Ephesians 5:31-33

Good morning friends, 

 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Paul is not speaking of a mere abstract here, but a reality. These are not mere “God” words we so often tossed about with no meaning. There is a very real single organic nature a husband and wife take on in marriage. The two are removed from the original family structure and become a new organic unit themselves. Paul underscores the reality of this in the use of the explanative “profound”. In other words there is a deep, insightful or weighty reality to what Paul is communicating about our “oneness.” We must also understand the use of “hold fast” (other translations use “joined” or “cleaved”) as being “glued” together. We have no need to remind ourselves that the divorce rate in the church is equal to that of the world which is an indicator that we do not understand the weight of this.  As husbands it is therefore incumbent on us to consider what areas we need to bring into line with what Paul is teaching. The mystery is the oneness that Christ has with the church is how we are to love our wives. Let us close this with a quote from John MacArthur: “The sacred relationship between Christian husbands and wives is inextricably related to the sacred relationship between Christ and His church. Because of this great sacredness, Paul said, nevertheless let each individual among you also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see to it that she respect her husband. The use of nevertheless is intended to end the discussion and emphasize what in it is most essential to remember. When Christian husbands and wives walk in the power of the Spirit, yield to His Word and His control, and are mutually submissive, they are brought much happiness, their children are brought much blessing, and God is brought much honor.”

 Bill 

The Westminster Shorter Corner

Q. 60. How is the sabbath to be sanctified?
A. The sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.

Ephesians 5:28-30 revisited

Good morning friends, 

 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.  

The analogy Paul draws on here needs a bit more consideration. The connection of man to his wife is cast beside the connection of Christ to the church. We need to meditate on the richness of Christ’s love for the church to truly understand the love we are to have for our wives. We already read that Christ gave Himself up for the church and while that is beyond our imagination, there is more. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown notes: The Greek expresses, “Being formed out of” or “of the substance of His flesh.” Adam’s deep sleep, wherein Eve was formed from out of his opened side, is an emblem of Christ’s death, which was the birth of the Spouse, the Church.” In this way we are members of his body (flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone.) and our wife is a member of ours.. While I would never try to dissolve the individual nature that exists between a husband and wife, our culture has destroyed the “oneness” that is real by its ramped- up individualism.  It is my contention we need to foster the “oneness” aspect of our marriages over fostering the individualism that is so much a part of our construct of thinking today. We are all aware of how individualism  is currently wreaking havoc to the body of Christ and this same spirit wreaks havoc on our marriages. While there are things that do come to mind, I would never dare to offer suggestions to the practical application of this. I will suggest, however, that we do need to take the time to deeply consider what decisions we make and actions we take that may further dissolve our “oneness,” and mediate on Christ’s connection with His church. 

Bill 

The Westminster Shorter Corner

Q. 60. How is the sabbath to be sanctified?
A. The sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.

Ephesians 5:28-30

Good morning friends,

  In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.

 Guys – are we starting to catch on yet? Wives only got one verse and we got six – what does that tell you? Now maybe it’s because we are thick or maybe the sheer weight our responsibility necessitates it.  The underlying current of these verses indicates we have a propensity to the opposite. Our gender has a horrid history of abuse and mistreatment of wives – even in the church. The oneness of flesh is stressed here through the oneness of Christ and His church. It is not Christ likeness to be abusive or domineering, Christ certainly does not treat the church as such and to do so it is shamefully sinful. Our role is that of cherish. Cherish has means to train up or nourish..The status women had in Paul’s generation was that of a possession. The status our culture puts on women is that of an object. We are to think totally opposite to that of culture on this issue. Our place is to treat our wife as our own flesh. To nourish and train as we would ourselves and someone that holds a position unequaled by anyone in our earthly life. 

Bill 

The Westminster Shorter Corner

Q. 58. What is required in the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy sabbath to himself.

Ephesians 5:26-27

Good morning friends

  that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,  so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

 Men – let’s admit it right now -we blow it here. Do we really understand the magnitude of our role in the spiritual life of our wives and family?  As we continue on with Paul’s parallel of the husband’s role to that of Christ and the church. We are told that Christ gave himself up for the church that he might sanctify her. Now it is the work of Christ that sanctifies the believer so we do not have a direct responsibility in this. However, as we consider the fact that Paul draws on this analogy there must be some correlation we are responsible for. For starters we need to be involved. Our culture has given us many alternatives to escape this responsibility, but the spiritual health of our wife and family is in our court and not the basketball, golf course, or in front of the TV (toe stepping intended). I will personally admit the difficulty in this task on a couple fronts. To toss out things like “did you do your devotions today?” or buy her books on Proverbs 31 can be more detrimental than helpful. The spiritual condition of a family is something better caught than taught. Men we must be living the reality of who we are. I have a friend who’s son would mimic his father and “play” devotions. It was something he saw his father doing with great earnest and therefore took up the “practice” himself. The biggest detriment to the spiritual life of a family is a father who does not live consistently with what he says he believes.  We need a passion for the spiritual wellbeing of our wife and family that is paralleled in what Paul’s is noting here: “he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” We cannot defer our task to the church or youth group we must have an active part in the process ourselves. We must also pay attention to the fact that this sanctifying is by the washing of the Word. The scriptures are the only thing that does the job. We must be involved with our family in the Word. This attention to the spiritual welfare of our wife and family is like Christ to the church, it is our expression of love. 

Bill 

The Westminster Shorter Corner

Q. 58. What is required in the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy sabbath to himself.

Ephesians 5:25

Good morning friends,

  Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 

 “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church”…This is where my selfishness rears its ugly head. Not because I do not love my wife – I do greatly and we have a wonderful relationship, but it is here that the “things” I hold as dear can come into cross purposes with my wife’s needs. As we see here our example is that of Christ himself, we all know these are impossible shoes to fill in our own strength – but in Christ we can. We are told here (imperative) we are to give ourselves up for our wives as Christ gave himself up for the church. That which Christ held most dear – his relationship with theFather and his glory – he laid aside, for a season, for the sake of the church.  Something that comes out in this is that just as Christ gave himself to an undeserving and sinful church our love is not to be based on whether we feel it is deserved or not. We are to love our wives, not for what she is or is not, but because it is the will of God. Please do not get me wrong here – there are many many qualities I appreciate about my wife, but even if they did not exist I am to love her the same.  The number of drop out husbands in our culture is appalling and the number in the church is beyond appalling to inexcusable.  Picture it this way. What if Christ followed the cultural example or our time and decided he no longer loved the church? 

Bill 

The Westminster Shorter Corner

Q. 58. What is required in the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy sabbath to himself.

Ephesians 5:22-23

Good morning friends,

 First of all I want to congratulate Jerry Kinard on the completion of the AATS course of study through TNARS – good work Jerry.

  Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.

 We are going to handle one of the hottest potatoes in the church today. There are a great number of things we need to consider in these verses; however, we will only touch on the surface of this in this devotional so please forgive me if I only add to the confusion on this. First we see this role of submission is in the created order prior to the Fall. God created Adam before Eve suggesting Adam was given the “headship” role in the family. Next Eve was created for Adam. This does not in any fashion suggest Eve is lesser in importance, but indicates differing roles. Next Adam was given the task to name all living creatures. In the fact that he gave the name to Eve indicates an authority over Eve. Finally we see the serpent coming to Eve which was attempt on the part of Satan at instilling a role reversal that in which God instituted.  Now after the Fall we see God addressing Adam as the responsible party being the “head” of the family. We see in several passages that Adam is the representative of mankind. While Eve was the first to sin all of mankind is sinful because of Adam’s. Now as we consider topic of roles and “headship” we must admit that we do so from a sin stained point of view. In the pre-fall state there was no sin to distort roles. We might consider the roles that exists within the Godhead. Though there is absolute equality within the Godhead we do see roles with the Father having the greater authority. We see Christ and the Holy Spirit in subordination to the Father. Consider 1 Corinthians 11:3 “I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.” We must admit that our struggle over this issue of roles is solely because of sin. Abuses, usurping, power plays and such comes out of our own selfish desires.  Let us be sure here; because both man and woman were created in the image of God each posses equal importance, dignity and personhood.  It is sin that distorts or damages our  understanding and we see in redemption, however, the affirmation of these roles.  The reality is that as we grow in maturity and being conformed more to the image of Christ we will delight in the God ordained order for the human family. As we consider what Scripture has to say on this we must conclude that husbands are to strive to be loving, considerate and understanding leaders of their families. Women are to strive for active, intelligent and joyful submission to their husband. 

Bill 

The Westminster Shorter Corner

Q. 58. What is required in the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy sabbath to himself.

Ephesians 5:21

Good morning friends,

 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

 Some have taught this verse negates the authority structure of roles within the creation order, particularly the headship of men. We can see clearly from the rest of Scripture that this is not a proper interpretation for this verse. The discussion of roles is a hot potato in our time and has some merit in view of abuses. I will admit I carry tinges of the postmodern cynicism for leadership in my psyche. However, the Scriptures do teach roles and authority structures and we must continue to heed them. This verse is the prelude to the discussion Paul is going to have from here until chapter 6:9, which are the delineation roles and submission. Something we do see here  is that there is to be a mutual dignity and respect given to everyone across the board. It is as Paul would write the church in Philippi Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. The underlying principle is that we concern ourselves for the welfare of others. There is nothing uglier than when leadership turns autonomous or when those in subornation turn rebellious. It seems that leadership has run amuck and subordination has turned to anarchy as we look across the landscape of our culture. However God’s word is still in place and we must provide the proper model of authority roles, function and mutual respect to the watching world.

Bill

 Have a wonderful Lord’s Day 

The Westminster Shorter Corner

Q. 57. Which is the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Ephesians 5:18b-20

Good morning friends

  but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,  giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

 The natural outcome for the Christian that is filled with the Spirit will be an expression of praise and thanksgiving. One of the most unfortunate things that have taken place in the church of late is what has become known as “worship wars.” Let me say I think  both sides of this battle err. I am a Presbyterian and believe in the value of the regulative principle, but I also believe that certain groups that concern themselves with “styles” have more to do with maintaining a “trade mark” distinction rather than upholding the regulative principle. The other side of this is the issue of adopting the things of the world and using music as a marketing tool. We see here a threefold use of music – Psalms, hymn and spiritual songs. Now it seems to me that this covers the spectrum concerning “church music.” Now I believe that the electric guitar and chorus belong in the worship service just as much as a pipe organ and the Psalm, I believe we make grave error in creating a “traditional” and “contemporary” worship services. The error is in the premises for why we do it – to draw people or maintain some tradition. Let us remember the proper premise for worship is in the answer for this question alone: who is worship for? This answer is: God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who really cares whether or not YOU like the style – that is not the requisite. As we consider the command here “addressing one another in,” I can hear my grandson singing David Crowder’s He Never Lets Go as we ride in the car together. It is as equally a reminder of the fact that God has a firm grasp on me as any Psalm I have sung and reminds me to praise God. I can think of when my son was quite small (about 4) and I was going through a particularly discouraging time he  would often sing a repeated phrase “praise the Lord, allelu, I don’t care what the devil’s going to do, word and faith is my sword and shield,  Jesus is the Lord of the way I feel.” These words sung from the young heart would strengthen my feeble hands and weak knees and remind me that I am a child of God. That is the purpose of “church music” not something to use to protect tradition or draw a crowd – it is to praise God!

Bill 

The Westminster Shorter Corner

Q. 57. Which is the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Ephesians 5:18

Good morning friends,

 Ephesians 5:18And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

 Let’s be straight off the top. The issue here is not whether the Christian is permitted to drink or not, in fact, by the way this is worded assumes that the Christian will drink. The issue we are warned of here  is to avoid drunkenness; in fact, drunkenness is something we are told to avoid throughout Scripture. We all know that the main issue with drunkenness comes from the impairment of judgment and in essence it becomes the controlling influence. There are many things that can become a “controlling influence” in our lives, I think we might be able to put in place of wine any number of things from our culture.  Anything that exerts influence on our thinking outside the Holy Spirit is dangerous.  Something as simple as peace or affluence can, at times, have more influence on our thinking than the Holy Spirit. Paul says be filled with the Spirit, this is to be filled (be crammed full) of the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is to have the controlling influence on our lives. We see the principle of this in Christ’s life. Clearly Christ lived dependently on the Spirit and on the Father. As we consider the context of the direction Paul is going I would say this primarily is to allow the Holy Spirit influence on our thinking as in wisdom and discernment. To be filled with Spirit I would say is to fill ourselves with God’s word so His thoughts will become our thoughts, His standards our standards, and His work our work. It is to live purposefully, moment by moment dependent of the Holy Spirit.

 Bill 

The Westminster Shorter Corner

Q. 57. Which is the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Ephesians 5:17

Good morning friends,

  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

 Paul now reinforces what he said in the previous verse in a slightly different, but more poignant way. “Do not walk unwise” is followed up here with “do not be foolish’” and “wise” is followed up with “but understand what the will of the Lord is.” The word “foolish” means mindless, stupid, ignorant and rash. We see by the juxtaposition of these two concepts a prerequisite of the use of reason. To understand the will of the Lord is not some automatic thing that happens when we become Christian. There is a growing infection of neo-Gnosticism spreading in much Evangelicalism, a growing separation of faith and reason. But we must realize is this: there are no short cuts to the understanding of the will of God – it requires engaging with the content of God’s revelation.  I am sick of hearing the phrase “God lead me” outside the context of revelation. There are times when this “God lead me” is even cross purposes to God’s word. The whole of the Scripture is given in prepositional truth that can only be accessed by proper use of reason. Please do not hear rationalism in this (the improper reliance on reason).  Yes! I believe in faith and that there must be a working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, but faith is a living response to the truth. This understanding what the will of God is sounds much like Romans 12: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  

 I would like us to also consider the words of the Lord in Isaiah 1:16-18 as we end here: Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil,  learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

 Bill

 The Westminster Shorter Corner

Q. 57. Which is the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.