Ephesians 5
OGC**EPHESIANS FIVE DUTIES OF CHURCH MEMBERS **Continued
B. WALK AS BECOMETH SAINTSEph 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:1-20
Practical Exhortations, Ephesians 4:24-32; Ephesians 5:1-2
Walk As Children Of Light; Ephesians 5:3-14
a.
Things children of light do not do; Ephesians 5:3-8
b.
Things children of light do; Ephesians 5:9-14
Walk As Wise Men; Ephesians 5:15-20
**C.
SUBJECT YOURSELVES ONE TO ANOTHER** Ephesians 5:21-33; Ephesians 6:1-9
Husbands and Wives; Ephesians 5:22-23
Ephesians 5:1-2
Previewing in Outline Form (Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:1-2)
B.
Walk as becometh saints. Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:1-20.
Walk not as the Gentiles walk. Ephesians 4:17-24.
a.
The command. Ephesians 4:17 a.
b.
The Gentile walk. Ephesians 4:17 b - Ephesians 4:19.
(1)
In the vanity of their mind. Ephesians 4:17 b.
(2)
Darkened in understanding. Ephesians 4:18 a.
(3)
Alienated from the life of God. Ephesians 4:18 b.
(a)
Because of the ignorance in them.
(b)
Because of the hardening of their heart.
(4)
Given over to lasciviousness. Ephesians 4:19.
(a)
Because they were past feeling.
(b)
To work all uncleanness with greediness.
c.
The Christian’s walk. Ephesians 4:20-24.
(1)
Different from the Gentile’s walk. Ephesians 4:20-21.
(2)
Must put away our former manner of life. Ephesians 4:22.
(3)
Must be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Ephesians 4:23.
(4)
Must put on the new man. Ephesians 4:24.
Seven practical exhortations. Ephesians 4:25-32; Ephesians 5:1-2.
a.
Speak the truth. Ephesians 4:25.
b.
Control your anger. Ephesians 4:26-27.
c.
Steal no more. Ephesians 4:28.
d.
Speak that which is good. Ephesians 4:29.
e.
Grieve not the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:30.
f.
Put away angry talk and attitudes. Ephesians 4:31.
g.
Be imitators of God. Ephesians 4:32; Ephesians 5:1-2.
(1)
Be kind.
(2)
Be tenderhearted.
(3)
Be forgiving.
(4)
Walk in love. Ephesians 5:2.
**Text (Ephesians 4:17-19)
17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind, 18 being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts; 19 who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
Thought Questions (Ephesians 4:17-19)**
Was it a simple task for the Ephesian Christians to walk no longer as the Gentiles walk?
Paul seems to condemn the Gentiles quite heavily. Did the Gentiles as a whole live baser lives than the Jews?
Did Paul mean to imply by his use of the word Gentile that non-Christians should be called Gentiles, regardless of their race?
What is vanity? What Old Testament book exposes many things as being vanity?
Describe the condition of the Gentiles-’ understanding.
Are the Gentiles aware that they are alienated from the life of God? Is there any other source of life, except from God?
Note that the Gentiles are alienated from God because of the ignorance that is in them. What should this teach us about the state of the heathen who do not know God at present?
What happens to the conscience when we harden our hearts and do not do what we know we should?
Can a person get to the point that he is no longer pained by conscience?
To what type of conduct do people without feelings of guilt and shame always give themselves (Ephesians 4:19)?
Paraphrase
Now this I say, and bear testimony with all the seriousness of one who knows the Lord and is serving Him, that you must no longer be walking, that is, living each day, as other Gentiles walk. For they live according to the useless and perverse disposition of their minds, and not according to what is good and of God.
The Gentiles are covered with darkness in their understanding. They are shut off from the life which God bestows, on account of the ignorance that is in them, and on account of the callusing of their hearts.
They have gone so far in sin that they have lost all feeling of guilt and pain of conscience when they do wrong. Having no restraints within them, they have given themselves over to unbridled lust and shamelessness, to work all manner of uncleanness with unrestrained desires to have more of forbidden pleasures.
Notes (Ephesians 4:17-19)
It took a lot of courage for the Ephesian Christians to no longer walk as the Gentiles walk. They lived in the shadow of the glorious temple of Diana, and with milling thousands of her worshippers, To refuse to associate in the practices of their former friends took much conviction and courage.
It still takes a lot of courage to walk no longer as the Gentiles walk. Social drinking, lewd motion pictures, night clubs, dancing, card-playing, and many other things that are displeasing to God are so much a part of modern American life that many Christians compromise their standards. Let us resolutely refuse to walk any longer as the Gentiles walk.
Some modern commentaries make a great deal of the use of the word Gentiles in verse seventeen, attempting to prove that Paul could not have written Ephesians. It is alleged that Gentiles is contrasted with Christians, and that Paul never conceived of such a contrast as church members being Israelites, and non-Christians being Gentiles.
It is by no means implied in this verse that all non-Christians are to be called Gentiles. The word Gentiles in the verse obviously refers to non-Christian Gentiles. There were far more Gentiles living in and around Ephesus than there were Jews. The Ephesian church was predominantly Gentile. Quite naturally, therefore, Paul would speak to the Ephesians about how the Gentiles lived when he wanted to make a contrast between the lives of the Christians and the lives of the non-Christians.
The Gentiles around Ephesus were much given to magic, immorality, and high-mindedness before their conversion to Christ. Generally they lived much more sinful lives than the Jews. The Jews were not perfect, but they had known God and His Law for centuries, and did not walk in the idolatry and vain practices that were nearly universal among the Gentiles. Paul did not want his converts to continue to live as the Gentiles had always lived. However, even if Paul did use the word Gentiles to denote non-Christians, it would not be un-Pauline. For in Galatians 6:16 he speaks of the church as the Israel of God. (Compare also Romans 2:28-29; Romans 9:6-8; Philippians 3:3.)
Vanity is that which is devoid of truth and appropriateness; that which is worthless, useless, and has no good about it, In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon exposed many things that the world thinks are excellent (such as laughter, lust, liquor, learning, real estate, riches) as vanity, and a striving after wind. But the Gentiles (and also most unconverted Jews) are still striving after such things. Christians have been redeemed from their vain manner of life (1 Peter 1:18).
The world considers itself too wise to believe the teachings of the Bible. Actually, this attitude is not due to wisdom, but to a darkening in its mind. Satan has blinded the minds of the unbelieving (2 Corinthians 4:4).
God gives life to all. Hence, it is a perversion of nature to depart from the life of God. But the Gentiles are shut off from the life of God, being aliens to God’s kingdom. (See the notes on Ephesians 2:12; Ephesians 2:19.) They are alienated for two reasons:
(1)
The ignorance that is in them.
(2)
The hardening (callusing) of their heart.
Note that the Gentiles did not know much, and that God does not excuse ignorance. Furthermore, they hardened their hearts against that which they did know.
The King James Version wrongly has blindness for hardening in Ephesians 4:18. The skin on the hands develops a hardening or callus when it is exposed to pressure and work. Likewise, when the conscience is rubbed hard and its guidance ignored, it develops a hardening or callus. However, instead of being a protection from injury, this is merely a dulling of our finest nature.
Sin is like anesthesia. At first, it is offensive, and our conscience revolts against it. However, if we do not get away from it, it soon becomes less offensive to us, and then finally overpowering. We could also compare it to the cold of the great North, which can benumb its victims until they are doomed, but feel no cold. Being past feeling is the last stage before destruction. If your conscience never bothers you any more, you are in terrible peril.
Those who lose all feeling of guilt go readily into lasciviousness. Lasciviousness is a term that includes adultery, fornication, immodesty, shameless dress and speech, indecent behavior, etc. All of these things are natural for one who has thrown aside the feelings of conscience. Nothing is more terrible than the loss of shame. Immodesty should embarrass or anger us. If it does not, we need only to remove the checks of circumstances to complete the descent into sin.
The Gentiles do not do iniquity hesitantly, but with greediness or eagerness. This term greediness (Authorized Version, covetousness) refers to a greedy desire to have more. They desire the pleasures of sin, and go greedily after them.
Fact Questions
How were the Ephesians forbidden to walk?
In what do most Gentiles walk (Ephesians 4:17)?
What was the condition of the understanding of the Gentiles?
For what two reasons were the Gentiles alienated from the life of God?
To what did the Gentiles give themselves (Ephesians 4:19)?
**Text (Ephesians 4:20-22)
20 But ye did not so learn Christ; 21 if so be that ye heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus: 22 that ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man, that waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit;
Thought Questions (Ephesians 4:20-22)**
Can one be taught of Christ so as not to be taught as the truth is in Jesus?
If we have heard of Christ according to truth, what are we to put away?
Are we Christians in truth because we know and accept correct words and doctrines (Ephesians 4:22)?
Is putting away our old man to be done once for all, or is it a gradual process?
Do sinners get better with age and experience? What does it mean when it says the old man waxeth corrupt?
What are lusts of deceit? What is deceitful about lusts?
Paraphrase
You Ephesians who learned the gospel did not learn of Christ to work uncleanness with greediness, so as to think these things allowable.
Assuming that you have heard of Christ and were taught according to what is truth in Jesus,
then ye were taught that you must put away all that concerns your manner of life before becoming a Christian; for that old man was getting worse and worse, decaying more and more, just as deceitful lusts always cause a spiritual decay.
Notes (Ephesians 4:20-22)
Learn Christ means more than to learn certain doctrines. True knowledge of Christ must produce a transformed life.
Truth in Jesus consists in putting away our former manner of life, and of putting on the new man, and of being renewed in the spirit of our mind. The Romish doctrine that a person can be morally bad and still be in good standing in the church is not of truth as it is in Jesus.
Put away and put on (Ephesians 4:22; Ephesians 4:24) are verbs in the aorist imperative which indicates completed action, done one time. Be renewed (Ephesians 4:23) is in the present imperative, indicating continuous progressive action. This teaches us that repentance must be a thorough break with sin. There should be no gradual putting away the old man. However, the development of the new man is a progressive process.
Lusts of deceit are deceitful lusts. The things we desire (lust for) in this world promise thrills, and satisfaction, Instead they bring only disappointment, shame, disgrace, and contention.
Our old man, our former life before we accepted Christ, was becoming more and more corrupt through the deceitful desires he sought after. (See 2 Timothy 3:13.) Age and experience usually do not improve sinners. Their consciences become duller, and habits of evil more firmly fixed.
Conversation in the King James Version (Ephesians 4:22) means our manner of life.
Fact Questions
If the Ephesians learned of Christ as truth is, what would they put away?
What is happening to the sinner’s nature (the old man)?
**Text (Ephesians 4:23-24)
23 and that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.
Thought Questions (Ephesians 4:23-24)**
What is the spirit of our mind?
How can the spirit of our mind be renewed?
What is the new man which we are to put on?
After whom have we been created? In what sense is the converted man created?
How does God create us in righteousness? Do we not perform our own righteousness?
What do you think the phrase holiness of truth means?
Paraphrase
You Ephesians must not only put off the old nature, but be renewing yourselves in the spirit that directs your mind.
Put on the new man, that new disposition and nature which has been created in the likeness of God in righteousness and true holiness.
Notes (Ephesians 4:23-24)
Be renewed is a continuous duty and process.
The spirit of your mind is the spirit that directs your mind. Before conversion it was a disobedient spirit. Now it must be a spirit of meekness, humility, and obedience.
How often in the Bible are righteousness and Christian character compared to garments which may be put on or off! Thus we note that Christians can improve themselves with God’s help. We do not have to be the same old detestable persons always. We can put on a new man.
The new man, or new nature, is created (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:10). The change in people that comes through faith and the incoming of the Holy Spirit is as great as the act that God wrought when He created the material universe. We are created after GOD. We are not created to be like the great men of this world, but to be like God (1 John 3:1).
We are created in righteousness, because we have no righteousness in ourselves. Christ Jesus is our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). God takes away our sins when we are saved, and declares us righteous as a result of what He has done for us. Of course, after being thus created in righteousness, we must live soberly, righteously, and godly (Titus 2:12).
Holiness of truth means true holiness, not holiness which is just ceremonial or pretended. We were created to develop a Godlike character, true holiness. We are not saved merely to escape from hell and receive blessings.
Fact Questions
In what are we to be renewed?
What are we to put on?
After whom are we created?
In what two ways are we created after God?
**Ephesians 4:25-32; Ephesians 5:1-2
SEVEN PRACTICAL EXHORTATIONS**
SPEAK THE TRUTH; Ephesians 4:25
CONTROL YOUR ANGER; Ephesians 4:26-27
STEAL NO MORE; Ephesians 4:28
SPEAK THAT WHICH IS GOOD; Ephesians 4:29
GRIEVE NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT; Ephesians 4:30
PUT AWAY ANGRY TALK AND ATTITUDES; Ephesians 4:31
BE IMITATORS OF GOD; Ephesians 4:32; Ephesians 5:1-2
BE KIND
TENDERHEARTED
FORGIVING
WALK IN LOVE Ephesians 5:2
**Text (Ephesians 4:25-27)
25 Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak ye truth each one with his neighbor: for we are members one of another. 26 Be ye angry and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 neither give place to the devil.
Thought Questions (Ephesians 4:25-27)**
What is the force of the wherefore in Ephesians 4:25? Compare the preceding verses before you answer.
Why should the fact that we are members one of another curb our lying?
Did Paul command us to be angry? Harmonize Ephesians 4:26 with Ephesians 4:31.
Did Paul forbid us to be angry?
What is the danger in anger?
How long is wrath to be permitted to continue?
What does it mean when it says, Neither give place to the devil?
Is there any connection between being angry and giving place to the devil?
Paraphrase
Because you are new creatures in Christ, created by God in true holiness, you must observe such practical duties as to stop lying to one another, and to speak the truth to your neighbors. This we must do because we are members one of another in the church.
Furthermore, we must keep anger under control that we sin not. You may have anger arise at times, but let it not be prolonged. Put it away before the sun goes down.
Neither give an opportunity to the devil to control your actions, which can easily be done if anger is prolonged.
Notes (Ephesians 4:25-27)
After the lofty exhortations of Eph 4:23-24, Paul brings us down to earth with a jolt in these verses, We have been created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore, on account of that, certain duties are laid upon us.
Ephesians 4:25 begins a series of seven practical exhortations concerning the walk of the Christian. See the outline.
The admonition to put away falsehood and speak the truth always is very hard to keep, but it is repeatedly commanded in the New Testament. Verse Ephesians 4:25 is a quotation from Zechariah 8:16.
In the church we are all members of Christ, and therefore members of one another. Now, in the human body, if one member, the nerves, were paralyzed, and lied to the stomach by carrying no sensations of hunger, the body might refuse all food and destroy itself. Likewise in the church, any lie by one member affects all the other members of the body. When one member is known to have lied, the whole church is discredited.
Verse Ephesians 4:26 is a quotation of Psa 4:4, where the reading is, Stand in awe and sin not. (The Revised Version margin reads, Be ye angry and sin not.) This is not a command to be angry but a caution not to sin when we are angry. People often do things when they are angry that they would not normally do.
While it is not a command to be angry, neither is it a prohibition of anger. Sometimes anger is necessary. Paul was occasionally angry (Acts 13:9-10; Acts 23:3). Even Christ Jesus felt anger (Mark 3:5). We need to have convictions strong enough to have strong feelings about wickedness.
Nonetheless, while anger may sometimes be justified, it must be speedily cooled down. Anger should subside the same day it arises. When the sun has gone down, let anger be gone. The anger upon which the sun is not to go down is anger that expresses itself in exasperation and wrath, the anger in which one is almost beside himself.
If anger is held very long, it becomes malice, hatred, and resentment, and produces a desire for revenge. It gives a place (opportunity) to the devil to lead us into transgression and self-ruination.
While there is a connection between anger and giving place to the devil, there are also other ways we can give a place to the devil. For examples, (1) meditating upon lustful things, (2) meditating upon our unfair share of earthly riches, (3) reading books that undermine faith and morals.
Fact Questions
What is the reason we are to speak truth to our neighbors?
What are we to be careful not to do when angry?
How long is anger to be allowed to continue?
To whom are we not to give place?
**Text (Ephesians 4:28)
28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have whereof to give to him that hath need,
Thought Questions (Ephesians 4:28)**
Are there thieves in the church?
Can this verse be harmonized with the Communist doctrine of state ownership of all property?
What is the grand purpose of our labor?
Paraphrase
Let anyone in the church who is stealing steal no more. But rather let him toil, working with his own hands which were formerly used to steal, doing work which is good, so that he may have the means to maintain himself, and to share with those who have need.
Notes (Ephesians 4:28)
It may seem strange that Christians should have to be taught not to steal. But stealing is not uncommon. Nowadays there are many sophisticated forms of stealing embezzlement, cheating on tax reports, driving hard bargains, misrepresenting goods, loafing on the employer’s time, shortening an employee’s time, cheating on examinations, etc. Let him that stole regardless of how he did it, or what he stole steal no more.
The best antidote for stealing is working. The word labor here implies wearisome, exhausting toil.
It is plainly taught here that work is not only for selfish gain, but to help others. Honesty is inculcated by an appeal to the highest motives, And this verse certainly does not teach us to steal from the rich to give to the poor. We must work if we want to have the means to help those in need.
This verse cannot be harmonized with Communist doctrine. The verse commands private generosity. But private ownership of property is a necessity if we are to have anything to give to others. Communism destroys private ownership, and makes all things state property.
Fact Questions
What is the one who steals to do?
With what is the ex-thief to work?
What type of work is the ex-thief to do?
What is the noble objective for which we toil and labor?
**Text (Ephesians 4:29)
29
Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as** is **good for edifying as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear.
Thought Questions (Ephesians 4:29)**
How often is our conversation actually uttered with a purpose in mind of edifying and giving grace to those who hear us?
What types of utterance could be called corrupt speech?
How can speech give grace to them that hear?
Paraphrase
Let no rotten utterances go out from your mouth, but rather let that go out of your mouth which is good for building up people who may be in need of encouragement, correction, or instruction. Such speech will bring pleasure and profit to them that hear.
Notes (Ephesians 4:29)
Christians must carefully control their speech at all times. Do not let any speech that is rotten and corrupt go out of your mouth. (Compare Ephesians 5:4; Matthew 12:36-37.) Words are not simply so much wind. They carry with them the personality and thoughts of the speaker. As character can be rotten and produce evil, words can also be corrupt, for they reflect character.
Words are very powerful. They can fill many needs, such as giving instruction, encouragement, and correction.
Fact Questions
What type of speech is not to be let out of our mouths?
What type of speech is to be uttered?
What is our speech to give unto those that hear?
**Text (Ephesians 4:30)
30 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption.
Thought Questions (Ephesians 4:30)**
If the Holy Spirit can be grieved, is the Holy Spirit a personality, or some impersonal influence?
How can we grieve the Holy Spirit?
Where does the Holy Spirit live (1 Corinthians 6:19)?
Paraphrase
In all of life’s activities, such as working, speaking, etc., be not grieving the Holy Spirit of God, that divine one in whom we are sealed and stamped as God’s own until that day when our bodies are redeemed at the resurrection.
Notes (Ephesians 4:30)
We grieve the Holy Spirit by wicked actions and rotten speech. We grieve Him when we violate the commandments of the Spirit as given in Ephesians, chapter four. The Holy Spirit is sensitive. Holiness is always sensitive. Purity grows in sensitivity.
Israel grieved the Holy Spirit by their sins in the wilderness and in the land of Canaan (Isaiah 63:10).
How terrible it is to make the Holy Spirit which strengthens our inward man to be sorrowful and offended (Ephesians 3:16)!
See notes on Ephesians 1:13-14 for comments on being sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption.
Fact Questions
Whom are we not to grieve?
Unto what day are we sealed?
**Text (Ephesians 4:31-32)
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you with all malice: 32 and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you.
Thought Questions (Ephesians 4:31-32)**
Is a Christian’s personality any concern to God?
Is it really possible to control feelings of bitterness, malice, etc.?
How should we forgive each other?
Paraphrase
In particular, grieve not the Holy Spirit by an evil disposition. Let all of the sharp, spiteful ways of feeling and speaking, along with anger, both in outbursts and temperament, and loud clamor, and blasphemous speech, be put away from you along with all ill will toward others. For these things displease the Spirit.
Having put away evil traits and dispositions, be kind one to another, tenderhearted, graciously forgiving each other, as also God in Christ has graciously forgiven you of even greater offences against Himself.
Notes (Ephesians 4:31-32)
Bitterness is sharpness, harshness, spitefulness, resentment.
Wrath is anger erupting, anger that boils over but soon subsides.
Anger is a settled disposition of indignation, an angry outlook upon everything.
Clamor is a loud outcry, loud speech based on ungoverned feelings.
Railing is blasphemy, slander, speech injurious to another’s good name, especially against God.
Malice is ill will, desire to injure.
These evils are common among many disciples of Christ, in spite of the fact that they are utterly contrary to our calling, contrary to the Father, and contrary to the Holy Spirit within us. They are old cruel hounds from past life, from which we should have escaped long ago, but find baying at our heels.
The word translated forgiving (Ephesians 4:32) does not simply mean to release from guilt, but to be gracious unto, be kind, be benevolent, pardon.
Kind This word is usually used to describe God. It describes one who is virtuous, good, mild, pleasant.
The motive for Christian goodness is different from that of worldly righteousness, Out in the world people are good because it pays. They get something in return. We are good and forgiving toward our fellow men because God has forgiven us. We realize how much we are indebted unto God. We therefore forgive the small offences our neighbors commit against us.
Fact Questions
Name the six things mentioned in Ephesians 4:31 that we are to put away from us.
Quote Ephesians 4:32 from memory.
**Text (Ephesians 5:1-2)
Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell,
Thought Questions (Ephesians 5:1-2)**
What are we told about God’s actions in Ephesians 4:32 that we are here urged to imitate?
Which would God prefer, learning and greatness, or a childlike spirit? Can we have both?
What does it mean to walk in love?
Is there any difference between an offering and a sacrifice? Explain any difference.
What Bible incidents does the expression an odor of a sweet smell bring to your mind?
Paraphrase
Seeing that God in Christ has forgiven you, be ye therefore imitators of God’s forgiving mercy as beloved children who imitate the actions of their parents.
And live your lives in a disposition of love, even as Christ loved you, and gave himself up for you when he died on the cross, and made himself an offering and a sacrifice for an odor (savor) of a sweet smell unto God.
Notes (Ephesians 5:1-2)
Many types of offerings in the Old Testament are called a sweet savor (odor) unto the Lord: the burnt offering (Leviticus 1:9; Leviticus 1:13), the meal (meat) offering (Leviticus 2:3; Leviticus 2:9), offering of first fruits (Leviticus 2:12; Leviticus 2:16), peace offerings (Leviticus 3:5; Leviticus 3:16), and sin offerings (Leviticus 4:21). The trespass offering is not so described.
Noah offered up his offering unto the Lord after the flood, and the Lord smelled the sweet savor (Genesis 8:21). The critics have had much sport out of belittling such descriptions of God as if He were in human form (anthropomorphisms). But if the Scriptures say that God smelled the sweet savor, we are not so wise that we can describe what God did any more accurately. The important thing is that the offering pleased the Lord and made the worshipper accepted. Like the people of ancient times, we sorely need an offering that will be accepted of and well-pleasing to God. We are a people of unclean hands, minds and lips. We thank God that Christ is our sacrifice and odor of sweet smell, and that through His sacrifice we may be accepted by God.
The offering of Christ goes up to God for us in two respects:
(1)
A sacrifice for our transgressions. We deserve to die. Christ’s death is a substitute for our death. He bore the punishment which we justly deserve to bear.
(2)
An offering to be presented when the transgression has been put out (or expiated), as an act of worship.
Fact Questions
Whom are we to imitate? In what way are we to imitate Him?
Christ gave Himself up for us as two things. Name them.
Ephesians 5:3-20
Previewing in Outline Form (Ephesians 5:3-20)
Walk as children of light. Ephesians 5:3-14.
a.
Things the children of light do not do. Ephesians 5:3-8 a.
(1)
Do not even name vices as if they were becoming to saints. Ephesians 5:3-6.
(a)
Those who partake in vices have no inheritance in the kingdom. Ephesians 5:5.
(b)
The wrath of God comes upon those who disobey. Ephesians 5:6.
(2)
Do not become partakers with the sons of disobedience. Ephesians 5:7-8.
(a)
This they once did when they were darkness. Ephesians 5:8.
(b)
They are now light in the Lord.
b.
Things the children of light do. Ephesians 5:8 b - Ephesians 5:14.
(1)
Walk as children of light, producing the fruit of the light. Ephesians 5:8 b - Ephesians 5:9.
(2)
Prove what is well-pleasing unto the Lord. Ephesians 5:10.
(3)
Reprove the works of darkness. Ephesians 5:11-14.
(a)
Have no fellowship with them. Ephesians 5:11.
(b)
Their deeds are too shameful to speak of. Ephesians 5:12.
(c)
Reproof makes manifest the works of darkness. Ephesians 5:13.
(d)
A call to those in darkness. Ephesians 5:14.
Walk as wise men. Ephesians 5:15-20.
a.
Walk carefully. Ephesians 5:15.
b.
Buy up the time. Ephesians 5:16.
c.
Have the good sense to understand the Lord’s will. Ephesians 5:17.
d.
Be not drunk with wine. Ephesians 4:18 a.
e.
Be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 b - Ephesians 5:20.
(1)
Speaking to one another in psalms, etc. Ephesians 5:19 a.
(2)
Singing and making melody, Ephesians 5:19 b.
(3)
Giving thanks always. Ephesians 5:20.
**Text (Ephesians 5:3-4)
3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as becometh saints; 4 nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, or jesting, which are not befitting: but rather giving of thanks.
Thought Questions (Ephesians 5:3-4)**
If we are not to name fornication, uncleanness, etc., why does Paul name them?
Is covetousness as bad as fornication?
Why is jesting forbidden? Is all humor wrong? What do people often make jests about?
What does befitting mean?
What is one type of speech that is always befitting?
Paraphrase
Seeing that Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, flee fornication, lustful unclean living, greedy desires to have more, and such things, Do not even mention them, For it is becoming to saints not to speak of them. Mention them only to condemn.
Also shun base and lewd conduct, foolish talking, and jests with double meanings, for these things do not come up to the level of the Christian. But giving of thanks is always befitting.
Notes (Ephesians 5:3-4)
Jesting refers to speech that is nimble-witted, or easily turned, especially toward a bad meaning. So often the jesting of the world is based on double meanings. Jokes are formed that can be taken with two meanings, one harmless, the other shady. Some comedians think that they are not funny unless they utter a few such jokes.
Befit means to come up to, or to have arrived at, or to reach to. Many things are far below the Christian, and he must hold them in abhorrence. He avoids acting self-righteous, but he keeps himself from the evil one.
Fact Questions
Name the six things that are forbidden in Ephesians 5:3-4.
**Text (Ephesians 5:5-7)
5 For this ye know of a surety, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no man deceive you with empty words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Be ye not therefore partakers with them;
Thought Questions (Ephesians 5:5-7)**
Do not many people consider sexual vice rather a casual thing, also a harmless diversion? Is it really an inconsequential thing?
Why is the covetous man called an idolater?
What is the kingdom of Christ and God? Can a man outwardly appear to belong to the kingdom, and yet have no inheritance in it?
What are sons of disobedience? (Compare Ephesians 2:2.)
Why are words which attempt to excuse immorality and covetousness called empty words?
When does the wrath of God come upon those who disobey?
Paraphrase
You must obey the command to abstain from fornication, filthiness, covetousness, etc., for you know this with certainty by the light of the Gospel (Ephesians 5:8) that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is really an idolater because he trusts in his riches, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God, which is the church.
Let no one deceive you with words that sound wise, but are empty of truth, saying that immorality and love of money are relatively harmless things. For on account of these sins the wrath of God has come and will come on those who practice them.
Wherefore, be not joint-partakers in their crimes, lest you share also in their punishments.
Notes (Ephesians 5:5-7)
We should be fellow-partakers with the saints (Ephesians 3:6), but we must not be fellow-partakers with those who are immoral and covetous. Evil companionships corrupt good morals (1 Corinthians 15:33 R.V.).
Note the reference to the wrath of God in verse six. Some people have said that the God of the New Testament is a God of love, in contrast to the God of the Old Testament who is a God of wrath. But there is only one God, and He is the same in both the Old and New Testaments. The wrath of God is plainly taught in the New Testament, as it is in the Old. Those who desire to reject Christ should carefully consider the terrors of God’s wrath. Let no clergyman, sociologist, professor, psychologist, or anyone else deceive you by saying that you can practice sin and not suffer God’s wrath.
Justin Martyr (about A.D. 150) wrote: We who were formerly the slaves of lust now only strive after purity; we who loved the path to riches above every other, now give what we have to the common use, and give to everyone that needs; we who hated and destroyed one another, now live together, and pray for our enemies, and endeavor to convince those who hate us without cause, so that they may order their lives according to Christ’s glorious doctrine, and attain to the joyful hope of receiving like blessings with ourselves from God, the Lord of all.
Fact Questions
What do fornicators and covetous men absolutely not have?
What comes upon those who are sons of disobedience?
What is the covetous man called?
**Text (Ephesians 5:8-10)
8 for ye were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord: walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 proving what is well-pleasing unto the Lord;
Thought Questions (Ephesians 5:8-10)**
What relationship are the children of light to have with the sons of disobedience? (Compare Ephesians 5:7.)
Is there any difference between being darkness and being in darkness? Which did Paul say that we once were?
In whom are we light? Does the world’s wisdom add light to our nature?
How can light have children, so that we become children of light? (Compare 1 John 1:5.)
Is it possible to be light in the Lord, and not be good, righteous, and truthful? Why or why not? (See verse nine.)
What does proving what is well-pleasing unto the Lord mean? How can we do this?
Paraphrase
Be not fellow-partakers with those who are disobedient to God. For in the Lord Jesus you are now transformed to become light, instead of being part of the darkness of this world which once you were. Walk therefore as children of light.
To do this, you must walk in goodness, righteousness, and truth, for such as the fruits of the light.
As you walk as children of light, you will be testing and proving the will of God, proving both to yourselves and to those who see you that that which is well-pleasing to the Lord is best for all mankind.
Notes (Ephesians 5:8-10)
The reading, fruit of the light, in Ephesians 5:9 is preferable and more accurate than fruit of the Spirit, as given in the King James Version.
Children of light is practically the same expression as children of God, for God is light (1 John 1:5).
Before our conversion we were actually darkness, not just in the dark. Now we are actually made to be light, and are not just in the light. As a magnet can rub off its magnetism onto another piece of iron and transform it into another magnet, so we become light as we are in contact with God and Christ. (See John 8:12.)
The world needs to see people believe in Christ and obey Him, for such people are testing and proving that that which is well-pleasing to God is best for all mankind. We are told several times in the Bible to prove (or test) that which is well-pleasing to the Lord (Romans 12:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:21; Malachi 3:10). God invites (and even dares) you to test Him, and see for yourself. No one who has ever given God an honest trial has said that God disappointed him.
Fact Questions
According to Ephesians 5:8, what were we before conversion?
In what is the fruit of the light?
What will the children of light prove?
**Text (Ephesians 5:11-12)
11 and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them; 12 for the things which are done by them in secret it is a shame even to speak of.
Thought Questions (Ephesians 5:11-12)**
How far can we go in avoiding wicked people, in order that we may have no fellowship with the works of darkness (1 Corinthians 5:9-10)?
Why are the works of darkness called unfruitful? Do they not bear bad fruit?
What does reprove mean? Is it enough just to ignore evil?
Why are the deeds of darkness done in secret?
How can we reprove deeds if they are too shameful even to speak of?
Paraphrase
As children of light, have no partnership with the works of darkness, such as the heathen ceremonies of Diana; for these works of darkness bear no desirable fruit, and bring eternal death to those who partake of them. Rather, expose, reprove, and convict them.
For the impure and wicked actions which are done by them in secret places and in darkness are so abominable that it is a shame even to speak of them, except to condemn.
Notes (Ephesians 5:11-12)
The phrase have fellowship with was an expression used by the Greeks to denote participation in their religious rites and mysteries. Paul wanted the disciples to have nothing in common with these.
Reprove means to convince or convict. It is not enough to ignore evil. We must expose it in such a way that people will not be misled by it.
While Paul may have had primary reference to the heathen mysteries of his time as being the works of darkness, the workers of iniquity in the 20th century still work in darkness, and the things they do in secret are still too shameful to speak of. (See John 3:19-21.)
Fact Questions
With what are we to have no fellowship?
What are we to do with the works of darkness (Ephesians 5:11)?
Where do the workers of darkness do their deeds?
How shameful are many of the works of darkness?
**Text (Ephesians 5:13)
13 But all things when they are reproved are made manifest by the light: for everything that is made manifest is light.
Thought Questions (Ephesians 5:13)**
When does the light make evil things manifest?
Is everything that is exposed to the light made to be light? Are the wicked transformed into light just by being exposed to the light?
Paraphrase
Now all the works of darkness, when they are reproved, are made manifest by the light. For everything that makes manifest the wicked works of darkness is light. Therefore, when you reprove them, you show that you are light. (Ephesians 5:8).
Notes (Ephesians 5:13)
The King James translation of Eph 5:13 b reads: Whatsoever doth make manifest is light. We much prefer this translation to that of the Revised Version given above.
Our reason for preferring the King James translation here is that many wicked people that are exposed to the light merely run to their lair, and go under cover, hiding, but not seeking to get right with God. Such people certainly do not become light just because the light has been turned upon them.
However, anything that makes manifest the wicked works of darkness is light. The saints who reprove the works of darkness and make them manifest for everyone to see, are light (Ephesians 5:8).
The heathen called their mysteries light, and those who were initiated into the mysteries, the enlightened ones. But if these religious delusions had really been light, they would have revealed the ungodly deeds of their devotees.
We still use the phrase, light on the subject, to describe information that makes things clear. But much that is called light is only darkness disguised as wisdom.
Paul had been sent to turn the Gentiles from darkness to light (Acts 26:18).
Fact Questions
What is the difference between the King James and the Revised Versions in this verse? Why is the King James Version preferable?
What is everything that makes manifest the works of darkness?
**Text (Ephesians 5:14)
14 Wherefore be saith, Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee.
Thought Questions (Ephesians 5:14)**
Who says, Awake? Is this an Old Testament quotation?
Can men arise from the dead by their own choice? (See Ephesians 2:1).
At what time in our life does Christ begin to shine upon us?
Paraphrase
Wherefore, because we are light and reprove the works of darkness, our work and call to the world is stated in the saying: Awake, thou that sleepest (in the darkness of heathen ignorance), and arise from the dead (the state of death in which you lie in trespasses and sins), and Christ shall shine upon thee (with the light of truth).
Notes (Ephesians 5:14)
This saying is not a quotation from the Old Testament, It recalls Isaiah 60:1, but is not a quotation of that verse. Perhaps it is a line from an old hymn, or some heretofore unrecorded saying of Christ or one of the apostles.
As the morning sun enlightens men aroused from sleep, so Christ enlightens those who rouse from the sleep of sin and turn unto God. When men are converted, they are enlightened (Hebrews 6:4).
Many will wake up from spiritual sleep only when they fall into the sleep of death. Like the rich man, they will be aware for the first time of their actual condition (Luke 16:23-31; compare Psalms 73:17-28).
Fact Questions
What is the source of the quotation, Awake, thou that sleepest?
From what are the sleepers to arise?
When the sleepers awake, who will shine upon them?
**Text (Ephesians 5:15-16)
15 Look therefore carefully how ye walk, not as unwise, but as wise; 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Thought Questions (Ephesians 5:15-16)**
Why does the fact that the days are evil make it necessary to be careful how we use our time?
What determines whether our walk is wise or unwise?
Is it really possible to redeem, or buy back, wasted hours and days in our past? If not, what does redeeming the time mean?
Has there ever been a time when the saints could truly say, The days are good?
Paraphrase
See then that you, upon whom Christ now shines, walk carefully, according to Christ’s teachings, not as unwise men, but as wise,
making prudent use of every moment, so that by zeal and well-doing you shall purchase the time for the Lord’s services. For the days are evil, and there are many temptations to use our time foolishly.
Notes (Ephesians 5:15-16)
Redeeming the time does not carry the idea of living for Christ so energetically that we can buy back wasted hours and days of the past. That is impossible. Rather, it is the present moment that we are to redeem (or purchase). With zeal and well-doing as purchase money, we can buy up the moments so as to make them our own. Then on the day of judgment when we give account of the use of our time, it will be on the credit side of our account.
Beware of any inclination to call the days good. We still live in an untoward generation (Acts 2:40). The churches may have more members than ever before, but even with all these members the population has grown faster than the churches. Furthermore, much of our modern churchianity is only a form of godliness, and not the real thing. We shall never be able to make a paradise of this sin-cursed world until the Lord returns. Dark pictures are painted in the Scriptures of the condition of the world in the latter days (2 Timothy 3:1-5; Matthew 24:37-39). There is no ground for confidence in any social gospel that thinks it can transform the whole world into a paradise. We have great confidence in the power of the gospel. But not all men living at any one time have ever accepted the gospel.
Fact Questions
How are we to walk, according to Ephesians 5:15?
What is the mental condition of those who walk carefully?
What are we to be doing to the time? What does this mean?
What is the condition of the days (or times)?
**Text (Ephesians 5:17)
17 Wherefore be ye not foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Thought Questions (Ephesians 5:17)**
Is there any connection between the clays being evil (Ephesians 5:16) and our being foolish?
How can we understand what the will of the Lord is?
Paraphrase
Because the old days are evil, and are filled with great temptations, we must constantly beware of foolish, ungodly, time-wasting conduct, Instead, let us keep before our minds at all times that which is the will of the Lord, namely to abstain from all the works of darkness.
Fact Questions
What are we not to be, according to Ephesians 5:17?
What are we to understand?
**Text (Ephesians 5:18-20)
18 And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; 19 speaking one to another (or, to yourselves) in psalms, and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father
Thought Questions (Ephesians 5:18-20)**
Can you think of any similarities between the effects of wine and of the Spirit? What difference is there in their effects?
What is the riot which is connected with the use of wine?
What is the difference, if any, between a psalm, a hymn, and a spiritual song?
Does the command to use psalms suggest that we ought to make a greater use of the Old Testament Psalms than most of us do nowadays?
Is the act of giving thanks connected with the singing?
Why give thanks in the name of Jesus Christ? Are we so utterly unworthy that we cannot even offer thanks to God except through the name of Jesus?
Paraphrase
And be not drunken with wine, as the heathen do in their rituals and revelries, for in wine comes debauchery of manners (fornications, brawlings, riots); but rather be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Instead of singing lewd songs, be speaking to one another with psalms such as David wrote, and hymns, and spiritual songs, thus singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;
giving thanks also at all times for all things that befall you, whether pleasant or hard, offering the thanks through the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ to God, the Father.
Notes (Ephesians 5:18-20)
The riot that comes through wine drinking refers to the loose type of behavior brought on by wine. The word riot (in a slightly different form) is used to describe the activities of the prodigal son when he left his father’s home (compare Luke 15:13 with Luke 15:30).
There are some similarities between the effects of wine and the effects of being filled with the Spirit. The apostles were accused of being filled with wine; (cp. Acts 2:1-13). Similarities between the effects of wine and the Spirit:
(1)
Both afford satisfaction from without.
a.
The satisfaction of wine proves to be a mockery, Though it promises escape from reality, it only pulls one down into greater misery (Proverbs 20:1).
b.
The satisfaction furnished by the Spirit never brings regrets.
(2)
Both bring feelings of joy.
a.
Wine produces a temporary exhilaration (Esther 1:10).
b.
Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, but it is not just a temporary blessing (Galatians 5:22).
(3)
Those who are filled with either the Spirit or with wine always attract attention. Those filled with the Spirit are usually noticed at once because of their good behavior, and what they talk about.
(4)
Both wine and the Spirit bring out a person’s true, but sometimes hidden, character.
a.
Wine brings out all the bad character, the hidden hoards of wickedness, removing the restraints of conscience, so that lust, pride, and meanness are brought out into the open.
b.
The Spirit brings out hidden treasures of goodness. We have seen many cases where the Holy Spirit brought out fine hidden talents that people hardly knew they had.
Some have suggested that the command to speak to one another may refer to singing alternately (or antiphonally), a custom which was early practiced in the church.
The Revised Version margin translates Ephesians 5:19 a, speaking to yourselves in psalms, etc. This is a permissible translation. This reading suggests that we are to have so much of the Spirit and the music of Zion in our souls, that we will speak to ourselves with spiritual music. It is very fine for people to be humming, or whistling some spiritual song to themselves.
Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon tells us that psalms were songs which took their general character from the Old Testament psalms, though not limited to them. The leading idea of the word psalm is musical accompaniment. Hymns are praise to God. Spiritual songs refer to any type of song, whether accompanied or unaccompanied, whether of praise or on any other subject.
(See Special Study II in back of the book, concerning the meaning of Psalmos and Psallo.)
It would be wrong to argue that if psalms are accompanied songs that we must therefore sing all music in church worship to instrumental accompaniment. We are also commanded to use hymns and spiritual songs, and these terms do not necessarily include instrumental music.
No one says that all church music has to be accompanied. But it is wicked to disfellowship and condemn those who do use it.
When we use psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, we must sing and make melody with our hearts. It does no good to mouth words when we sing, unless the words are the thoughts of our heart. The phrase with the heart indicates that the words are to originate in and come from our heart. In the Bible the heart includes the intellect, the emotions, the will, and the conscience. Whether we sing unaccompanied or make melody with an instrument, it must be done with the heart. We should sing and make melody with understanding, true feeling, and desire to please God.
We find no Scriptural example where the word heart means enthusiasm. Singing with the heart therefore does not mean enthusiastic singing, although such singing is often desirable.
We cannot use Ephesians 5:19 to prove that instrumental music in worship is either right or wrong. For the whole para graph (Ephesians 5:18-21) has no reference whatever to worship services, but to our daily walk, (Ephesians 5:15)
Singing and making melody are two of a whole list of activities that we should do in order to walk as wise men. The list also includes giving thanks (Ephesians 5:20), and subjecting yourselves one to another.
No one would say that giving thanks or subjecting ourselves are commands that apply only to what we do in worship services, or any other limited time. Singing and making melody apply to exactly the same activities as giving thanks. They are not limited to what is done in worship services, nor are they excluded from applying to worship services.
Besides singing, another action of those who are filled with the Spirit is giving thanks always for all things. We can thank God by singing, but thanksgiving is not limited to that which is sung.
It is a humbling thought, but this verse suggests that we are so unworthy that we cannot approach God, even to thank Him, except in the name of Christ.
Fact Questions
Paul says, Be not drunken with wine, wherein is……..
With what are we to be filled, rather than being filled with wine?
With what three types of music are we to speak one to another?
What are psalms?
With what are we to sing and make melody?
Through Whom are we to give thanks?
Ephesians 5:21-33
Previewing in Outline Form (Ephesians 5:21-33)
C.
Subject yourselves one to another. Ephesians 5:21-33; Ephesians 6:1-9.
The command. Ephesians 5:21.
Wives and husbands. Ephesians 5:22-33.
a.
Wives to be subject unto husbands. Ephesians 5:22-24; Ephesians 5:33 b.
(1) As unto the Lord. Ephesians 5:22.
(2)
The husband is head of the wife. Ephesians 5:23.
(3)
The wife is to be subject to the husband as the church is to Christ. Ephesians 5:24.
(4)
The wife is to fear her husband. Ephesians 5:33 b.
b.
Husbands to love their wives. Ephesians 5:25-33 a.
(1)
As Christ loved the church. Ephesians 5:25-27.
(a)
He gave himself up for it. Ephesians 5:25-27.
((1))
That He might sanctify it.
((2))
That He might present the church to Himself.
(b)
He nourishes and cherishes it. Ephesians 5:29 b - Ephesians 5:30.
(c)
The first marriage contained a mystery regarding Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:31-32.
(2)
As their own bodies. Ephesians 5:28-29 a, Ephesians 5:33 a.
(a)
He that loves his wife loves himself. Ephesians 5:28 b.
(b)
No man ever hated his own flesh. Ephesians 5:29 a.
(c)
Each to love his own wife as himself. Ephesians 5:33 a.
**Text (Ephesians 5:21)
21 subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.
Thought Questions (Ephesians 5:21)**
What is the virtue of being subject one to another?
If everyone is subject to everyone else, who will have authority?
What does the fear of Christ have to do with our being subject to one another?
Paraphrase
With respect to your duties one to another, you must be subjecting yourselves to one another, according to the various relationships in which you stand to one another. And this you must do because you fear the authority of Christ who has appointed these relationships.
Notes (Ephesians 5:21)
This verse begins a new section in the outline entitled, Subject yourselves one to another, The general principle is laid down in this verse that we must be subject to one another; then in the development that follows it becomes obvious that what is meant is that we are to be subject according to the various positions we occupy in life, Specifically, the wife is to be subject to the husband, the child to the parent, and the slave to the master.
The duty to be subjecting yourselves one to another is parallel to giving thanks in Ephesians 5:20. However, the matter of subjecting ourselves occupies such a long section in the text (it goes to Ephesians 6:9), that we list it as a separate duty.
We do have ranks and positions of required subjection in this world. A Communist state where everyone is supposed to be perfectly equal is a slave state. Unless we are willing to be subject where subjection is proper, chaos will result.
Many of the Christians in the first century had unbelieving husbands, parents, or masters. The Christians were not to get unwarranted ideas of freedom and independence, and begin to disregard legitimate authority over them.
Fact Questions
What is the heading of section Ephesians 5:21-33; Ephesians 6:1-9 in the outline?
**Text (Ephesians 5:22-24)
22 Wives, be in subjection unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, being himself the saviour of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their husbands in everything.
Thought Questions (Ephesians 5:22-24)**
Do women have to be subject to men generally, or just to their own husbands?
Does the husband have authority to lord it over his wife, and force her to be in subjection?
Has the emancipation of women gone so far that they are no longer in subjection as the Scriptures-’ command? Should we have scrapped the phrase love, honor, and obey, from the marriage vows?
What lesson should husbands learn from the fact that Christ’s headship over the church is accompanied by His being Saviour of the body?
Is the husband to be regarded as being as omniscient (all-wise) as the Lord? How can the wife be a helper, and yet be in subjection?
Is there any limitation upon the authority of the husband over the wife? How far does Be subject in everything go?
Paraphrase
Considering the duties of mutual subjection in particular, wives, be subject to your own husbands in the same manner that you are subject to the Lord Jesus.
For the husband is the head of the wife and is entitled to direct her, even as Christ is the head of the church. Howbeit, Christ is a very kind head, being also the saviour of the body.
But as the church is subject to Christ in everything, let also the wives be subject to their own husbands in everything.
Notes (Ephesians 5:22-24)
Certainly no church member resents being in subjection to Christ. If husbands were what they should be, no wife should resent being in subjection to her husband. Remember that the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. The man was not created for the woman, but the woman for the man. (1 Corinthians 11:8-9; Colossians 3:18; 1 Peter 3:1-6).
Nonetheless, when all reasonable causes for subjection (such as care, kindness, wisdom, etc.) are absent, the wife is still to be subject to the husband as unto the Lord. Let her not leave her husband (1 Corinthians 7:13).
The wife’s subjection does not mean that she has no moral or personal dignity. Her subjection is not servile. She is entitled to respect. She was created to be a helper, not a slave. Her service should not have to be done with fear and trembling. The husband has no authority to speak bitterly against her (Colossians 3:19). He has no authority to beat or abuse her.
Fact Questions
A woman’s subjection to her husband is like her subjection to whom?
What organic relationship does the husband bear to the wife that Christ also bears to the church (Ephesians 5:23)?
Christ is indeed head of the church, but what other relation does He have to the body (Ephesians 5:23)?
In what things are the wives to be subject to their husbands (Ephesians 5:24)?
**Text (Ephesians 5:25-26)
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it; 26 that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word.
Thought Questions (Ephesians 5:25-26)**
Whose example is a husband to imitate in his love for his wife?
Is the husband expected to give himself up for his wife?
Christ desired to sanctify the church (Ephesians 5:26). Is this something that is done at one time, or something that requires a lifetime? When and how are we sanctified? (See 1 Corinthians 6:11.)
To what does the washing of water refer? What reasons or supporting Scriptures can you give for your answer?
How does the word go along with the washing of water?
Paraphrase
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church so much that he was willing to give himself up and die for her.
Christ gave himself for the church that he might sanctify (purify and consecrate) her through the washing of water in baptism, and this is done wherever the word is taught.
Notes (Ephesians 5:25-26)
Wouldst thou that thy wife should obey thee as the church obeys Christ? Do thou then care for her, as Christ for the church, even if thou must lay down thy life for her shrink not, shouldst thou suffer even this. Thou hast not yet matched all that which Christ hath done, For thou doest this after thou hast already won her, but he sacrificed himself for her that turned away from him and hated him; and when she was thus disposed, he brought her to his feet not by threats, or insults, or terror, or any such thing, but by this great solicitude. So do thou conduct thyself toward that wife of thine. - - - Her that is the partner of thy life, the mother of thy children, the spring of thy joy, thou must not bind by terror and threats, but by love and gentleness. (Chrysostom)
The love of husband for wife is not that of passion, but of soul-love.
The church is to be sanctified as a result of Christ’s sufferings. Because He died, we may be made righteous in the sight of God. The bride-groom relationship with Christ is the strongest possible reason for godly life on the part of the church.
The washing of water has been interpreted as referring to baptism by most commentators, both ancient and modern. (Compare Hebrews 10:22, and Titus 3:5) There have been some advocates of salvation by faith only who have tried to prove that the water mentioned here does not refer to baptism, and that Christian baptism has nothing to do with salvation or sanctification. Such interpretations are obviously not an effort to present what the Scriptures say, but to prove by the Scriptures the doctrines that one already believes.
It is plainly inferred in Ephesians 5:26 that the entire church has been baptized.
With the word is literally translated in word. Wherever the Word of God has been taught, there Christ has cleansed the church by the washing of water. This plainly indicates that hearing and believing the Word must precede baptism.
This interpretation of with the word is in accord with Mark 16:15-16, which describes the process of salvation as being (1) preaching the gospel (or the Word), (2) faith, (3) baptism, (4) salvation.
The tense (aorist) of having cleansed indicates that the cleansing is one specific action, rather than a progressive cleansing. This cleansing, or sanctification, takes place when we are baptized.
Fact Questions
What is the essential duty of husbands to wives?
How much did Christ love the church?
By what is the church sanctified?
How is the phrase with the word literally translated? What part does the word have in our being cleansed?
**Text (Ephesians 5:27)
27 that he might present the church to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Thought Questions (Ephesians 5:27)**
What did Christ do that He might present the church to Himself? (See Ephesians 5:25-26.)
When will the church be presented to Christ?
What distinction would you make between a spot and a wrinkle? Applying these terms to the church, what might be called a spot, and what might be called a wrinkle?
Is the church to put on her own wedding garments, or is she to be adorned by the Lord (Revelation 19:7-8)?
When, if ever, will the church be without spot or wrinkle?
Paraphrase
Christ cleanses the church by the washing of water with the word for this purpose: that he may at his second coming present the church to himself, glorious, not in material garments, but in the beauty of righteousness, a church not having spot from external defilement, nor wrinkle from lack of care of her garments, but that it should be holy and without any blemish.
Notes (Ephesians 5:27)
The church shall be presented to Christ at His second coming (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
The church in this world will never become faultless. But since salvation is a gift of grace, and not a matter of merit and moral perfection, the church will be caught up to her bridegroom without spot or wrinkle, washed white in the blood of the Lamb.
Without spot or wrinkle may refer to the perfection of the bodies of the saints, as well as to their spirits. Our present mortal bodies cannot inherit the kingdom of God. But when we are caught up with the Lord we shall have been transformed in body (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).
It is pure delight to be joined to Christ as a bride to a husband. The joy of being married to Christ is rapturously pictured in the Song of Solomon and in Isaiah 62:4-5. We can call ourselves Beulah, which means Married.
Fact Questions
What kind of a church does Christ desire to present to Himself?
What defects is the church not to have when she is presented to Christ?
**Text (Ephesians 5:28-30)
28 Even so ought husbands to love their own wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his own wife loveth himself: 29 for no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as Christ also the church; 30 because we are members of his body.
Thought Questions (Ephesians 5:28-30)**
Is the husband to love his wife in the same degree as he loves his own body? Or is he to love her as being a part of his body? What is the difference between the two ideas?
How can it be that he that loves his wife loves himself?
How does Christ nourish the church?
Is the church married to Christ, or just engaged to Him?
Paraphrase
Seeing that Christ loved the church so much that he gave himself up for it, men ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. Indeed, the one who loves his wife loves himself, for she is as much a part of him as his own flesh.
And no one ever hated his own flesh, as a man would be doing if he did not love his wife. Rather, a man feeds his flesh to maturity and keeps it warm, just as Christ also nourishes and cherishes the church.
For we, the members of the church, are members of Christ’s body, even as a husband and wife are one body.
Notes (Ephesians 5:28-30)
Husbands are not to love their wives in the same degree that they love their own bodies, but they are to love their wives as being one body with themselves. The wife is part of the husband, The two are one flesh, The idea that the two are one makes love a compelling necessity, and not just a matter of condescension.
Nourish means to feed, feed to maturity, support, etc. Cherish means to warm, keep warm, to cherish with tender love.
It is a priceless thought to consider that Christ nourishes the church and cherishes her with the same warmth that a husband loves his wife. But indeed He does this, because we are members of His body, even as a husband and wife are one body. Christ nourishes the church with daily bread and food for the soul.
The phrase in the King James Version, of his flesh and of his bones is not found in the best and oldest manuscripts of the Bible. Therefore it is not included in the text of the Revised Version.
We may be members of the body of Christ. But the body (the church) does not exercise the authority of Christ. The head is the seat of all the authority. The body is subject in all things to the head. The church is not an authoritarian institution. (See notes on Ephesians 1:20-23.)
The church is technically only engaged to Christ. The marriage supper of the Lamb is yet to come (2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 19:7), but in Bible times the engagement was practically as binding as the marriage.
Fact Questions
Husbands are to love their wives as their own………………
He that loveth his wife loveth………………
What two things does a man do for his own flesh that he should do for his wife?
Christ nourishes and cherishes the church because we are what (Ephesians 5:30)?
**Text (Ephesians 5:31-32)
31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh. 32 This mystery is great: but I speak in regard of Christ and of the church.
Thought Questions (Ephesians 5:31-32)**
What was the background of the original decree commanding that a man should leave his father and mother (Genesis 2:21-24)?
What was the original cause for which a man was commanded to leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife (Matthew 19:4-5)?
How could the original command to Adam have had reference to Christ and the church when the church was not in existence at that time?
What does the expression, the two shall become one flesh mean (Compare 1 Corinthians 6:16.)
Why is the relationship between Christ and the church called a mystery? Would you have ever imagined that Adam and Eve’s marriage was designed to represent the relation between Christ and the church?
Can Christ be said to have left His Father for His wife?
Paraphrase
Now because God created mankind male and female, they were enjoined that the man should leave his father and mother and be inseparably united to his wife, being joined in fleshly union and in spiritual union.
This relationship between Adam and Eve contained a great mystery, a hidden meaning not originally made known, namely that their marriage relationship was not spoken only of them, but had reference to the relationship between Christ and the church.
Notes (Ephesians 5:31-32)
It is almost staggering to find that the original marriage of Adam and Eve was designed to represent the relationship between Christ and the church. But there are many points of resemblance:
a.
Eve was taken from the side of Adam. The church in like manner came from the side of Christ, for the church was purchased with His blood, which came from His side.
b.
Man was told to forsake parents for his bride. Christ forsook heaven to come to earth to win His bride.
c.
Adam loved Eve. Christ loves the church.
d.
There was only one wife for Adam (Malachi 2:15-16), only one bride, one church, for Christ (Ephesians 4:4).
e, The marriage of Adam and Eve was permanent for their lifetime. The marriage of Christ and the church will be permanent for their lifetime, eternity.
When we stop to think about it, it is hard to conceive of any reason why Eve should have been made from the rib of Adam unless God intended to illustrate the relation between Christ and the church. Eve could have been made from the dust as Adam was (and presumably the animals also). However, the appropriateness of the manner in which she was made becomes evident when we realize that it pictures the manner in which Christ produced the church.
The union between the Lord and His people was first conceived, then marriage was devised and employed as an illustration of the relationship. Marriage was not created first, and then later used as an illustration of the union of Christ and the church.
Cleave to means to glue upon, glue to, join one’s self closely to. When two pieces of wood are well glued together, the wood will break before the glue-joint does. Likewise in the marriage bond, the husband or wife should die before the marriage bond breaks.
The Vulgate (Latin Bible) says in Ephesians 5:32 sacramentum hoc magnum est, which means, This is a great sacrament, Upon this erroneous translation of This mystery is great, the Roman church has proclaimed that marriage is one of the sacraments of the church. By controlling the marriages of its people, the Roman church holds an almost unbreakable grip upon the lives of its members.
Fact Questions
To whom, and when, was the statement first made, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother?
What is the significance of the verb, cleave?
The application of Gen 2:24 to Christ and the church is called a great…………….
**Text (Ephesians 5:33)
33 Nevertheless do ye also severally love each one his own wife even as himself; and let the wife** see **that she fear her husband.
Thought Questions (Ephesians 5:33)**
Does the fact that Genesis 2:24 has reference to Christ and the church exclude its application to husbands and wives?
What degree of fear is a wife to have toward her husband?
Paraphrase
Notwithstanding the fact that the original marriage decree was intended to show the relation of Christ and his church, its application to human marriage remains unaffected, and thus each man must love his own wife as being part of himself, and likewise let the wife take care to reverence and obey her husband.
Notes (Ephesians 5:33)
Marriage is regulated by divine commandments. The husband MUST love his wife. The wife MUST be in subjection to her husband. They MUST cleave together as long as they both shall live. To do otherwise is sin.
The fact that Genesis 2:24 had reference to Christ and the church certainly does NOT exclude its application to husbands and wives.
See the notes on Ephesians 5:28 concerning the identity of the wife with her husband, and the consequent necessity of the husband loving his wife as himself.
Fear The wife is not expected to fear her husband as a slave fears a tyrannical master, but rather as the church fears Christ. This is a blend of respect, love, gratitude and subjection.
Fact Questions
According to Ephesians 5:33, the wife is to…………….her husband.