Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20100131.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Ephesians: Overcoming Our Insecurities In Christ
Part II: The Believer's Practice Based On His Secure Position In Christ, Ephesians 4:1-6:24
F. Living In Wisdom Through The Holy Spirit's Power
1. Living In Wisdom In Marriage Through The Holy Spirit's Power
(Ephesians 5:22-33)
  1. Introduction
    1. We learned in our last lesson that living wisely as a believer takes depending on the Holy Spirit's power to discern what Scripture says so as to discern God's will for us, and then accurately to apply that Word to living, using every moment available to be a much-needed light to fellow needy believers and the world.
    2. This lofty, comprehensive directive becomes more meaningful if we apply it to specific realms of our experience, and Paul makes that application specifically to Christian marriage in Ephesians 5:22-33:
  2. Living In Wisdom In Marriage Through The Holy Spirit's Power, Ephesians 5:22-33.
    1. Paul's call that believers submit to one another in the "fear of God" under the filling of the Holy Spirit's power (Ephesians 5:18-21) is applied to three realms of relationships that involve "submitting" -- to marriage, to family and to the workplace, Ephesians 5:22-33; 6:1-4 and 6:5-9 respectively.
    2. Regarding marriage (Ephesians 5:22-33), Paul laid out the specifics as to what is involved in living in wisdom as a much-needed light to fellow needy believers and the world (as follows):
      1. For a marriage to work well, in wisdom, the subordinate party, the WIFE, needs to submit to her own husband as unto the Lord in all realms , Ephesians 5:22-24, 33b:
        1. The wife, living in wisdom in the Spirit's power (Eph. 5:18-21), will submit to her husband, 5:22a.
        2. She is to submit to her own husband versus to some other man, Eph. 5:22b. (idiois, "one's own", U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966 ed., p. 676; Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Engl. Lex. of the N. T. , ,p. 370-371)
        3. This submission is "her service 'to the Lord'" in contrast to a submission in the same way as she submits to God, Eph. 5:22c; Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 640. Namely, given a difference between submitting to God or to her husband, she must submit to the Lord as her priority!
        4. The wife's submission is in all realms of the marriage, "in all things," Ephesians 5:24b.
        5. The reason for such submission in marriage is the example of Christ and the Church: Christ is the Head of the Church and the Savior of the Body, so the Church is to be subject to Him, Eph. 5:23. This truth reveals the wife's need to submit to her husband as the Church does to Christ, her spiritual Bridegroom, Ephesians 5:24 with Revelation 19:7-8.
      2. For the marriage to work well, in wisdom, the overseeing party, the HUSBAND, must love and nourish his wife in a self-sacrificing manner in heeding the example of Christ, Ephesians 5:25-33a:
        1. The husband who lives in wisdom in the Spirit's power (Eph. 5:18-21) will love his wife even as Christ loved the Church, sacrificially giving of himself to nourish and to cherish her, Eph. 5:25-32.
        2. Ephesians 5:25-27 recalls Christ's ministry to cleanse the Church from sin, suggesting the Christian husband who walks in wisdom should seek to take the spiritual leadership in the marriage for the discipling advance of [himself and] his wife! This effort will involve use of Scripture (Eph. 5:26) and leadership influence by way of example and teaching to see God's Word applied in his own life and then in his wife's life, implying a pastoral ministry of his wife! (cf. Psalm 128:1-3a)
        3. Ephesians 5:29 suggests the husband physically nourish his wife, which idea in view of the command in 1 Timothy 5:8 means he should be the material breadwinner in the marriage and home.
        4. Specific reference in Ephesians 5:25b, 28-30 is made to the husband's sacrificial protection of his wife's body, indicating he must be committed to protecting his wife's welfare to the point of death as Christ sacrificed His life in behalf of that of His spiritual Bride, the Church, Eph esians 5:25b.
Lesson: Living in God's wisdom in marriage involves a Christian married couple relying on the Holy Spirit's power to follow the example of Christ's relationship with the Church; that is, the wife is to submit to her own husband in all realms as her service to God, and the husband is to show a sacrificial love for his wife, assuming spiritual leadership and providing for his wife's livelihood and protection.

Application: May we thus walk in God's wisdom in our marriages with God's blessing!