Ephesians chapter 5
We believers are to walk in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ, pleasing him. Husbands and wives are to submit to each other in mutual submission.
WALK IN THE LIGHT OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
VERSE 1. Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children.
VERSE 2. Walk in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance.
Walk in love. The Greek word for “walk” is hperipateô. It means “live,” as in “live in love.”
sweet-smelling fragrance. Is your life a sweet-smelling fragrance to God? Or a stench in his nostrils?
VERSE 3. But sexual immorality, and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be mentioned among you, as becomes saints;
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let it not even be mentioned among you. There should not even be even a hint of those things among us Christian believers.
VERSE 4. nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not appropriate, but rather giving of thanks.
VERSE 5. Know this for sure, that no sexually immoral person, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.
VERSE 6. Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things, the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience.
VERSE 7. Therefore don’t be partakers with them.
VERSE 8. For you were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
VERSE 9. for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth,
VERSE 10. proving what is well pleasing to the Lord.
proving. This reads as if we are to do something like a scientific experiment:
- Form a hypothesis of what will please Jesus Christ
- Go do that.
- Ask yourself: did it please Jesus Christ? If so, repeat. If not, form a new hypothesis.
VERSE 11. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even reprove them.
VERSE 12. For it is a shame even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.
VERSE 13. But all things, when they are reproved, are revealed by the light, for everything that reveals is light.
VERSE 14. Therefore he says, “Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
VERSE 15. Therefore watch carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise,
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as wise. How can you live your days more wisely?
VERSE 16. redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
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Colossians 4:5. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
VERSE 17. Therefore don’t be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
understand what the will of the Lord is. What is the will of the Lord for your life?
VERSE 18. Don’t be drunken with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
be filled with the Spirit. How can you be more filled with the Holy Spirit?
VERSE 19. speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. When we speak with one another, we are to say things worth saying.
singing, and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Many Christians have dedicated a special time of day when they pray. But the Bible calls us to pray continually. Read more »
The Bible commands us to always be joyful. Being joyful is not something we feel. Rather, it is something we do. Read more »
VERSE 20. giving thanks always concerning all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father;
MUTUAL SUBMISSION
VERSE 21. subjecting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.
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subjecting. Most translations render this as “submit.”
one another. The Greek word is ἀλλήλοις (“allēlois”). It means one another, reciprocally, mutually. It is not calling for a one-way submission, where one spouse is always subject to the other. No, it’s two-way. They reciprocally submit to one another. It means mutual submission.
A husband and a wife are to submit to one another. It is not only the case that the wife must submit to her husband. It is also the case that the husband must submit to his wife.
This verse casts a whole new interpretation on the verses that follow. The verses that follow are the famous ones that people quote in order to say that a wife must submit to her husband. Those people conveniently forget to quote this verse first, and interpret the ones that follow in light of it.
In Jesus Christ, men and women are equal. No longer is one the Lord and Master of the other. Jesus Christ takes away all such evils.
Galatians 3:28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 5:21. subjecting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.
1 Peter 3:7. You husbands, in the same way, live with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor to the woman, as to the weaker vessel, as also being joint heirs of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.
Gender bias is hostile to Jesus Christ. When it comes to gender bias, we Christians have often been the most egregious offenders. It is time for us to change our behavior. Read more »
VERSE 22. Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
VERSE 23. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the assembly, being himself the savior of the body.
the husband is the head of the wife. A husband’s leadership role does not consist of domineering. Rather, it consists of cherishing his wife.
VERSE 24. But as the assembly is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their own husbands in everything.
VERSE 25. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly, and gave himself up for it;
VERSE 26. that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word,
VERSE 27. that he might present the assembly to himself gloriously, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without defect.
VERSE 28. Even so husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself.
VERSE 29. For no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord also does the assembly;
VERSE 30. because we are members of his body, of his flesh and bones.
VERSE 31. “For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will be joined to his wife. The two will become one flesh.”
VERSE 32. This mystery is great, but I speak concerning Christ and of the assembly.
VERSE 33. Nevertheless each of you must also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
EPHESIANS
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.