INTRODUCTION TO EPHESIANS STUDY , Ron Ward
A CHRISTIAN HOUSEHOLD
Passage: Ephesians 5:22~33  
Key verse: 33
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands(A) as you do to the Lord.(B) 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church,(C) his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands(D) in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives,(E) just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her(F) 26 to make her holy,(G) cleansing[a] her by the washing(H) with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself(I) as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.(J) 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives(K) as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body.(L) 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[b](M) 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife(N) as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Footnotes
- Ephesians 5:26 Or having cleansed
- Ephesians 5:31 Gen. 2:24
Cross references
- Ephesians 5:22 : Ge 3:16; 1Co 14:34; Col 3:18; 1Ti 2:12; Tit 2:5; 1Pe 3:1, 5, 6
- Ephesians 5:22 : Eph 6:5
- Ephesians 5:23 : S Eph 1:22
- Ephesians 5:24 : S ver 22
- Ephesians 5:25 : ver 28, 33; Col 3:19
- Ephesians 5:25 : S ver 2
- Ephesians 5:26 : Jn 17:19; Heb 2:11; 10:10, 14; 13:12
- Ephesians 5:26 : S Ac 22:16
- Ephesians 5:27 : S 2Co 4:14
- Ephesians 5:27 : Eph 1:4
- Ephesians 5:28 : ver 25
- Ephesians 5:30 : S Ro 12:5; S 1Co 12:27
- Ephesians 5:31 : Ge 2:24; Mt 19:5; 1Co 6:16
- Ephesians 5:33 : ver 25
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source:  BibleGateway
A Christian wife respects her husband as to the Lord. As wives deny themselves willingly to support their husbands’ decisions, families are built up in Christ. This is not blind obedience. She trusts God and prays that he will help her husband to make the right decisions. Through her Christlike obedience, God is glorified and the husband is strengthened by his wife’s humble support.
Christian husbands ought to love their wives as themselves and give themselves up for their wives as Christ gave up himself for the church. Christian husbands protect their wives and build up their marriage as Christ guards and sanctifies the church. Then, the two are one in Christ, as Christ and the church are one. Thus, we must decide to love and respect and build up the family, following Christ’s example. This leads to a true bond of love.
Prayer: Father, thank you for Jesus who sets us the perfect example of love and obedience. Please help godly husbands and wives to submit to each other out of reverence for Christ.
One Word: Love and respect as to the Lord