Ephesians

New Life in Love. After a two-verse transitional section, Paul gives general instructions for holy living. He focuses on purity of life—both by avoiding evil deeds and associations and by adopting holy practices. Verse 21 connects vv. 1–20 with vv. 22–6:9.

Exhortation to Self-Sacrificial Love. Paul’s discussion of love serves also as an introduction to further instructions on holy living (vv. 3–20). imitators. Believers are to imitate God’s holiness in all of their conduct. They are to be like him, not as slaves trying to earn a wage but as children—and beloved children at that! loved. The past tense does not suggest that Christ has stopped loving us but only that, when he gave himself up for us, it was the supreme act of his love (see John 15:13).

Paul reminded believers that what we talk and think about will eventually find expression in our behaviors. When we are in Christ, our conversations will change, as will our actions.

Instruction in Holy Living. Paul gives general instructions on how Christians are to lead holy lives. He centers on wisdom in speech, sexual purity, associations, and other similar aspects of a thankful life.

sexual immorality. This general term (Gk. porneia) covers all sexual sins, including adultery, fornication, homosexuality, etc. Covetousness is a jealous longing for what others possess (Ex. 20:17), and it amounts to idolatry (Eph. 5:5; Col. 3:5). named. Christians must be careful to guard their integrity and public reputation because public sins dishonor God, who has chosen them to be holy (see note on Eph. 1:4). saints. See note on 1:1.

Thanksgiving, in contrast to crude joking and foolish talk, is the positive way to speak, and it also counteracts covetousness (see v. 3). The way to avoid coveting others’ possessions is to concentrate with thanks upon the good things the Lord has given (see vv. 19–20).

Paul did not say that no one who ever engaged in immorality or greed can enter Christ’s kingdom. He said that no immoral, impure, or greedy person currently has an inheritance in the kingdom (1Co 6:9-11).

idolater. Covetousness places one’s ultimate allegiance in the acquisition of the possessions of others, which often leads to other grave sins (e.g., 1 Kings 21:1–19). Paul says this is tantamount to idolatry (see also Col. 3:5). inheritance. See Eph. 1:13–14; 4:30. kingdom. Paul speaks of Christ ruling now from the right hand of God (see 1:20–22; cf. Rom. 8:34; 1 Cor. 15:24–27; Col. 3:1; etc.). Believers have already been brought into his redemptive kingdom (see Eph. 2:6; Col. 1:13–14), although it will be consummated only at his second coming (1 Cor. 15:20–24; 2 Tim. 4:1). For Paul the kingdom of God in its fullness is the eternal realm that believers will finally and fully enter through resurrection immortality (1 Cor. 15:50; 1 Thess. 2:12), but it should also be experienced in some measure now in this age, through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17).

deceive you … because of these things. A common deception throughout church history has been the notion that professing Christians can lead unrepentant, sinful lives after conversion to Christ (see 2 Tim. 3:1–9; 2 Pet. 2:1–3; Rev. 2:14, 20) and not suffer the consequences. But these practices lead to the wrath of God in judgment (e.g., Rev. 2:21–23). sons of disobedience. This Hebrew-inspired phrase describes people who habitually live in disobedient sin without repentance and thereby prove themselves to be children of the devil (see note on Eph. 2:2; also John 8:44; 1 John 3:10), like Judas, “the son of destruction” (John 17:12).

become partners. Paul is not telling Christians to avoid all contact with nonbelievers but to avoid joining with them in their sin.

Walk as children of light. See 1 John 1:5–7. Cf. also Ps. 27:1; Isa. 9:2; 42:6; 49:6; John 9:5; Acts 13:47; 26:18.

Fruit of light is similar to fruit of the Spirit (cf. Gal. 5:22–23).

The Bible gives general principles for life, but followers of Christ must use wisdom to discern how to apply those principles to the concrete issues of their lives. The book of Proverbs is of great help in this regard. Such wisdom may be defined as “the skill of godly living,” which one must thoughtfully discern, apply, and practice in order to live in a way that is pleasing to the Lord.

Expose means either to reprove or to convince through argument and discussion (also v. 13), at the same time taking great care not to gossip or to slander others. Instead, Christians should show by their lives and their wise interactions that the works of darkness are not to be ignored among God’s holy people.

it says. The quotation is not of any one OT passage but is probably a combined reference to several places, especially in Isaiah: “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you” (Isa. 60:1; see 9:2; 26:19).

making the best use of. This phrase translates the Greek exagorazō, which can also mean “redeem” or “purchase.” Christians must actively take advantage of the opportunity to do good (cf. Ps. 90:12). Wisdom is especially needed in an evil age where the pathway of holiness is not always immediately clear until one reflects upon God’s Word and discerns his holy will.

understand … the will of the Lord. This does not mean that a person tries to discern God’s secret counsel (his “hidden will”) but that he applies God’s general guidelines for life as found in the Bible (his “revealed will”; cf. Deut. 29:29 and note on Eph. 5:10).

Wine was the staple drink of the ancient Mediterranean world and was fermented in order to preserve it from turning into vinegar. be filled with the Spirit. As earlier (see note on 4:28), Paul expresses a negative exhortation (what the saints are to stop doing) along with a positive command (what the saints are to start doing). Whereas wine can control the mind and ruin one’s judgment and sense of propriety, leading to debauchery, in contrast with this, being “filled with the Spirit” leads to self-control along with the other fruits of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [and] gentleness” (Gal. 5:22–23). The command in Greek (plērousthe) is a present imperative and does not describe a onetime “filling” but a regular pattern of life.

Being filled with the Spirit results in joyful praise through singing and making melody. This may refer to different kinds of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs found in the OT Psalter. It seems more likely, however, that Paul is referring both to the canonical psalms and to contemporary compositions of praise (see also Col. 3:16). “Spiritual” communicates the influence of the Holy Spirit’s filling (Eph. 5:18) in the believer’s acts of praise.

To pray in the name of Jesus means to pray in faith, trusting in him as our mediator with God the Father on “the throne of grace” (John 14:6; Heb. 4:16; 10:20; see also note on John 14:13).

Submission in General. Grammatically, “submitting” is a participle in Greek and is dependent on the verb in v. 15. It explains further how to walk in wisdom (vv. 15–21 are one long sentence in Gk.). It also states a general principle of submission, which is illustrated in 5:22–6:9. Absolute “mutual submission” is popular today, particularly where egalitarian philosophies are the rule. But what Paul meant by submitting “to one another” is explained through the particular examples of family relations (5:22–6:4), so it is likely that submitting to one another means “submitting to others according to the authority and order established by God,” as reflected in the examples that Paul gives in the following verses.

Paul’s command for wives to “submit” follows the all-encompassing command to submit “to one another in the fear of Christ” (v. 21)—the last outcome or result of the filling of the Spirit (vv. 18-21). While a submissive wife is countercultural today, she was not so in Paul’s time. Moreover, while a self-sacrificing and loving husband sounds quite appropriate in our culture, he was radically countercultural in Paul’s day. The Bible by no means approves domineering or self-centered husbands; rather, it calls for a home environment of mutual giving and selflessness. For the husband, this commitment extends even to being willing to give his life for his wife (v. 25).

Wives and Husbands. The first example of general submission (v. 21) is illustrated as Paul exhorts wives to submit to their husbands (vv. 22–24, 33). Husbands, on the other hand, are not told to submit to their wives but to love them (vv. 25–33).

submit. Paul’s first example of general submission from v. 21 is the right ordering of the marriage relationship (see also Col. 3:18; 1 Pet. 3:1–7). The submission of wives is not like the obedience children owe parents, nor does this text command all women to submit to all men (to your own husbands, not to all husbands!). Both genders are equally created in God’s image (Gen. 1:26–28) and heirs together of eternal life (Gal. 3:28–29). This submission is in deference to the ultimate leadership of the husband for the health and harmonious working of the marriage relationship.

the husband is the head of the wife. This is the grounds of the wife’s submission to her husband and is modeled on Christ’s headship over the church. Just as Christ’s position as head of the church and its Savior does not vary from one culture to another, neither does the headship of a husband in relation to his wife and her duty to submit to her husband in everything. “Head” (Gk. kephalē) here clearly refers to a husband’s authority over his wife and cannot mean “source,” as some have argued. In fact, there is no sense in which husbands are the source of their wives either physically or spiritually. In addition, in over 50 examples of kephalē in ancient Greek literature, with the idea “person A is the head of person(s) B,” person A has authority over person(s) B in every case (see also 1:22; Col. 2:10; see note on 1 Cor. 11:3).

love. Paul now turns to the duty of husbands. He does not command the husband to submit to his wife but instead tells the husband that he must give himself up for her. Thus, husbands are to love their wives in a self-sacrificial manner, following the example of Christ, who “gave himself up for” the church in loving self-sacrifice. Clearly the biblical picture of a husband laying down his life for his wife is directly opposed to any kind of male tyranny or oppression. The husband is bound by love to ensure that his wife finds their marriage a source of rich fulfillment and joyful service to the Lord. Notably, Paul devotes three times more space to the husband’s duty (nine verses) than to the wife’s (three verses).

The focus in these verses is on Christ, for husbands do not “sanctify” their wives or “wash” them of their sins, though they are to do all in their power to promote their wives’ holiness. Sanctify here means to consecrate into the Lord’s service through cleansing. washing of water. This might be a reference to baptism, since it is common in the Bible to speak of invisible, spiritual things (in this case, spiritual cleansing) by pointing to an outward physical sign of them (see Rom. 6:3–4; and note on John 4:15). There may also be a link here to Ezek. 16:1–13, where the Lord washes infant Israel, raises her, and eventually elevates her to royalty and marries her, which would correspond to presenting the church to himself in splendor at his marriage supper (see also Ezek. 36:25; Rev. 19:7–9; 21:2, 9–11). without blemish. The church’s utter holiness and moral perfection will be consummated in resurrection glory, but is derived from the consecrating sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

Paul reiterates a husband’s calling to self-sacrificial love for his wife by comparing this love to regard for one’s own body (their own bodies), himself, and his own flesh (vv. 28–29; see also v. 33) and then to Christ’s love for his body. As vv. 29–30 make explicit, the “body” for which Christ sacrificed himself was not his own person but the “body” which is the church.

one flesh. The command for a husband to love his wife as he loves “his own flesh” (v. 29) originates in the creation reality that God joins husbands and wives together to “become one flesh.” Paul’s quotation is from Gen. 2:24, speaking of marriage before there was any sin in the world; see also Matt. 19:5; Mark 10:8; 1 Cor. 6:16.

By mystery Paul means the hidden plan of God that has come to fulfillment in Christ Jesus (see 1:9; 3:3–4, 9; and 6:19), thus his quotation about marriage from Genesis 2 (in Eph. 5:31) ties in to the relationship between Christ and his church. Paul’s meaning is profound: he interprets the original creation of the husband-and-wife union as itself modeled on Christ’s forthcoming union with the church as his “body” (see v. 23). Therefore, marriage from the beginning of creation (Genesis 1) was created by God to be a reflection of and patterned after Christ’s relation to the church. Thus Paul’s commands regarding the roles of husbands and wives do not merely reflect the culture of his day but present God’s ideal for all marriages at all times, as exemplified by the relationship between the bride of Christ (the church) and Christ himself, the Son of God.