Exploring Ephesians #15 - Instructions for Home #1
Text: Ephesians 5:22-33
Thesis: To examine Christ’s relationship with the church as the example of the marriage relationship.
Introduction:
(1) In the previous verses, Paul dealt with the Christian’s relationships to God and to others in general.
(2) Now, he will specifically deal with the Christian’s relationships at home.
(3) In this passage, he will discuss the relationship between husband and wife.
Discussion:
I. The Example:
A. Christ willingly submitted Himself in order to become the Savior of the body.
B. As a result of His being the Savior of the body, He became the head of it.
C. His ruling over the church is marked by love.
1. This love was/is seen by His crucifixion, by which He purchased the church (cf. Acts 20:28).
2. This love was/is given not because of who we were, but because of who we might become (cf. Rom. 5:6-8; 1 John 3:1-3).
3. This love continues to be seen in the continual provisions that He gives.
II. The Application:
A. Wives – Submit to and respect your husbands
1. ‘Submit’/‘Subject’ (Gr. hupotasso) was “originally a military term meaning to arrange or rank under … The main idea is that of relinquishing one’s rights to another person” (MacArthur 276).
a. Kenneth L. Boles notes four qualifications regarding this term (311-12):
(1) It is a position the wife willingly chooses to assume; the husband is nowhere authorized to put his wife in subjection.
(2) It is duty the wife owes because her Lord deserves it, even if her husband does not.
(3) It is a limited submission, paralleling the limited submission Christians give to the delegated authority of government (Rom 13:1-2; Acts 4:19-20; 5:29).
(4) The word “obey,” suitable for children (6:1) and slaves (6:5) is not used of wives.
b. The reason for the wife’s being submissive is the fact that God has created man to be the head of the wife (v. 23).
(1) This should not be misconstrued to imply any type of inferiority upon the woman because “wives and husbands have different God-appointed roles, but all have equal dignity because they have been made in the divine image and in Christ have put on the new person who is created to be like God” (O’Brien 412).
(2) Further, this should not be abused to advocate any type of male tyranny because Christ’s headship will be the model for a husband’s headship, which obviously will “have profound implications for the husband’s behavior as head of his wife” (414).
2. ‘Respect’ (Gr. fobeo) means “to reverence, venerate, to treat with deference or reverential obedience” (Thayer’s).
- This involves both attitude and actions.
B. Husbands – Love your wives
1. (Working backwards) … First, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies.
a. In so doing, he will ‘nourish’ and ‘cherish’ his wife.
(1) ‘Nourish’ (Gr. ektrephei) “means to nourish, protect, and provide for. The word is even used for the sustaining protection and nourishment which the baby receives while still in the womb” (Boles 318).
(2) ‘Cherish’ (Gr. thalpo) “originally meant to keep warm and comfortable” (318).
b. Basically Paul is saying that “just as a man instinctively does these things for his body, so must he be concerned for every aspect of his wife’s well-being: physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual” (318).
2. Second, husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church.
a. How much did Christ love the church? To the point that He was willing to and did die for the church! Implication: Husbands must love their wives even more than life itself.
b. By so doing, He sanctified (i.e., set apart) the church. Implication: A husband’s love must set apart his wife.
c. As Christ continues to love the church, the husband is to continue to love his wife for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness or health, until death do “us part.”
Conclusion:
(1) Paul’s main emphasis in this text was to remind us of Jesus’ love for the church.
(2) Are you a member of His church in which He has poured out His love?