Ephesians 5:1-33

Ephesians 5:1 and 2:

^5:1Therefore you must become imitators of God as loved¹ children, ^.2and you must walk in love¹ according as also Christ loved¹ us and gave himself over on behalf of us, (the) offering and sacrifice to God into an odor of good-odor;

Paul writes: following-on logically from what I have just written, you holy-people must presently become imitators (mimics or followers) of God as loved¹ children. You are God's children whom He has given birth to by placing holy spirit in you. He is your Father spiritually, and you are loved by Him with His kind of love, and so you ought to imitate Him, do what He does, say what He says.

The word "love¹" or the verb "to love¹" comes from the Greek word agape which is God's kind of love. To love with His love means to love the same way as God loves, to manifest God's love towards another, whether it is towards God Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, yourself, your Christian neighbor, or towards anyone else. God tells His children today (all who have the spirit of Christ within us) how to Godly-love by means of His previously-revealed written Word and also via our holy spirit-life whereby we receive information from Him regarding how to love in different specific situations. It is the carrying out of God's commandments, His Word, which is the correct usage or way to manifest God's kind of love according to His will (refer to I Corinthians chapter 13 and I John 5:1-3). It is not the same as the brotherly or friendly kind of love, nor is it the same as the emotional/feelings/sexual kind of love.

Paul continues: also, you must walk (figuratively referring to your behavior, you must conduct yourselves as you live your lives) within the sphere of action of Godly-love according as also Christ manifested Godly-love towards us, all of us. And Christ gave himself along (handed-over or delivered himself beside or alongside, into the power of another) on our behalf. He was the offering (that-which is carried or brought towards God as an oblation without blood, it is not necessarily killed) and he was the sacrifice (the offering which was killed shedding his blood in the place of the people because of their sin against God) to God. Jesus Christ brought himself towards God on our behalf to do God's purpose. He was the offering and sacrifice to God into (with a view to, directed to, resulting in) an odor (smell) of good-odor (this smell was good, well, the kind of sweet odor accompanying an acceptable sacrifice, sweet fragrance, it smelled good to God).

[Reference: Genesis 4:3-5, 7:20-22; Romans 4:25, 8:32; I Corinthians 5:7; II Corinthians 2:14-16; Galatians 2:20; Hebrews chapter 9, 10:1-21.]

Verses 3 and 4:

^.3but fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness must not-even be named among you according as it becomes holy-people, ^.4and shamefulness and dull-wording and jesting, which-things are not fitting, but rather thankfulness;

But…

fornication (wrongful sexual activity/relations)
and all/every uncleanness (the state of not being free from mixture of that-which is against God, being mixed with something else, having impurity from God's viewpoint mixed with it)
or covetousness (greediness, a constant-wanting to have more than what God provides, always grasping and reaching out to get something else more than what is right)…

…must not-even be named among you according as it becomes holy-people (as it is distinguished, suitable, proper for/to/with Christians). The verb “to be named” means: to be called or pronounced by name. The word "name" incorporates the fullness of everything involved with the one named. Here, the verb includes all that those names represent and stand-for. We are to behave in a manner that is suitable for God's children because we are God's loved children having the spirit of Christ in us.

Here again (see Ephesians 1:15, 18, 2:19, 3:18, 4:12), Paul refers to all who have received the gift of holy spirit as "holy." The word "holy" means: sanctified, set-apart from the state of being common, defiled or unclean against God. We who have received holy spirit-life now correspond to the essence of God our Father Who is Holy Spirit – we are holy people. Sometimes the word "saints" is used as a translation of the Greek word here translated as "holy-people." A person does not have to wait until he/she dies to become a saint. When a person dies then he/she is dead, a dead body without holy spirit inside of it and indeed without any soul/breath-life in it either! A person is a saint when he is alive right now, today, with the spirit of Christ in him/her which is God's gift of holy spirit. It is not up to a group of people or a certain committee to determine whether a person is a saint or not a saint while that person is physically alive or dead.

Paul wrote: fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness must not-even be named among you according as it becomes holy-people…

and the shamefulness (in the sense of being indecent, ugly and deformed)
and dull-wording (that-which is spoken-forth being foolish, absurd or not-acute speaking)
and jesting (this word comes from two words meaning: "well" and "turning" referring to quick movements or repartee between men, but here used in the bad sense of coarse jesting, ribaldry),
- which-things are not fitting. These things are not distinguished, were not suited and are still unsuitable. These are things that have not come up to an appropriate level, not convenient, not pertinent to God nor the things of God in whatever situation you are in at that specific time.

But contrary to them, rather thankfulness (more and more, more-so, constantly increasing with your expression of gratitude to God for the grace you have received).

The word "thankfulness" in Greek comes from the same root word as the word "grace" plus the word "well" or "well-off." Therefore "thankfulness" is the expression made by the freedom of will of the recipient expressing well his gratitude to the giver of the grace (the bestowed unmerited or undeserved favor) given-to and received-by him. It is not a forced or obligated "thank you"! Here God is the Giver of all His grace to us, the recipients of it, by means of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to be thankful to God.

[Reference: Romans 1:18-32; I Corinthians 5:1, 6:18-20; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 4:19; Colossians 3:5 and 18.]

Verses 5 and 6:

^.5for you must know² knowing this: that every fornicator or unclean-person or covetous-person, which is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of God; ^.6not-one (person or spirit) must deceive you with empty words, for because-of these-things the wrath of God comes on the sons of the un-persuasion;

Paul continues: for you holy-people already know (perceived) and be sure to continue being knowledgeable of this: that all/every fornicator or unclean-person or covetous-person (not referring to holy-people, but to those who do not have holy spirit-life and who practice fornication, uncleanness, or covetousness) – each one of these people is an idolater. A what? An idolater = a person who practices rites and rituals of worship and service to so-called 'gods' instead of only worshipping and serving the one and only true God Who is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.

An idol is an image or something that a person places ahead of God in his/her mind and therefore he/she worships or serves that thing/idol as "god" instead of worshipping and serving the only true God. An idol may or may-not have form and substance. Examples of idols are: books, the people themselves, famous people, devil-spirits, icons, statues, perhaps some agricultural endeavor, the environment, the sun, moon or stars, the web or some other computer-related program, software or hardware, television, video games, eating some particular food, or whatever a person puts above or estimates to be higher in his/her mind and living than the only true God and what He says and does. Anything or anybody placed in higher esteem in the whole of a person's heart and soul and mind process than God is an idol to/for that person.

You holy-people must be knowing this: that every fornicator or unclean-person or covetous-person, which is an idolater, does not presently and actively have (hold) an inheritance (assigned-lot, the heir's portion) within God's kingdom (all that is contained within God's sovereignty, His kingly or royal dominion and government and rule and territory and power, etc).

Not one person or spirit (none) must deceive (delude or beguile) you with/by empty words (spoken-accounts which are empty of contents, vain words), for on account of these-things the wrath of God presently comes (goes in motion) down-on the sons of the un-persuasion. God’s wrath is God's lasting-angry-vengeance – like the heat of a burning fire. This is not a spur-of-the-moment thing on God's part because He has foretold regarding the consequences of unbelief and rejection of His Word all through the ages, the wrath of God is righteous and issues right/just judgment.

When the Bible refers to someone or something as being "sons" or "children" of such-and-such which is intangible, for example "sons of the un-persuasion," we must recognize that this is a figure of speech. The word "un-persuasion" denotes the quality of these "sons" and the phrase indicates their essence, making a distinction regarding them from those who are holy and believing in Christ Jesus. The essence of the sons of the un-persuasion is that they are unwilling to be convinced of what God says even though they have heard it. They refuse to believe what God says and thus refuse to receive the gift of holy spirit and therefore cannot have an inheritance in God's kingdom.

[Reference: Romans 1:18-32, 2:5-8; I Corinthians 5:9-11, 6:9 and 10; Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 1:13 and 14, 2:2; Colossians 3:5 and 6; I Timothy 2:14(a); Hebrews 13:4; James 1:26; Revelation 21:8, 22:15.]

Verses 7-10:

^.7therefore you must not become sharers-together with them, ^.8for you used-to-be at-some-time dark but now (you are) light in (the) Lord, as children of light you must walk – ^.9for the fruit of the light (is) in all goodness and righteousness and truth – ^.10proving what is well-pleasing to the Lord,

Following-on logically, you holy-people must not become sharers-together with them (you must not become people who share together, joint partakers in association with one-another and in conjunction with those described in verses 5 and 6 above). It is true that you continuously were, during a past time-period, dark (darkness, the absence of light), but at the present time you are light (absolute light, the opposite of dark, the absence of darkness) in the Lord. You have received the spirit of Christ in you and you are limbs/members in his one spiritual body. You are light within the Lord’s sphere of action whereby he is the efficient and instrumental cause emanating from within you causing you to be light.

Because now you are light in the Lord, you must walk (behave, conduct yourselves during the everyday living of life) as children consisting-of light. In truth, the fruit (produce, that-which is produced) of, belonging-to and proceeding-from the light [some Greek texts read "fruit of the spirit"] is within all/every…

goodness (the quality of that-which issues from God) and
righteousness (justness, justice, the attributes of justification, the quality of being and doing what is just/right from God's point of view) and
truth (the essential reality, the inherent verity, God’s truth).

You must be presently and actively proving by examination or testing that-which is well-pleasing (goodly agreeable, acceptable and gratifying) to/with/for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us read a verse from God's Word to see how God describes Himself in relation to light and darkness:

I John 1:5:

^.5and this is the message which we heard² from Him and we announce to you, that God is Light and there is not not-one darkness in Him.

God is light - and then to emphasize this truth He states it in the opposite way - in Him is no darkness at all. There is absolutely no darkness at all in God, not even a hint or a suggestion of darkness. God is light. And, let us look at a verse of Scripture regarding the Lord Jesus Christ:

John 8:12:

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Jesus Christ, while he was walking on earth, declared that he was the light living in the world at that time, and he made light available to other people living in the world, for the person who followed him would not walk in darkness but would have the light of life. Since the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) when the gift of holy spirit was first made available, all holy-people have received the light of God in Christ in us, and by the freedom of our will we can walk around accordingly.

Also, this is the second time that Paul has written by revelation, here in this Book of Ephesians in close proximity, regarding how Christians are to "walk." In verse 2 of this chapter we are told to walk in Godly-love, and here in verse 8 we are told to walk as children of light. Paul is really emphasizing that even though we are definitely children of God having holy spirit-life within us, we are to behave during the everyday living of our lives in a manner which is fitting to being God's children while we await Christ's coming to gather us all together with him.

[Reference: Matthew 5:14-16; Romans 12:1 and 2; II Corinthians 6:14-18; Ephesians 3:6, 4:18; Colossians 3:7.]

Ephesians 5:11-14:

^.11and you must not share-in-common-together with the works, the fruitless (works), of the darkness but rather also you must refute, ^.12for the-things hidingly coming-to-pass by them are shameful even to say, ^.13but all-things being refuted by the light are caused-to-be-manifest, ^.14for everything manifesting-itself is light, on-which-account He says, "You must rise-up, the (person) lying-down-asleep, and you must stand-up out-from the dead-people and Christ will shine-light-upon you."

Also you holy-people must not presently and actively share-in-common-together with (join in partaking of/with/in the same-thing, co-share, participate, communion, having partnership sharing together with what would be common to both parties, which in this case would be in conjunction with) the works, i.e. the fruitless works (the deeds, things wrought, which are without fruit, unfruitful, lacking produce, without any results being produced) of, belonging-to, and proceeding-from the darkness (the complete absence of light; figuratively referring to that-which lacks God's light). Notice that darkness has works – energy must be expended for these works to be worked, perhaps they take years to be worked, the finished work may look architecturally or literarily like a masterpiece, but from God's point of view they are fruitless!

But rather (more-so, more and more, which is in addition to not sharing in common together with the fruitless works of the darkness in the walk/behavior category during the everyday living of your lives) also you must refute them (prove them wrong, convict and convince of their error). In truth, the things which are hidingly coming to pass (hidden from view while being caused to become, happening with concealment, cryptically being brought into being) by the power of them (from under their hand, the instrumental agent being those who bring these works to pass, referring to satan/the devil and those who follow him whether spirits or people) are shameful (in the sense of being indecent, ugly and deformed) even to say (to lay before others communicating these things to people). The things hidingly coming-to-pass by them are shameful even to say. We holy-people/Christians are to refute these things – not spend our time researching and communicating the details and secrecies of these fruitless works with one-another.

But all the things which are being refuted by the power of the light (from under the hand of the light, the instrumental agent being God's light in Christ in you holy-people, by the light that you are emanating from the holy spirit within you) are caused to be manifest (evidenced, brought to light, shown-forth). When God's light shines on those things, they become visible for what they really are. In truth, all/every thing manifesting itself (evidencing, bringing itself to light, showing itself forth, not being caused by something else to be manifest but manifesting itself) is light. Light evidences itself and does not need something else to cause it to be manifest.

On which account (wherefore) God presently and actively says (lays before us): you (singular, individual you) the person voluntarily lying down asleep, must rise-up (rise from sleep, awake) and you must stand-up (the same Greek word which is sometimes translated "resurrect") out-from the dead-people, and the Christ will shine-light-upon you (he will cause light to be resting on you). This is a reference to what has previously been written in the Book of Isaiah prophesying about the coming Christ and resurrection, specifically to the children of Israel who were God's people during that former time-period or administration. But here in Ephesians, by revelation Paul has combined what was written, and he addresses it to the present holy-people.

To help our understanding, let us read what Isaiah said/wrote:

Isaiah 26:19:

Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

Isaiah 60:1-3:

Arise, shine: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

Since the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished all that was required for the salvation of mankind, and God's gift of holy spirit was shed forth on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), we holy-people have God's light in Christ's light in us and we shine this light forth as we walk according to God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy spirit within us. God has made us alive-together in Christ, and He raised us up together, and He caused us to-sit-down-together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2). We have already been raised from the dead spiritually. We are light in the Lord and we are to walk/behave as children of light (verse 8 above).

Each one of us is responsible for our own behavior. We are not to walk in a voluntary lying-down-asleep state spiritually (being drowsy, not alert in our receptivity to our holy spirit-life, the Lord Jesus Christ or God), but we must wake-up and stand-up from a sleeping position out-from among the dead-people (those who refuse to receive God's gift of holy spirit by means of the Lord Jesus Christ, those people who are now dead spiritually) and Christ will pause and rest his light on you! Christ will give each one of us that needed light of the knowledge of God's Word in every situation of our lives and so we will not be in darkness in the walk/behavior category. We will be able to see where we are going and manifest (evidence, bring to light, show forth) God's light in Christ's light in us. We will be causing those things which we refute with the light to be manifest – show them for what they really are and thus giving those who do not have holy spirit-life the opportunity for change by their own freedom of will believing God's Word.

Of course, the coming of Christ to be present to gather all holy-people together with him and to carry-out the fullness of God's will regarding mankind, resurrection, etc., will come to pass at a still-future time. See I Corinthians 15:50-57, I Thessalonians 4:13-17, the Book of Revelation, and many other old covenant and new covenant writings too numerous to reference here.

[Reference: John 3:19-21; Romans 6:21, 13:11-14; I Corinthians 14:23-25; II Corinthians 6:14-18; I Thessalonians 4:14 and 16, 5:5(b)-11; II Timothy 1:10; Jude 12; Revelation 18:4.]

Ephesians 5:15-17:

^.15Therefore you must observe accurately how you walk, not as unwise-people but as wise-people, ^.16redeeming the time because the days are evil, ^.17because-of-this you must not become thoughtless but you must understand what (is) the intention of the Lord,

Following-on logically, you must observe accurately (exactly, precisely look-at and mentally-envision, be mentally-aware and able to contemplate, even though you may not physically see anything with your physical eyes) in what way you walk/behave, not as unwise-people (without being skillful or expert in the application of personal knowledge, lacking wisdom), but on the contrary as wise-people (being skillful or expert in the application of personal knowledge, with God's wisdom), presently redeeming the time (fully buying or purchasing the specific time-period, occasion, season, as a person buys in a market-place and pays the correct price of the item, purchasing the time outright). Why? Because the days are evil (all 24 hours of every day have active malignancy, the exercised badness of the evil-one who is satan/the devil, working during them).

It is on account of this that you must not become thoughtless (not cause yourselves to become or allow others to cause you to become people who do not think in their mind, without Godly thoughts, and so are senseless or foolish), but on the contrary you must presently and actively understand (put things together in your mind gaining insight into) what the intention/will of the Lord is – and of course the Lord Jesus Christ's will is to say/do God's will.

This is the third time Paul gives instruction in this passage regarding how Christians are to walk…

in Godly-love
as children of light
as wise-people

…and so we see the completeness and importance and vitality of our walk in accordance with the intention of the Lord.

[Reference: Galatians 3:13 and 14; Ephesians 6:13; Colossians 4:5.]

Verses 18-20:

^.18and you must not make-yourselves-drunk with wine in which is unsavedness but you must fill-yourselves in spirit, ^.19uttering-forth to yourselves, in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord, ^.20being thankful always on behalf of all-things in (the) name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God and Father,

You must not grow drunk (begin towards being intoxicated) with wine within which is the essence of unsavedness (by doing this you would evidence the life and character of an unsaved person, a person who does not believe what God says and therefore lacks holy spirit-life, this person is dull, not alert to God and the things of God). But on the contrary, you must fill yourselves in spirit (cause yourselves to be full within the sphere of action of the holy spirit-life which you have previously received). By the freedom of your will you must be receptive to the information your holy spirit may want to communicate to you, and fill yourselves with it.

You must presently and actively be uttering-forth (speaking) to/with yourselves (each one to himself/herself and each one with other members in the one body at the appropriate times), in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and psalming with your heart (the center/core of your being – all holy-people are limbs of the one spiritual body of Christ, and so all-together we have one heart, figuratively speaking) to the Lord.

Psalm – the Greek word transliterated into the English as "psalm" refers to a song that is spoken in different tones while accompanied by a stringed instrument being touched, twanged, plucked, or played in commemoration of mercies received from God (when God withholds merited or deserved judgment from you). To sing a psalm is not the kind of singing done in our modern day where the drums are thumping and the voice goes from one extreme to the other! It is similar to how King David sang his psalms, which are recorded in what is known as the Book of Psalms. Since the day of Pentecost, all people can psalm with our holy spirit, or with our mind understanding the words we psalm.
Hymn – the Greek word transliterated into the English as "hymn" refers to a song that is sung in praise of/to God.
Song – this Greek word may be transliterated into the English as "ode" and refers to a song being sung in celebration and thankfulness, whether it is for a special occasion, a battle, harvest, etc.

Here in verse 19 (...in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord) the kind of songs/odes Paul is referring to is spiritual because it is in the context of being filled with holy spirit so as to manifest forth accordingly, whether it be with the spirit or with the mind. Many texts include the word “spiritual.”

And Paul continues: you must be being thankful (expressing your gratitude) constantly on behalf of all-things (all the things that God has graced you with) in the name of our Lord/Master Jesus Christ to God Who is also our Father.

To Whom must Christians give thanks? To God. This does NOT say "thank you Jesus" which is so frequently spoken in today's society! We must be being thankful always on behalf of all-things to God Who is also our Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. When reading the phrase "in the name of," we should understand that when God talks about something being done "in the name of" something or someone else, it incorporates the fullness of everything involved with the one named. Regarding the name of the "Lord Jesus Christ" it includes all that the name of "Lord," and the name of "Jesus," and the name of "Christ" represent and stand for as we have learned earlier in this study.

You must be being thankful always on behalf of all-things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God and Father.

[Reference: Luke 12:45, 15:13; Acts 2:15-18; Romans 13:13, 15:9; I Corinthians 2:14-16, 14:15, 26, and chapters 12-14; Colossians 3:16 and 17; I Thessalonians 5:7 and 18, Titus 1:6; James 5:13; I Peter 4:4; Revelation 5:9, 14:3, 15:3.]

Verse 21:

^.21subjecting-yourselves to one-another in fear of Christ:

Paul continues teaching the holy-people how all of them ought to walk/behave by the freedom of their will during the everyday living of their lives: …presently subjecting yourselves to/with one-another (cause yourselves to be in submission, to be arranged in the position of being underneath one-another)…. What is the context of this submission? In fear of Christ.

You must be subjecting yourselves to/with one-another within the sphere of action of fear relative-to Christ, which is the fear that is due him. Each one of us has the spirit of Christ in us, and therefore we ought to subject ourselves to one-another in fear of Christ (fright, being afraid at the consequences of the performance of any wrong behavior, we should manifest the awe and respect that is rightfully due and ought to be shown towards the Lord Jesus Christ, whom God has placed at His right-hand side, the position of authority, second in command to God Himself).

Paul now continues to explain exactly what "subjecting-yourselves to one-another in fear of Christ" means in application for Christians (Ephesians 5:22-6:9):

Verses 22-24:

^.22wives, to (your) own husbands as to the Lord ^.23because (the) husband is head of the wife as also Christ (is) head of the church, himself (being the) savior of the body, ^.24but as the church is subject to Christ thus also the wives to the husbands in everything;

The wives (women - translated "wives" depending on the context), you are to subject yourselves to your own husbands (adult-males, grown-men - translated "husbands" depending on the context; not other people's husbands) in comparison to how you are to subject yourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because of the truth that the husband is head of his wife as also the Christ is head (‘head’ figuratively refers to his being the chief or principal part) of the church, which is Christ's body (refer to Ephesians 1:23).

Christ is head of the church, himself being the savior of the body (Christ is the one who accomplished salvation of/for his body which is the church, he is the body's savior). But as the church is subject to Christ (made or caused to be in subjection to Christ, submits itself to, is submissive to, in submission, arranged in the position of being under Christ), it is in this manner also that the wives are subject to their husbands in all, everything.

Again, what is the comparison? As the church is subject to Christ thus also the wives to the husbands in everything – this is the arrangement. However, it is by freedom of will that the husbands and the wives decide to behave themselves or not within this arrangement as it is by freedom of will that Christ decides to behave himself in accordance with God's will and it is by freedom of our will that we (all of us holy-people being the church) decide to behave ourselves in accordance with God's will or not within this arrangement.

[Reference: Acts 5:31, 13:23; I Corinthians 11:1-15, 14:34 and 35; Ephesians 1:20-23, 4:15; Colossians 3:18-4:1; I Peter 2:18-3:7.]

Also, as we continue, please note that in the Greek the word "church" is a feminine noun and that is why the church may be referred to as "she" or "her" or "herself," not meaning that everyone in it is of the female gender – because the truth is that once we (male and female) receive the spirit of Christ in us, spiritually from God's and Christ's viewpoint there is neither male and female for we are all one in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Verses 25-30:

^.25husbands, you must love¹ (your) wives according as also Christ loved¹ the church and gave himself over on behalf of her ^.26in order that he may make her holy, having cleaned (her) with the washing of the water in (the) spoken-matter ^.27in order that he may present the church in-glory to himself, not having a spot or a wrinkle or something of the things-of-this-kind but in order that she may be holy and without-blemish, ^.28thus also the husbands owe-it to love¹ the wives of themselves as the bodies of themselves, the (husband) loving¹ the wife of himself loves¹ himself, ^.29for not-one (adult-male/husband) at-some-time hated the flesh of himself but he fully-nourishes and cherishes it according as also Christ the church ^.30because we are limbs of his body,

The husbands, you must Godly-love your wives according as also Christ Godly-loved the church (refer to Ephesians 1:22 and 23) and gave himself along (handed himself over by the freedom of his will carrying-out God's will accomplishing redemption and salvation) on behalf of her, the church…

for the purpose and result that he would make her holy (sanctify her), having cleaned her (made her free from all mixture, caused her not to be mixed with something else) with/by the washing (bathing as in a wash-vessel or bath) of the water in the spoken-matter (the saying, that speech which was only a portion of the whole Word of God but in itself contains the specific discourse).

What washing of what water in what spoken-matter? What is Paul talking about? He is talking about the bathing of holy spirit, as a result of the blood which Jesus Christ shed for sins which was promised in that spoken-matter which God first uttered and was recorded in the Book of Genesis 3:15 and which we holy-people received when we believed the spoken-matter (Romans 10:8-10) of what God says regarding Himself and His son, the Lord Jesus Christ since the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). We have been washed and thereby we have become limbs/members in Christ’s spiritual body, the church.

Christ Godly-loved the church and gave himself over on behalf of her in order that he may make her holy, having cleaned her with the washing of the water in the spoken-matter…

for the purpose and result that Christ himself (not anyone else) would present the church in-glory to himself (cause the church to stand beside or near-by himself being within importance, splendor and renown), not having a spot (stain) or a wrinkle (as folded skin drawn together) or anything of this sort of things (any such things), but contrary to having something like that, Christ did what he did for the purpose and result that she, the church, would be holy and without-blemish (unblemished, no fault to be found because of some defect as a spot or damage in her).

It is in this manner also that the husbands owe-it (are obligated, ought) to Godly-love the wives of themselves (their wives, the women belonging to them not someone else) as the bodies of themselves (their bodies).

Explaining further: the husband Godly-loving the wife belonging-to him Godly-loves himself. In truth not one adult-male/husband at any time hated (active ill-will towards) the flesh of himself (the flesh of the body belonging to him; the Greek word translated "flesh" is a feminine noun, as is the word "church"), but on the contrary he fully-nourishes (makes thick and fat from inside to outside, as by feeding) and he cherishes it (heats and keeps his flesh warm, like with incubation) according as Christ also nourishes and cherishes the church because we (you and I – all of us holy-people) are limbs of his body.

All holy-people/Christians are limbs of the one spiritual body of Christ.

[Reference: Romans 4:25, 8:32, 12:4 and 5; I Corinthians 6:11 and 15, 12:27; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 1:4, 22 and 23, 4:25; Colossians 1:22, 3:19; I Thessalonians 2:7; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 10:10-22; I Peter 3:7.]

Verses 31 and 32:

^.31"in-the-place-of this, a man will leave-down (his) father and mother and he will be glued-together-towards his wife and the two will be into one flesh" – ^.32this mystery is great, but I say (this) into Christ and into the church;

Paul continues to teach and explain by referring to what was previously written in the Book of Genesis regarding the first man and woman. The following verses include the context also:

Genesis 2:21-23:

And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

Next in verse 24 comes the statement regarding this intimate Godly-relationship referenced in the Book of Ephesians. This was not spoken by Adam when he said what is recorded in verse 23, but it was spoken and written-down when God gave the revelation to write this portion of the Book of Genesis which was after the fall of the first man, Adam, and after the promise of the Christ was made (see my study of Appendix to Romans, the fall of Adam).

Verse 24:

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 5 verse 31: in the place of this (for this reason)…. In place of what, for what reason?

The context in Genesis is what God had done, by means of Adam.
- God made a woman with one of Adam’s ribs which was part of the body God gave him. And Adam said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.” Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
The context in Ephesians is what God has done, by means of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- God made the church with the resurrected Christ’s body. And Christ fully-nourishes and cherishes the church, which is his body, and we holy-people are limbs of his one spiritual body.

Paul writes: in the place of this, a man will leave-down his father and mother (in the sense that he must actively leave them remaining behind) and he will be glued together towards his wife (he will be caused to adhere, stick, cleave himself with, for the purpose of approaching towards and being with his woman), and the two of them will be into, with a view to and resulting-in one flesh (not two different fleshes existing and behaving separately from one another)....

The verb translated "leave-down" in the phrase "a man will leave-down (his) father and mother" does not mean that the man who is the son of his father and mother will disown, forsake or abandon his parents at the time he glues himself together towards his wife. But, it means that the man will leave them remain behind where they are and he continues on to do what he must do. Thus the husband will still have his father and mother being his parents, and therefore, provided that they are still alive when this husband and wife's children are born, the children will also be able to have access to his father and mother and to share their companionship.

In-the-place-of this, a man will leave-down his father and mother and he will be glued-together-towards his wife and the two will be into one flesh – this mystery is great (this secret, which is now being revealed to you, is large in measure, degree, number, estimation, quality, etc), but I say this into Christ and the church (I lay what I write here before you regarding Christ and the church which is his body, not regarding the man and woman because this was not a mystery).

The word “mystery” throughout Paul’s letters means “secret.” A mystery contains the details that are known and can be understood by those involved in it and by those to whom it has been revealed – it is not inexplicable to those involved in it.

God’s fullness of this truth has been coming to pass since the day of Pentecost when God via the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ made available to mankind His gift of permanent holy spirit-life whereby all who receive it become limbs of the one spiritual body in Christ, and all have the hope of glory to come when Christ will gather all holy-people/Christians together with him giving them their new spiritual bodies like the one he has already received from God (refer to Matthew 19:4-6; I Corinthians 6:16-20; II Corinthians 6:14; Galatians 3:27-29).

Christ has been glued together with the church. We are one body spiritually. All of us, including Christ who is the head, now have the same (one) holy spirit-life, and when Christ comes and gathers us all together with him we will receive our spiritual bodies like the one he received from God when God raised him from among the dead-people. Also, Christ did not leave God behind somewhere forsaking God, but Christ still has God remaining being his Father and now God is our Father too. We all have access to God and God has access to us via our holy spirit-life, which was not available prior to our becoming limbs of Christ’s body, the church.

[Reference: Matthew 19:3-9; Ephesians 1:22 and 23; Hebrews 4:1.]

Ephesians 5:33:

^.33besides, even you the (holy-people), one-by-one, each (husband) thus must love¹ the wife of himself as himself, but the wife in order that she may be fearful (towards her) husband;

Paul returns to addressing how the Christian husband and wife ought to walk (behave themselves) as they await the coming of Christ to gather all holy-people/Christians together with him.

Moreover, more/other than what I have already written above regarding how and why you ought to behave yourselves appropriately, emphatically also you who are holy-people, according to one (everyone, none is excepted), each husband among you by the freedom of his will in this manner (the manner of Christ and the church, his body) must Godly-love your wife as you must Godly-love yourself (verse 25 and 28); and the wife among you by the freedom of her will must behave herself for the purpose and result that she would be fearful towards her husband (have fright, be afraid at the consequences of the performance of any wrong behavior, and therefore manifesting the awe and respect that is rightfully due and ought to be shown towards him; refer to verses 21, 22 and 24).

[Reference: Colossians 3:18 and 19. Note: verbs with a superscript 2 (²) immediately following them indicate the "perfect" tense - details are provided in the "Relevant Notes" link of this study.]

And, you may ask at this point, "What about the children?" The answer to that question has been put into the next chapter, but we ought to realize that there were no chapter or verse divisions as we have them today when Paul wrote this letter. So, let us jump ahead to the next chapter remembering what we have just read here regarding subjecting ourselves to one-another in fear of Christ....

Ephesians Chapter 6