In today’s Bible Study of Ephesians Chapter Five, I will share God’s revelation to the church at Ephesus through the apostle Paul. This chapter has many themes, but the overriding theme is to love through obedience to God through the Christian faith. This love involves guarding against carnal lusts, obedience to scripture, living filled with the Holy Spirit, and the duties of wives and husbands. God, through Paul, addresses several aspects of the Christian life in this chapter, which fits well with the overall theme of the book of Ephesians. That theme is – How to live a Christian life.
Walk in Love
Paul wrote that we are to follow God the Father as cherished children. In other words, a loving father cherishes his children with mercy, kindness, and discipline. A father doesn’t love his children unless he teaches them what is true, right, and obedient to God’s Word, in addition to loving and caring for them. We are to be obedient in love, as Christ also obediently loved and sacrificed Himself for us. We are called to do God’s will, even to the point of sacrificing ourselves for our families and brothers and sisters in Christ. I’m not just talking about a mortal sacrifice, but the sacrifice of our time and love for them. We should love as Christ loved us. Ephesians 5:1-4
Reject Uncleanness
God wrote through Paul that we are to reject all uncleanness. This uncleanness would include fornication and the perverse sexual behavior of the Greeks or Gentiles around them. Christians are not to covet (desire) these things. We must also reject filthiness (obscenity), foolish talk, or jesting. In other words, we are not to engage in filthy, inappropriate sex-related speech or joking. So, the F-bomb and sexually explicit jokes are not to be voiced by any Christians. We should be thankful for the Word of God and the blessing of clean, articulate speech and understanding.
If you know what the scriptures say about specific sins, you have no excuse because you are aware of these sins. Then, Paul lists perpetrators who will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Sin happens, and as humans, that is unavoidable, but if a person can sin these sins without regret or repentance, they will not enter heaven.
Whoremonger – Someone who is a sexual degenerate and associates with prostitutes or displays promiscuous sexual behavior.
Unclean Person – A person whose actions, situations, and behaviors are considered morally or spiritually impure according to God’s Word.
Covetous Idolator – A person who has a strong desire for anything other than God.
Then God, through Paul, says we should not trust people with unbiblical opinions. This disobedience of not being Biblically minded will call down the wrath of God. So, don’t go along with these degenerate people. We sometimes sin, but let’s not remain in our sin. Step out of darkness and into the light, and then try to stay in the light with all your heart. For those who don’t read Christianese – darkness is sin, and light is holiness or righteousness. “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”[1] This quote is a paraphrase of Isaiah 60:1, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” Ephesians 5:5-15
Walk Cautiously
Verse fifteen tells us to “walk circumspectly” or cautiously, not as foolish sinners, but as wise people who obey God’s Word. Then Paul shares with the Ephesians and us to redeem our time because the days are evil. In other words, time is precious, and wasting it on sinful pursuits is careless and unbiblical. So, God wants us not to be “unwise” but to understand the will of the Lord. If you don’t know the scriptures, you don’t know the will of God. That’s why I always emphasize reading and studying the Bible in self-study, because your pastor cannot promptly share the entire Word of God with you with weekly sermons. A cautious or vigilant Christian does personal Bible studies.
Do Not Live in Excess
Do everything in moderation. While drinking alcohol is not an overt sin, getting drunk is a sin. We are to live a moderate life filled with the Holy Spirit, not filled with the pleasures of this world. Our pleasure should be expressed in worship of our Lord through song and music. But we are also filling our hearts with the joy of having the Holy Spirit, God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ in our lives! This indwelling Holy Spirit should overflow into the lives of our fellow Christians as a reflection of God and all He has done for us. Ephesians 5:16-21
Wives and Husbands
Wives are to submit themselves to their own husbands – not men in general but to their own husbands as unto the Lord. This submission is not subservient; it follows God’s prescribed order. In other words, God put the order in place: God, husband, wife, and then children. This order is a spiritual hierarchy that manifests as wives submitting to the husband’s judgment after mutual decision-making. Children are to obey their parents – no ifs, buts, or maybes, simply obey. This type of parenting is proper not because children have no voice but because the parents are Christian and follow Biblical principles and God’s moral laws. If the parents are godly, the children should obey them.
Wife – Submit to your own husband as you and your husband submit unto the Lord.
Husband – Love your wife as Christ loved us, with a generous, sacrificial love that transcends personal needs and desires.
As husbands, we should express the love that Christ has for us in sacrificial love and never give our wives the opportunity to question our judgment. If our judgment is always Biblical, spiritually, and logically sound, our wives will have no problem submitting to our judgment. This reality is true, especially if we, as husbands, are filled with the Holy Spirit and doing the will of God in our daily lives. To earn that submission, we husbands must live “not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”[2] We are to care for our wives as we care for ourselves and cherish our wives as the precious gifts from God that they are. Ephesians 5:22-30
True Marriage
In Ephesians 5:31-33, God shares the formula for a true marriage. A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined with his wife and they will become one flesh. In a Biblical marriage, the husband and wife combine the elements of one perfect human being because one is incomplete without the other. While you can be a complete person if you stay single and celibate, God did not design us to be single. God designed us to be complementary equals capable of procreation. The “perfect human” part comes with children because both parents must be Christian and complementary equals to raise children properly. Others can raise children, but they cannot raise them according to God’s perfect will and His glory.
So, husbands love your wives as your own flesh, and as Christ loves all believers. Wives show reverence, respect, or admiration to your husbands as the spiritual head of your family. Again, this can only be true and done correctly if the husbands and wives are born again, biblically obedient Christians. All other marriages are just random, usually lust-oriented “crap shoots” (gambles) that will probably fail. So, become a Christian, find a potential spouse who is a Christian and of the opposite sex, get married, and cherish each other as if you are one flesh (one complete person). That is a true marriage.
Conclusion of our Bible Study of Ephesians Chapter Five
This chapter shared many themes, but the overriding theme is to love one another through obedience to God through the Christian faith. We accomplish this by safeguarding against sensual lusts, obedience to scripture, living our lives filled with the Holy Spirit, and fulfilling our obligations as wives and husbands according to God’s perfect will.
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Eph 5:14.
[2] The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Eph 5:27.
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