Ephesians 5:1-2
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

† Believers are called to imitate God by walking in love.
† Christ's sacrificial love is the model, fulfilling the offerings of the Law.
† Clement of Rome (1 Clement 49) praised love as the bond of perfection in the church.

Ephesians 5:3-4
But sexual immorality, or any impurity or greed, must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints, and there must be no filthiness or foolish talk, or vulgar joking, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

† Saints must not be marked by immorality, impurity, or greed.
† Speech must be holy, filled with thanksgiving, not corruption.
† The Didache (3.3-4) warned against improper speech and impurity among believers.

Ephesians 5:5
For this you know with certainty, that no sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, which amounts to an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

† Immorality, impurity, and greed are forms of idolatry.
† Such people have no inheritance in God's kingdom.
† Justin Martyr (First Apology 27) linked greed and lust with idolatry.

Ephesians 5:6-7
See that no one deceives you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them.

† Empty words deceive, but sin brings wrath.
† Believers must not partner with the sons of disobedience.
† Josephus (Wars 6.2.1) noted how deceitful leaders led Jerusalem into judgment.

Ephesians 5:8-10
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), as you try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

† Transformation in Christ is from darkness to light.
† Light produces goodness, righteousness, and truth.
† Philo (On the Creation 31) spoke of light as God's first gift, now fulfilled spiritually in Christ.

Ephesians 5:11-12
Do not participate in the useless deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them, for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.

† Believers must expose darkness, not join it.
† Darkness hides shame, but light reveals truth.

Ephesians 5:13-14
But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, "Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you."

† Christ's light reveals and transforms.
† The call is to wake from spiritual death and live in His light.
† The Dead Sea Scrolls (1QS 3.7-9) described the division between sons of light and sons of darkness, fulfilled in Christ's shining light.

Ephesians 5:15-16
So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

† Believers must live wisely, redeeming the time.
† Evil days require vigilance and careful living.
† Clement of Alexandria (Stromata 2.23) stressed wisdom in using time for God's purposes.

Ephesians 5:17-18
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, in which there is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.

† Foolishness is contrasted with knowing God's will.
† Drunkenness leads to corruption, while the Spirit produces life and order.
† Tertullian (On Modesty 12) condemned drunkenness as dishonoring God.

Ephesians 5:19-21
Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father, and subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.

† Worship is expressed in psalms, hymns, and songs of the Spirit.
† Thanksgiving is constant, and mutual submission shows reverence for Christ.
† The Didache (9.2) emphasized giving thanks in the assembly of believers.

Ephesians 5:22-24
Wives, subject yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.

† Marriage reflects Christ and the church.
† Wives are called to respectful submission as the church submits to Christ.
† Ignatius (Letter to Polycarp 5) urged wives to live in harmony with their husbands as with the Lord.

Ephesians 5:25-27
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless.

† Husbands must love sacrificially, modeling Christ's love.
† The church is cleansed and sanctified by the word.
† Origen (Homilies on Leviticus 8.3) linked Christ's cleansing work to the holiness of His bride.

Ephesians 5:28-30
So husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself, for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are parts of His body.

† Love for wives is love for one's own body.
† Christ nourishes and cherishes the church as His body.

Ephesians 5:31-32
For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

† Marriage is a mystery pointing to Christ and His church.
† Union of husband and wife pictures Christ's union with His body.
† Tertullian (To His Wife 2.8) saw marriage as a reflection of Christ and the church.

Ephesians 5:33
Nevertheless, as for you individually, each husband is to love his own wife the same as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.

† The closing exhortation sums up the balance, love and respect in marriage.
† Marriage thrives when modeled after Christ and the church.

How it applies to us today
† Ephesians 5 calls us to walk in love, purity, wisdom, and Spirit-filled living.
† Worship, thanksgiving, and mutual submission should define the church.
† Marriage remains a living picture of Christ and His bride, the church, in the fulfilled kingdom.

† This is the fulfilled perspective we proclaim at Fulfilled Prophecies †

Source Index
† Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 49 - love as bond of perfection
† Didache 3.3-4, 9.2 - warnings against impurity, thanksgiving in worship
† Justin Martyr, First Apology 27 - greed and lust as idolatry
† Josephus, Wars 6.2.1 - deceitful leaders leading to judgment
† Philo, On the Creation 31 - light as God's first gift
† Dead Sea Scrolls, 1QS 3.7-9 - sons of light versus sons of darkness
† Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 2.23 - wisdom in using time
† Tertullian, On Modesty 12 - condemnation of drunkenness
† Ignatius, Letter to Polycarp 5 - harmony of wives with husbands
† Origen, Homilies on Leviticus 8.3 - cleansing of the bride
† Tertullian, To His Wife 2.8 - marriage as reflection of Christ and church