And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
All Commentaries on Ephesians 5:11 Go To Ephesians 5
John Chrysostom
AD 407
He had said, you are light. Now the light reproves by exposing the things which take place in the darkness. So that if you, says he, are virtuous, and conspicuous, the wicked will be unable to lie hidden. For just as when a candle is set, all are brought to light, and the thief cannot enter; so if your light shine, the wicked being discovered shall be caught. So then it is our duty to expose them. How then does our Lord say, Judge not, that you be not judged? Matthew 7:1-3 Paul did not say judge, he said reprove, that is, correct. And the words, Judge not, that you be not judged, He spoke with reference to very small errors. Indeed, He added, Why do you behold the mote that is in your brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in your own eye? But what Paul is saying is of this sort. As a wound, so long as it is imbedded and concealed outwardly, and runs beneath the surface, receives no attention, so also sin, as long as it is concealed, being as it were in darkness, is daringly committed in full security; but as soon as it is made manifest, becomes light; not indeed the sin itself, (for how could that be?) but the sinner. For when he has been brought out to light, when he has been admonished, when he has repented, when he has obtained pardon, have you not cleared away all his darkness? Have you not then healed his wound? Have you not called his unfruitfulness into fruit? Either this is his meaning, or else what I said above, that your life being manifest, is light. For no one hides an irreproachable life; whereas things which are hidden, are hidden by darkness covering them.
