Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:
“Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
(Read in King James Version)
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My Notes:
This passage continues exactly where the previous chapter left off. Our behaviour as adopted children of God should reflect the character and nature of our Father. All of the behaviours that are illuminated in these passages profoundly affect the quality of community life. Paul is interested in how we treat each other, now that we all share life together.
It is important to remember that the first three chapters of Ephesians laid a strong foundation for our position in Christ being of him and not of ourselves. Like a adopted toddlers in a loving family, we are dearly loved and accepted and enjoyed by our new father. Nothing will take that away. No matter what we do, or who we become, we are loved, we are accepted, we are as good as righteous in his eyes, and nothing will break that ironclad contract. We sit with great confidence in the house of God, among our new family. However, like those new toddlers, we may carry baggage from the institutions and orphanages from which we came. The behaviours we learned while in the system will not harmonize with life in our new family with our new Father. This does not change our position in the family, or the love the Father gives. We are dearly loved children. Now that we have sat in the house of love, we must walk in that same love.
This adoption goes further than just a legal reality. In this spiritual reality, we are given the nature, the life, the very DNA of our new family. It is not only a legal name change that we experience, but a change in our very nature. God is light and love, and we are now children of light and love. By faith, we walk now as children of God on Earth, shining and giving love wherever we go, and glorifying God in the world by how we love each other.
Christ is our example of this love. In this family, he is our older brother. He offered himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. This is how we now live life in love together. Our love for each other puts the other first, denying even our own life for the sake of our brothers and sisters. And we do so not in our own strength, or for our own glory, or even for the benefit of our brother or sister alone. Though we are all deeply affected and moved by the love we receive from each other, it is God who is most pleased as he receives it as a fragrant offering and sacrifice. In this we are loving one another by faith through Christ, and for God. In the covenant community, we become Christ to one another as we receive and give the same sacrificial love that he gave to us.
In such a community we learn quickly what pleases the God, and it quickly becomes our nature to want to do so. This Christ-life of sacrifice and humility is a life of submission one to another. Christ submitted himself to God the Father, even to death. As he did, he considered us even more important than himself, which is our example. We each submit one to another out of reverence for Christ.
Every relationship that we have on this Earth is one where we may reflect the character and nature of God. In family especially, those who we experience most of our life with, we have a great opportunity to preach to each other the great story of Christ's redemptive work, and God the Father's adoption of us. In his life and death and resurrection, Jesus is the most loving husband, faithful brother, and humbly submitted and obedient son. As husbands, wives, and parents, we are each to reflect that same submission, faithfulness, and love in our lives together. We tell the story of Jesus to one another every day.
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