And have no partnership with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
Truth to Learn
Christians should always do what is right, avoid what is wrong, and expose evil for what it is.
Behind the Words
The words “have … partnership” are translated from the Greek verb sungkoinōneō, which is made up of sun, meaning “together with” and koinōneō, meaning “to participate, to have fellowship, to share things in common, or to be in partnership with.” The prefix sun indicates that this is more than ordinary fellowship; it implies a stronger, mutual relationship, that is, a partnership..
“Unfruitful” is from akarpos, made up of the privative a, meaning “not” and karpos, meaning fruit. Thus, this word refers to something that is barren, not producing any fruit.
“Rather” is translated from mallon, which is the comparative of mala, meaning “very.” So we can see that mallon compares two things but giving more emphasis on the second. When combined with the Greek word de (“but” or “and”), it means “but more so.”
The word “expose” is from elegchō, which in Classical Greek meant “to shame” or “to disgrace.” In New Testament Greek, however, it means “to rebuke or to chastise,” that is, “to stand against something and expose it for what it really is.”
Meaning Explained
Back in verse eight Paul commanded us to walk like children of light. As God’s children we are to show forth the light of goodness, righteousness, and truth, which things are the evidence of our being part of God’s family. Then, in yesterday’s verse, Paul told us that by living like children of light, we discover what pleases our Father.
As we saw earlier, Paul’s teaching style is such that he often tells us what not to do as well as what to do. Here is another example, although here he tells us what to do before telling us what not to do. The thing we are to do is “Walk like children of light.” The thing we are not to do is “have no partnership with the unfruitful works of darkness.” Notice that when we walk like children of light, we produce fruit, but the works of darkness do not produce fruit. If you read through the gospel accounts of Matthew and Luke, you will see several references to trees that do not bear good fruit; they are to be cut down and cast into the fire (Matthew 3:10, Matthew 7:19, Luke 3:9, Luke 13:7, 9). Likewise, when Christians stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, our works will be judged. Those which are good will produce rewards, but those which are worthless (unfruitful) will be burned up in the fire.
But, Paul does not stop there. We are not to simply avoid the fruitless works of darkness; we are to expose them for what they really are and stand against them. The world that we live in is controlled by Satan (see Ephesians 2:2, John 14:30, John 16:11, & 2Corinthians 4:4) and his influence seems to be getting stronger daily. It’s not politically correct to be critical of others, but when we see ungodliness, we need to call it what it is, rather than ignoring it or sweeping it under the rug.
Application
Are you living for God? Is He your supreme authority? Are you doing all you can to be pleasing to Him? Well done! But, are you exposing and resisting evil at the same time? That’s what light does to darkness. Be light in a dark world.
In God's service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2016 Will Krause. All rights reserved