Ephesians 5

Paul calls believers to copy God’s own love, the love Christ showed on the cross, and to leave behind the impurity and darkness of their old life. They are to live as people of light, walking wisely and being filled with the Spirit. The chapter ends by showing how that Spirit-filled life shapes marriage, which Paul ties to the bond between Christ and the church.

Ephesians 5:1

Paul sets the pattern for everything that follows: copy your Father. A child naturally takes after a parent, and God’s children are first loved, then called to resemble Him. The command rests on being beloved, not on earning anything.

BSA: imitators (“follow, imitate”): We are to follow God’s way of acting, the way a child follows a parent’s example. beloved (“cherished, dearly loved”): Our imitation grows out of already being dearly loved, not out of trying to win love.

Greek: μιμηταί (mimētai, G3402) — “imitators, copiers.” This is the root of our word ‘mimic.’ Paul pictures a child watching a father and doing what he does.

See also: Matthew 5:48.

Ephesians 5:2

God’s character is shown in Christ’s self-giving. We are to live our whole daily path in that kind of love. Christ’s death was not only a rescue but an offering that rose to God like a pleasing aroma.

BSA: walk (“live, conduct your life”): Love is meant to set the direction of our whole daily way of living, not only a few moments. fragrant (“sweet, pleasing”): Christ’s sacrifice was welcome to God, like a sweet aroma rising from an altar.

Greek: εὐωδίας (euōdias, G2175) — “sweet smell, good fragrance.” Old Testament sacrifices were described as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Paul says Christ’s self-giving was the true sacrifice that God received with joy.

See also: Galatians 2:20; Leviticus 1:9.

Ephesians 5:3

Paul turns from love to its opposite: sexual sin, uncleanness, and greed. These are linked because each treats other people as things to be used. For God’s holy people there should not be even a whisper of them.

BSA: saints (“holy ones, set apart”): Believers are already set apart for God, so such conduct is simply out of keeping with who they are.

Ephesians 5:4

Paul now deals with speech. Dirty talk, silly talk, and cutting jokes do not suit God’s people. In their place he puts thanksgiving. A grateful heart leaves little room for coarse words.

BSA: thanksgiving (“giving of thanks, grateful praise”): Gratitude is offered as the positive replacement for crude speech.

Ephesians 5:5

This is a plain warning. A life ruled by lust or greed shows that something other than God is on the throne, and that is idolatry. Paul says such a life has no share in Christ’s kingdom. He is describing people who live that way unrepentant, not believers who stumble and turn back.

BSA: inheritance (“a share, a possession”): The kingdom is a family inheritance that belongs to God’s own people.

See also: Colossians 3:5-6; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.

Ephesians 5:6

Some people will say these sins are harmless or no big matter. Paul calls such talk empty. God’s anger against evil is real and is coming. It falls on those who stubbornly refuse to obey Him.

BSA: wrath (“strong anger, righteous indignation”): This is not bad temper but God’s settled, just opposition to what destroys people.

Ephesians 5:7

A short, clear conclusion: do not join in with them. Believers live among such people and are to love them, but they are not to share their ways, their pleasures, or their fate.

BSA: partakers (“sharers, joint owners”): To partner with sinful ways is to take a share in them and in where they lead.

Ephesians 5:8

Paul does not say they were in the dark. He says they were darkness, and now they are light. The change is complete and comes from being joined to the Lord. Because of what they now are, they should walk like it.

BSA: darkness (“spiritual ignorance, absence of light”): Their old state was not only wrongdoing but not knowing God at all.

See also: John 8:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:5.

Ephesians 5:9

Light produces a harvest, like sunshine on a field. Paul names three fruits: goodness toward others, rightness before God, and honest truth. This is what the light-filled life looks like in everyday practice.

See also: Galatians 5:22-23.

Ephesians 5:10

Believers are to keep checking their choices against one question: does this please the Lord? That is a lifelong habit of learning by experience, not a one-time decision.

BSA: Test (“examine, prove by experience”): We learn what pleases God by trying things against His word and finding that they hold true.

Greek: δοκιμάζοντες (dokimazontes, G1381) — “testing, approving after examination.” The word was used for testing metals or coins to see if they were genuine. We are to examine our choices to find which are real and pleasing to God.

See also: Romans 12:2.

Ephesians 5:11

Evil deeds yield nothing good, so believers should not join in them. Our lives should shine on such deeds and show them for what they are. Often a quiet example of goodness does this better than loud words.

BSA: expose (“rebuke, reprove”): The light does not only avoid evil but shows it up and calls it what it is.

Greek: ἐλέγχετε (elenchete, G1651) — “expose, convict, show to be wrong.” The word means to bring something into the open so it is seen as it truly is. It carries the idea of convincing someone of a fault.

Ephesians 5:12

Some things done in secret are so shameful that even describing them would stain the speaker. Paul does not want believers to dwell on the details of sin. We can oppose evil without being fascinated by it.

BSA: secret (“privately, hidden from others”): Such deeds are hidden because the people doing them know they cannot bear the light.

Ephesians 5:13

Light does more than reveal. When it falls on something, it makes that thing bright too. Paul’s hope is that sinners who are shown the truth can be changed and become light themselves.

BSA: illuminated (“made clear, shown to be true”): What light touches is made clear, and that clearness can turn it into something that gives light.

Ephesians 5:14

Paul quotes a saying, perhaps from an early Christian song, that calls the sleeping to wake. Sin is like sleep or death, but Christ speaks and gives light and life. It is an invitation as much as a command.

BSA: shine on (“illuminate, give light to”): Christ Himself becomes the dawn for the one who wakes.

Greek: ἔγειρε (egeire, G1453) — “wake up, rise.” This is the word used for rousing someone from sleep and also for being raised from the dead. Both pictures are in view here.

See also: Isaiah 60:1; Romans 13:11.

Ephesians 5:15

Having been woken, believers must watch how they live. Wisdom here is practical. It shows in daily choices, not in how much a person knows.

BSA: wise (“having good judgment, discerning”): Wisdom means judging well what to do in real situations.

Greek: ἀκριβῶς (akribōs, G199) — “carefully, exactly.” The word suggests close, accurate attention, like someone watching every step on a narrow path.

Ephesians 5:16

Time is a limited gift. Because the world around us is hostile to what is good, believers should not waste the chances God gives to do good, speak well, and love others.

BSA: redeeming (“making the best use of, buying back”): Time is pictured as something we can seize and use well rather than let slip away.

Greek: ἐξαγοραζόμενοι (exagorazomenoi, G1805) — “buying up, making the most of.” It comes from the language of the marketplace. We are to snap up each opportunity like a shopper who knows a bargain will not last.

Ephesians 5:17

Foolishness is not a lack of intelligence but a failure to grasp what God wants. Paul urges believers to learn the Lord’s will and not simply drift or follow their own impulses.

BSA: understand (“comprehend, have insight into”): God’s will is something we are meant to grasp and see clearly, not guess at.

Ephesians 5:18

Drunkenness ruins judgment and leads to wild behavior. Paul offers a better way to be taken over: by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit does not take away self-control. He fills a life with God’s own presence.

BSA: filled (“fulfilled, satisfied”): The Spirit satisfies the deep need that people try to meet in other ways.

Greek: πληροῦσθε (plērousthe, G4137) — “be filled, be kept filled.” The form suggests an ongoing filling, not a once-for-all event. It is something to keep receiving day by day.

See also: Proverbs 20:1.

Ephesians 5:19

A Spirit-filled life overflows into shared song. Believers encourage one another with music that comes from the heart and is aimed at the Lord. Worship is both for God and a gift to those around us.

See also: Colossians 3:16.

Ephesians 5:20

Another sign of the Spirit’s work is constant thankfulness to the Father. This reaches to everything, because believers trust that God is at work even in hard things. We come in Jesus’ name, trusting all that He is.

BSA: always (“at all times, constantly”): Thankfulness is meant to be a steady habit, not only for good days.

See also: 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

Ephesians 5:21

This verse bridges to the household teaching. Submitting to one another is a mark of being Spirit-filled, and its motive is reverence for Christ. It begins with everyone, before Paul speaks to wives, husbands, and others.

BSA: one another (“mutually, in a reciprocal relationship”): This willingness to yield is shared among all believers and not demanded from just one side. Submit (“humbly obey, subjecting yourselves”): It is a willing, humble placing of oneself under another, not forced.

Greek: ὑποτασσόμενοι (hypotassomenoi, G5293) — “submitting, putting yourselves under.” The word means to arrange oneself under another by choice. It describes a free act of love, not being crushed.

Ephesians 5:22

Paul speaks to wives. They are to submit to their own husbands, and the model is their relationship to the Lord. In the Greek, this verse borrows its verb from verse 21, so it is one case of that mutual yielding. Believers hold different views on how to apply this today.

BSA: submit (“be in subjection, obey”): The call is to a willing place of respectful support within marriage, done as an act of devotion to the Lord.

See also: Colossians 3:18; 1 Peter 3:1.

Ephesians 5:23

Paul gives the reason: the husband is head of the wife as Christ is head of the church. Christ’s headship is the headship of a Savior who gave Himself for His body. The pattern is service and rescue, not domination.

BSA: head (“the leader and source”): Headship here carries ideas of leading and also of being the source of care and life.

Greek: κεφαλή (kephalē, G2776) — “head.” Paul uses the picture of a head and a body, which belong together and share one life. The headship he describes is bound up with Christ’s saving care for the church.

Ephesians 5:24

As the church responds to Christ with trust and willing obedience, wives are to respond to their husbands in the same spirit. The phrase ‘in everything’ covers the whole of married life. It must be read together with loyalty to Christ and with the self-giving love required of husbands.

BSA: everything (“all things, every matter”): The call covers the whole of married life and not only a few areas.

Ephesians 5:25

Now Paul speaks to husbands, and his words are much longer and harder. They are to love their wives as Christ loved the church, even to giving up His life. The measure is sacrifice, not control.

BSA: gave Himself up (“surrendered, yielded”): Christ freely handed Himself over to death, and husbands are to give themselves in that spirit.

Greek: ἀγαπᾶτε (agapate, G25) — “love (as a steady choice).” This is the self-giving kind of love, which seeks the other’s good. It is shown by what a person does, not only by what he feels.

See also: John 15:13.

Ephesians 5:26

Christ’s aim in giving Himself was to make His people holy and clean. The washing with water and the word is understood by Christians in various ways, often linked to baptism and the gospel message. Whatever the details, Christ Himself does the cleansing.

BSA: sanctify (“make holy, set apart”): Christ sets His people apart for God and for His own purposes. washing (“baptism, spiritual cleansing”): The picture is of being made clean, which many Christians link with baptism.

Greek: ῥήματι (rhēmati, G4487) — “spoken word.” This word points to something actually spoken, such as the gospel proclaimed. The cleansing comes through a word that is heard and received.

See also: Titus 3:5.

Ephesians 5:27

Christ’s goal is a wedding-day picture. He will one day present His people to Himself radiant and spotless. What He began by giving Himself, He will finish. Husbands are shown what it means to care for the good of the one they love.

BSA: blameless (“without fault, flawless”): The church will be seen without any charge against her because of what Christ has done.

See also: Revelation 19:7-8.

Ephesians 5:28

Paul draws a close link between husband and wife. A man should love his wife as he naturally cares for his own body. Marriage joins two lives so closely that caring for one is caring for both.

BSA: love (“show esteem and goodwill towards”): This love honors the other and wishes her well in practical ways.

Ephesians 5:29

No one deliberately starves or neglects his own body. People feed it and keep it warm. A husband should look after his wife with the same ordinary, daily care that Christ shows to His church.

BSA: cherishes (“cares for, nurtures”): It is gentle, tender care, not just meeting minimum needs.

Greek: θάλπει (thalpei, G2282) — “keeps warm, cherishes.” The word is used of a bird warming its young. It pictures tender, protective care.

Ephesians 5:30

Paul explains why Christ cares for the church so closely. We are His body, joined to Him. What happens to believers matters to Him as his own life does.

BSA: members (“parts of”): Each believer is a real part of Christ’s body, not a bystander.

See also: 1 Corinthians 12:27.

Ephesians 5:31

Paul quotes the creation account of the first marriage. A man leaves the family home and joins his wife in a new and lasting unity. It is a bond of whole persons and not only of bodies.

BSA: united (“joined, cleave”): The word suggests being bonded or glued to someone. one flesh (“a single entity, united physically and spiritually”): Marriage joins two people into one shared life of body and spirit.

See also: Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5.

Ephesians 5:32

Paul says marriage points beyond itself. The oneness of husband and wife is a picture of the deeper union of Christ and His church. A hidden truth long in God’s plan is now made known.

BSA: mystery (“secret, hidden truth”): It is a truth that had been hidden but God has now revealed in Christ.

Greek: μυστήριον (mystērion, G3466) — “mystery, a hidden truth now revealed.” In the New Testament this word does not mean something confusing. It means a part of God’s plan that was hidden until He made it known.

Ephesians 5:33

Paul sums up for each person. The husband is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband. Each is called to the thing that is often hardest for them, and both reflect Christ’s care and the church’s response.

BSA: respect (“reverence, have awe for”): The word means giving real honor, not a grudging politeness.

Greek: φοβῆται (phobētai, G5399) — “respect, reverence (literally ‘fear’).” The Greek word is the one for fear, but here it means honoring respect and not terror. It echoes the ‘reverence’ of verse 21.