FREE PREVIEW: Ephesians 5:21-33: Wives and Husbands
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Introduction
Having called believers to be filled with the Spirit, Paul now shows what a Spirit-filled life looks like in the most intimate of human relationships — marriage. In a passage that is often misunderstood and sometimes misused, Paul calls wives to respectful submission and husbands to sacrificial, Christlike love. And then he lifts the whole subject to breathtaking heights, revealing that every Christian marriage is meant to be a living picture of the relationship between Christ and His church.
I. The SUBMISSION of Wives — Following as the Church Follows Christ (vv. 21–24)
“Subjecting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ. Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:21–22).
The Spirit-filled life is marked by a humble willingness to place others ahead of ourselves. Within marriage, Paul calls wives to a voluntary, respectful submission to their husbands — not as inferiors, but as an act of devotion offered “as to the Lord,” reflecting the church’s glad submission to Christ.
II. The SACRIFICE of Husbands — Loving as Christ Loved the Church (vv. 25–30)
“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly, and gave himself up for it” (Ephesians 5:25).
The husband’s headship is not a license to rule but a call to die. He is to love his wife as Christ loved the church — sacrificially, purposefully, and tenderly — giving himself for her good, seeking her holiness, and nourishing and cherishing her as his own body.
III. The SIGNIFICANCE of Marriage — A Great Mystery Concerning Christ and the Church (vv. 31–33)
“For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will be joined to his wife. The two will become one flesh. This mystery is great, but I speak concerning Christ and of the assembly” (Ephesians 5:31–32).
Marriage was designed from the beginning to point beyond itself. The one-flesh union of husband and wife is a living portrait of the union between Christ and His people, and every Christian home has the high privilege of displaying the gospel through love and respect.
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.
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