Washing by the Word?

[*Hope*]

Ephesians 5:25-27 "Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that He may sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. That He might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle. Or any such thing, that it should be holy and without blemish. That He might sanctify it or set it apart."

What do these verses mean? And how is this done practically?

[shepherdsword]

Ephesians 5:25-27 "Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that He may sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. That He might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle. Or any such thing, that it should be holy and without blemish. That He might sanctify it or set it apart."

What do these verses mean? And how is this done practically?


Let AK worry about that one.;) You just focus on this:

Eph 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. :rofl:


WHOOPS!:lol:

[*Hope*]

Har har :cool:

[kayte]

Ephesians 5:25-27 "Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that He may sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. That He might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle. Or any such thing, that it should be holy and without blemish. That He might sanctify it or set it apart."

What do these verses mean? And how is this done practically?

My husband is a pro at this! He has worked hard to know me, understand me and treat me as Christ treats the church.

I am not a bride without spot or blemish, yet Jesus makes it so. He presents me/us to Himself as pure and clean, holy... set apart for Himself. My husband does this in how he honors me and presents me to himself. He doesn't pick me apart with his words or actions, but mends me together. He never holds anything in the past against me... he chooses to 'make me clean' and forgiven. He knows my faults better than anyone on earth (he's lived with me for 31 years after all) but he loves me, no matter what and he calls me his own.

As an example, there have been several times over the years that he's shown up with a bouquet of all white flowers and told me that I am like those... white and pure and a sweet fragrance in his life that he is thankful for and cherishes.

He lives out the love of God toward me daily. He's never irritated or angry with me, instead he yields to the Lord and lives out patience, kindness, gentleness and love that melts me and convicts me and draws me to himself. He delights himself in me and reminds me that the Lord 'joys over us with singing' and that His banner over me is love.

His words wash over me like soothing water. Never scalding and never icy.

Hope that gives you an idea of the practical side. :)

[tayariswife]

My husband is a pro at this! He has worked hard to know me, understand me and treat me as Christ treats the church.

I am not a bride without spot or blemish, yet Jesus makes it so. He presents me/us to Himself as pure and clean, holy... set apart for Himself. My husband does this in how he honors me and presents me to himself. He doesn't pick me apart with his words or actions, but mends me together. He never holds anything in the past against me... he chooses to 'make me clean' and forgiven. He knows my faults better than anyone on earth (he's lived with me for 31 years after all) but he loves me, no matter what and he calls me his own.

As an example, there have been several times over the years that he's shown up with a bouquet of all white flowers and told me that I am like those... white and pure and a sweet fragrance in his life that he is thankful for and cherishes.

He lives out the love of God toward me daily. He's never irritated or angry with me, instead he yields to the Lord and lives out patience, kindness, gentleness and love that melts me and convicts me and draws me to himself. He delights himself in me and reminds me that the Lord 'joys over us with singing' and that His banner over me is love.

His words wash over me like soothing water. Never scalding and never icy.

Hope that gives you an idea of the practical side. :)

Wow.... Can we put your hubby under the definition of this scripture? :-)

[*Hope*]

My husband is a pro at this! He has worked hard to know me, understand me and treat me as Christ treats the church.

I am not a bride without spot or blemish, yet Jesus makes it so. He presents me/us to Himself as pure and clean, holy... set apart for Himself. My husband does this in how he honors me and presents me to himself. He doesn't pick me apart with his words or actions, but mends me together. He never holds anything in the past against me... he chooses to 'make me clean' and forgiven. He knows my faults better than anyone on earth (he's lived with me for 31 years after all) but he loves me, no matter what and he calls me his own.

As an example, there have been several times over the years that he's shown up with a bouquet of all white flowers and told me that I am like those... white and pure and a sweet fragrance in his life that he is thankful for and cherishes.

He lives out the love of God toward me daily. He's never irritated or angry with me, instead he yields to the Lord and lives out patience, kindness, gentleness and love that melts me and convicts me and draws me to himself. He delights himself in me and reminds me that the Lord 'joys over us with singing' and that His banner over me is love.

His words wash over me like soothing water. Never scalding and never icy.

Hope that gives you an idea of the practical side. :)

It sounds like you have an awesome marriage and I appreciate your testimony. I guess I should've been more clear though. I'm specifically wonder what the verses mean where it says the husband "washes" his wife "by the word" and then later refers to Christ sanctifying the church, making it holy and setting it apart. I'm wondering how those verses specifically apply to marriage....?

[Walstib]

I think the church is that being washed by the Word here rather than the wife. What I see when I read it.

Are there ways a husband can wash and sanctify his wife, actual or sybolical... both? (not sure if thoses are the best words) That would be an interesting thing to explore.

Peace,
Joe

[kayte]

It sounds like you have an awesome marriage and I appreciate your testimony. I guess I should've been more clear though. I'm specifically wonder what the verses mean where it says the husband "washes" his wife "by the word" and then later refers to Christ sanctifying the church, making it holy and setting it apart. I'm wondering how those verses specifically apply to marriage....?

Maybe I was the one that wasn't clear enough. I thought that's what I answered, but it was the middle of the night when I posted. :lol::rolleyes:

Ephesians 5:25-27 "Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that He may sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. That He might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle. Or any such thing, that it should be holy and without blemish. That He might sanctify it or set it apart."

I always hear the first part of this quoted for husbands, that they love their wives even as Christ also love the church and gave himself for it. And that's where people usually stop. Most men respond that they love their wives and would die for her if need be. But that isn't the end of the story or how the Lord will work and accomplish the rest of the verse through the ministry of the husband toward his wife.

Husbands are uniquely called to demonstrate the same love toward their wives that Jesus demonstrates toward His bride, the church. My husbands study of this and other passages, led him to the knowledge that the Christian marriage is supposed to be a picture of Jesus and the church. So he studied how Jesus 'treats' the church, how He loves the church. What he found was that Jesus spoke healing, restoring, cleansing things... and so he chose that as his guideline for how he speaks to me.

Jesus alone can cleanse us from sin, but a husband's witness of God's love and forgiveness toward his wife, does lead her (individually and the church) to 'know Him', to live a life of humbleness - knowing she isn't worthy of such love (either her husbands or the Lords) and of thanksgiving as she is being sanctified and set apart (for the Lord and for her husband.)

Husbands that respond to their wives with grace, love, mercy, joy, etc., are washing her in the word. Those that are critical, complaining, argumentative, selfish, etc., are not displaying Christ's love for the church.

I should ask my husband how he would say what I'm trying to say (and doing a poor job of!)

[*Hope*]

I think the church is that being washed by the Word here rather than the wife. What I see when I read it.

Are there ways a husband can wash and sanctify his wife, actual or sybolical... both? (not sure if thoses are the best words) That would be an interesting thing to explore.

Peace,
Joe


I agree, that's exactly why I created the topic. To explore it :)

[Brother Mark]

Ephesians 5:25-27 "Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that He may sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. That He might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle. Or any such thing, that it should be holy and without blemish. That He might sanctify it or set it apart."

What do these verses mean? And how is this done practically?


I think of this passage in relation to the one above.

1 John 3:1-3

3 See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
NASB

We desire to be like our bridegroom because we are in love with Him and admire and respect Him. But how do we know these things about Him and what he is like?

1 Peter 1:13-14

13 Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
NASB

Because He is revealed to us by grace and as he is revealed to us, we get grace. But where does that grace come from? Ephesians says it comes through faith. Then the question becomes, how does faith arise?

Rom 10:17
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
NASB

So then, faith comes by hearing the word of Christ. That is "rhema" or spoken word to our hearts. It is the revelation of who Jesus is. It's when the bible comes alive to us and means something personally. Then faith arises in our hearts. Through faith, grace comes (because we get a revelation of who Jesus is) and grace is power to overcome. Upon that revelation more grace comes and as we see who he is, a great desire to be like Him rises up within us. Because of this desire, we begin to purify ourselves, using the grace he has given us because we want to be like Him when he comes.

Thus, the word (rhema) of God cleanses us when he speaks directly to us through the logos (written word). Also, it is as though by water, which IMO, is the Holy Spirit at work too. For He is the water that springs from our hearts so that we never thirst again. So Jesus himself cleanses us when he speaks to us. It motivates us to be ready for Him and his word becomes life to us.

Look at it this way, when a man speaks to his girl, he can motivate her mightily through the things he says to her. She will do all sorts of things to get ready to be pretty for him because he has expressed his pleasure in her and how she looks, how she behaves, etc. As a result, she wants to make herself pretty for her man. And so through the words he speaks, he impacts her to the point that she gets herself ready for him. Upon their date, she presents herself as without spot or blemish to Him in excitement. But let that man speak down to her and watch her shrivel. Anyway, that is IMO, a physical example of what God is saying in Ephesians about how he cleanses us through his word.

Grace and peace,

Mark

[Walstib]

I agree, that's exactly why I created the topic. To explore it :)

Nice! ;)

Well I am not even two years into my marriage so it's still all new to me, the living it practical part that is.

First off I know that I don't have any power of my own to clean her and God is in control of all that stuff. It's not a special cleaning power that is possessed by a husband.

Husbands do though have God given authority. We should post a bit more of the passage....

............... always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. Wives, be subject 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.(Eph 5:20-24 NASB)

I think Paul here starts a point with being subject to each other, as fellow children of God. Going on to compare the authority of Christ as the head and husbands as the head.

The beautiful part of it is that Jesus came to serve and give up his life for the Church. Foolishness of the cross(1Cor 1), applies to marriage as well.

What I mean is the "carnal world" teaches that a high authority will rule with an iron fist and do what they want at the expense of the subjects. Whereas the pattern established by God shows to give freedom to the subjects in love and sacrifice of yourself for them.

I believe it is in a husband serving his wife, giving her the freedom to come to him of her own will, and never lording his authority over the wife that parallels what is being taught in these verses.

I am the one setting my wife apart from the world in my life. Part of my flesh, someone to treat better than I treat myself. I have the responsibility to not bury her in my own dirt and put my yolk on her.

By the husband acting like Jesus and giving up his life for his wife, becoming the greater servant, he is in accordance with the word and keeps his wife in a "clean place" in his mind. Setting her apart to himself and using his authority in love, this glorifies God.

All that said I am a work in progress :P

Peace,
Joe

[Toymom]

That is interesting. I always put the washing with the water of the word with Christ and the church and did not relate it to the husband wife part at all. But, looking at it as being connected, the husbands should love their wives with the Lord's love - not ruling over them, but loving them as they love their own selves willing to even die for them as Christ did for the church. And husbands, as heads of their households should be in the word reading and praying and fully constituted with Christ so that they can share Him with their wives thus helping to sanctify their wives and families. I guess. I have never looked at it that way before though.

[*Hope*]

Thank you for the responses, these are great! I appreciate them.

Do any of you feel there is a responsibility given here for the husband to teach his wife the word? Is there an implication that he is more wise? More knowledgeable? Or should be? And how do you think a husband would set his wife apart?

[Momof5]

Ephesians 5:25-27 "Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that He may sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. That He might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle. Or any such thing, that it should be holy and without blemish. That He might sanctify it or set it apart."

What do these verses mean? And how is this done practically?



This portion pertains to what Christ has done and is doing in the Church.....husbands are to love their wives sacrificially the way Christ loves the Church....this does not say that husbands wash their wives with the word, but that Christ does.

[Lars777]

Ephesians 5:25-27 "Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that He may sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. That He might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle. Or any such thing, that it should be holy and without blemish. That He might sanctify it or set it apart."

What do these verses mean? And how is this done practically?







Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 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. Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one." This is a great mystery, and I take it to mean Christ and the church; (Ephesians 5:25-32)



All is said in one phrase, "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church." The rest is an elucidation of that.

Perhaps there is no word in our modern parlance which needs more interpreting than this word love. It is grossly misused today. It is used to describe everything from sordid sexual passion to patriotic emotion.

But here it is defined for us in a very illuminating phrase which is set in apposition to it. The apostle does not merely say "Love your wives as Christ loved the church," but he goes on to describe what that love is: "... and gave himself up for her."

That is what love is! That is the way the husband is to be subject to the wife. He gives himself up for her. It does not mean he is to give in to her, for that is her role toward him.

If he did that he would be subjecting himself to the wife as the wife is supposed to subject herself to the husband. But his form of subjection is different.

It is not to give in, but to give up -- to give himself up for his wife. No husband is playing his proper role in marriage until he learns to give himself up to his wife, to open his heart to her, to share his emotions and dreams, his thoughts and disappointments, his joys, to fully expose himself to his wife.

And there is nothing that makes a woman happier than to know that she fully enters into her husband's life. That fulfills her, and it fulfills him.

Now, as in the case of the wife, the apostle holds up to us the example of Christ. "Love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."

His self-giving was deliberate and purposeful. Our Lord did not give himself up for the church without certain objectives in mind, and those purposes are three-fold.

The apostle lists them for us that we might draw the parallel and understand what it means for a husband to give himself up for his wife. He says the Lord Jesus gave himself up for the church, First, that he might sanctify her, second, that he might present the church to himself in splendor, and third, that he might fulfill the mystery of his own being, as is suggested in Verse 30: "because we are members of his body."

These same goals apply to the husband and wife relationship:

The husband is to give himself up for his wife in order that he might sanctify her. Well, what does that mean? Basically, as we have seen in other messages, the word "sanctify" means "put to the proper use."

Anything can be sanctified. This is not a religious word. You are sanctifying those chairs upon which you are sitting.

Anything that is put to its proper use is sanctified, and that is what that word means here.

The Lord Jesus gave himself up on the cross in order that the whole church, those who would be redeemed by his grace, might be put to the proper use for which God intended man and woman, might be called back to the original function and purpose of humanity.

This is also to be the goal of the husband. He is to give himself up for the wife in order that she might fulfill her womanhood, her purpose.

Now, he must know what that purpose is. That is why the Apostle Peter, in his parallel passage to this says, "husbands, dwell with your wives according to knowledge" (1 Peter 3:7 KJV) -- not according to guesswork, not according to your present feeling, but according to knowledge of what a woman is supposed to be.

Let me share a great secret with you men. It is something I learned from the Scriptures, for I would never have learned it from life, though it is confirmed by life: Women cannot understand themselves; only men can understand women.

Ah, but ladies, do not feel bad -- men cannot understand themselves either; only women can. How often we realize that our mates know us better than we know ourselves! So the man is to give himself up in order that the woman might fulfill her womanhood. The purpose of womanhood is twofold:

First, it is to be a helper to her husband. But it is impossible for someone to help you unless you let them. If a husband excludes his wife from his thinking, she cannot be his partner, she cannot be his helper.

At the deepest level of her being she will sense that she is being deprived of that for which she was made. That is what creates this restiveness uneasiness and sometimes perverseness of women which frequently puzzles so many husbands.

When these attitudes are displayed by wives, it is usually because the husband is denying his wife her right to be a woman and the opportunity to fulfill her womanhood. She is to be his helper.

Second, she is to contribute beauty to his life. That is what women are for. That is why they are much more beautiful than men. They are intended to contribute beauty at every level, not only beauty of form, but of spirit as well.

That is why, again, Peter says that a woman should seek after that "quiet and gentle spirit which is, in the sight of God, of great price," (1 Peter 3:4).

That is what a woman can uniquely contribute to life. But it is the husband who opens the door of opportunity for a woman to do this by sharing himself with her.

Notice that the apostle points out that the instrument by which the Lord sanctified the church was the word, "the washing of water with the word."

By the Word of God, by talking to the church, by telling it things, by opening up its eyes to the understanding of reality -- that is the way the Lord sanctifies his church.

"You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" (John 8:32) -- to be what you ought to be. The same is true in a husband and wife relationship.


It is the husband's talking to his wife which makes it possible for her to fulfill her role as a helper and a beautifier. He must, therefore, give himself up in this sense, share with her, discuss with her, talk about things.

Even though there may be obstacles to communication, he must find a way around them, for his responsibility is to open up and share with her.

In Verse 27 we have the second reason why the Lord gave himself up for the church:

...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. (Ephesians 5:27)

This is right in line again with what the Apostle Peter reminds us. "Husbands," he says, "give honor unto the wife, as to the weaker vessel," (1 Peter 3:7 KJV).

The husband must find ways by which he honors his wife, glorifies her, exalts her in the family circle, and in his own thinking. This is his role, his job in marriage, to give himself up to the end that his wife might be honored, not only in the family circle but outside as well.

It requires, above all, that he show her simple courtesy.


Look at the face of a woman who is loved by her husband and you will see a glory there that cannot be duplicated.

An honored wife fulfills womanhood. To accomplish it, husbands should be infallibly courteous to their wives. We are always courteous to those whom we seek to honor.

It means the avoidance of sarcasm or contemptuous language, and the avoidance of criticism, at least bitter or sharp or unwarranted criticism.

It does not mean that there cannot be a discussion of areas of difference, or a bringing out of matters which need to be brought to attention, but it does mean to avoid any semblance of that which would disgrace or dishonor or in any way degrade the wife.

The third reason why Christ gave himself up for the church was in order to fulfill the mystery of his own being.

As the apostle says, "Husbands should love their wives as their own bodies, for he who loves his wife loves himself. And no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it." Thus again he brings in the example of Christ.

Christ did this. He loves us and continually gives himself up for us because he cannot help it; we are part of him, we belong to him.

We who are Christians are part of his body in this mystery, this amazing mystery of life. To substantiate it, the apostle quotes a verse from the first chapter of Genesis:

"For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one." (Ephesians 5:31)

[DaniHansen]

Jesus did tell his disciples that they were already clean by the words He had spoken to them.

I not long ago asked my husband to just read a Bible passage to me. There was no teaching, no instruction, no discussion, no nothing. Just him reading and me listening and focusing on Him speaking God's Word to me. I picked the passage, and let the Word just wash over me and surround me. That was after an intense time of warfare, and it was Psalm 91 and it did so much to put me back in my right frame of mind and help me feel protected.

I would think that the authority of the Word of God, coupled with your husband's authority, should be a power punch to the enemy to beat him far, far away and to allow God to just minister to you. We do need that, don't you think? I sure did that day. And he wasn't even doing any proclaiming or praying or anything, just reading the living Word of God out loud and I was just listening. Mmmmmmhmmmm.

That was an absolutely wonderful experience, and I would encourage any couple to do that regularly. And if you haven't tried it, then I can only heartily recommend it. :)