Number 62

EPHESIANS CHAPTER FIVE

THE RESULTANT VERSION - TRUE TO THE GREEK AND TRUE TO THE TRUTH

1. Become, therefore, imitators of God as beloved children;
2. And be ordering your behavior in love, even as the Christ also loves you, and gives Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a fragrant odor.
3. But fornication, and impurity, every kind of it, or covetousness, let these not be named among you, according as is becoming in saints,
4. And obscenity and stupid speaking or jesting, which are beneath you, but rather thanksgiving.
5. For this you know absolutely, that no whoremonger, or one impure in thought and life, or covetous person, who is an idolator, has any portion in the kingdom of Christ, even the kingdom of God.
6. Let no one be seducing you by means of empty words, for because of these things, the indignation of God is coming upon the sons of the stubborness.
7. Stop, therefore, becoming joint-partakers with them;
8. For you were at one time darkness; yet, now you are light in the Lord. Be ordering your behavior as children of light;
9. For the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth,
10. Testing what is well pleasing to the Lord.
11. And be not joint-participants in the unfruitful enterprises of this darkness; but rather be enlightening them,
12. For it is a shame even to say what hidden things are done by them.
13. For all these which are enlightened by the light are made manifest, for everything that is making manifest is light.
14. Wherefore, He is saying, "Awake! O sleeping one, and arise from among the dead, and Christ shall shine upon you!"
15. Be constanfly observing accurately how you are ordering your behavior, not as unwise ones, but as wise,
16. Buying up for yourselves the opportune time because the days are wicked.
17. Therefore, do not become imprudent, but be understanding what the will of the Lord is.
18. And be not drunk with wine, in which is profligacy; but be filled with the Spirit,
19. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord,
20. Giving thanks to God the Father always for all things in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ,
21. Putting yourselves in subjection to one another in the fear of Christ,
22. The wives to their own husbands as to the Lord,
23. Seeing that the husband is head of the wife even as Christ is Head of the outcalled; and He is the Savior of the body.
24. Nevertheless, as the outcalled is being subject to the Christ, thus, are the wives also to their husbands in everything.
25. The husbands be loving their wives even as the Christ loves the outcalled, and gives Himself in its behalf,
26. In order that He should be hallowing it, cleansing it by the bath of water, in the realm of His Word,
27. In order that He might present to Himself a glorified outcalling, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that it may be holy and flawless.
28. Thus, the husbands also ought to be loving their own wives as their own bodies. He that is loving His own wife is loving himself.
29. For no one at any time hates his own flesh, but is nourishing and cherishing it, even as the Christ, the outcalled,
30. Seeing that we are members of His body.
31. Corresponding to this, a man will be leaving his father and mother, and will be joined to his wife; and the two will be one flesh.
32. This secret is great. However, I am speaking in regard to Christ and the outcalled.
33. Moreover, let each one of you individually be loving his own wife as himself; and the wife, let her reverence her husband.

THE RESULTANT VERSION - TRUE TO THE GREEK AND TRUE TO THE TRUTH

VERSE 1. Become, therefore, imitators[A] of God as beloved children;

1. The Gk. is mimEtEs from which we get the word mimic. The context emphasizes God’s gracious dealing.

VERSE 2. And be ordering your behavior[A] in love, even as the Christ also loves you, and gives Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a fragrant odor.[B]

1. The Gk. is peripateO which means to walk about. Since it is used figuratively here, an attempt has been made to express this by rendering it "order your behavior."
2. The Gk. is euodias, a good odor. God has accepted our substitute, and He accepts us in Him.

VERSE 3. But fornication,[A] and impurity, every kind of it, or covetousness, let these not be named among you, according as is becoming in saints,

1. A very common and popular sin in Paul’s day, even as it is now in our day. The moral life of the Greco-Roman world had sunk very low, and fornication had long come to be regarded with moral indifference. It was indulged in without shame.

VERSE 4. And obscenity and stupid speaking or jesting,[A] which are beneath you,[B] but rather thanksgiving.[C]

1. "The passage does not deal with the play of humor, and wit in general. This is not forbidden in Scripture, and so far as it is the outcome of vigor, gladness, or (in the sense of humor) tenderness, it may be quite in harmony with the strict piety of the gospel" Moule.
2. The Gk. is anEko, which means to come up to." It occurs so in Col. 3:18 and Philem. 1:8.
3. The Gk. is eucharistia, which could well mean "gracious speech" here. It fits the context.

VERSE 5. For this you know absolutely, that no whoremonger,[A] or one impure in thought and life, or covetous person, who is an idolator, has any portion[B] in the kingdom of Christ, even the kingdom of God.[C]

1. Four sins are now mentioned which will bar the practicers from the kingdom of God.
2. The Gk. is kleronomia (the law of the lot). It could be translated "allotment."
3. This is one kingdom, not two. It belongs to the Father and the Son.

VERSE 6. Let no one[A] be seducing you by means of empty words,[B] for because of these things, the indignation of God is coming upon the sons of the stubborness.

1. The Greek is strong here—"let not even one person be seducing you."
2. "Empty" is kenos and this warning is related to that against kenophonia (empty sounds) of 1 Tim. 6:20 and 2 Tim. 2:16.

VERSE 7. Stop, therefore, becoming joint-partakers[A] with them;

1. "Joint-partakers" is summetochos, which occurs only here and in Eph. 3:6.

VERSE 8. For you were at one time darkness; yet, now you are light in the Lord. Be ordering your behavior[A] as children of light;

1. This is peripateO, same as in verse 2.

VERSE 9. For the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth,

VERSE 10. Testing[A] what is well pleasing to the Lord.

1. The Gk. is dozimazO which means putting to the test and, thus, proving.

VERSE 11. And be not joint-participants in the unfruitful enterprises[A] of this darkness; but rather be enlightening them,

1. These are the rituals, activities, and services in which many well-meaning but unenlightened people would involve us as being the works of God.

VERSE 12. For it is a shame even to say what hidden things are done by them.

VERSE 13. For all these which are enlightened by the light are made manifest, for everything that is making manifest is light.

VERSE 14. Wherefore, He is saying, "Awake! O sleeping one, and arise[A] from among the dead, and Christ shall shine upon you!"

1. Or, "stand up out from among the dead"—an exhortation to true individualism.

VERSE 15. Be constanfly observing accurately how you are ordering your behavior, not as unwise ones, but as wise,

VERSE 16. Buying up for yourselves the opportune time[A] because the days are wicked.

1. We should make wise use of every opportunity for doing what God would have us do.

VERSE 17. Therefore, do not become imprudent, but be understanding what the will[A] of the Lord is.

1. Not the will of the Lord for us, but simply God’s will in accord with His present purpose. It is His will to be gracious, to keep silent, to shut us up to faith. Are we able to accept His will in regard to these things?

VERSE 18. And be not drunk with wine, in which is profligacy;[A] but be filled with the Spirit,[B]

1. "Profligacy" is a state wherein a man might commit a murder, ruin his life, destroy his reputation, wreck his automobile, or even his home, and excuse it all by saying, "I was drunk."
2. To be filled with the Spirit is to be filled with the things of the Spirit. (See John 6:63 and Gal. 5:22, 23 for examples.)

VERSE 19. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,[A] singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord,[B]

1. These are the sacred compositions of believing men who are taught in the Word and can express the truth in this manner.
2. These words will eliminate all the jazz an jigs that are now so widely used in so-called Christian services. The appeal of these is to the feet.

VERSE 20. Giving thanks to God the Father always for all things in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ,

VERSE 21. Putting yourselves in subjection[A] to one another in the fear of Christ,

1. The Gk. word hupotassO means "being arranged" or "arranging yourselves under one another." If believers did this, they would all be equal and none would be above or over another. Such equality as this would have been impossible in the Acts period.

VERSE 22. The wives to their own husbands as to the Lord,[A]

1. Or, "the wives, be arranged under your own husbands, as to the Lord."

VERSE 23. Seeing that the husband is head[A] of the wife even as Christ is Head of the outcalled; and He is the Savior of the body.[B]

1. This word kephalE (head) has the basic meaning of an out-flowing source. For example, Jesus Christ, the Apostle, the Prophet, and the Teacher flowed into Paul, giving him of Himself, thus, making Paul the apostle, prophet, and teacher that he was. He bore in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus. He partook of Christ’s substance and, thus, became His body.
2. Even two thousand years in the state of death has destroyed nothing that God gave to Paul, or anyone else who partook of Him.

VERSE 24. Nevertheless, as the outcalled is being subject to the Christ, thus, are the wives also to their husbands in everything.[A]

1. The kingdom of God is anticipated in these passages. The loftiest possible concept of the husband and wife relationship is presented here. It would be wise for all who believe to produce some "fruit ahead of season," and see how much of this we can produce now.

VERSE 25. The husbands be loving their wives[A] even as the Christ loves the outcalled, and gives Himself in its behalf,[B]

1. There is nothing in this passage about bridegrooms and brides. The subjects are husbands and wives.
2. He gives of Himself to the outcalled ones that they might become what He is.

VERSE 26. In order that He should be hallowing[A] it, cleansing it by the bath of water,[B] in the realm of His Word,

1. He marks it out for special use and service.
2. "Water" is not a fixed symbol in the New Testament. It can mean the Word of God and it can mean the Spirit of God.

VERSE 27. In order that He might present[A] to Himself a glorified outcalling,[B] not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that it may be holy and flawless.

1. Or, "set it alongside Himself."
2. If any group, company, or organization claims to be this glorified outcalling, it deceives and the truth is not in it. This glorious outcalling will assume its place and begin its functions when the kingdom of God is a reality. Some materials for it are being collected now.

VERSE 28. Thus, the husbands also ought to be loving their own wives as their own bodies.[A] He that is loving His own wife is loving himself.

1. Let not the husbands worry too much about what this means. Let them do it.

VERSE 29. For no one at any time hates his own flesh, but is nourishing and cherishing it, even as the Christ, the outcalled,

VERSE 30. Seeing that we are members[A] of His body.[B]

1. A member is a partaker, a participant. He does not make the body. The body makes him what he is.
2. "His body" is His substance, all that he is by investiture from God. "For in Him dwells all the fulness of the Deity in essence." (Col. 2:9.)

VERSE 31. Corresponding to this, a man will be leaving[A] his father and mother, and will be joined[B] to his wife; and the two will be one flesh.[C]

1. This is kataleipO, to leave behind, to depart from.
2. This is proskallO, to glue upon, to glue to, to join oneself to another closely.
3. They must make it so. It is not automatic.

VERSE 32. This secret is great.[A] However, I am speaking in regard to Christ and the outcalled.

1. Indeed it is a great secret! One that is only partly uncovered. And we must not stultify the truth here by applying Paul's words concerning the ekklEsia to anything that is in existence today. A glorified outcalling is the goal of God. We are not it, but we are some of the threads which someday woven into the great tapestry that already exists in the mind and purpose of God. The relationship that will exist between Christ and the outcalled is still a secret. We get some glimpses of what it will be, but we cannot now conceive the picture as a whole.

VERSE 33. Moreover, let each one of you individually[A] be loving his own wife as himself; and the wife, let her reverence her husband.

1. The universal duty in the marriage relationship, from which no husband is exempt. If he will not fulifil verse 33, he cannot claim the privileges of verse 23.

INDEX

Issue no. 62