Ephesians 5

Ephesians 5:1-33

Teacher’ s Notes for Chapter FIVE 1. How can one imitate God? (Verse 1). Notice the word “ .” We have talked about this, and similar words before. What does the word “ therefore” do? It sends us back to what has just been said! a. What have we just been told to do? “ Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’ s sake has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32). i. Jesus in John 13:34-35 said, “ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another,” HOW ARE WE TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER? “ as I have loved you…” ii. What will this kind of love show people around us? “ By this shall all men know that you are My disciples.” Now look again at that word “Therefore.” Therefore, when you can love one an-other enough to “ be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32), then you are imitating God. iii. Another good passage to study in this thought of imitating God would be the Christian graces mentioned in 2 Peter 1:5-10. 2. What is not to even be mentioned among saints? (Verse 3 & 4). Fornication, and all uncleanness or covetousness, filthiness, foolish talking, coarse jesting. a. Not just fornication, but everything of the same nature, or that leads to it, is to be avoided. b. Uncleanness would cover unnatural or perverted indulgences which will cause one to lust. c. Or covetousness. Notice that this sin is emphasized. The Greek term means “ greediness for more. d. Filthiness: Obscene and degrading practices. Whatever is vile or disgusting in speech or conduct. e. Foolish talking and jesting would cover such sins as off-color or dirty jokes, or things that are supposed to be witty but in reality ridicules or pokes fun at modesty and is contemptible to good men and women. 3. What does Paul mean by “ to be named among you?” (verse 3) Do not be guilty of such. a. It’s not unusual for evil people to accuse faithful Christians of one or more of these sins, and many others not mentioned here, but to be able to prove the charge is the thought here. Peter said “ Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange things happened to you … but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy…. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified…

But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, and evildoer or as a busybody in other people’s matters… Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.” (1 Peter 1:6-9). 4. How is a covetous man an idolater? (Verse 5). One may covet fame, a career, riches or possessions to such an extent that the object coveted after is placed before God in their life. At that point that object becomes to them a god, even though they may not realize or believe within themselves that it is. a. What did Jesus say to seek first in Matthew 6:33? The kingdom of God and His righteousness. b. If you were asked to make a list of life’s priorities, what would you place at the very top of that list? Probably your family. i. Where on that list would you place your favorite sport or hobby? More than likely several steps down from the top. ii. Where would you place God and your devotion to him? iii. Yet many will place all kinds of things before God, and it shows when they forsake Him on Sun-day morning for whatever pleases them (Cf. Hebrews 10:25). iv. Jesus in Matthew 10:34-37 gives us a mental picture of just such a priority list and says that if we place even our family before Him we are no longer worthy of Him. And John admonishes us, “ Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him… For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life-is not of the Father but is of the world… And the world is passing away, and the lusts of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever,” (1 John 2:15-17). 5. What is meant by, “You were once darkness?” (Verse 8). The word darkness and its synonyms are used symbolically for sin or sinfulness. For example, Paul says of Christians that God, “ has delivered us from the power of darkness, and conveyed into the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Colossians 1:13 NKJV). a. How are we to walk? (Verse 8). As children of light. b. Remember the two spiritual families we spoke of in chapter two? One is either a “ child of light, i.e. Child of God” or “ a child of Satan, darkness.” 6. What fruit do the children of light bear? (Verses 9-10). The fruit of the Spirit. a. The fruits of the Spirit are given in Galatians 5:21-23, and John 15:1-5 Jesus speaks of Himself as the true vine and individual disciples as the branches. i. What fruit does a branch attached to the true Vine bear? Would it not be the fruit of the Spirit? ii. Notice that the fruit of the Spirit is born by an individual while attached to Christ. One becomes attached to the true vine when they are baptized into Him (Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:27). And God’s spokesman tells us that there are no laws against bearing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:23). iii. That cannot be said about the fruits of darkness. 7. Why are we to expose the unfruitful works of darkness? (Verses 11-12). It is shameful to even speak of the things they do. (cf. Romans 1:21-25). 8. How do you expose these evils? (Verse 13). By the light of God’s Word, contrasting the evils to that which is taught therein. a. 1 John 4:1 says. “ Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” b. In John 3:18-21 Jesus warns that those who “ do not believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God” is condemned. “ And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. … For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” 9. What is the opposite of walking circumspectly? (Verse 15). The opposite would be to foolishly follow the world. a.

Verses 16-19 gives sound advice as to how the two are contrasted. Verse 16: “ because the days are evil.” Time is against us! We know neither the day nor the hour when our life will be taken away. Therefore we must spend our days “ redeeming the time.” Being careful as to how we use the time allotted us in this life. We must strive to live each day for the Lord. i. Verse 17 warns us to be wise in understanding what God’ s will is. The unwise person will not study God’s Word as they should, and often not at all, therefore they never learn what God’s will is. b. Where does one begin in obtaining true wisdom? The wise man said, “ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10). 10. And DO NOT be DRUNK with WINE, in which is ; but be FILLED with the SPIRIT.” a. Not just the intoxicating drink; but any outside influence from the world that can and will lead one away from God. b. When does one become filled with the Spirit? One receives the Holy Spirit at baptism (Acts 2:38). The Holy Spirit is then with that person, working with them through their knowledge and use of the revealed word. i. It stands to reason that if the Spirit works through the word, the more knowledge the person has of God’s Word, then, the more fullness one will have of the Spirit. Thus, we are said to be “ filled with the Spirit” . Another elusion to maturity - no longer children (cf. Ephesians 4:14). ii. I can think of no better way to gain a knowledge of God’s Word from which we come to “understand what the will of the Lord is” than by assembling together in the house of prayer and “ speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord” (Verse 19). iii. A parallel passage is Colossians 3:16 where we are told to “ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” When we come together to speak to one another in this way, what else do we do? We study God’s Holy Word in class situations, and by listening to sermons from the evangelist. Thus we come to understand what the will of our Heavenly Father is - and be thankful for each opportunity we have to study. 11. How are we to give thanks to God? (Verse 20). In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (cf. Colossians 3:17). 12. What are Christians to do in the fear of God? (Verse 21). Submit to one another, as to the Lord. a. This takes us back to the last two verses of chapter four and verse one of this chapter and the thought of imitating God by refraining from bitterness, wrath and anger and being kind, tender-hearted and forgiving to one another. 13. What relationship does Paul use as an example of submitting to one another? (Verses 21-23) The relationship that should exist between husband and wife. 14. How should the wife show her love and respect to her husband? (Verse 22). By submission, as to the Lord. 15. How is the husband to show his love and respect to his wife? (Verse 25). Even as Christ loved the church. 16.

In your own words compare verse 23 with 1 Corinthians 11:3. 1 Corinthians 11:3 reads “ But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ. The head of woman is man, and head of Christ is God” a. To see the completeness of this one must go back to creation (Genesis 2:18 ff). God created man as the spiritual leader of the family. He made woman to be his “ suitable helper” . Thus, by the right of creation the husband is head of the wife. i. However, one must also look at the fact that he is God’s leader of the family only so far as he is living in accordance to God’s Divine will. A drunken, abusive man living in defiance of God’s Word cannot be a spiritual leader of any family. It is God’s will that “all men be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). That means coming under the influence and control of Jesus Christ in everything one does in life. “ All authority has been given to (Christ) in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). Christ is head over all men, although many refuse to follow Him. There will come a day in which they will all bow to Him and confess His name, (Philippians 2:10-11), but for many it will be too late because of their rebellion. ii. Still, whether one submits or not, Christ is the head of man. The Father has given all authority to the Son. iii. Consider Hebrews 4:14-15 for a moment. The writer of Hebrews speaks of Jesus as our High Priest. He became such by living a perfect life among men, “ …in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” b. What if Christ had sinned? Many seem to think, “ OH, but He was God’s Son therefore He couldn’t sin!

The problem one faces with that is if He couldn’t sin then He could not have been tempted as we are. So the question, “ What if Jesus had sinned? Is legitimate. c. Who would have had the authority to impeach the King of kings? Everything and everyone in heaven and on earth is subject to Christ, with one exception. Now notice 1 Corinthians 15:23-28 : We are told that at the end, after death is destroyed.

Christ will deliver the kingdom to God the Father. “ For He has put all things under His feet. But when He says All things are put under Him, it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted…Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.”i. THE FATHER STILL HAS CONTROL! Thus, the head of Christ is God. 17. How does Christ “ sanctify” the church? (Verse 26). With the washing of water, by his word. a. Look closely at that. What is the church? It is the people, not the building in which we meet. There-fore, the church is “ sanctified” only as individual members of it are sanctified. i. The water of baptism symbolically cleanses one of the defilement of sin. This is why Ananias told Saul to “ Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). ii. Who gave Ananias the words to speak? God did! He was inspired of God to speak to this man. Thus, it can truthfully be said that Saul of Tarsus was cleansed with the “ washing of water by the word” because of his compliance to the teaching of God. iii. Every Christian from Pentecost to today has done exactly the same. Sins are not washed away until one is baptized into the death of Christ where the cleansing blood is contacted… Therefore we are “ buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life… For if we have been planted in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection” (Romans 6:3-5. iv. In His death He shed His blood for the sins of mankind. We meet Him in death when we are baptized, and that is where the sin-cleansing blood is applied. Romans 6:3-6 and Acts 22:16 so teach. 18. Define the word “ sanctify.” To be holy. In the Old Testament it denotes the consecration of a person to God. To make or to set apart for God…. In the New Testament the doctrine is to make truly and perfectly holy what was before defiled and sinful and is progressive work of divine grace upon the soul justified by the love of Christ … The ultimate sanctification of every believer in Christ is a covenant of mercy, purchased on the cross.” (Smiths Bible Dictionary pg. 267). 19. Why does Christ sanctify His church? (Verse 27). “ That He might present her unto Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle.” Is this not what we all want of our bride? 20. How is the husband to love his wife? (Verse 28). “ As their own bodies.” The reason for this is seen in the last part of verse 31: “ The two shall become one flesh.” 21. Why are husbands and wives to respond to one another in this way? (Verse 29). For no one ever hated his own flesh. a. Some may argue with that by saying that some people hate themselves to the point of self-destruction, so I would say, no one in their right mind ever hated their own flesh. 22. What conclusion does Paul draw from this comparison? (Verse 30). For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. We, as the church, become His bride.

FINAL THOUGHT: We sometimes say that the husband/wife relationship is patterned after Christ and His church, referring to verses 22-33. But that’s not true. The Holy relationship between Christ and His church is actually patterned after the original husband/wife relationship created in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:18-24). Paul is showing how sacred that relationship is to our Creator, and using it to teach us that, next to God himself, our spouse is the most important person in our lives. We leave our father and mothers to be joined to that person for life.

In like manner, we leave all worldly ties to be joined to Christ, the Sacred Bridegroom (Matthew 25:1-10) for eternity.