Chapter XV: Manifest and Secret Sins, § 84.
CHAPTER XV: ON MANIFEST AND SECRET SINS
Some sins are manifest; some are secret.
§ 84. The eleventh division of actual sins is given in 1 Tim. 5:24–25: “The sins of some people are manifest, leading to judgment” (αἱ ἁμαρτίαι πρόδηλoι πρoάγoυσαι εἰς κρῖσιν, which Dr. Chemnitz explains as sins “which accelerate the punishments and judgment of God”), “but others appear later. So also good deeds are manifest, and even when they are not, they cannot remain hidden.” The apostle had warned Timothy not to share in the sins of others, that is, that he should not carelessly ordain presbyters whose behavior was not well-known. On this occasion, he adds a distinction between manifest and secret sins to show that he is speaking about those whose sins were common knowledge. He also admonishes the church not to pass judgment on secret sins which will yet be revealed in their own time. Surely the word “manifest” in v. 25 shows that the phrase “sins which lead to judgment” is explained most suitably as a reference to those sins which, because of their public manifestation, draw us to judge and condemn them. They are covered by no veil of external hypocrisy which keeps us from being able to acknowledge, judge, and detest them.