Ephesians 5.2b-Jesus Christ Divinely-Loved Every Believer
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday January 15, 2026
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 5:2b-Jesus Christ Divinely-Loved Every Believer
Lesson # 308
Ephesians 5:1 Therefore, each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of conducting your lives by imitating the one and only God because each and every one without exception are beloved children. 2 Specifically, each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of living your lives by means of the practice of divine-love because the one and only Christ in fact divinely-loved each and every one of you of us as a corporate unit. Namely, He gave Himself up as a substitute for each and every one of us as a corporate unit to be a voluntary offering, which is a sacrifice for the benefit of the one and only God for a fragrant aroma. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 5:2 is composed of the following:
(1) epexegetical command: kai peripateite en agapē ( καὶ περιπατεῖτε ἐν ἀγάπῃ), “Specifically, each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of living your lives by means of the practice of divine-love.” (Lecturer’s translation)
(2) causal clause: kathōs kai ho Christos ēgapēsen hēmas (καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς), “because the one and only Christ in fact divinely-loved each and every one of you of us as a corporate unit.” (Lecturer’s translation)
(3) epexegetical clause: kai paredōken heauton hyper hēmōn prosphoran kai thysian tō theō eis osmēn euōdias (καὶ παρέδωκεν ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ⸂ἡμῶν προσφορὰν⸃ καὶ θυσίαν τῷ θεῷ εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας), “Namely, He gave Himself up as a substitute for each and every one of us as a corporate unit to be a voluntary offering, which is a sacrifice for the benefit of the one and only God for a fragrant aroma.” (Lecturer’s translation)
Therefore, we can see that the apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:2 issues a command of the recipients of this epistle who were members of the Gentile Christian community in the Roman province of Asia.
It explains in greater detail the meaning of the command in Ephesians 5:1 and required that they must continue to make it their habit of living their lives by means of the practice of divine-love.
He then emphatically presents the reason for this command, which asserts that the one and only Christ divinely-love them.
Paul then goes on to explain this statement by asserting that Christ gave Himself up as a substitute for them.
He describes Christ’s act of love for them as a voluntary offering and specifically a sacrifice for the benefit of His Father for a fragrant aroma.
Now, as we noted the command in Ephesians 5:2 is followed by a causal clause, which emphatically asserts that the one and only Christ divinely-loved each member of the Christian community.
In this emphatic statement, Paul employs the adverb kathōs (καθώς) as a marker of cause and not as a marker of comparison as most expositors interpret the word here in Ephesians 5:2.
The latter would indicate a comparison between the preceding command and the statement, which follows it, which asserts that Christ loved the believer self-sacrificially by suffering the wrath of the Father on the cross when they were His enemies.
Therefore, this use of the adverb would indicate that the recipients of this epistle were to obey this command “just as” Christ loved them.
However, I interpret the word as a marker of cause, which indicates that this assertion that Jesus Christ loved the recipients of this letter self-sacrificially at the cross when they were His enemies presents the reason or the basis for the command that they must continue to make it their habit of living their lives by means of the practice of the love of God.
This we noted is accomplished by obeying the Lord’s Spirit inspired command in John 13:34 and 15:12 to love one another self-sacrificially as He self-sacrificially love them when they were His enemies.
This interpretation is supported by the fact that the causal use of this adverb kathōs (καθώς) is the most specific semantic value of the word in this context because it indicates that Christ’s love for the believer is the specific reason why they are able to obey the command to live their lives by practicing the love of God when interacting with each other.
This is supported by the apostle John in 1 John 4:19.
1 John 4:19 Each one of us does practice divine-love because He Himself in contrast to us loved each one of us. (Lecturer’s translation)
Now, in Ephesians 5:2, the proper name Christos (Χριστός) refers of course to Jesus of Nazareth and is used to describe the incarnate Son of God as well as His person and work and what He has accomplished in history through this work as well as His status in relation to creation and every creature.
Thus, it also describes His relationship to the church.
The word Christos (Χριστός) denotes the Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth; thus, He is the Deliverer of the human race in three areas through His death, resurrection, ascension and session: (1) Satan (2) Cosmic System (3) Old Sin Nature.
The Lord’s Messiahship has a four-fold significance: (1) Separation unto God. (2) Authorization from God. (3) Divine enablement. (4) The coming Deliverer.
It also signifies the uniqueness of Jesus of Nazareth who is the God-Man.
The proper name Christos (Χριστός) signifies that Jesus of Nazareth served God the Father exclusively and this was manifested by His execution of the Father’s salvation plan which was accomplished by His voluntary substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross.
The word signifies that Jesus of Nazareth has been given authority by God the Father to forgive sins, give eternal life, and authority over all creation and every creature as a result of His execution of the Father’s salvation plan.
It denotes that Jesus of Nazareth was perpetually guided and empowered by God the Holy Spirit during His First Advent.
Lastly, Christos (Χριστός) signifies that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised deliverer of the human race from the bondage of Satan, his cosmic system and the old Adamic sin nature.
The articular construction of this word Christos (Χριστός) also indicates that the referent of this word is in a class by himself.
Therefore, it indicates that Jesus of Nazareth is the only one deserving of this name or title since there were many individuals in the first century A.D. who claimed to be the Christ or were proclaimed to be the Christ. Thus, this construction speaks of the incomparability of Christ.
The accusative first person plural form of the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ) means “each and every one of us” since the word not only refers to Paul and the recipients of the epistle as a corporate unit but is also used of them in a distributive sense emphasizing no exceptions.
The latter would indicate that not only is the word referring to Paul and the recipients of this letter as a corporate unit but also refers to them as individuals emphasizing Christ’s love for them not only as a corporate unit but also as individuals.
The verb agapaō (ἀγαπάω) means “to exercise divine love” and refers to the Lord Jesus Christ exercising His attribute of love (i.e. divine-love) on behalf of each and every church age believer when He suffered the wrath of His Father on the cross for each one of them so that they would never have to experience it forever in the lake of fire.
The accusative first person plural form of the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ) functions as an accusative of direct object, which indicates that Paul and each and every one of the recipients of the epistle received the action of being loved by the Lord Jesus Christ when He suffered the wrath of His Father on the cross for each one of them so that they would never have to experience it forever in the lake of fire.
