Ephesians 5.11a-The Prohibition to Not Participate in the Unfruitful Activities of Those Who Belong to the Darkness
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday March 26, 2026
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 5:11a-The Prohibition to Not Participate in the Unfruitful Activities of Those Who Belong to the Darkness
Lesson # 338
Ephesians 5:11 Correspondingly, each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of not participating in the unfruitful activities produced by those who belong to the darkness. In fact, on the contrary, each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of exposing them. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 5:11 is composed of the following:
(1) prohibition: mē synkoinōneite tois ergois tois akarpois tou skotous (μὴ συγκοινωνεῖτε τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς ἀκάρποις τοῦ σκότους), “each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of not participating in the unfruitful activities produced by those who belong to the darkness” (Lecturer’s translation)
(2) elliptical command: elenchete (ἐλέγχετε), “each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of exposing them” (Lecturer’s translation)
The prohibition contains the verb sygkoinōneō (συγκοινωνέω), which pertains to performing with others a particular activity or activities.
It is negated by the negative particle me (μή), which denies the idea of the meaning of this verb.
Together, they form a prohibition.
The referent of the second person plural form of this verb is the recipients of this letter, who we noted many times in our study of Ephesians were members of the Gentile Christian community living throughout the Roman province of Asia.
The word is not only referring to them as a corporate unit but also as individuals because the second person plural form of this verb is also used in a distributive sense emphasizing no exceptions.
The articular dative neuter plural form of the noun ergon (ἒργον) is speaking of the actions or activities of those who belong to Satan’s cosmic world system and thus the word speaks of the activities or actions of the members of unregenerate humanity.
The articular construction of this word is monadic, which expresses the idea that these activities or actions are “unique” to those members of the human race who belong to Satan’s cosmic world system and are thus unregenerate or enlightened children of God.
The noun ergon (ἒργον) is modified by the articular dative neuter plural form of the adjective akarpos (ἄκαρπος), which means “unfruitful, useless” because it pertains to having no beneficial use or incapable of functioning usefully like a tree, which produces no fruit.
In context, it describes the activities or actions of unregenerate humanity as not fulfilling the purpose for which God created them in His image.
Interestingly, Jude 12 also employs the adjective akarpos (ἄκαρπος) to describe the actions of unregenerate people.
Specifically, Jude uses the word to describe unregenerate Jewish zealots who were attempting to recruit members of the Jewish Christian community in Judea to join with them in their revolt against Rome during the sixties of the first century A.D.
Jude 12 These are like dangerous reefs at your love feasts. Those who for their own selfish interests regularly feast together with all of you without reverence. Those who care only for themselves. These are like waterless clouds, which are carried away by winds. These are like autumnal trees, which are without fruit, which have died twice, which have been uprooted. (Lecturer’s translation)
The noun ergon (ἒργον) functions as a dative direct object, which indicates that the activities of unregenerate humanity receive the action of not being practiced by church age believers who are living their lives as enlightened children of God.
Paul put this word in the dative case rather than the accusative case because he wants to emphasize the personal relationship between the activities of the members of the Christian community and the activities of those members of the human race who are enslaved to the darkness of Satan’s cosmic world system.
Now, as was the case in Ephesians 5:8, the noun skotos (σκότος) here in Ephesians 5:11 means “darkness” and pertains to spiritual and moral darkness and specifically, it pertains the spiritual and moral darkness of the members of unregenerate humanity.
This interpretation is indicated by the articular construction of this word, which is anaphoric, which means that it is pointing back to the use of this word in Ephesians 5:8 indicating that in both instances they have the referent and meaning.
As we noted in our study of Ephesians 5:8, Ephesians 4:17-18 define this word skotos (σκότος) as being darkened with respect to their understanding of the three-fold revelation of the triune God.
Consequently, they are alienated from the life, which originates uniquely in the character and nature of the one and only God because of the ignorance, which is a characteristic within them because of the hardness, which is produced by the function unique to their hearts.
Thus, the word contains the figure of metonymy, which means that darkness is put for those members of the human race who belong to Satan’s cosmic world system and are thus unregenerate.
The noun skotos (σκότος) functions as a genitive of production, which expresses the idea of unregenerate members of the human race who belong to Satan’s cosmic world system “producing” these unfruitful or useless activities or actions.
Now, the activities produced by those who belong to the kingdom of darkness here in Ephesians 5:11 stand in direct contrast to the fruit of the light mentioned in Ephesians 5:9 and the fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23.
The present imperative conjugation of the verb the verb sygkoinōneō (συγκοινωνέω) is a customary present imperative, which not only expresses the idea of the recipients of this letter “making it their habit of” not participating in the unfruitful actions or activities produced by those members of the human race who belong to Satan’s world system but also that of “continuing” to do so.
This interpretation is indicated by the fact that Paul affirms in the contents of Ephesians 4:17-24 that they were already exposing the ungodly actions of the members of the unregenerate community by living their lives as enlightened children of God.
Ephesians 4:17 Therefore, at this particular time I am communicating, specifically, at this particular time I am solemnly and earnestly making a request on the basis of the Lord’s sovereign authority. Namely, that each and every one of you as a corporate unit continue to no longer make it your habit of conducting your lives as in fact the Gentiles are conducting their lives by means of the futility produced by their thinking. 18 Specifically, because they are darkened with respect to their understanding (of the three-fold revelation of the triune God). Consequently, they are alienated from the life, which originates uniquely in the character and nature of the one and only God because of the ignorance, which is a characteristic within them because of the hardness, which is produced by the function unique to their hearts. 19 Because they are characterized as insensitive (to God and His will and ways), each and every one of them as a corporate unit have given themselves over to self-indulgence for the purpose of practicing every type of sexual immorality in an inordinate and insatiable manner. 20 On the contrary, by no means whatsoever in this manner did each and every one of you as a corporate unit learn about the one and only Christ through experience. 21 If and let us assume for the sake of argument that each and every one of you as a corporate unit in fact conformed to an experiential knowledge of Him and we all agree each one of you did. In other words, each and every one of you as a corporate unit were taught about Him through personal experience because obedience to the truth corresponds to an experiential knowledge of Jesus. 22 Each and every one of you as a corporate unit were taught with reference to your former lifestyle to lay aside the old man’s sinful desires, which are being corrupted in accordance with deceitful lust patterns. 23 Each and every one of you as a corporate unit were taught to make it your habit of replenishing your human spirit, that is, your regenerate mind. 24 Specifically, each and every one of you as a corporate unit were taught to clothe yourselves with the new man, which has been created in conformity with God’s image by the one and only truth exemplifying righteousness, indeed by exemplifying a holy righteousness. (Lecturer’s translation)
It is extremely important for the reader to understand that the prohibition in Ephesians 5:11 does not require the members of the Christian community to avoid relationships or interaction with those who are not Christians.
Rather, it requires them to not participate in the sinful activities that the non-Christian is involved with, which are not pleasing to God.
Some of these sinful activities are mentioned by Paul in Ephesians 5:6-7.
In fact, the prohibition in Ephesians 5:11 echoes the prohibition in Ephesians 5:7.
Ephesians 5:7 Therefore, each and every one of you as a corporate unit for your own benefit must continue to not make it your habit of conducting your lives as fellow partakers with them. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 5:7 is a prohibition, which required that the recipients of this letter continue to make it their habit or lifestyle of not being fellow partakers with members of unregenerate in practicing as a lifestyle the sins of sexual immorality, impurity and greediness, which were mentioned by Paul in Ephesians 5:5.
