Ephesians Chapter 6 Part One

Ephesians 6:1 

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right."

“Obey … in the Lord”: See Col. 3:20. The child in the home is to be willingly under the authority of parents with obedient submission to them as the agents of the Lord placed over him, obeying parents as if obeying the Lord Himself. The reasoning here is simply that such is the way God has designed and required it (“right”) (Hosea 14:9).

“Children” does not refer particularly to your children but to all offspring. Sons and daughters still under their parents’ roof are to obey and honor them. Obey has to do with action, and honor has to do with attitude.

Although men and women are no longer under the authority of their parents once they themselves marry (5:31), special respect and concern for their parents should continue as long as they live. The child who is brought up to obey and honor his parents will always be sensitive to their wisdom, counsel and welfare.

The first step in promulgating God’s truth was to pass it on to their children. “And you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up” Deut.19:7.

Parents were to continually speak about the things of God, so that knowledge and love of Him would become a matter of life and breathe for the family. When the parents were not speaking the testimony would continue. It is God’s plan for His Word to be passed on from one generation to the next. And His primary agent is the family.

“In the Lord”: This phrase grammatically does not modify “parents,” for this would mean that only Christian parents are to be obeyed. Rather the phrase goes with “obey,” that is, obey those parental instructions, whether from Christian or non-Christian parents, that are in line with the Lord’s will.

Notice, “obey your parents in the Lord”. One of the lessons most important to the spiritual growth of a child is to teach them to obey the Lord.

Obedience to the Lord is taught a child in obedience to his parents who are in the Lord. Disobedient children are a problem to themselves, their parents, and to the Lord.

Verse 2-3: “Honor” means have inward respect and reverence for. It is inadequate for children to obey parents only outwardly, verse 1; they must also respect or honor them inwardly. “Which is the first commandment with promise” (or, “for this is the first command with promise”):

The fifth of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:3-17 is the very first of all God’s Old Testament injunctions to be given that possesses an attached promise. The promise is twofold: honoring and obeying parents ensures a long and a prosperous life upon earth.

While verse 1 speaks of action, this term speaks of attitude, as Paul deals with the motive behind the action. When God gave His law in the Ten Commandments, the first law governing human relationships was this one (Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16). It is the only command of the 10 that relates to the family because that principle alone secures the family’s fulfillment. Proverbs affirms this principle.

Ephesians 6:2 

"Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise;"

The right attitude behind the right act of obedience is honor (Timao), which means to value highly, to hold in the highest regard and respect. In both its verb and noun forms the word is often used as a term of reverence, preciousness, and honor regarding God the Father and Christ.

“Honor thy father and mother” is the only commandment of the ten that relates to the family, because that on principle alone, when obeyed, is enough to secure the right relationship of children to their parents. A person who grows up with a sense of respect for and obedience to his parents will have the foundation for respecting the authority of other leaders and the rights of other people in general.

"Honor" means to have high regard for those in authority above you. The reason they are over you, is because it is by God's plan for them to be over you. Children are to honor both their father and mother, to hold them in the highest possible respect.

“The first commandment with promise”: Although submission to parents should first of all be for the lord’s sake, He has graciously added the promise of special blessing for those who obey this command (Deut. 5:16). “Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”

Respect for parents is of such grave importance to God that Moses commanded, “He who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.” And “He who curse his father or his mother shall surely be put to death” (Exodus 21:15; Lev. 20:9). Either to physically or verbally abuse a parent was a capital offense in ancient Israel.

If your parents were to go completely against God teachings, then your first obligation would be to keep God's law. Children who respect and obey their parents will build a society that is ordered, harmonious and productive. A generation of undisciplined, disobedient children will produce a society that is chaotic and destructive.

Honor of parents encompasses providing for them when they can no longer provide for themselves. Just as parents spend twenty or so years taking care of and providing for their children, their children are to spend whatever time and money is necessary to care and provide for their parents should the parents be no longer able to do so for themselves.

Ephesians 6:3 

"That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth."

The command to honor your father and mother in 6:2 is two fold. That it may be well with you relates to the quality of life, and that you may live long on the earth relates to the quantity of life promised.

The original promise was to Israel and involved many tangible, physical and earthly blessings. Paul’s reference here shows that it also extends to believers today. Though its blessings may not always be tangible, a family where children and parents live in mutual love and submission will have rich, God given harmony and satisfaction that other families can never know.

We find in Christian families that parents are very interested in their children's welfare. Children, who honor their parents, can learn from the parent’s experiences. Children, who are obedient to parents, do not get on drugs and alcohol. They stay in school and do well.

If parents, that are much older and more experienced, cannot fulfill their responsibilities without being saved and being filled with the Holy Spirit, how much less can children be expected to fulfill their responsibilities without those spiritual requirements?

Discipline follows in their life and they become responsible adults. Discipline and success go hand in hand.

Children are just as much commanded to “be filled with the Spirit” (5:18) and to “be subject to one another in the fear of Christ” (5:21) as the husbands and wives of 5:22-23 and the parent of 6:4.

Ephesians 6:4 

"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."

The first command to parents by Paul is negative: fathers, provoke not your children to wrath. That was a totally new concept for Paul’s day, especially in such pagan strongholds such as Ephesus. As most families were in shambles, mutual love among family members was almost unheard of. A father’s love for his children would have been hard even to imagine.

“Fathers”: The word technically refers to male parents, but was also used of parents in general. Since Paul had been speaking of both parents, verses 1-3, he probably had both in mind here. The same word is used in Hebrews 11:23 for Moses’ parents.

“Provoke not”: In the pagan world of Paul’s day, and even in many Jewish households, most fathers ruled their families with rigid and domineering authority. The desires and welfare of wives and children were seldom considered. By Roman law, a father had virtual life and death power not only over his slaves but over his entire household. He could cast any of them out of the house, sell them as slaves, or even kill them, and be accountable to no one.

Harvard University sociologists Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck developed a test that proved to be 90% accurate, to determine whether or not 5 and 6 year olds would become delinquent. They discovered that the four primary factors necessary to prevent delinquency are: the father’s firm, fair, and consistent discipline; the mother’s supervision and companionship during the day; the parents’ demonstrated affection for each other and for the children; and the family’s spending time together in activities where all participated.

The apostle makes clear that a Christian father’s authority over his children does not allow for unreasonable demands and strictures that might drive his children to anger, despair and resentment.

“Nurture and admonition of the Lord”: This calls for systematic discipline and instruction, which brings children to respect the commands of the Lord as the foundation of all of life, godliness and blessing (Prov. 13:24; Heb. 12:5-11).

“Fathers” can “provoke” their “children to wrath” by injustice, loss of temper, undue severity, cruelty, discouragement, overprotection, favoritism, pushing achievement beyond reasonable bounds, suppression, sarcasm, ridicule, and misuse or abuse of authority. “Nurture” basically means “training,” here denoting spiritual education. “Admonition” is instruction that points out one’s responsibilities and duties.

“Of the Lord” is in Greek a subjective genitive. This indicates that behind the parents’ rearing and instruction of their children stands the Lord as the chief teacher in child education. Parents do not rear children alone.

Parents must discipline their children in love. To be hateful and short with children is setting a bad example for them. Parents should be loving and caring for their children. Criticism of children makes them feel discouraged. Parents should encourage them every chance they get.

Parents who are unstable tend to have unstable children. Parents who are disciplined loving people have disciplined loving children. The most important thing to teach a child is the love of God. They can always depend on God, even when things are going bad in their life.

The key to right discipline and instruction of children is its being of the Lord. Everything parents do for their children is to be of Him, according to the teaching of His Word, by the guidance and power of His Holy Spirit, in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to His own glory and honor.

Ephesians 6:5 

"Servants, be obedient to them that are [your] masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;"

In this passage Paul continues to deal with the practical effects of the Spirit filled life (5:18), without which none of God’s righteous standards can be met, including those with regular working relationships. Verses 5-8 teach about the submission of slave, or workers, and verse 9 teaches about the submission of master, or employers.

Servants, be obedient”: Servants (Greek meaning doulas or slaves). Slaves in both Greek and Roman culture had no rights legally and were treated as commodities. Roman citizens came to look on work as beneath their dignity and the entire empire gradually came to function largely by slave power. Slaves were bought, sold, traded, used, and discarded as heartlessly as if they were animals or tools. There was much abuse and seldom good treatment of slaves. The Bible does not speak against slavery itself, but against its abuses (Exodus 21:16, 26-27; Lev. 25:10; Deut. 23:15-16).

Paul’s admonition applies equally well to all employees. The term “obedient” refers to continuous, uninterrupted submission to one’s earthly master or employer, the only exception being in regard to a command that involves clear disobedience of God’s Word as illustrated in Acts. 4:19-20.

Because the command of mutual submission is possible only to the Spirit filled believer, Paul is addressing Christian slaves, just as he later addresses Christian masters, verse 9. He calls them to have the right behavior, the right perspective, the right attitude, and the right commitment that reflect their right relationship to God through Jesus Christ.

“Your masters according to the flesh” means “your human masters.” Servants are to carry out their slave duties “with fear and trembling,” that is, with careful concern to do a good job and with referential respect for their masters. Believers are not to obey simply when they desire to or when their employers are fair and reasonable. They are to obey in everything and at all times, the only exception being when they are instructed to do something immoral, idolatrous, blasphemous, or the like.

The first obligation of a Christian is to please his Lord and to be a faithful testimony to Him. One way to do this, Paul tells us, is to give willing obedience to those under whom you work, regardless of who they are or what their character is like. Being a Christian should always make a person a better, more productive and more agreeable worker. People will not be inclined to listen to the testimony of a Christian who does shoddy, careless work or who is constantly complaining.

“Singleness of your heart” refers to a mental disposition, and attitude that renders obedience out of sincerity, not hypocrisy. “As unto Christ” explains why servants should obey masters in the manner prescribe here: obedience rendered to their masters is obedience rendered to Christ.

We must be careful to see in this that the servant is a servant in the flesh. To keep your job and to advance in that job would be more likely, if you were obedient to your boss. Sincere loyalty toward an employer, not just lip service, will make you an employee who never has to look for a job. How a believer works in his job reflects on His Lord, regardless of who his human master or employer may be.

The boss rewards such loyalty. One thing in our society that I believe this is leading to, is after you have agreed to work for a certain sum of money for a certain time, do not go back and renegotiate. Be true to your own word.

Verses 6-7: God’s credits and rewards will be appropriate to the attitude and action of our work. No good thing done for His glory will go unrewarded.

Ephesians 6:6 

"Not with eyeservice as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;"

“Eye service”: Working well only when being watched by the boss.

“Men-pleasers”: Working only to promote one’s welfare, rather than to honor the employer and the Lord, whose servants we really are.

“Singleness of heart” or sincere disposition excludes “eye service,” that is, duty performed only when the master is watching; but it includes “doing the will of God from the heart,” that is, enthusiastic service coming from within and not having to be coerced by external pressure.

This is just saying again, that you should be loyal to your boss. The heart is what makes you loyal to your boss. This is saying the person is loyal when the boss is looking, and then he is sneaking around and doing things he should not when the boss is not looking.

This person does not need to be checked up on, because he always does his work to the best of his ability, whether or not anyone else is around. And he works just as hard when he is passed over for a raise or promotion as when he is being considered for them.

All of us, whether we are servants, or the boss, will stand before the Judge of the entire world to be judged. We can have no secrets from Him. He knows even the thoughts we have. If you find yourself in a position of serving, be the very best servant you can possibly be. Do it as if you were serving God.

Ephesians 6:7 

"With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:"

“Good will” means “good intention.” The Christian servant (employee) seeks the best interests of his master (employer). This reinforces what Paul has just said. With good will expresses the attitude of the worker who does not need prompting or compelling. When a Christian is where God wants him to be and is obedient to render service, as to the Lord, that is the most challenging, productive, and rewarding place to be.

We will be judged by what we did in the position the Lord put us. Everything we do in this life is as unto the Lord. Whatever position you are in, if you are a Christian, you are there because that is where God wants you for the moment.

You really are doing the job for yourself, your boss, and for God. To be the head of the company, it is better if you start at the bottom and work yourself up, because then you know the functions of all the jobs.

Every day should be a day of service to the Lord. “Whatever your hand finds to do”, Solomon tells us, “do it with all your might” (Eccles. 9:10-11). In his letter to Rome, Paul tells us not to lag behind in diligence but to be “fervent in spirit, serving the Lord” (12:11), and in Colossians, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men” (3:23). That is the work attitude of the Spirit filled Christian.

Ephesians 6:8 

"Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether [he be] bond or free."

The basis for the servant’s “good intention”, verse 7, toward his master is his being recompensed by the Lord, both in this life and in the one to come – “the same” good he has performed in his servant duties.

The rewards for every job well done, is given in heaven. The boss will be judged, and so will the servant. Each person must give an account unto God. Those who have more are judged more harshly, than those who have less to do with. Lay up your treasures in heaven.

God’s credits and rewards are always dependable and always appropriate. An employer may not appreciate or even be aware of the good work done, perhaps because he is indifferent or because someone else takes credit for what is done. But God knows and God rewards. No good thing done in His name and for His glory can pass His notice or fail to receive His blessing.

Ephesians 6:9 

"And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him."

“Ye masters, do the same things unto them”: There should be mutual honor and respect from Christian employers to the employees, based on their common allegiance to the Lord.

A Christian employer’s relationship to his employees should have the same motivation and goal as a Christian worker’s relationship to his employer: the desire to obey and please the Lord. An employer is to use his authority “as to the Lord,” just as workers are to submit to authority “as to the Lord.” That is an expression of their mutual submission in being “subject to one another in the fear of Christ” (5:21).

“Forbearing threatening”: The Spirit filled boss uses his authority and power with justice and grace, never putting people under threats, never abusive or inconsiderate. He realizes that he has a heavenly Master who is impartial (Acts 10:34; Rom. 2:11; James 2:9).

The Spirit filled employer is careful to give up threatening. The term used suggests the idea of loosening up, or releasing. He uses his authority and power as little as possible and does not throw his weight around or lord it over those under him. He is never abusive or inconsiderate.

Earthly masters are to behave in a reciprocal manner toward their slaves, (i.e., with respect, sincerity and careful concern). For earthly masters have a heavenly Master who will judge them without partiality.

He realizes that his own authority, though God given, is strictly functional and temporary. He knows that he and his workers alike are under the supreme authority of God, that their Master and his is not on earth but in heaven. The faithful Christian employer knows that he is a fellow servant of Jesus Christ with his employees, and is accountable to the same Master.

Everyone has someone over them. Someone who is in charge on the earth will have to answer to His boss in heaven. We will receive the same type of treatment that we have treated others with. We are all servants of Christ.

Kindness to servants gets much more work done than harsh treatment. The master will have to give an account to Jesus the same as the servant. God is not a respecter of persons. Use what God has given you to the best of your ability, and be kind to others around you in the doing, and great will be your reward in heaven.

Verses 10-17: The true believer described in chapters 1-3 who lives the Spirit controlled life of 4:1 – 6:9, can be sure to be in a spiritual war, as described here. Paul closed this letter with both warning about that war and instructions on how to win it. The Lord provides His saints with sufficient armor to combat and thwart the adversary.

In verses 10-13, the apostle briefly sets forth the basic truths regarding the believer’s necessary spiritual preparation as well as truths regarding his enemy, his battle and his victory. In verses 14-17, he specifies the six most necessary pieces of spiritual armor with which God equips His children to resist and overcome Satan’s assaults.

Ephesians 6:10 

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might

The Christian who continually seeks to grow in his knowledge of and obedience to the Word and to serve the Lord more faithfully will not find ministry becoming easier. As the Lord gives mastery over certain temptations and weaknesses, Satan will attack elsewhere. Faithful witnessing, preaching, teaching, visiting and every other service for the Lord not only will bring victories but will also bring their own special difficulties and opposition.

A Christian who no longer has to struggle against the world, the flesh, and the devil is a Christian who has fallen either into sin or into complacency. A Christian who has no conflict is a Christian who has retreated from the front lines of service.

“Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might”: (Phil. 4:13; 2 Tim. 2:1).

Basic to the effective Christian life is preparation. The unprepared believer becomes the defeated believer who seeks to serve the Lord in his own wisdom and power. The strength of the Christian life is dependence on God, being strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Any other strength proves to be impotent.

The cardinal reality presented in the book of Ephesians is that as believers, we are in Christ and are one with Him. His life is our life, His power our power, His truth our truth, His way our way and, as Paul goes on to say here, His strength is our strength. The Lord’s strength is always more than sufficient for the battle. It is not the amount of the strength we have that is important, only its source.

Ultimately, Satan’s power over Christians is already broken and the great war is won through Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, which forever conquered the power of sin and death (Rom. 5:18-21; 1 Cor. 15:56-57; Heb. 2:14).

However, in life on earth, the battle of temptation goes on regularly. The Lord’s power, the strength of His Spirit and the force of biblical truth are required for victory.

“Finally” may be rendered “from now on” or “henceforth.” The spiritual battle Christians are engaged in exists “from now on” until the Lord’s return: there is no quarter given, no cease fire, no temporary truce, and no cessation of hostilities.

“From now on” till the end there is all out war. The remainder of the verse may be paraphrased, “Let yourselves constantly be strengthened by the Lord, more precisely, by His mighty power.”

We find that muscles are not what this is speaking of. This is speaking of the strength of the Lord working through you. Christians have great help in their endeavors on this earth. The Spirit of the risen Christ within us strengthens us to whatever task the Lord has for us to do.

Most of us find that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. God will not call you to do any job for Him, without equipping you with all that you need to do the job. Paul is speaking to believers here, because he says brethren.

To sum this lesson up, I would have to say that the Lord is telling all of us to be thoughtful of others around us, as we do the job at hand.

Sometimes wives feel useless, because they are not bringing in a paycheck. We should never feel that way, because there are many jobs around home that we can do to help the family progress. One of the greatest jobs a woman can do is to be a homemaker and mother.

Many of the great men in the ministry, such as John Wesley, were greatly influenced by godly mothers. We know that Timothy was greatly influenced by his mother and grandmother. One job is no less than someone else's job. We all must work together to get the job done that God wants us to do.

Husbands should respect the wife for sacrificing and becoming a servant to him and the family. If he had to pay someone to do her job, he would probably have to hire 3 or 4 people to fill his wife's shoes. Wives, on the other hand, should appreciate a husband who will go out and work and provide the financial needs of the family.

Our society has changed so that now many wives have to work outside the home to help with the family expenses. This lesson is just saying, whatever your job in life is, do it to the very best of your ability. If you are not rewarded on this earth, God will reward you in heaven.

Wives love and respect your husbands, husbands love your wives. Children listen to your parents and respect them. Parents love your children and guide them in love. Everyone, remember, you are really doing all these things as unto the Lord in heaven.

All of the instructions in this lesson to wives, husbands, children, and servants were all given, so that we might live peaceable, productive lives while here on earth. God was thinking of us, when He gave these instructions.

Colossians Chapter 1Part One

Colossians 1:1 

"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus [our] brother,"

“Timotheus”: This is Timothy, Paul’s co-laborer and true child in the faith was able to be with him because, although Paul was a prisoner, he had personal living quarters (Acts 28:16-31).

In this very first verse, we see that Paul wrote the letter. Timothy was with Paul at the time of the writing and was in agreement with what was said. We have mentioned several times the qualifications of an apostle, and Paul fit every one of them. We do not question that Paul was, in fact, an apostle.

We also agreed that Paul was chosen by God to bring the gospel to the Gentiles in particular, and unto all mankind as opportunity arose. Timothy is spoken of as brother of Paul, when in fact; he was not related to Paul in the physical. He was a brother in the sense that all believers in Christ are brothers.

Colossians 1:2 

"To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace [be] unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

“Saints”: Those who have been separated from sin and set apart to God – the believers in Colosse.

“Faithful”: A word used in the New Testament exclusively for believers.

“Colosse”: One of 3 cities in the Lycus River valley in the region of Phrygia, in the Roman province of Asia (part of modern Turkey), about 100 miles East of Ephesus.

“Grace … peace”: Paul’s greeting in all 13 of his epistles.

“Grace” is used in a number of different ways in the New Testament. It can refer to (1) God’s unmerited kindness on Calvary, which brings about man’s salvation (Eph. 2:8); (2) the state of grace in which the believer stands, that is, his being in God’s favor (Rom. 5:2); (3) an unusual blessing produced by divine grace (Eph. 3:8); (4) graciousness or attractiveness (4:6); and (5) “grace” can as here, mean God’s “stored-up help” dispensed to His people in times of need.

“Peace” is also employed in a variety of ways in Scripture: It can signify (1) the opposite of war (Rev. 6:4); (2) harmony and concord with others (Eph. 4:3); (3) health and welfare (1 Cor. 16:11); (4) salvation in that one is at peace with God (Rom. 5:1); and (5) as in this verse, “peace” sometimes denotes tranquility of mind that frees the Christian from fear and anxiety.

This letter was addressed to the people of the church in Colosse who had believed Jesus Christ to be their Savior. Here, again, we see that all believers are brothers in Christ. Paul's letters always start with grace. Grace is a free gift from God, which brings the peace spoken of here. The saints, spoken of here, have received this as a gift after believing in Jesus.

“Colosse” was located in the Roman province of Asia, 11 miles from Laodicea in the Lycus Valley. It lay on the main road from Ephesus heading east. Both Herodotus and Xenophon regarded it as a great city in the fifth century B.C., but during the first century Strabo described it as a third-rate town.

That Paul wrote an epistle to such a small community suggests the problem at Colossae must have been great. Colossae is mentioned only once (verse 2) in the New Testament. Paul seemingly had never seen the church (verse 4; 2:1), but it probably was established by one of his coworkers during his extensive ministry at Ephesus (Acts. 19:1).

We see honor given to the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ here. The name Lord Jesus Christ tells us who, and what, Jesus really is. He is our King, our Savior, the Messiah, and the Anointed One.

Colossians 1:3 

"We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,"

God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”: This designation was often used to show that Jesus was one in nature with God, as any true son is with his father. It was an affirmation of Christ’s deity (Rom. 15:6; 2 Cor. 1; 11:13; Eph. 1:3; 3:14; 1 Pet. 1).

Paul always starts his letters on a positive note. This is no exception. They are in the constant prayers of Paul.

Colossians 1:4 

"Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love [which ye have] to all the saints,"

“Faith in Christ Jesus”: This is saving faith, see Rom. 1:16; 10:4-17; James 2:14-26).

“Love … to all the saints”: Verse 8. One of the visible fruits of true saving faith is love for fellow believers (John 13:34-35; Gal. 5:22 1 John 2:10; 3:14-16).

Evidence of a person’s faith in Christ Jesus is his love … to all the saints.

More than anything in the letter, this indicates that Paul might not have founded the church here. It is as if he is saying, all that he knows about this church is what he has heard others saying. The things Paul mentions here that he has heard are good things.

The very first thing is that they have set their faith in Jesus Christ. It appears, also, that this is a church of great love for God and for all of the believers.

Colossians 1:5 

"For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;"

“Hope” is salvation, as it refers to the object for which one hopes. The believer’s hope is inseparable from his faith. See Romans 5:2; 1 Peter 1:3-5.

“The gospel”: See Rom. 1:1. The Greek word literally means “good news,” and was used in classical Greek to express the good news of victory in a battle. The gospel is the good news of Christ’s victory over Satan, sin, and death.

“Word of the truth of the gospel”: could be rendered as “the message of the gospel which is true.” This is meant to contradict the Colossian heresy: unlike its false teaching or “vain deceit” (2:8), the gospel is true indeed.

The hope is of the resurrection to eternal life in heaven. Paul says here, you have been taught the truth of the gospel and you believed. Paul has commented on their faith and love, and both of these are things that will get them to heaven.

Colossians 1:6 

"Which is come unto you, as [it is] in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as [it doth] also in you, since the day ye heard [of it], and knew the grace of God in truth:"

“In all the world”: Verse 23, “all creation under heaven.” The gospel was never intended for an exclusive group of people; it is good news for the whole world (Matthew 24:14; 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Rom. 1:8, 14, 16; 1 Thess. 1:8). It transcends all ethnic, geographic, cultural, and political boundaries.

“Fruit”: Refers to the saving effect of gospel preaching and to the growth of the church. See  Rom. 1:13; Phil. 1:22; Matt. 13:3-8, 31-32).

The universal spread and effectiveness of the gospel verify the assertion in verse 5 that it is the truth. The Colossian heresy is merely local; while the gospel has come to the Colossians, it has gone beyond them “in the entire world”. And it bringeth forth fruit: that is, when embraced by faith, the gospel produces godly character and noble conduct in its converts.

This same gospel had been taught in all the known world of that time. Actually, love is a fruit that was brought forth by their faith in Jesus. Wherever this gospel is preached in the entire world, it produces fruit.

Galatians 1:11 "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man."

The good news of the gospel is not a man-made belief, but comes from God Himself. Christianity is contagious. In the beginning it spread very rapidly. This happened in part because of the many eyewitnesses to Jesus. We see that many times thousands were saved in one day.

Acts 2:41 "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added [unto them] about three thousand souls."

Paul is saying, these people at Colosse have been very productive in bringing in new Christians ever since they heard the gospel themselves.

Colossians 1:7 

"As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ;"

“Epaphras” evangelized the Colossians with the gospel and planted the church in their city. In describing Epaphras here in such glowing terms as “our dear fellow servant” and “for you a faithful minister of Christ,” Paul puts his apostolic stamp of approval on this saint’s life, ministry, and gospel.

The implication to the readers: Surely you will not forsake Epaphras’ gospel and pastoral care in exchange for the doctrine of the local heretics, will you?

Now we see that Epaphras was one of the ministers who had brought the truth of the gospel to the church here. Paul speaks highly of Epaphras, who had served with Paul on some of his missionary journeys. He had ministered here being sent by Paul. He had worked with Paul, and the message was the same as Paul's.

Paul is saying that Epaphras brings a true message of the gospel of Christ.

Colossians 1:8 

"Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit."

“Your love in the Spirit” (or, your love by the Spirit): that is, the Holy Spirit instilled and nurtured in the Colossian Christians affection for others.

It seems as though it was Epaphras who had told Paul of the great love of these people. Spirit, here, is speaking of the Holy Spirit. None of us know how to truly love, until the Spirit comes and teaches us how to love. Man's love is because. God's love is in spite of.

Colossians 1:9 

"For this cause we also, since the day we heard [it], do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;"

“Wisdom” is an accurate perception into the true nature of things.

“Understanding” is the skillful application of this wisdom in practical situations.

“The knowledge of his will”: The Greek word for “knowledge” is the usual one, with an added preposition that intensifies its meaning. This is not an inner impression or feeling, but a deep and thorough knowledge of the will of God that is finally and completely revealed in the Word of God (3:16; Eph. 5:17; 1 Thess. 4:3; 5:18; 1 Tim. 2:4; 1 Pet. 2:13, 15; 4:19).

“Wisdom and understanding”: “Spiritual” modifies both “wisdom” (the ability to accumulate and organize principles from Scripture) and “understanding” (the application of those principles to daily living).

We have mentioned so many times in these lessons, that wisdom is a gift from God and knowledge is accumulated learning. The way we can learn of God's will, is to study His Holy Word. Then, Paul is saying, he had prayed that they would study God's Word and find out what God's will for their lives is.

This spiritual understanding, here, is speaking of being guided into all truth by the Holy Spirit of God.

Colossians 1:10 

"That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;"

“Walk … worthy”: This is a key New Testament concept which calls the believer to live in a way that is consistent with his identification with the Lord who saved him.

“Being fruitful in every good work”: See Rom. 1:13; Phil. 4:17. Spiritual fruit is the by-product of a righteous life. The Bible identifies spiritual fruit as leading people to Christ (1 Cor. 16:15), praising God (Heb. 13:15), giving money (Rom. 15:26-28); living a godly life (Heb. 12:11), and displaying holy attitudes (Gal. 5:22-23).

“Increasing in the knowledge of God”: Spiritual growth cannot occur apart from this knowledge (1 Pet. 2:2; 2 Pet. 3:18).

The evidences of spiritual growth include a deeper love for God’s Word (Psalm 119:97), a more perfect obedience (1 John 2:3-5), a strong doctrinal foundation (1 John 2:12-14), and expanding faith (2 Thess. 1:3; 2 Cor. 10:5), and a greater love for others (Phil. 1:9).

This verse expresses the reason that in verse 9 Paul wants the Colossians to obtain knowledge of God’s will. It is that they may “walk” (live) properly and fully please God. In Greek the four explanatory participles of verses 10b-12 spell out and precisely define what a “worthy” walk entails: the believer is:

(1) “fruitful in every good work,” productive in Christian service; (2) constantly “increasing in the knowledge of God,” Ever coming to know the Lord better; (3) always “strengthened with all might,” becoming spiritually stronger and stronger; and (4) in the habit of giving thanks, sincerely expressing gratitude to God in both the pleasant and unpleasant experiences in his life.

To obey God's will in our life pleases God. When we become a new creature in Christ through accepting Jesus as Savior, we are expected of God to walk in that newness of life. The only way we can walk worthy is to allow Jesus to live and walk in us.

We must be fruit bearers. God expects every Christian to produce other Christians. The best way to do all of this is to stay in the study of God's Word and accumulate His knowledge in us.

Colossians 1:11 

"Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;"

“Strengthened with all might”: See Eph. 3:16-20.

“Patience and longsuffering”: These terms are closely related and refer to the attitude one has during trials.

“Patience” looks more at enduring difficult circumstance and persevering through problems, trails, tribulations, and so forth.

While “longsuffering” looks at enduring difficult people and forbearing the faults and offenses of others.

It is the power of God within which strengthens the inner man. The power of the Holy Spirit within produces the patience, longsuffering, and joyfulness.

Colossians 1:12 

"Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:"

“Made us” means “qualified us to”. The Greek word for “qualified” means “to make sufficient,” “to empower,” or “to authorize.” God qualifies us only through the finished work of the Savior. Apart from God’s grace through Jesus Christ, all people would be qualified only to receive His wrath.

“Inheritance”: Literally “for the portion of the lot.” Each believer will receive his own individual portion of the total divine inheritance (see Romans 8:17), an allusion to the partitioning of Israel’s inheritance in Canaan (Num. 26:52-56; 33:1-54; Jos. 14:1-2). See 1 Peter 1:3-5.

“In light”: Scripture represents “light” intellectually as divine truth (Psalm 119:130) and morally as divine purity (Eph. 5:8-14; 1 John 1:5). The saint’s inheritance exists in the spiritual realm of truth and purity where God Himself dwells (1 Tim. 6:16). Light, then, is a synonym for God’s kingdom. John 8:12; 2 Cor. 4:6; Rev. 21:23; 22:5.

This verse also might be translated “thanking the Father, for He made us fit to share in the salvation belonging to the saints who are in the light.”

“Light” is the ethical condition in which God’s children live, namely, that of spiritual understanding, with its accompanying morality and happiness.

It is the Father through Jesus Christ our Lord which makes us acceptable unto Him. The righteousness of Christ puts us in right standing with the Father. Jesus is the Light of the world.

Acts 26:18 "To open their eyes, [and] to turn [them] from darkness to light, and [from] the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me."

Our inheritance is in Jesus. We receive the inheritance because of our faith.

Hebrews 9:15 "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions [that were] under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance."

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."

We are in Light, if we are Christians, because we are in Jesus and He is the Light.

Ephesians Chapter 5 Part Two

Ephesians 5:17 

"Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord [is]."

“Be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is”: Knowing and understanding God’s will through His Word is spiritual wisdom.

For example, God’s will revealed to us is that people should be saved (1 Tim. 2:3-4), Spirit filled, (Eph. 5:18), sanctified (1 Thess. 4:3), submissive (1 Peter 2:13-15), suffering (1 Peter 2:20) and thankful (1 Thess. 5:18). Jesus is the supreme example for all (see John 4:4; 5:19, 30; 1 Peter 4:1-2).

“Wherefore” looks back to the evil days of verse 16. Since the current age is so perilous orally, Christians must clearly understand “what the will of the Lord is.”

In the last lesson, we saw some things that the Christian should not be caught up in. Now, we see that to be involved with the sinners in the world, or to be caught up in sin ourselves, is unwise. We are instructed here not to be unwise. Not being unwise or foolish includes, among other things, not becoming anxious or panicked.

The wise will seek the will of God and do it. Many people I know say that they would do the will of God, if they knew what the will of God for their life was. My suggestion to them is to study the Word of God, for in the Word of God, you will find the will of God.

The wise believer knows that only in the Lord’s will and power can anything good and lasting be accomplished. He won’t be foolish by running frantically in every direction trying to see how many programs and projects he can become involved in. Such activity easily becomes futile and leads to burnout and discouragement, because it works in the power of the flesh even when it is well intention-ed. Trying to run ahead of God only puts us further behind in His work.

The unwise believer who behaves in a foolish manner tries to function apart from God’s will and is inevitably weak, frustrated and ineffective, both in his personal life and in his work for God. The only cure for such foolishness is to find and to follow the will of the Lord. When a person is saved, sanctified, submissive, suffering and thankful, he is already in God’s will.

“Delight yourself In the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4), David tells us. In other words, when we are what God wants us to be, He is in control and our will is merged with His will and He therefore gives us the desires He has planted in our hearts.

Understanding the Word of God comes from allowing the Holy Spirit of God to teach you what the Bible is saying to you. Jesus spoke in parables, so that the world would not understand. Those guided by the Spirit of God are the ones who understand.

Ephesians 5:18 

"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;"

The verse which these words introduce is one of the most crucial texts relating to Christian living, to walking “in a manner worthy of the calling with which we have been called” (4:1). Being controlled by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential for living the Christian life by God’s standards. God’s way cannot be properly understood or faithfully followed apart from the working of the Spirit in the life of a believer.

“And be not drunk with wine”: Although Scripture consistently condemns all drunkenness, the context suggests that Paul is here speaking especially about the drunken orgies commonly associated with many pagan worship ceremonies of that day. Christians are not to seek religious fulfillment through such pagan means as getting drunk with wine, but are to find their spiritual fulfillment and enjoyment by being “filled with the Spirit”.

The context of this passage further indicates that Paul was speaking primarily about the religious implications of drunkenness and not moral. The frenzied, immoral and drunken orgies of pagan ceremonies that were an integral part of temple worship. In the mystery religions which began in ancient Babylon and were copied and modified throughout the Near East and in Greek and Roman cultures, the height of religious experienced was communion with the gods through various forms of ecstasy.

This is the type of pagan worship with which the Ephesians were well acquainted and in which some had once been involved and even many of the Corinthians had a difficult time divorcing themselves from this type of worship. The way of the flesh is characterized by the pagan religion that centered around drunken, immoral orgies of supposed ecstasy, in which a person tried to progressively elevate himself into communion with the gods.

It was the way of self, pride, immorality, greed, idolatry, confusion, deception, fantasy, falsehood and even demonism. To achieve an ecstatic experience the participants would use self hypnosis and frenzied dances designed to work themselves up to a high emotional pitch. Heavy drinking and sexual orgies contributed still further to the sensual stupor that their perverted minds led them to think was creating communion with the gods. It is the way of darkness and foolishness.

Paul rebuked them strongly saying “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless, a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break, a sharing in the body of Christ? I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons” (1 Cor. 10:16, 20-21).

Drunkenness mocks a person by making him think he is better off instead of worse off, smarter instead of more foolish, and happier instead of simply dazed. It is a favorite tool of Satan for the very reason that it deceives while it destroys. Surely it presents vulnerability to demons. The drunk does not learn his lesson and is deceived over and over again. Even when he is waylaid, beaten and finally awakens from his drunken stupor he “will seek another drink” (Proverbs 23:35).

Scripture shows drunkenness in its full ugliness and tragedy, as always associated with immorality, dissolution, unrestrained behavior, wild, reckless behavior and every other form of corrupt living. It is one of the sinful deeds of the flesh that are in opposition to the righteous fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:19-23). Drunkenness is first of all a sin. It develops attendant disease as it ravages the mind and body, but it is basically a sin, a manifestation of depravity. It must therefore be confessed and dealt with as sin.

A Christian not only must avoid sin but must avoid the potential for sin. We should not allow ourselves to get under the influence or control of anyone or anything that leads us away from the things of God even to a small extent. The safest and wisest choice for a Christian is to avoid even the potential for wrong influence.

Even when something is not habit forming for us, it may be for someone who is looking at and following our example. Because alcohol is universally acknowledged to be highly addictive, a Christian’s drinking unnecessarily creates the potential for the alcohol addiction of someone else.

“But be filled with the Spirit”: True communion with God is not induced by drunkenness, but by the Holy Spirit. Paul is not speaking of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling (Rom. 8:9) or the baptism by Christ with the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13), because every Christian is indwelt and baptized by the Spirit at the time of salvation.

He is rather giving a command for believers to live continually under the influence of the Spirit by letting the Word control them, pursuing pure lives, confessing all known sin, dying to self, surrendering to God’s will, and depending on His power in all things.

Being filled with the Spirit is living in the conscious presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, letting His mind, through the Word, dominate everything that is thought and done. Being filled with the Spirit is the same as walking in the Spirit. Christ exemplified this way of life (Luke 4:1).

The words “be filled” here mean “be continually filled,” emphasizing that the fullness of the Spirit is a repeated experience for believers. When a person is drunk with an alcoholic beverage, his walk, talk, and sight are controlled by alcohol.

You lose control of yourself when you get drunk. The only wine that any of us need is the new wine {Holy Spirit}. When we are filled with the Spirit, we are filled with the understanding that Spirit brings with it.

God desires that the minds of Christians be controlled by the Holy Spirit so that they will walk in the Spirit, speak on behalf of God, and understand the things of God. Because people are indwelt by the Holy Spirit at salvation, they do not need to get more of the Holy Spirit, but the filling of the Spirit occurs when the Holy Spirit gets more of the believer.

Every Christian should be filled with the Spirit in order that he may have God’s power to serve Him, Acts 1:8. As we establish our fellowship with God through confession of sins (1 John 1:9) and yield to Him (Romans 6:13), we can be filled with the Spirit if that is our desire (Matt. 5:6) and prayer (Luke 11:13).

This verse gives an example of what is and what is not the Lord’s will, verse 17. Believers are not allowed to be intoxicated with alcoholic beverages; the reason for this prohibition is “wherein is excess; that is, drunkenness leads to moral intemperance. This is clearly contrary to God’s will.

His will is that Christians “be filled with” (by) “the Spirit;” that is, they are to allow Him to fill them with God’s own life, character, and virtues. The analogy between these two moral states is this: a person filled with wine is under its influence; similarly, a Christian is filled with the Spirit when He controls his thoughts, attitudes and actions. In fact, it was the coming of the Holy Spirit that made real all the promises of Jesus Christ.

Christians have just claim to all Christ’s promises the moment we believe in Him, but we cannot have their fulfillment until we allow His Spirit to fill us and control us. Unless we know what it is to be directed by the Holy Spirit, we will never know the bliss of the assurance of heaven, or the joy of effective work for the Lord, of having our prayers answered constantly or of indulging in the fullness of God’s own love, joy and peace within us.

Submission to the will of God, to Christ’s lordship and to the guiding of the Spirit is an essential, not an optional, part of saving faith. A new untaught believer will understand little of the full implications of such obedience, but the spiritual orientation of his new nature in Christ will bring the desire for submission to God’s Word and God’s Spirit. A person who does not have that desire has no legitimate claim on salvation.

Being filled with the Spirit detaches us from the desires, the standards, the objectives, the fear, and the very system of this world and gives us a vision of God that comes in no other way. Being filled with the Spirit makes everything else of secondary importance, and often of no importance at all.

To be filled with the Spirit involves confession of sin, surrender of will, intellect, body, time, talent, possessions, and desires. It requires the death of selfishness and the slaying of self-will. When we die to self, the Lord fills us with His Spirit. The principle started by John the Baptist applies to the Spirit as well as to Christ: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

The person who is Spirit controlled and who bears the Spirit’s fruit is the person who belongs to Christ and who has “crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit,” Paul continued, “let us also walk by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:24-25). To walk in the Spirit is to fulfill the ultimate potential and capacity of our life on earth as God’s children.

Verses 19-21: There are four results of being Spirit filled, verse 18:

1. Believers speak to one another with “psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs: that is, they exhort and instruct each other;

2. There is “singing” and the “making” of “melody,” of individual song and praise for the Lord;

3. There is “giving thanks always” the Spirit enables the Christian to be grateful “for all things” divinely allowed to enter his life since they will be used for good; and

4. There is mutual submission, that is, showing deference to the wishes of one another, as long as that to which the believer submits is in “the fear of God”, which is to say, in accord with what pleases Him.

These verses summarize the immediate personal consequences of obeying the command to be filled with the Spirit, namely singing, giving thanks, and humbly submitting to others. The rest of the epistle features instruction based on obedience to this command.

Ephesians 5:19 

"Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;"

Following His command to be filled with the Spirit, Paul gave a summary of the consequences of obedience to that command.

“Psalms”: Old Testament psalms put to music, primarily, but the term was used also of vocal music in general. The early church sang the Psalms. The Psalms primarily speak about the nature and work of God, especially in the lives of believers. Above everything else, they magnify and glorify God.

“Hymns” refers primarily to songs of praise, which in the early church were probably distinguished from the psalms, which exalted God, in that they specifically praised the Lord Jesus Christ. Many biblical scholars believe that various New Testament passages (such as Col. 1:12-16) were used as hymns in the early church.

“Spiritual songs”: Probably songs of personal testimony expressing truths of the grace of salvation in Christ and songs that covered a broad category that included any music expressing spiritual truth. Because we have salvation we sing songs of salvation. “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day (Psalms 96:1-2; 149:1).

“Making melody”: Literally means to pluck a stringed instrument, so it could refer primarily to instrumental music, while including vocal also.

“In your heart to the Lord”: Not just public, but private. The Lord Himself is both the source and the object of the believer’s song filled heart. That such music pleases God can be seen in the account of the temple dedication, when the singing so honored the Lord that His glory came down (2 Chron. 5:12, 14).

When a believer walks in the Spirit, he has an inside joy that manifests itself in music. God puts music in the souls and then on the lips of His children who walk in obedience. A person who does not have a song in his heart cannot sing from his heart or with his heart. He can only sing with his lips, and neither his music nor his message will have the power of the Spirit to bless others in Christ’s name.

I never cease to amaze at the wonderful messages contained in the beautiful hymns the writers brought for all of us to enjoy. When there is no one else around to share them with, then singing lifts your soul. Many times repeating the 23rd Psalm brings perfect peace to me.

All of the Psalms are beautiful, but Psalms like the 91st Psalm bring hope. God loves for us to sing just to Him. We should be a sweet, sweet sound in His ear. Many of the spiritual songs are like prayers. Whatever we do, sing, read Psalms, pray, or just praise God, shows the love we have for Him.

To whom do believers sing? Although believers sing among themselves, their songs are to be directed to the Lord. Our singing and making melody is not for the purpose of drawing attention to ourselves or of entertaining others but of rejoicing in and praising God. Whether we sing a solo, singing with a choir, or singing with the congregation, our focus should be on the Lord, not on ourselves or other people. He is the audience to whom we sing.

Music that honors the Lord also blesses his people. A beautiful, soothing piece of music can calm nerves, remove fear and anxiety, reduce bitterness and anger, and help turn our attention from ourselves and the cares and problems of the world to God.

Ephesians 5:20 

"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;"

“Giving thanks always for all things”: Believers’ thankfulness is for who God is and for what He has done through His Son, their Savior and Lord.

A medieval legend tells of two angels sent to earth by the Lord to gather the prayers of the saints. One was to gather the petitions and the other the thanksgivings. The angel responsible for petitions was not able to carry them back to heaven in one load, while the angel responsible for thanksgivings carried his back in one hand. The sad fact is that God’s children are more prone to ask than to thank.

William Hendriksen commented that “when a person prays without thanksgiving he has clipped the wings of prayer so that it cannot rise.” When are we to be thankful? Always! To be thankful always is to recognize God’s control of our lives in every detail as He seeks to conform us to the image of His Son. To be thankless is to disregard God’s control, Christ’s lordship and the Holy Spirit’s filling. Nothing must grieve the Holy Spirit so much as the believer who does not give thanks.

There are three attitudes of thankfulness. The first is easy and that is to thank God for the things He has blessed us with which is right as the bible instructs us to be thankful for the things we are given. The second is that of being grateful for the hope of blessing and victory yet to come. The first level is after the fact; the second is in anticipation of the fact, which is more difficult than thanking Him afterward. Thanking God before a blessing is more difficult than thanking Him afterward and requires more faith and spiritual maturity. This second level is where faith and hope begin because it involves the unseen and the yet inexperienced.

The third level is thanking God in the midst of the battle, while we are still undergoing trouble or testing, and even when it looks like we are failing or being overwhelmed.

If we can thank God only when things are going well, our thankfulness is on the bottom rung of faithfulness. If we can thank Him in anticipation of what He will do in the future, we show more spiritual maturity. But to thank God while we are in the midst of pain, trails, or persecution shows a level of maturity that few Christians seem to know but that our heavenly Father wants all His children to have.

Notice that even our thanksgiving has to be done in the name of Jesus. This says that we should thank God for all things good and bad. We must assume from that, that sometimes the things we call bad are really a way to help us grow in the Lord.

Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose."

Notice, also, that the thanks is to the Father.

The greatest gift we can give to God is a thankful heart, because all we can give to Him is simply grateful recognition that all we have is from Him. We give Him thanks for all things because He has given us all things and because giving thanks in everything “is God’s will … in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:18).

To glorify God is to thank Him no matter how much we may hurt, disappointed or fail to understand. The Spirit filled Christian is “overflowing through many thanksgivings to God” and continually gives thanks to Him “for His indescribable gift” (2 Cor. 9:12, 15). The only person who can genuinely give thanks for all things is the humble person, the person who knows he deserves nothing and who therefore gives thanks even for the smallest things. Lack of thankfulness comes from pride.

If it were not for Christ, it would be foolish to be thankful for everything, because apart from Him all things do not turn out for good. But because we are in Christ, the good things and the bad things all have a part in God’s conforming us to the image of His Son.

Ephesians 5:21 

"Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."

“Submitting yourselves one to another”: Paul here made a transition and introduced his teaching about specific relationships of authority and submission among Christians (5:22 – 6:9) by declaring unequivocally that every spirit filled Christian is to be a humble, submissive Christian. Submission is a general spiritual attitude that is to be true of every believer in all relationships.

Unfortunately, many people who know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord do not maintain their living according to His moral, marital and family laws. Because they are not at all times filled with His spirit and fall to the level of the society around them, they are not sufficiently motivated or empowered to be obedient to their Lord in all things.

They possess the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit does not possess them. Consequently, many Christian couples argue and fight worse than many unbelievers. Many families in false religions for example, and even some nonreligious families, are more disciplined and harmonious on the surface than some Christian families. A carnal believer will have discord in his family just as he has discord in his own heart and in his relationship to God.

This is foundational to all the relationships in this section. No believer is inherently superior to any other believer. In their standing before God, they are equal in every way (Gal. 3:28).

James said, “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?” (James 4:1). Conflicts in the church, in the home, and in marriage always result from hearts that are directed by the self rather than by the Spirit of God. When self insists on its own rights, opinions and goals, harmony and peace are precluded.

The self centered life is always in a battle for the top and pushes others down as it climbs up in pride. The Spirit centered life, on the other hand, is directed toward lowliness, toward subservience, and it lifts others up as it descends in humility. The Spirit filled believer does not merely look out for his own personal interests but, also for the interest of others (Phil. 2:4).

“In fear of God”: The believer’s continual reverence for God is the basis for his submission to other believers (Prov. 9:10).

This just means to have respect for the other people’s rights. Don't feel that you must always be right. Be humble toward those fellow servants of God. Christ humbled Himself and washed the feet of the disciples. He, also, said that the greatest among them should serve the others.

Verses 5:22-33: The theme of submission mentioned in verse 21 is now taken up and developed in detail from the church in general to the Christian household in particular accordingly, submission authority is treated in three domestic relations: that of:

1. Wives and husbands, verses 22-33,

2. Children and parents (6:1-4) and

3. Servants and masters (6:5-9).

Ephesians 5:22 

"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord."

“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands”: Having established the foundational principle of submission, verse 21, Paul applied it first to the wife.

Wives is not qualified and therefore applies to every Christian wife, regardless of her social standing, education, intelligence, spiritual maturity or giftedness, age, experience, or any other consideration. Nor is it qualified by her husband’s intelligence, character, attitude, spiritual condition, or any other consideration. Paul says categorically to all believing wives: submit onto your own husbands.

The wife is not commanded to obey her husband, as children are to obey their parents and slaves their masters (6:1, 5). A husband is not to treat his wife as a servant or as a child, but as an equal for whom God has given him care and responsibility for provision and protection, to be exercised in love.

She is not his to order about, responding to his every wish and command. As Paul; proceeds to explain in considerable detail (verses 25-33), the husband’s primary responsibility as head of the household is to love, provide, protect and serve his wife and family, not to lord it over them according to his personal whims and desires.

The command is unqualified, applying to every Christian wife, no matter what her own abilities, education, knowledge of Scripture, spiritual maturity, or any other qualifications might be in relation to those of her husband.

The submission is not the husband’s to command but for the wife to willingly and lovingly offer. “Your own husbands” limits her submission to the one man God has placed over her, and also gives a balancing emphasis that he is hers as a personal intimate possession (Song of Solomon 2:16; 6:3; 7:10). She submits to the man she possesses as her own.

“Your own husbands” suggests the intimacy and mutuality of the wife’s submission. She willingly makes herself subject to the one she possesses as her own husband. Husbands and wives are to have a mutual possessiveness as well as a mutual submissiveness. They belong to each other in an absolute equality. The husband no more possesses his wife than she possesses him.

“As unto the Lord”: Because the obedient, spiritual wife’s supreme submission is to the Lord, her attitude is that she lovingly submits as an act of obedience to the Lord, who has given this command as His will for her, regardless of her husbands personal worthiness or spiritual condition (verses 5-9).

“As unto the Lord:” This is a comparative clause. But in Greek there are two different types of comparative clauses.

1. Elucidation, which means that wives are to give their husbands the same unquestioned, absolute submission they give Christ. Would this apostle expect wives to render the same submission to imperfect husbands they give to their perfect Lord, when other apostles recognized the periodic need for believers to obey God rather that man (Acts 5:29), if the wills of human and divine authorities clash? It is better, then, to take this comparative clause as that of:

2. Emphasis, which means that wives are to submit to their husbands as submission rendered by them truly is submission rendered to Christ Himself. When the wife yields her will to that of her husband, she yields to the Lord – provided the husband’s directions are “in the fear of God”, verse 21, that is, those conforming to God’s will.

People are wives and husbands in the flesh. In the family realm, there can be only one head of the house, and that is the husband. This is just saying to women who have chosen to be a wife, bow to the wishes of your husband in the family realm.

With the fall and its curse came the distortion of woman’s proper submissiveness and of man’s proper authority. That is where the battle of the sexes began, where women’s liberation and male chauvinism came into existence. Women have a sinful inclination to usurp man’s authority and men have a sinful inclination to put women under their feet.

The divine decree that man would rule over woman in this way was part of God’s curse on humanity, and it takes a manifestation of grace in Christ by the filling of the Holy Spirit to restore the created order and harmony of proper submission in a relationship that has become corrupted and disordered by sin.

Both before and after the Fall and the consequent curse, man was called to be the provider, protector, guide and shepherd of the family, and woman called to be supportive and submissive.

The only time it is alright to go against your husband, is if he turns against God. Then you would have to choose God over your husband. The family on earth is really an example of the family in heaven. God, the Father, is supreme ruler.

Wives are to submit even when their husbands “are disobedient to the word, so that they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior” (verses 1b-2).

Instead of nagging, criticizing and preaching to her husband, a wife should simply set a godly example before him, showing him the power and beauty of the gospel through its effect in her own life. Humility, love, moral purity, kindness, and respect are the most powerful means a woman has for winning her husband to the Lord.

The manner or attitude of submission is to be as to the Lord. Everything we do in obedience to the Lord should also be done first of all for His glory and to please Him. Those to whom we submit, whether in mutual submission or in response to their functional authority, will often not inspire respect.

Sometimes they will be thoughtless, inconsiderate, abusive, and ungrateful. But the Spirit filled believer, in this instance the wife, submits anyway; because that is the Lord’s will and her submission is to Him. A wife who properly submits to her husband also submits to the Lord. And a wife who does not submit to her husband also does not submit to the Lord

Ephesians 5:23 

"For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body."

“Husband is the head … Christ is the head”: The Spirit filled wife recognizes that her husband’s role in giving leadership is not only God ordained, but is a reflection of Christ’s own loving, authoritative headship of the church.

“Savior”: As the Lord delivered His church from the dangers of sin, death and hell, so the husband provides for, protects, preserves, and loves his wife, leading her to blessing as she submits (Titus 1:4; 2:13; 3:6).

“For” gives the reason why verse 22 calls for wifely submission. Just as Jesus is the divinely appointed “head” or authority over His church, in the same way the husband is the divinely appointed “head” or authority of his wife. The head gives direction and the body responds. A physical body that does not respond to the direction of the head is crippled, paralyzed, or spastic.

Likewise a wife who does not properly respond to the direction of her husband manifests a serious spiritual dysfunction. On the other hand, a wife who willingly and lovingly responds to her husband’s leadership as to the Lord is an honor to her Lord, her husband, her family, her church, and herself. She is also a beautiful testimony to the lord before in view of the world around her.

“And he is the savior” (or, protector of the body): As Jesus is responsible to provide for the welfare of His church, so the husband is responsible to protect his wife. “In both cases the responsibility to protect is inseparably linked with the responsibility to provide spiritual leadership.

There is a critical statement, here, that we must not overlook. The husband is the savior of her body, not her spirit. Christ is the head of the entire church, including the woman. The difference is the church has to do with the spirit, and not with the flesh. Jesus Christ quickened our spirit, not our flesh.

The supreme and ultimate model of submission is Jesus Christ Himself, who performed the supreme act of submission by giving His own sinless life to save a sinful world. Christ is the Savior of the body, His church, for whom He died on the cross. He is the perfect Provider, Protector and Head of His church, which is His body.

Ephesians 5:24 

"Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so [let] the wives [be] to their own husbands in everything."

The extent of the wife’s submission to her husband is “in everything,” that is, in every area of life and in every issue that may arise – those which the wife may agree with, and those which she may not. Again, “in everything” is limited only to those directives of the husband that are “in the fear of God”, verse 21, that is, those conforming to God’s will.

This is showing the church {men and women} are first subject to Christ. It, also, shows that in the realm of the flesh, in the home, the wife is subject to the husband.

Jesus Christ is the divine role model for husbands, who should provide for, protect, preserve, love and lead their wives and families as Christ cares for His church. Wives are no more to be co-providers, co-protectors, or co-leaders with their husbands than the church is to have such joint rolls with Jesus Christ. Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.

Ephesians 5:25 

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;"

Man was created first and was given headship over the woman and over creation. But their original relationship was so pure and perfect that his headship over her was a manifestation of his consuming love for her and her submission to him was a manifestation of her consuming love for him.

No selfishness or self will marred their relationship. Each lived for the other in perfect fulfillment of their created purpose and under God’s perfect provision and care. The Fall itself involved a perversion of marital roles and God’s curse because of the Fall also affected marriage.

Eve sinned not only in disobeying God’s specific command but in acting independently of her husband and failing to consult Adam about the serpent’s temptation. Adam sinned not only by disobeying God’s command but by succumbing to Eve’s leadership, thus failing to exercise his God given authority. Because of her disobedience, God cussed the woman to pain in childbirth and to a perverted desire to rule over man.

The man was cursed to toil, to difficulty, to frustration in wresting sustenance from the land, and to conflict with his wife over her submission. Both were cursed with death as the penalty for their sin (Gen. 3:16-19; Rom. 5:15-19). Marriage was corrupted because both the man and the woman twisted God’s plan for their relationship. They reversed their roles, and marriage has been a struggle ever since.

The command, husbands, love your wives, continues Paul’s explanation of the mutual submission mentioned in verse 21. The husband’s primary submission to his wife is through his love for her, and the apostle makes clear that this is a boundless kind of love. Christ loved the church before He brought the church into existence. He chose and loved His own even “before the foundation of the world” (1:4), because God’s love is eternally present, having no past and no future.

“Love your wives”: Though the husband’s authority has been established, verses 22-24, the emphasis moves to the supreme responsibility of husbands in regard to their wives, which is to love them with the same unreserved, selfless, and sacrificial love that Christ has for His church.

Christ gave everything He had including His own life, for the sake of His church, and that is the standard of sacrifice for a husband’s love of his wife (Col. 3:19).

God provides for husbands to love their wives with a measure of Christ’s own kind of love. The husband who submits to the Lord by being filled with His Spirit (verse 18) is able to love his wife with the same kind of love Jesus has for His own bride, the church. The Lord’s pattern of love for His church is the husband’s pattern of love for his wife.

The world’s love is always object oriented. A person is loved because of physical attractiveness, personality, wit, prestige, or some other such positive characteristic. In other words, the world loves those whom it deems worthy of love. And such love is necessarily fickle.

As soon as a person loses a positive characteristic, or that characteristic is no longer appealing, the love based on the characteristic also disappears. It is because so many husbands and wives have only that kind of fickle love for each other that their marriages fall apart. As soon as a partner loses his or her appeal, love is gone, because the basis for the love is gone.

God can command His own kind of love from those who belong to Him because He has given them the capacity to love as He loves (Romans 5:5; 1 Thess. 4:9) and because His commanded love must, therefore, be a matter of choice (James 2:8; 1 John 3:7, 16-18, 23; 4:7, 11). It is an act of the will as well as of the heart.

And it seems to be a principle that whatever we choose to love and practice loving soon becomes attractive to us. But a Christian’s loving with Christ’s kind of love is not based on the attractiveness of the one loved but on God’s command to love. Loving as Christ loves does not depend in the least on what others are in themselves, but entirely on what we are in Christ.

A husband is not commanded to love his wife because of what she is or is not. He is commanded to love her because it is God’s will for him to love her. It is certainly intended for a husband to admire and be attracted by his wife’s beauty, winsomeness, kindness, gentleness, or any other positive quality or virtue. But though such things bring great blessing and enjoyment, they are not the bond of marriage.

If every appealing characteristic and every virtue of his wife disappears, a husband is still under just as great an obligation to love her. If anything, he is under greater obligation, because her need for the healing and restorative power of his selfless love is greater. That is the kind of love every Christian husband is to have for his wife.

The Greek word rendered “love” is agapao, which denotes the willing sacrificial giving on the husband’s part for the benefit of his wife, without thought of return. As Christ “gave himself” for the church, so there is to be no sacrifice, not even the laying down of his life that a husband should not be willing to make for his wife.

The husband who loves his wife as Christ loves His church gives everything he has for his wife, including his life if necessary. If a loving husband is willing to sacrifice his life for his wife, he is certainly willing to make lesser sacrifices for her. He puts his own likes, desires, opinions, preferences, and welfare aside if that is required to please her and to meet her needs. He dies to self in order to live for his wife, because that is what Christ’s kind of love demands. That is his submission.

The love of Christ was the agape love. This type of love is not because of what it can get in return, but is unselfish love which loves even the unlovable.

Verses 26-27: Sanctify … cleanse … holy … without blemish”: This speaks of the love of Christ for His church. Saving grace makes believers holy by the agency of the Word of God (Titus 2:1-9; 3:5) so that they may be a pure bride. For husbands to love their wives as Christ does His church, demands a purifying love.

Since divine love seeks to completely cleanse those who are loved from every form of sin and evil, a Christian husband should not be able to bear the thought of anything sinful in the life of his wife that displeases God. His greatest desire for her should be that she becomes perfectly conformed to Christ, so he leads her to purity.

Ephesians 5:26 

"That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,"

For husbands to love their wives as Christ loves His church is to love them with a purifying love. Divine love does not simply condemn wrong in those loved but seeks to cleanse them from it. Christ’s great love for His church does not allow Him to be content with any sin, and moral or spiritual impurity in it.

As we continue to confess our sins, Christ “is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). The word is the agent of this sanctification (Titus 3:5), the objective of which is a blamelessness and holiness that makes us fit to be presented to Christ as His own beloved and eternal bride, to dwell in His glorious presence forever (Rev. 21:1).

Love wants only the best for the one it loves, and it cannot bear for a loved one to be corrupted or misled by anything evil or harmful. When a husband’s love for his wife is like Christ’s love for His church, he will continually seek to help purify her from any sort of defilement. He will seek to protect her from the world’s contamination and protect her holiness, virtue, and purity in every way. He will never induce her to do that which is wrong or unwise or expose her to that which is less than good.

When a young man says he loves a young woman, but wants her to compromise her sexual purity before they are married, his love is the world’s lust, not God’s love; and it is selfish, not serving. That sort of love defiles’ rather than purifies.

This verse may be paraphrased: “That He might perfectly sanctify the church, having cleansed her by the gospel accompanied with the washing of water.”

When will He “perfectly sanctify” the church? When He returns for her in glory.

When was the church “cleansed”? At conversion. How was her conversion effected? “By the gospel” (word).

And what ritual is to be associated with one’s conversion? “The washing of water,” that is, water baptism, which is the outward symbol of an inward change.

This is speaking of Christ and the church. "Sanctify" means made holy. The washing of water by the Word. The Word of God does cleanse the person.

Ephesians 5:27 

"That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

In an immeasurably greater way Christ gave Himself up for the church. His cleansing of believers is not ceremonial and symbolic, but real and complete.

The soteriological truth in this analogy is that saving grace makes believers holy through the cleansing agency of the Word of God, so that they may be presented to Christ as His pure Bride, forever to dwell in His love. It is with that same purpose and in the same love that husbands are to cultivate the purity, righteousness and sanctity of their wives.

The ultimate purpose of Jesus’ love for the church is to present her to Himself as a chaste bride. As a man wants a sexually untainted virgin as bride, so Jesus wants His church to be without moral flaw.

The only way for the church to be without spot or wrinkle is for it to be grounded in the Word of God. The study of the Word of God is what makes the church ready. Jesus paid the price in full for the church.

He made the church acceptable with His precious shed blood. He {Jesus} is, also, the One it is presented to.

Another Scripture calls the church a chaste virgin. It just means that the church had been faithful to the Lord. The church had not followed after false gods.

Ephesians 5:28 

"So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself."

“As their own bodies”: Here is one of the most poignant and compelling descriptions of the oneness that should characterize Christian marriage. A Christian husband is to care for his wife with the same devotion that he naturally manifests as he cares for himself, v.29, even more so, since his self sacrificing love causes him to put her first (Phil. 2:1-4).

“Love their wives as their own bodies”: In the end, a husband who loves his wife in these ways brings great blessing to himself from her and from the Lord.

Because as Christians, our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, we should be taking proper care of them, giving them the right food, maintaining reasonable strength, getting enough rest and so on. When our body is healthy we have a sense of well being; and when a husband meets the needs of his wife, with the same care and concern with which he meets the needs of his own body, he will also have a sense of well being and pleasure as a by product of his love.

This verse develops the idea, introduced in verse 27, that sacrificial love benefits the giver as well as the receiver.

The church certainly profits from Christ’s love, verse 26, in that she is granted salvation, but Jesus also benefits from His love in obtaining her as a pure bride, verse 27.

Similarly, the husband who “loveth his wife loveth himself,” that is he profits from this love as does his wife.

Notice, again here, this has to do with the body of flesh. When they are married, they become one flesh. That is what this Scripture is saying; when it says he loves himself.

With God there is no male or female, because He looks on the spirit. In heaven there will be no marrying and taking in marriage. All believers in Christ {male and female} will be the bride of Christ. These very same people will all be sons of God.

You see gender is just for this earth in the flesh, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the spirit.

Verses 29-31: The assertion of verse 28b that the husband who loves his wife loves himself is substantiated by Paul’s reasoning in the verses:

As the church is a part of Jesus’ body, verse 30, so is the wife a part of her husband’s body, verse 31. Thus, when the husband loves her, he loves himself. As a man who cares for his body benefits himself, verse 29, so the husband who loves his wife brings much profit to himself.

Ephesians 5:29 

"For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:"

The husband who loves his wife as Christ loves the church will no more do anything to harm her than he would to harm his own flesh. His desire is to nourish and cherish her just as he nourishes and cherishes his own body, because that is how Christ also does the Church.

When she needs strength, he gives her strength. When she needs encouragement, he gives her that. And so with every other thing she needs. Just as God supplies “all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19), the loving husband seeks to supply all the needs of his wife.

The blessed marriage is the marriage in which the husband loves his wife with unlimited caring. Something is basically wrong if she is looked at only as a cook, housekeeper, occasional companion, and sex partner. She is a God given treasure to be loved, cared for, nourished and cherished.

“Nourisheth … cherisheth”: These express the twin responsibilities of providing for her needs so as to help her grow mature in Christ and to provide warm and tender affection to give her comfort and security.

To nourish a wife is to provide for her needs, to give that which helps her grow and mature in favor with God and man. To cherish her is to use tender love and physical affection to give her warmth, comfort, protection, and security. Those responsibilities are primarily the husband’s, not the wife’s. As Christ provides for His church, so the husband provides for his wife and family.

To hate your wife, would be as if you hated your own flesh. They {husband and wife} are one in the flesh. A man would not hit himself, but that is really what he is doing if he hits his wife. The Lord loves the church as His bride.

Ephesians 5:30 

"For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones."

Christ provides for us as His church because we are members of His body. Not to provide for His church would be not to provide for Himself. He shares common life with His church, and we are members of His body, His flesh and bones, His present incarnation on earth.

Paul said, “The one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Cor. 6:17).

“Members of his body”: The Lord provides for His church because it is so intimately and inseparably connected to Him.

If He did not care for His church, He would be diminishing His own glory which the church brings to Him by praise and obedience. So, in marriage, the husband’s life is so intimately joined to the wife’s that they are one. When he cares for her, he cares for himself, verse 29.

This is a spiritual statement of the church being the body of Christ. Many of the manuscripts do not include the last seven words of this Scripture. The Lord Jesus Christ took on the form of flesh upon the earth.

God is Spirit. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

Ephesians 5:31 

"For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh."

This is quoted from Genesis 2:24. Paul reinforces the divine plan for marriage which God instituted at creation, emphasizing its permanence and unity. The union of marriage is intimate and unbreakable. “Joined” is a word used to express having been glued or cemented together, emphasizing the permanence of the union. God’s standard for marriage did not change from the time of Adam until the time of Paul, and it has not changed to this day.

“Leave his father and mother”: A husband and wife have a better chance for a successful marriage if there is some independence – physically, emotionally and financially, from parents and in-laws. One of the greatest barriers to successful marriage is the failure of one or both partners to leave father and mother. Parents are always to be loved and cared for, but they are no longer to control the lives of their children once they are married.

This, again, is speaking of the arrangement of husband and wife in the flesh upon the earth. God made male and female to procreate life with Him upon the earth. Male and female genders are for this earth.

This Scripture is speaking of a husband and wife living together as one family and making their own family. Not only are they one flesh, but between them, when they have a child, they two are the child that they produce.

“I hate divorce says the Lord, the God of Israel” (Mal 2:16). God has always hated divorce and He will continue to hate it, because it destroys that which He has ordained to be unbreakable. He hates divorce on any terms and for any reason. He will tolerate it in certain instances, and will forgive it, as He will forgive any other sin; but He will never change His hatred for it, just as He will never change His hatred for any other sin.

Marriage is to be lasting as far as the earthly lives of the husband and wife is concerned. Though He has made provision for divorce in the cases of unrepentant and continued adultery (Mat. 5:31-32; 19:4-10) and the departure of an unbelieving spouse (1 Cor. 5:17), death is God’s only desired dissolution for marriage.

God has always loved His people, the way Jesus Christ has always loved His church, and the way Christian husbands are always to love their wives. The Lord never puts us away. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Peter admonished, “You husbands likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered” (1 Peter 3:7). Here we see three commands:

1. First, a husband is to be considerate of his wife. To treat your wife in an understanding way is to treat her with sensitivity and consideration. Many times we hear wives saying that their husbands do not understand them or are not sensitive to their feelings or needs or do not communicate with them. Just because a husband may have many pressures and worries of his own is no excuse for his being insensitive to his wife, whom God commands him to love and care for as Christ loves and cares for the church.

2. Second, peter teaches that a husband is to be chivalrous to his wife as “a weaker vessel.” True chivalry is not simply a formality of polite society; it reflects the attitude men should have toward all women, particularly their own wives. A husband’s courtesy toward his wife not only pleases her but also God.

3. Third, Peter tells husbands to honor their wives “as a fellow heir of the grace of life.” Husbands and wives should be the best of friends, not only in family matters and daily activities, but in spiritual things as well. A husband who is not considerate of his wife and who does not honor and respect her is defective in his spiritual life, and his prayers will “be hindered.”

The husband who gives his wife consideration, courtesy, and honor contributes to the beauty and strength of his marriage and gives an invaluable example and legacy to his children.

Ephesians 5:32 

"This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church."

“Great mystery”: In the New Testament, “mystery” identifies some reality hidden in the past and revealed in the New Testament age to be written in Scripture. Marriage is a sacred reflection of the magnificent and beautiful mystery of union between the Messiah and His church, completely unknown until the New Testament.

As Paul pointed out in verses 23-29, marriage is a picture of the church and its relationship to Christ. This mystery, this magnificent picture that men could never discover and that was unknown to the saints of the Old Covenant but is now revealed, is great. God’s new people, the church, are brought into His kingdom and His family through faith in Christ. He is the Bridegroom and they are His bride (Rev. 21:9).

A husband’s greatest motive for loving, purifying, protecting and caring for his wife is Christ’s love, purifying, protecting, and caring for His own bride, the church. Christian marriage is to be loving, holy, pure, self sacrificing and mutually submissive because those virtues characterize the relationship of Christ and the church.

“Bride of Christ”: The relationship of Christ to His church is illustrated by that of a husband to his wife. Christ is called the Bridegroom, and His church is called the bride. Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify, cleanse and glorify it.

As wives should be submissive to and reverence their husbands so Christians should submit to and worship Christ our savior (Eph. 5:32; 1 Cor. 12:27).

All of this was to show the relationship of Christ and His church. The relation of man and wife upon this earth shows a little shadow of the relation between Christ and His church. There is order in heaven, as there is order upon earth.

The wife was made for the man as the church was made for the Lord Jesus. It is very difficult to separate Christ and His church, and it should be equally hard to separate a man and His wife. They should be as one.

Ephesians 5:33 

"Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife [see] that she reverence [her] husband."

The use of “nevertheless” is intended to end the discussion and emphasize what in it is most essential to remember.

“Let every one of you”: The intimacy and sacredness of the love relationship between believing marriage partners is to be a visual expression of the love between Christ and His church.

"Reverence", in the above verse, means to have great respect for. Women should be a compliment to their husband, not an embarrassment. Women are subordinate to their husbands in the flesh, as the church is to Christ in the Spirit.

When Christian husbands and wives walk in the power of the Spirit, yield to His Word and His control, and are mutually submissive, they are brought much happiness, their children are brought much blessing, and God is brought much honor.

Again, we must take note that Paul was the only penman who dealt with the husband wife relationship.