Ephesians 5:2-31

No Participation with Unbelievers

2 The sacrifice of Christ has many aspects. The opening Chapter s of Leviticus deal with these in detail. The sin and trespass offering seem to be entirely for man's benefit. But the first offering of all, and the most important, the ascending offering, called a "burnt" offering, seems to have been entirely for God; nothing in it was for man. So with Christ. The questions of human sin and transgression were secondary in His sacrifice. It was, first of all, His obedience to the will of God which gave His death its infinite value. His object was to please His Father. This is the true motive for service acceptable to our God.

3 Here the Spirit of God has laid a finger on the sore spots which all our advance in civilization has only served to accentuate. Physical excesses, sordid cupidity and questionable speech are but symptoms of the cankerous evil which pervades society in this day of boasted advance. As the literal Greek puts it, "more-having", or avarice, is more pronounced than ever, and does not need to hide its face, for it is disguised as a virtue. In the kingdom of God none of these will be able to take root.

8 To behave as children of light is the complement of imitating Him as beloved children, for God is Light as well as Love. In nature light is indispensable for fruit: nothing will produce without it. The same is true in spiritual things. The most flourishing saint is the one who has the most light, who knows what his Lord's will is. The most strenuous endeavor to serve God will not meet His approval if it is out of line with His revealed purpose and plans. Let us rouse ourselves from our lethargy and the darkness which surrounds us and bask in the light of

Christ.

18 Excess of wine leads to drunkenness, which is not good, but an overflowing spirit is to be commended. It manifests itself in songs and thanksgiving and subjection.

19 Spiritual songs suggests the need of conforming even our songs to the truth of this present time and singing with understanding as well as the lips. Most of the destructive errors of the day are based on or supported by popular hymns.

THE JOINT BODY-IN THE LORD

THE HEAD

21 As is the case with every exhortation in the second division of the epistle, the deportment of husbands and wives is founded on the doctrine previously developed in the first division. A reference to the framework will show that it is based on the truth of the joint body. Wives are to be subject because the man is head of the woman as Christ is Head of the body. Husbands cannot be exhorted to love their wives on the ground that the ecclesia occupies this relation to Christ, for the faithful in Israel, who have no part in the blessings of this epistle, are figured as the wife or bride, not of Christ (an official title), but of the Lamb. Hence the argument of Eden is introduced showing that husband and wife become one flesh. Christ and the ecclesia are one body. Hence the husband is exhorted to love his wife as his own body, for it is thus that Christ loves the ecclesia. What limitless love is involved in the statement, "No one at any time hates his own flesh"! Men have hated their wives: Jehovah divorced His unfaithful wife (Jer_3:8-20). But Christ is so one with the members of His body that He cannot cast them off. Thus should a husband love his own wife, who has become one flesh with him. How exultantly precious is this close relationship to Him! What could be nearer? What could be dearer? Even evil, sinful men cannot hate their own bodies. So much the more Christ cannot but love us as He loves Himself! God grant that we may drink deeply of this delicious draught!