things cometh the wrath of God . The διὰ ταῦτα , which is placed emphatically first, refers of course to the sins in question; not to the “vain words,” as Chrys., e.g. , strangely thought. The certainty of the Divine retribution is added as an enforcement of the previous warnings. It is given in terms of a solemn present ( ἔρχεται ) and in the form of “the wrath of God” an expression which occupies a very large place both in the OT and in the NT. This ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ is not to be limited (with Ritschl.) to the judgment of the last day, or taken as synonymous with the vindicta Dei , or resolved into a figure of speech with no reality behind it, or identified simply with certain effects the workings of conscience, the shortness and the ills of life, the penalties of the present existence, etc. It is given in Scripture, just as the love, the righteousness, the holiness of God are given, as an affectus and not merely an effectus , a quality of the perfect moral nature of God, an attitude and sensibility of the Divine Mind toward evil. It is exhibited as operating now, but also as looking to fulfil itself completely in the final adjustment. Here its future operation in the ultimate awards may be specially in view, but not that alone. Meyer puts it too narrowly when he says it is “the wrath of God in the day of judgment , which future, as in Eph 5:5 , is realised as present”. ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῆς ἀπειθείας : upon the sons of disobedience . For ἀπειθείας WH prefer ἀπειθείας . The phrase has been used already in Eph 2:2 , and there with reference to the unregenerate. Here, again, it describes the persons in respect of their “essential and innate disobedience” (Ell.). The ἀπειθεία in view is the denial of faith, disobedience to the truth of the Gospel of God, and so to God Himself; see on Eph 2:2 , and cf. Rom 11:30 ; Rom 11:32 ; Rom 15:31 ; Heb 4:6 ; Heb 4:11 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eph_5:6

It is not only among the heathen, but among the mass of men in all ages and nations, a common thing to extenuate the particular sins to which the apostle here refers. It is urged that they have their origin in the very constitution of our nature; that they are not malignant; that they may coexist with amiable tempers; and that they are not hurtful to others, that no one is the worse for them if no one knows them, etc. Paul, therefore, cautions his readers in every age of the church, not to be deceived by such vain words; assuring them that for these things (for fornication and covetousness), the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience. With vain words, κενοῖς λόγοις. Κενοῖς means empty. Κενοὶ λόγοι, therefore, are empty words; words which contain no truth, and are therefore both false and fallacious, as those will find who trust to them. The wrath of God. This expression is a fearful one, because the wrath of man is the disposition to inflict evil, limited by malls feebleness; whereas the wrath of God is the determination to punish in a being without limit either as to his presence or power. This wrath, the apostle says, cometh on the children of disobedience. The present is either for the certain future, will assuredly come; or it has its proper force. The wrath of God against these sins is now manifested in his dealings with those who commit them. He withdraws from them is Spirit, and finally gives them up to a reprobate mind. On the phrase children of disobedience, see Eph_2:2.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

vain--empty, unreal words, namely, palliations of "uncleanness," Eph 5:3-4; Isa 5:20 (that it is natural to indulge in love), "covetousness" (that it is useful to society that men should pursue gain), and "jesting" (that it is witty and clever, and that God will not so severely punish for such things).

because of these things--uncleanness, covetousness, &c. (Eph 5:3-5).

cometh--present, not merely "shall come." Is as sure as if already come.

children--rather, "sons of disobedience" (Eph 2:2-3). The children of unbelief in doctrine (Deu 32:20) are "children of disobedience" in practice, and these again are "children of wrath."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 6. Let no man deceive you] Suffer no man to persuade you that any of these things are innocent, or that they are unavoidable frailties of human nature; they are all sins and abominations in the sight of God; those who practise them are children of disobedience; and on account of such practices the wrath of God-Divine punishment, must come upon them.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

6. Let no man deceive you. There have always been ungodly dogs, by whom the threatenings of the prophets were made the subject of merriment and ridicule. We find such characters in our own day. In all ages, indeed, Satan raises up sorcerers of this description, who endeavor by unholy scoffs to escape the Divine judgment, and who actually exercise a kind of fascination over consciences not sufficiently established in the fear of God. “This is a trivial fault. Fornication is viewed by God as a light matter. Under the law of grace God is not so cruel. He has not formed us so as to be our own executioners. The frailty of nature excuses us.” These and similar expressions are often used by the scoffers. Paul, on the contrary, exclaims that we must guard against that sophistry by which consciences are ensnared to their ruin.

For because of these things cometh the wrath of God. If we consider the present tense to be here used, agreeably to the Hebrew idiom, for the future, these words are a threatening of the last judgment. But I agree with those who take the word cometh in an indefinite sense, — the word of God usually cometh, — as reminding them of the ordinary judgments of God which were executed before their own eyes. And certainly, if we were not blind and slothful, there are sufficiently numerous examples by which God testifies that he is the just avenger of such crimes, — examples of the pouring out of divine indignation, privately against individuals, and publicly against cities, and kings, and nations.

Upon the children of disobedience, — upon unbelievers or rebels. This expression must not be overlooked. Paul is now addressing believers, and his object is not so much to present alarming views of their own danger, as to rouse them to behold reflected in wicked men, as in mirrors, the dreadful judgments of God. God does not make himself an object of terror to his children, that they may avoid him, but does all that can be done in a fatherly manner, to draw them to himself. They ought to learn this lesson, not to involve themselves in a dangerous fellowship with the ungodly, whose ruin is thus foreseen.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(6) Let no man deceive you with vain words.—It seems likely that St. Paul has in view, not mere worldly condonation of evil or low heathen morality, but some anticipation of that Antinomian form of Gnosticism which held that the things done in the body, being evil only by the irresistible, inevitable gravitation of matter to evil, could not touch the soul. We know that in the Colossian Church there was an anticipation of the more ascetic Gnosticism (Col_2:21; comp. also 1Ti_4:1-5). As the earlier Judaistic rigour had assumed this later form, so the earlier Antinomianism (of Rom_6:1) may probably have passed into the more systematic and speculative Antinomianism of the Gnostic type. (Comp. Php_3:18-19.) In this same spirit St. John, himself familiar with the life of Ephesus, writes earnestly: “Let no man deceive you; he that doeth righteousness is righteous” (1Jn_3:7). Hero the Apostle warns them that it is for these sins that “the wrath of God is coming on the children of disobedience,” i.e. (see Eph_2:2), on the heathen; and urges the Christians not to fall back, by being “partakers with them” both of their sin and their punishment, into the gross heathen darkness out of which they had been saved.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. Let no man deceive you] See for similar warnings Rom_16:18; 1Co_3:18; 2Co_11:3; Col_2:8; 2Th_2:3; Jas_1:26.

vain] Lit., empty; alien to the solidity of the immoveable facts that the body cannot sin without sin of the spirit; that body and spirit alike are concerned in eternal retribution; that the wrath of God is no figure of speech, and that His love cannot possibly modify His holiness. “Vain words” on these matters, and therefore such cautions as this, are never obsolete. Human sin began (Genesis 3) with exactly such deceits, and they are the subtlest ingredient still in the secret of temptation.

cometh] is coming; is on its way, till in “the day of wrath” (Rom_2:5) it falls.

the wrath of God] For this awful phrase cp. Joh_3:36; Rom_1:18; Rom_2:5; Rom_2:8; Rom_5:9; Rom_9:22; Col_3:6 (parallel here); 1Th_1:10; Rev_6:16; Rev_19:15; &c. And see note above on Eph_2:3 (“children of wrath”).

children] Lit., sons. For the Hebraism, see above on the same phrase, Eph_2:2.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Let no man deceive you with vain words,.... With vain philosophy, vain babblings, with foolish and filthy talking; suggesting that these were not sinful the apostle had condemned; or that they were small sins, the frailties of human life; and that God would take no notice of them, and they might continue in them with impunity: such deceivers there were, doctrinal and practical ones, who lay in wait to deceive men with such vain pretences; and there was danger of being carried away with their error; for the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, and is easily taken in such snares: wherefore the apostle cautions against such deceptions, adding,

for because of these things; fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, filthiness, foolish talking, and jesting:

the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience; in temporal judgments, and in eternal ruin; there have been instances of it; it is usually the case, and always if grace prevents not; this wrath comes down from above, and sometimes suddenly, with great force and power, like a mighty flood; and there is no standing up under it, and against it; and though it falls upon the children of disobedience, such as are disobedient both to law and Gospel, are unbelievers in Christ, and not persuadable by his ministers, are stubborn, obstinate, and rebellious; yet it shows how much these things are displeasing to God, and resented by him, and therefore should be avoided by his people; and the consideration of their not being appointed to this wrath, though deserving of it as others, and of their deliverance from it by Christ, should engage them the more to abstain from these sins.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

Ver. 6. Let no man deceive you] So as to make you think there is no such danger in fornication, covetousness, &c. There wanted not such proctors for hell in the primitive times, as may be gathered out of 2Pe 2:1-3; Jdg 1:6-11. Against these he here cautioneth.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Let no man deceive you - Let no one by artful pleas persuade you that; there will be no danger from practicing these vices, We may suppose that they would be under strong temptations to mingle in the “happy” and festive scenes where these vices were not frowned on, or where they were practiced; or that they might be tempted to commit them by some of the plausible arguments which were then used for their indulgence. Many of their friends may have been in these circles; and they would endeavor to convince them that such were the customs which had been long practiced, and that there could be no harm still in their indulgence. Not a few philosophers endeavored, as is well known, to defend some of these practices, and even practiced them themselves; see the notes on Rom. 1. It required, therefore, all the authority of an apostle to convince them, that however plausible were the arguments in defense of them, they certainly exposed those who practiced them to the wrath of God.

For because of these things cometh the wrath of God - see the notes on Rom 1:18; Rom 2:8-9, note.

Upon the children of disobedience - see the Mat 1:1, note; Rom 2:8, note.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The apostle here puts them in mind of the general judgment, when the angel of God will, on account of their crimes of avarice, fornication, &c. fall on the children of unbelief; by which are meant the wicked. He had before assured them that the perpetrators of such crimes would be excluded from the kingdom of heaven; and now he moreover informs them, that the severest punishments will be inflicted on such wicked persons. (Estius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Vain words; false and deceitful, which cannot secure to you the impunity they promise you, bearing you in hand, either that those things are not sins, or not so dangerous.

The wrath of God; viz. in the other world.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

6. No man deceive you—Among the heathens, courtezans were priestesses, and prostitution was consecrated as a religious rite. The Ephesian Christians would every day encounter sophists arguing against and ridiculing the rigorism of personal chastity, and representing licentiousness as a venial matter, and even a sacred institution.

Vain words—Empty words: empty of truth and value.

For—Very dangerous it is, indeed, to be so deceived.

Wrath… disobedience—Words that remind us of Eph_2:2-3; and suggest that in Paul’s view the wrath is the result of actual sin.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Let no man deceive you with empty words. No man, whether pagan or nominal Christian: the pagan defending a life of pleasure as the only thing to be had with even a smack of good in it; the Christian mitigating pleasant sins, saying that the young must have an outlet for their warm feelings, that men in business must put all their soul into it, and that life must be brightened by a little mirth and jollity. As opposed to what the apostle has laid down (ver. 5), such words are empty, destitute of all solidity or truth. For on account of these things the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience. The sophistry is swept away by an awful fact the wrath cometh, is coming, and will come too in the future life. It comes in the form of natural punishment, Nature avenging her broken laws by deadly diseases; in the form, too, of disappointment, remorse, desolation of soul; and in the form of judgments, like that which befell Sodom and Gomorrah, or the sword which never departed from David"s house.

Divine wrath upon disobedience.

It was necessary for the apostle to mark the true nature and real end of impurity in all its manifestations. "Let no man deceive you with vain words.

I IT IS NO UNUSUAL EXPERIENCE FOR WICKED MEN NOT TO SEE THE WICKEDNESS OF THEIR ACTS. The heathen regarded moral purity as a thing indifferent, and many of their moral guides palliated some of the worst features of pagan sensuality. They argued, as some have argued in modern times with a wicked levity of purpose, that tins of impurity have their origin and their justification in the very constitution of our nature, that they are not inconsistent with many social virtues, and that they are not injurious to others. It is one of the blinding effects of sin that men do not see their sin through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart". (Eph_4:18)

II IT IS A MISTAKE TO SUPPOSE THAT THE WRATH OF GOD IS LIMITED TO THE PRESENT LIFE, and is merely entailed through the connection established by the Divine government between sin and suffering. There is such a connection written in the physical constitution of man. Sinners often in this life receive in themselves "that recompense of their error which is meet". (Rom_1:27) The drunkard is punished here in broken health, in loss of substance, reputation, and happiness. But we are not to suppose that the laws of Providence which ensure these results exhaust the fullness of Divine wrath against sin. Scripture tells us plainly that sins of impurity entail exclusion "from the kingdom of Christ and of God" (ver. 5); that he will judge whoremongers and adulterers, (Heb_13:5) and that "the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone". (Rev_21:8)

T.C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Because of these things - As innocent as the heathens esteem them, and as those dealers in vain words would persuade you to think them.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The children of light avoid the works of darkness:

v. 6. Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

v. 7. Be not ye, therefore, partakers with them.

v. 8. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of light,

v. 9. (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth,)

v. 10. proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

v. 11. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

v. 12. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

v. 13. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light; for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

v. 14. Wherefore, he saith, Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

The Ephesian Christians, like those of every city since, were in the minority in the city, a few in the midst of many heathen. Not only did they have the constant example of the Gentiles before them, but they were also continually subject to temptations. The sins which the apostle, for instance, had just mentioned as vices to be abhorred, they regarded as innocent joys and pastimes in which any one might indulge for a time in order to sow his wild oats. But the apostle warns the Ephesians, as he does the Christians of today: Let no one deceive you, seduce you, with vain words, with empty, foolish talk. The people that indulge in such talk are chiefly such as have come in contact with the Christian religion, but refused to be persuaded. Their smooth words are dangerous arguments, and the Christians must not listen to them; for because of these sins, as the apostle once more emphatically says, the wrath of God descends upon the children of unbelief. This is not only the wrath of the final Judgment, but the decree of punishment which strikes the sinners even in this world. Sons of disobedience the willful sinners are called, for disobedience is their sphere of activity, they practice it unceasingly and thus challenge the temporal punishments and the eternal damnation which comes upon them. The apostle holds up, as it were, a warning finger: Do riot, then, become partakers with them; do not allow yourselves to fall back into ways which you have forsaken through the grace of God. For these vices are not only subject to punishment, as outlined above, but they deprive of the grace of God given in regeneration. If the Christians become partakers with the unbelievers of their sins, they will become companions of them also in their damnation. Being in the midst of unbelievers, being engaged in business with them, the Christians must be doubly careful lest they be drawn into the prevalent immorality and profiteering business methods.

The apostle brings a strong argument to support his admonition: For you were formerly darkness, now, however, a light in the Lord. Darkness is the spiritual condition of the unconverted, the unbelievers; their sphere was sin, godlessness, transgression of God’s holy Law. But that time, that condition, is wholly past and gone in the case of the Ephesians. As Christians they were no longer darkness (which implies more than merely being darkened), but they had now, through the power of God, become enlightened to such an extent as to make them a light in the Lord. By being converted or regenerated, the former Gentiles had not only been removed from the perdition of the world and brought to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, their Savior, they had not only been filled with the light of the Gospel, but they had themselves become a light in the Lord, Rom 2:19; 1Th 5:4. They could now not only walk worthy of the light, but they were able to serve as a light for others, lead others into the way of sanctification. And Paul immediately enumerates some of the virtues which the Christians should show in their sphere of activity, in their walk as children of light For the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth. The character of the believers as the children of light cannot but express itself in this manner, they must show the fruit of the light in their lives. Three virtues are named by the apostle as giving the soundest evidence of the Spirit of light in a person’s life: goodness in all its forms, moral soundness and propriety, combined with active beneficence; righteousness, moral rectitude, which takes care that nothing and nobody receives any injury; truth, moral purity, sincerity and integrity as opposed to hypocrisy and falsehood. Thus Christian morality is described as being good, just, and true. And in thus giving expression to the light that is in them, in thus walking as the children of light, the Christians are so careful against the deception of unbelief and enmity against God that their attitude always is: Proving what is well-pleasing to the Lord. To all things, to all customs, to all forms approved by society, to everything that they come in contact with in life, the Christians apply the standard of God’s holy will. For often the difference between right and wrong is not immediately obvious, and therefore the spiritual man is very careful about judging, 1Co 2:15. The Christian’s aim in this life is to find out what pleases the Lord, and then to abide by His will.

If the Christians, moreover, walk as the children of light, the apostle’s words will be heeded: And do not have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but, on the other hand, rather reprove them. Light, as wrought by the Spirit, brings forth fruit, fruit which must be acknowledged as such everywhere. But the darkness, the unconverted state, the condition of unbelief, can bring forth real fruit as little as weeds are able to: the works of darkness are unfruitful, they are destructive, wicked, dead, Heb 6:1; Heb 9:14; Col 1:21. The Christians will, therefore, have nothing in common with them, they will shun and avoid them at all times. And not satisfied with a mere attitude of refusal, they will, on their part, go forward to attack the evil in an aggressive manner, reprove them, show their sinfulness. "The idea, therefore, is that these Christians were not at liberty to deal lightly with such sins, or connive at them, or be silent about them, but had to speak out against them and hold them up to rebuke, with the view of bringing their heathen neighbors to apprehend their turpitude and forsake them."

This attitude of the Christians is demanded all the more by the fact: What is secretly done of them is indeed a shame even to speak of; yet all things, when they are reproved, are manifested by the light, for everything which is made manifest is light. The secret sins which are practiced by the children of darkness are indeed of such a nature that they can hardly be mentioned without blushing; in the time when the apostle lived, the most unnatural vices were taken as a matter of course. Yet their naming under circumstances becomes a duty, as we see in the case of the apostle in the first chapter of Romans. Thus the secrecy of the vices here referred to is the reason why they require to be reproved openly; and the very fact of their being so abominable makes it all the more incumbent to administer open rebukes instead of silently overlooking, or conniving at, their presence. All the sins and vices of the heathen, of the unbelievers, both those that are done in public and such as are done in secret, are manifested, exposed, brought to light when they are reproved by the light, that is, by the children of light, by the Christians. The direct reproof, indeed, strikes only the known sins, but the testimony of the truth in the mouth of the Christians penetrates also into the hidden depths of the human heart and convicts the sinners of secret sins and vices. In support of this course Paul refers to an axiom: Everything that is made manifest is light. Things that were hidden and secret are illuminated by being placed into the light. And thus a person that becomes conscious of his misery, of his guilt, thereby reaches the point that he, by the gracious influence of God, turns away from sin, learns to know the mercy of the Savior, and then conducts his life in accordance with God’s will and becomes a light in the Lord. This will unfortunately not always be the result of the Christian’s testimony against sin, since many hardened sinners refuse to heed the warning of the Law; but there will always be some that are enlightened by the Spirit of God through the Word, and this fact should serve as a stimulus to the believers to rebuke sin and try to work knowledge of sin whenever an opportunity presents itself.

The apostle concludes this section with a reference to a well-known verse: Therefore it is said, Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee. This quotation is not taken from Scriptures, but may have been a verse adapted from the synagogue or Christian liturgy of Paul’s days, or Paul applied a common greeting of the Jewish New Year to the situation. At God’s call the Christian should open his eyes and, in turn, call out to his unbelieving, godless neighbor: With your sins you are lying in spiritual sleep, death, and destruction. Therefore arise from sleep, arise from the dead; repent, be converted! If this call works the knowledge of sin, then Christ will give the knowledge of salvation. Christ is here pictured as a beautiful, shining, flashing light. The sinner, having arisen from the sleep of sin and death, is surrounded and flooded with Christ, the Sun of Salvation, and thus becomes blessed and happy in this illumination. The quotation which Paul here makes use of, therefore, comes in very relevantly to show both the need for the reproof and the good effects of such a reproof by the grace of God.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6, 7. Let no man deceive you with vain words. With artful pleas that sinful things are not sinful. For. Because of just such sins as they excuse, God's wrath will be visited upon all who live in (the children of) disobedience.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

6. In these matters the Christian standard involved a complete reversal of the popular standard. ‘Covetousness’ in the shape of a desire for large possessions was nowhere regarded as in itself a religious failing, while ‘prostitution’ (as distinct from ‘adultery’) was regarded as at worst a venial offence in a man, where it was not actually practised under the cloak of religion. St Paul feels it necessary, therefore, solemnly to reiterate his warning on the reality of the evil, coupling it with a vision of the service that the Church could render to the world by faithfulness to the light entrusted to her.

Μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς ἀπατάτω κενοῖς λόγοις. In Rom 16:18; 2Th 2:3, St Paul has definite false teachers in view, as in Colossians 2. Here, however (as in 1Co 6:9; 1Co 15:33; Gal 6:7), there is no need to assume that the deceiver was doing more than making a mock at sin. It is, however, worth remarking that according to Rev 2:14; Rev 2:20, at Pergamum and Thyatira, and by implication at Ephesus (Eph 2:6), there were those who were teaching the Christians to commit fornication.

ἔρχεται ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ. Cf. Col 3:6 and Rom 1:18; Joh 3:36. Notice in each case the use of the present tense. On ὀργὴ, see on Eph 2:3. On τοὺς υἱοὺς τῆς ἀπειθίας, see on Eph 2:2.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6.] Let no one deceive you with vain (empty—not containing the kernel of truth, of which words are but the shell—words with no underlying facts. Æschines, de Corona, p. 288, says that Demosthenes had drawn up a decree, κενώτερον τῶν λόγων οὓς εἴωθε λέγειν, κ. τοῦ βίου ὃν βεβίωκε. See other examples in Kypke h. l.) sayings (the persons pointed at are heathen, or pretended Christian, palliators of the fore-mentioned vices. The caution was especially needed, at a time when moral purity was so generally regarded as a thing indifferent. Harl. quotes from Bullinger,—“Erant apud Ephesios homines corrupti, ut hodie apud nos plurimi sunt, qui hæc salutaria Dei præcepta cachinno excipientes obstrepunt: humanum esse quod faciant amatores, utile quod fœneratores, facetum quod joculatores, et idcirco Deum non usque adeo graviter animadvertere in istiusmodi lapsus”); for (let them say what they will, it is a fact, that) on account of these things (the above-mentioned erimes, see Col 3:6, διʼ ὃ ἔρχεται ἡ ὀργ. κ.τ.λ.: not the ἀπάτη just spoken of, to which the objection is not so much the plural ταῦτα, as the τοὺς υἱοὺς τ. ἀπειθείας which follows, shewing that the carrying out of their ἀπείθεια are the ταῦτα spoken of; and the μὴ οὖν γίν. κ.τ.λ. of ver. 7) cometh (present, as ἔχει, ver. 5) the wrath of God (not merely, or chiefly, His ordinary judgments, ‘quorum exempla sunt ante oculos,’ as Calv.: nor the ‘antitheton reconciliationis,’ as Beng., for that is on all who are not in Christ (Joh 3:36): but His special wrath, His vengeance for these sins, over and above their state of ἀπείθεια) on the sons of (see on ch. 2:2) disobedience (the active and practical side of the state of the ἀπειθῶν (Joh 3:36) is here brought out. The word is a valuable middle term between unbelief and disobedience, implying their identity in a manner full of the highest instruction).

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς ἀπατάτω κενοῖς λόγοις. λόγαι κενοί, “sermones a veritate alieni.” Aeschines speaks of a decree written by Demosthenes as κενώτερον τῶν λόγων οὓς εἴωθε λέγειν καὶ τοῦ βίου ὃν βεβίωκε (Cont. Ctes. p. 288); and Plato says: τίς ἐν ξυνουσίᾳ τοιᾷδε μάτην κενοῖς λόγοις αὐτὸς αὑτὸν κοσμοῖ; (Laches. 169 B).

To what persons do these words refer? Grotius thinks, partly heathen philosophers, partly Jews, who thought that all Jews would have part in the world to come. Meyer sees in them the unbelieving heathen, which view he supports by reference to the following words; and so Eadie. But the Christians, as such, were separate from the unbelieving heathen, and the Epistle gives no reason to suppose that they would need to be warned against immoral teaching proceeding from them. Rather, we must understand persons amongst themselves who made light of sins of impurity, as too many in Christian communities still do. As Bullinger (ap. Harless) says: “Erant apud Ephesios homines corrupti, ut hodie apud nos plurimi sunt, qui haec salutaria Dei praecepta cachinno excipientes obstrepunt; humanum esse quod faciant amatores, utile quod foeneratores, facetum quod jaculatores, et idcirco Deum non usque adeo graviter animadvertere in istiusmodi lapsus.” The context perfectly harmonises with this: “Be not ye Christians misled into such vices, for it is just these, etc., and by falling into them ye would be συμμέτοχοι with those who are in the darkness from which ye have been delivered.”

διὰ ταῦτα γάρ, “for it is on account of these things"; not this teaching, but these sins.

ἔρΧεται ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ. ὀργή is not to be limited to the ordinary judgments of this life, “quorum exempla sunt ante oculos ”(Calv.); nor is there reason to limit it to the wrath of God in the day of judgment (Meyer). The wrath of God will be manifested then, but it exists now.

ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῆς ἀπειθείας, see 2:2.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vain. Plausible, but devoid of truth, and employed to palliate heathen vices.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.