Feb 4-10, 2024

3 But fornication and impurity of any kind, or greed, must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints.

What kind of reputation should Christians have amongst non-Christians?

4 Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk; but instead, let there be thanksgiving.

“Just as clamor was the fuel of wrath, so foul talk is the fuel of lust” (John Chrysostom) (Maximos et al. 1606).

5 Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

IDOLATER. When vice has become an obsession, it functions in a person’s life as a god (or idol), drawing forth passionate commitment of time and energy (Coleman 1890). Why would idolatry disinherit a person from the Kingdom of God?

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient.

Paul did not water down God’s standards to accommodate the culture; instead he warned that those who engaged in this lifestyle would not be among God’s people in the world to come (Keener IVPBBC:NT Eph 5:3–6).

7 Therefore do not be associated with them.

But many in Greco-Roman society would have branded Christians as antisocial for refusing to take part in immoral conversation and, even more, in the pervasive civic religious cults which were regarded as a mark of local loyalty (Keener IVPBBC:NT Eph 5:7). Have you ever been accused of being antisocial because you refused to participate in immoral behavior?

8 For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light—9 for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true.

If you have ever experienced the contrast, how would you describe the difference between living in darkness and living in light?

10 Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.

In your own words, what do you believe pleases the Lord?

11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; 13 but everything exposed by the light becomes visible,

Some Greek religious groups known as “mystery cults” emphasized night initiations, and some of them were also connected with sexual immorality; because some Roman critics of all foreign religions associated Christians with immoral cults, Paul has all the more reason to wish to dissociate Christianity from cults he already regards as pagan. People could enact deeds in darkness of which they would have been ashamed in public (cf. Is 29:15; 47:10) (Keener IVPBBC:NT Eph 5:8–13).

14 for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

CONSIDER (VV. 6–14): When did you first realize that sinful behaviors and lifestyles are “fruitless”? What does it look like on a practical level to “expose” the darkness of our world?

15 Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, 16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17 So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Justin Martyr wrote in A.D. 1—

We who were formerly the slaves of lust now only strive after purity; we who loved the path to riches above every other, now give what we have to the common use, and give to everyone that needs; we who hated and destroyed one another, now live together, and pray for our enemies, and endeavor to convince those who hate us without cause, so that they may order their lives according to Christ’s glorious doctrine and attain to the joyful hope of receiving like blessings with ourselves from God, the Lord of all (Stone 32).

Which of the words from Justin Martyr spoke most to you?

18 Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit,

DO NOT GET DRUNK. Many people in the ancient world believed that drunkenness could produce a sort of inspiration or possession by Dionysus, god of wine. Here Paul contrasts this behavior with inspiration by God’s Spirit (Keener IVPBBC:NT Eph 5:18).

BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT. Both worship (5:19-20) and submission (5:21) flow from being filled with God’s Spirit (Keener Paul, Women, and Wives 158).

19 as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, 20 giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

WORSHIP (VV. 19–20): Make a list of every blessing you’ve received in the past week—everything you feel thankful for. Express your thanks to God for each item on that list, praising him as your provider and sustainer.

21 Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.

The final expression of being filled with the Spirit is “SUBMITTING TO ONE ANOTHER” because Christ is one’s Lord. All the household codes Paul proposes are based on this idea. But although it was customary to call on wives, children and slaves to submit in various ways, to call all members of a group (including the paterfamilias, the male head of the household) to submit to one another was unheard-of (Keener IVPBBC:NT Eph 5:21). Can you give an example of what mutual submission looks like in your everyday life? How has Christian submission challenged social conventions in your experience?

22 Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord.

The English word “SUBMIT/BE SUBJECT” does not appear in the Greek text of verse 22; it is borrowed from verse 21. In other words, verse 22 is an example of verse 21’s mutual submission. Wives should submit to their husbands because Christians should submit to one another (Keener PWW 169). Is the wife’s "submission" any different from the "mutual submission" one verse earlier? (Hint: No.)

Opposition to Foreign Cults

HUSBANDS. The Roman aristocracy felt increasingly threatened by the upward mobility of socially inferior elements, such as former slaves, foreigners, and women (Keener PWW 139). Men were the guardians of traditional Roman values, and so were uneasy about the “new” religions from the east that seemed to challenge standard values (Keener PWW 140). In the eyes of the Roman elite, both Isis-worshipers and Jews in Rome represented a foreign superstition of the sort that could subvert the morals of virtuous Roman women (Keener PWW 141). In our society, who holds the power and authority? What do they believe is a threat to their power?

Josephus, a Jewish historian writing at the end of the first century, describes scandals that arose in relation both to the cult of Isis and to Judaism. A priest of Isis helped a deceiver to fulfill his adulterous designs on a virtuous Roman woman, and when the story got out, the authorities were enraged: the emperor banished the deceiver, crucified the priests, and destroyed the temple of Isis. Although there is no evidence that all the priests were guilty, or that such behavior characterized the entire cult of Isis, the religion as a whole suffered a great setback from the scandal (Keener PWW 141).

Josephus likewise tells us of a Jewish man who, pretending to teach the law, tricked a wealthy woman into giving him funds for the temple that he actually kept for himself. Josephus is quick to point out that this man was no proper representative of the rest of the Jewish community, but that this fact did not protect the rest of the Jewish community from the anti-Jewish sentiment aroused by the incident. The response of the emperor Tiberius was to banish the entire Jewish community from Rome (Keener PWW 141).

How does this social context help you understand Paul’s instructions on wives submitting to their husbands?

The conversion of wives to Christianity thus opposed a threat to upper-class men, and through them could provoke increased hostility toward Christians (Keener PWW 142). Paul did not want the church, the fledgling church to be torn apart. How revolutionary do you think Christians should be? How much should the church challenge the status quo?

Women’s Inferior Status in Home and Society

What did a wife’s submission mean for ancient men? What were the “normal” roles for women in Paul’s day?

WIVES. In Paul’s day, Greco-Roman culture felt that women were morally weaker than men. Plutarch argued that husbands should teach their wives philosophy because, apart from men, women could only produce evil passions and foolishness. Aristotle held that virtue for men was shown in commanding, whereas women’s was show in obeying (Keener PWW 160).

Similarly, Jewish sources in Paul’s time usually viewed women only in terms of their relationship to men, often as objects of sexual temptation, or in the role of wife or daughter. One early Jewish teacher advised men not to sit among women, because evil comes from them like a moth emerging from clothes (Keener PWW 161). Rabbinic law required wives to obey her husband and surrender to him any income she might receive (Keener PWW 162).

23 For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. 24 Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands.

Household Codes

THE HEAD. Aristotle introduced three pairs of relationships into the household codes: the head of the family’s relationship with wife, children, and slaves, in each case defining the nature of the father’s rule. It was typical for ancient writers to think of families in these general terms of rank and duty; “family” was defined more by relationships of subordination than by blood relationship. The man in charge of the household was often even compared to a king, since the family was viewed as a microcosm of society (Keener PWW 142). It was important for new religions, like Christianity, to show their compatibility with their Roman neighbors. When is it appropriate to adopt the customs of the dominant culture around us?

Early Christian households were an attempt to show that Christians were good members of society, who did not seek to radically overturn Roman social structures. In truth, Paul’s ethical teachings were revolutionary. The early Christian gospel was socially liberating and drew many people to the faith. Its attractiveness also made it vulnerable to the charges of subversion (Keener PWW 146-147). Why is the Christian gospel socially liberating? Why is that subversive?

How do ancient household codes illuminate Paul’s teaching about headship?

It was important for ancient Christians not to be viewed as undermining the ethics of Roman society. For the sake of their witness and their survival, Paul portrayed Christian ethics in terms that would best communicate to their culture the moral superiority of Christianity (Keener PWW 157).

Stressing the wife’s submission would be important for evangelizing resistant elements in the Roman world and for resisting progressive cultural temptations for wives to affirm too much independence at the expense of their marriage (Keener PWW 147).

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

LOVE YOUR WIVES. Most ancient household codes instructed men on ruling or governing wives, rather than how to love her. Paul is among the minority of ancient writers in that he devotes more space to the exhortation of husbands to love than to that of wives to submit. In our culture, his exhortation to wives to submit stands out more strongly; in his culture, the exhortation to husbands to love, rather than the normal advice to rule the home, would have stood out more strongly (Keener PWW 167).

How do you understand Christ’s love and sacrifice for the church? Tell the gospel in your own words.

26 in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, 27 so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind—yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish.

TO PRESENT THE CHURCH. At a Jewish wedding, the bride was presented to the groom by a friend (Coleman 1891).

28 In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30 because we are members of his body.

Explain Paul’s analogy of caring for one’s own body. What lessons do you draw from it?

31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”

ONE FLESH. The emphasis is not on hierarchy but on oneness, spiritual and sexual unity. The husband and wife should see themselves as one and work together with a common purpose and goal (Keener PWW 168). In what ways or areas do you need to work on oneness and unity?

32 This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church.

33 Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband.

RESPECT. The closest thing Paul gives to a definition of the term in this context, in fact, is the word “respect” (Keener PWW 168).

Paul’s argument here is both powerful and well crafted. If wives submit to their husbands, Roman moralists and others could not claim that Christianity subverted pagan morals. But if the husband also submits, and husband and wife act as equals before God, Paul is demanding something more than Roman moralists typically demanded, not less (Keener PWW 169). How can Christians today challenge our non-Christian neighbors to something higher and better?

Works Cited

Coleman, Lyman. Life Connections Study Bible. Holman Bibles, 2019.

Keener, Craig S. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. InterVarsity Press, 1993.

---. Paul, Women, and Wives: Marriage and Women's Ministry in the Letters of Paul. 3rd edition, Baker Academic, 1995.

Maximos, Metropolitan et al. The Orthodox Study Bible: Ancient Christianity Speaks to Today’s World. edited by St. Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology, Thomas Nelson, 2008.

Stone, Sam E. Sermon Outlines on Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. edited by Sam E. Stone, Standard, 1995.