Ephesians 5:33
Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Nevertheless
This word serves as a transition, indicating a conclusion or summary of the preceding discussion. In the context of Ephesians 5, Paul has been discussing the relationship between Christ and the Church, using it as a model for marriage. "Nevertheless" signals a shift from the broader theological discussion to practical application for individual believers. It underscores the importance of the instructions that follow, emphasizing that despite the profound mystery of Christ and the Church, there are clear, actionable steps for husbands and wives.

Each one of you
This phrase personalizes the command, making it clear that the instructions are not just for a select few but for every believer. The Greek word "hekastos" implies an individual responsibility, highlighting that each husband is personally accountable for his actions towards his wife. This universality underscores the importance of the command and its applicability to all Christian marriages.

Must love
The Greek word used here is "agapao," which refers to a selfless, sacrificial love. This is the same type of love that Christ has for the Church, as described earlier in the chapter. It is not merely a feeling but an active choice to seek the best for one's spouse. This command elevates the husband's role to one of service and sacrifice, mirroring Christ's love.

His wife
The focus here is on the marital relationship, specifically the husband's duty towards his wife. In the cultural context of the time, this was a radical command, as women were often seen as property rather than partners. By instructing husbands to love their wives, Paul is affirming the value and dignity of women, elevating the marriage relationship to one of mutual respect and care.

As he loves himself
This phrase draws on the natural human tendency to care for oneself, using it as a benchmark for how husbands should treat their wives. It echoes the second greatest commandment, "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39), applying it specifically to marriage. This comparison implies that a husband's love for his wife should be as instinctive and comprehensive as his care for his own well-being.

And the wife
This part of the verse shifts the focus to the wife's role in the marriage. It acknowledges that both partners have responsibilities, emphasizing the mutual nature of the marital relationship. The inclusion of both husband and wife in the command underscores the partnership and equality inherent in a Christian marriage.

Must respect
The Greek word "phobeo" is used here, which can mean to fear, but in this context, it is better understood as "respect" or "reverence." This respect is not about subservience but about honoring and valuing the husband. It complements the husband's call to love, creating a dynamic of mutual honor and support within the marriage.

Her husband
The focus returns to the marital relationship, specifically the wife's attitude towards her husband. In the cultural context of the time, this respect was a counter-cultural command, as it called for a voluntary, loving respect rather than one enforced by societal norms. It highlights the transformative nature of Christian marriage, where both partners are called to love and honor each other in a way that reflects Christ's relationship with the Church.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Paul the Apostle
The author of the letter to the Ephesians, Paul was a key figure in the early Christian church, known for his missionary journeys and theological teachings.

2. Ephesus
A major city in Asia Minor, Ephesus was a center of commerce and culture. The Ephesian church was one of the early Christian communities to which Paul wrote.

3. Husbands and Wives
The primary subjects of this verse, representing the marital relationship and the roles within it as ordained by God.
Teaching Points
The Call to Love and Respect
Husbands are commanded to love their wives as they love themselves, reflecting Christ's love for the church. This love is sacrificial, selfless, and nurturing.

Wives are instructed to respect their husbands, acknowledging their leadership role within the family as ordained by God.

Understanding the Greek Terms
The Greek word for love used here is "agapao," which denotes a deep, unconditional love that seeks the best for the other person.

The Greek word for respect is "phobeo," which in this context means to reverence or hold in high esteem, not to fear.

Mutual Submission in Marriage
While this verse highlights specific roles, it is part of a larger passage that begins with mutual submission (Ephesians 5:21). Both partners are called to serve and honor each other in love.

Reflecting Christ in Marriage
The marital relationship is a reflection of Christ's relationship with the church. Husbands and wives are to model this divine relationship through their interactions.

Practical Expressions of Love and Respect
Love and respect can be expressed through daily acts of kindness, open communication, and prioritizing each other's needs and well-being.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding the Greek terms for love and respect deepen our comprehension of Ephesians 5:33?

2. In what ways can husbands practically demonstrate "agapao" love to their wives in everyday life?

3. How can wives show respect to their husbands in a manner that aligns with the biblical teaching in Ephesians 5:33?

4. How does the concept of mutual submission in Ephesians 5:21-33 challenge or affirm your current understanding of marital roles?

5. Reflect on a time when you have seen a marriage that exemplifies the principles in Ephesians 5:33. What specific actions or attitudes made it a model of biblical love and respect?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 2:24
This verse establishes the foundational principle of marriage, where a man leaves his parents and unites with his wife, becoming one flesh. It underscores the unity and mutual respect expected in marriage.

1 Peter 3:1-7
This passage provides further instruction on the roles of husbands and wives, emphasizing mutual respect, understanding, and honor within the marriage relationship.

Colossians 3:18-19
Similar to Ephesians 5:33, this passage instructs wives to submit to their husbands and husbands to love their wives, highlighting the reciprocal nature of marital duties.
Husbands and WivesW.F. Adeney Ephesians 5:22-33
Ideal MarriageD. Thomas Ephesians 5:22-33
What Husbands and Wives Owe to ChristR.M. Edgar Ephesians 5:22-33
The Duties of HusbandsT. Croskery Ephesians 5:25-33
People
Christians, Ephesians, Paul
Places
Ephesus
Topics
Fear, However, Husband, Individual, Insist, Love, Loves, Married, Nevertheless, Particular, Respect, Respects, Reverence, Severally, Speak, Treats, Wife, Yet
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Ephesians 5:33

     5218   authority, in home
     5709   marriage, purpose
     5744   wife
     5745   women
     8252   faithfulness, relationships
     8299   love, in relationships
     8471   respect, for human beings

Ephesians 5:21-33

     5959   submission

Ephesians 5:22-33

     5504   rights
     5714   men
     5744   wife

Ephesians 5:25-33

     5702   husband

Ephesians 5:31-33

     5717   monogamy
     5735   sexuality

Library
January 1. "Redeeming the Time" (Eph. v. 16).
"Redeeming the time" (Eph. v. 16). Two little words are found in the Greek version here. They are translated "ton kairon" in the revised version, "Buying up for yourselves the opportunity." The two words ton kairon mean, literally, the opportunity. They do not refer to time in general, but to a special point of time, a juncture, a crisis, a moment full of possibilities and quickly passing by, which we must seize and make the best of before it has passed away. It is intimated that there are not
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

June 27. "Be Filled with the Spirit" (Eph. v. 18).
"Be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. v. 18). Some of the effects of being filled with the Spirit are: 1. Holiness of heart and life. This is not the perfection of the human nature, but the holiness of the divine nature dwelling within. 2. Fulness of joy so that the heart is constantly radiant. This does not depend on circumstances, but fills the spirit with holy laughter in the midst of the most trying surroundings. 3. Fulness of wisdom, light and knowledge, causing us to see things as He sees them.
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

April 22. "Christ is the Head" (Eph. v. 23).
"Christ is the head" (Eph. v. 23). Often we want people to pray for us and help us, but always defeat our object when we look too much to them and lean upon them. The true secret of union is for both to look upon God, and in the act of looking past themselves to Him they are unconsciously united. The sailor was right when he saw the little boy fall overboard and waited a minute before he plunged to his rescue. When the distracted mother asked him in agony why he had waited so long, he sensibly replied:
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Third Sunday in Lent
Text: Ephesians 5, 1-9. 1 Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell. 3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as becometh saints; 4 nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, or jesting, which are not befitting: but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this ye know of a surety, that no fornicator, nor unclean
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Twentieth Sunday after Trinity the Careful Walk of the Christian.
Text: Ephesians 5, 15-21. 15 Look therefore carefully how ye walk [See then that ye walk circumspectly], not as unwise, but as wise; 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Wherefore be ye not foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; 19 speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 giving thanks always for all things
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

God's Imitators
Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children'--Eph. v. 1. The Revised Version gives a more literal and more energetic rendering of this verse by reading, 'Be ye, therefore, imitators of God, as beloved children.' It is the only place in the Bible where that bold word 'imitate' is applied to the Christian relation to God. But, though the expression is unique, the idea underlies the whole teaching of the New Testament on the subject of Christian character and conduct. To be like God, and
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

Pleasing Christ
'Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.'--Eph. v. 10. These words are closely connected with those which precede them in the 8th verse--'Walk as children of light.' They further explain the mode by which that commandment is to be fulfilled. They who, as children of light, mindful of their obligations and penetrated by its brightness, seek to conform their active life to the light to which they belong, are to do so by making experiment of, or investigating and determining, what is 'acceptable
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

Unfruitful Works of Darkness
'And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.'--Eph. v. 11. We have seen in a former sermon that 'the fruit,' or outcome, 'of the Light' is a comprehensive perfection, consisting in all sorts and degrees of goodness and righteousness and truth. Therefore, the commandment, 'Walk as children of the light,' sums up all Christian morality. Is there need, then, for any additional precept? Yes; for Christian people do not live in an empty world. If there were
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

Sleepers at Noonday
'Wherefore He saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light,'--Eph. v. 14. This is the close of a short digression about 'light.' The 'wherefore' at the beginning of my text seems to refer to the whole of the verses that deal with that subject. It is as if the Apostle had said, 'I have been telling you about light and its blessed effects. Now I tell you how you may win it for yours. The condition on which it is to be received by men is that they awake
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

What Children of Light Should Be
'Walk as children of light.'--Eph. v. 8. It was our Lord who coined this great name for His disciples. Paul's use of it is probably a reminiscence of the Master's, and so is a hint of the existence of the same teachings as we now find in the existing Gospels, long before their day. Jesus Christ said, 'Believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light'; and Paul gives substantially the same account of the way by which a man becomes a Son of the Light when he says, in the words preceding
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

The Fruit of the Light
'The fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.'--Eph. v. 9 (R.V.). This is one of the cases in which the Revised Version has done service by giving currency to an unmistakably accurate and improved reading. That which stands in our Authorised Version, 'the fruit of the Spirit' seems to have been a correction made by some one who took offence at the violent metaphor, as he conceived it, that 'light' should bear 'fruit' and desired to tinker the text so as to bring it into
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

Paul's Reasons for Temperance
'And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. 13. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. 14. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. 15. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16. Redeeming the time, because the days
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

Redeeming the Time
'See, then, that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.'--Eph. v. 15, 16. Some of us have, in all probability, very little more 'time' to 'redeem.' Some of us have, in all probability, the prospect of many years yet to live. For both classes my text presents the best motto for another year. The most frivolous among us, I suppose, have some thoughts when we step across the conventional boundary that seems to separate the unbroken sequence
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

On Marriage.
TEXT: EPH. v. 22-31. IN completing lately the annual round of our Christian holy-days, I expressed to you the wish that the holy emotions which our hearts experience at such seasons might not pass away with them; but that the impressions then made might accompany us during the other half of the year, so that without any extraordinary festival incitement we might constantly retain a more lively sense of communion with the Redeemer, and a fuller enjoyment of what the eternal Father has done through
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

The Light of God
Preached for the Chelsea National Schools.] Ephesians v. 13. All things which are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever is made manifest is light. This is a noble text, a royal text; one of those texts which forbid us to clip and cramp Scripture to suit any narrow notions of our own; which open before us boundless vistas of God's love, of human knowledge, of the future of mankind. There are many such texts, many more than we fancy; but this is one which is especially valuable
Charles Kingsley—Sermons for the Times

Against Foolish Talking and Jesting.
"Nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient."-- Ephes. v.4. Moral and political aphorisms are seldom couched in such terms that they should be taken as they sound precisely, or according to the widest extent of signification; but do commonly need exposition, and admit exception: otherwise frequently they would not only clash with reason and experience, but interfere, thwart, and supplant one another. The best masters of such wisdom are wont to interdict things, apt by unseasonable
Isaac Barrow—Sermons on Evil-Speaking, by Isaac Barrow

Sensual and Spiritual Excitement.
Preached August 4, 1850. SENSUAL AND SPIRITUAL EXCITEMENT. "Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit."--Ephesians v. 17, 18. There is evidently a connection between the different branches of this sentence--for ideas cannot be properly contrasted which have not some connection--but what that connection is, is not at first sight clear. It almost appears like a profane and irreverent juxtaposition
Frederick W. Robertson—Sermons Preached at Brighton

Members of Christ
"For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones."--Ephesians 5:30. YESTERDAY, when I had the painful task of speaking at the funeral of our dear friend, Mr. William Olney, I took the text which I am going to take again now. I am using it again because I did not then really preach from it at all, but simply reminded you of a favorite expression of his, which I heard from his lips many times in prayer. He very frequently spoke of our being one with Christ in "living, loving, lasting
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 38: 1892

Living, Loving, Lasting Union
With new portraits of Pastor C. H. Spurgeon and Mr. William Olney "For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones--Ephesians 5:30. BEFORE the funeral, at Norwood Cemetery, of the late Mr. William Olney, senior deacon of the church at the metropolitan Tabernacle, a service was held in the Tabernacle. The building was crowded with sympathizing friends, who came to testify the affection they bore to the beloved deacon who had been so suddenly called from their midst. The senior Pastor
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 38: 1892

Wary Walking.
(Twentieth Sunday after Trinity.) EPHESIANS v. 15. "See then that ye walk circumspectly." Some people tell us that salvation is the easiest thing in the world. We have only to feel that we believe in Jesus Christ, and all is done. Now neither Jesus Christ Himself, nor the Apostles whom He sent to teach, tell us anything of the kind. On the contrary, our Saviour, whilst He dwells on the fulness and freedom of salvation, offered to all without money, and without price, tells us that many are called,
H. J. Wilmot-Buxton—The Life of Duty, a Year's Plain Sermons, v. 2

Tenth Day. Love to the Brethren.
"And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us."--Eph. v. 2. "Jesus," says a writer, "came from heaven on the wings of love." It was the element in which he moved and walked. He sought to baptize the world afresh with it. When we find Him teaching us by love to vanquish an enemy, we need not wonder at the tenderness of His appeals to the brethren to "love one another." Like a fond father impressing his children, how the Divine Teacher lingers over the lesson, "This is My commandment!" If
John R. Macduff—The Mind of Jesus

"For to be Carnally Minded is Death; but to be Spiritually Minded is Life and Peace. "
Rom. viii. 6.--"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." It is true, this time is short, and so short that scarce can similitudes or comparisons be had to shadow it out unto us. It is a dream, a moment, a vapour, a flood, a flower, and whatsoever can be more fading or perishing; and therefore it is not in itself very considerable, yet in another respect it is of all things the most precious, and worthy of the deepest attention and most serious consideration;
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"If So be that the Spirit of God Dwell in You. Now if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ, He is None of His. "
Rom. viii. 9.--"If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." There is a great marriage spoken of, Eph. v. that hath a great mystery in it, which the apostle propoundeth as the sample and archetype of all marriages or rather as the substance, of which all conjunctions and relations among the creatures are but the shadows. It is that marriage between Christ and his church, for which, it would appear, this world was builded, to be
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"The Truth. " Some Generals Proposed.
That what we are to speak to for the clearing and improving this noble piece of truth, that Christ is the Truth, may be the more clearly understood and edifying, we shall first take notice of some generals, and then show particularly how or in what respects Christ is called the Truth; and finally speak to some cases wherein we are to make use of Christ as the Truth. As to the first. There are four general things here to be noticed. 1. This supposeth what our case by nature is, and what we are all
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

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