Ephesians 5:22-33

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Ephesians 5:22-33

Ephesians 5:1-21 contains general instructions for believers.

From verse 22 onward, different instructions are given for each status.

However, I think that most people today live a life of faith where they ponder what they should do and how they should act according to God's Word, trying to determine the direction of their actions from one or two verses of Scripture.

It seems like nothing is impossible, but it's a continuous cycle of faith where nothing works.

With each new incident, they face new problems and seek counsel or ask about the Bible.

An American pastor harshly criticized this as a divination-based faith.

Embodiment

Once the doctrines, or principles, of Romans 1-11 are applied and embodied, the teachings of the holy living sacrifice from chapter 12 onward will naturally apply.

So, after there is doctrine, there follows precept.

Application only occurs when principles are present.

When I preach, I interpret, explain, and apply the Bible in my own way, but the problem is that when people try to apply it without understanding the principles by which God's will is carried out on people, they just keep going around in circles, thinking that it is right and will benefit the listener.

Just as a formula is needed to obtain the correct answer in mathematics, doctrine must be embodied in the body for action to be manifested.

Therefore, chapters 1-3 of Ephesians are doctrine, while chapter 4 and onward are life lessons for those who possess the mystery of Christ.

Verse 22: "Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as to the Lord."

He tells us to submit to our husbands as to the Lord.

If it works, it works; if it doesn't, it doesn't.

When James said that faith without works is dead, he was not saying that the person is dead, but that the faith that the person has is dead.

Without faith, righteousness cannot be obtained, and without righteousness, the work of the Holy Spirit cannot be invited.

Therefore, faith without works is dead because the faith within them is not working.

Verse 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."

Just as Christ is the head of the church, the husband is the head of the wife.

However, it may or may not be the head that controls the entire body.

Christ is the Savior of the church and thus becomes the protector of the church, its body.

Therefore, a wife should serve her husband as she serves the Lord.

Verse 24: "Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be  to their own husbands in every thing."

Just as the church is always under the influence of Christ, so wives should be under the influence of their husbands in everything. The question is whether the husband fulfills his role as head.

Verse 25: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it."

Husbands, love your wives. Just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her, so husbands are to love their wives in the same way.

Husbands, as you abide in the Lord's love and in the Spirit of truth, you must learn to love your wives as your own bodies. 

Otherwise, he will become like a glass roof to his wife.

Verse 26: "That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word."

This is why Christ gave himself for the church.

He cleansed and sanctified it by the washing of water by the word.

Through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, he always adorns his bride, the church, in purity and holiness.

Verse 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."

This describes what Christ does for the church.

He wants to present the glorious church to himself , not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.

This is because it is in his glory, and because he himself is glory, he glorifies the church.

He presents the church as his bride worthy of his name for his glory.

This is Christ's love for the church.

He draws the church up to himself.

Verse 28: "So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loves his wife loves himself."

In Christ, they are one body.

There is no such thing as "yours" or "mine".

They love each other.

Because a husband and wife are one body, they should love each other as they love their own bodies.

Human relationships, which were driven out of Eden, can never be normal except in Christ.

We can only overcome crises successfully through our own character and will.

However, without receiving Christ and learning love in him through the Spirit of truth, it is impossible to master biblical husbandship.

Looking back, it has been a long and arduous journey.

Verse 29: "For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord the church."

No one should ever hate his own body. Rather, he should nourish and cherish it.

The crucial question is whether we can love one another as one spirit and one body in the Holy Spirit.

Verse 30: "For we are members of his body, of his flesh,  and of his bones."

This means that we must recognize the members of   Christ in the Holy Spirit.

Verse 31: "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife, and they two shall be one flesh."

Husband and wife become one flesh.

The phrase "a man leave his father and mother" is correct.

However, many husband remain unmarried and cling to their parents, and many wives remain unmarried.

As a result, they fail to become one.

I see many cases where couples live together but are not in a biblical marriage.

Marriage is about leaving one's parents and becoming one.

These days, especially, sons are getting married while daughters remain unmarried.

Verse 32: "This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church."

This mystery concerns the relationship between Christ and the church, between husband and wife.

The fact that a husband and wife become one flesh is a natural revelation that allows us to understand the mystery of Christ and the church.

Verse 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."

When a husband loves his wife as himself, the wife will respect her husband just as the church reveres Christ.

May is Family Month, and some teach each person their respective duties.

However, while they may hear and accept the teaching, they soon return to their original state.

Some people never solve it in their entire lives.

Ultimately, just as it is a mystery that Christ and the church become one bread and one body and one spirit in the Holy Spirit, only when husbands and wives hear the gospel of truth, believe, are sealed by the Holy Spirit, and are filled with the Holy Spirit through Christ,  head of church, will the husband truly love his wife as himself, and the wife will be transformed into a being who respects her husband as the church reveres Christ.

We must understand that marital problems cannot be resolved through family life seminars or counseling.

Written by Pastor. Yohan Kim

Translated by missionary Nancy Kim

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