New Testament · Letter

Ephesians 5

Walk in Love

Imitate God as beloved children. Walk in love. Walk in light. Paul transforms the household codes of his day with a vision of mutual, sacrificial love.

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1Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

2And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

3But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;

4Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

5For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

6Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

7Be not ye therefore partakers with them.

8For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

9(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

10Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

11And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

12For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

13But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

14Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

15See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

16Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

17Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

18And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

19Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

20Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

21Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

22Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

23For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

24Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

28So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

29For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

30For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

31For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

32This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

33Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Understand This

Ephesians 5, explained

What Ephesians 5 is saying

Paul continues the ethical exhortation: walk as children of light, exposing the 'unfruitful works of darkness.' The imperative to be 'filled with the Spirit' (plērousthe en pneumati) governs the section's instructions on worship (psalms, hymns, spiritual songs) and mutual submission. The household code begins with the marriage analogy: husbands are to love wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. This is declared a 'great mystery' (mystērion mega) referring to Christ and the church.

The background behind it

Household codes (Haustafeln) were a common literary form in Hellenistic moral philosophy, but Paul's version is christologically transformed. The marriage passage was revolutionary in its demand that husbands sacrifice for wives in a patriarchal culture that granted husbands near-absolute authority. The quotation of what may be an early Christian hymn (v. 14) adds liturgical texture.

Themes running underneath

Spirit-filling produces communal worship, mutual gratitude, and reciprocal submission—the opposite of self-indulgence. The marriage-Christ analogy elevates marriage to a sacramental icon of the gospel itself. Christ's self-sacrificial love, not hierarchical authority, is the pattern for husbands. The church-as-bride anticipates the eschatological consummation.

Why it still matters

The marriage metaphor challenges both egalitarian and complementarian readers to grapple with the text's actual emphasis: sacrificial love patterned on the cross. Spirit-filling is shown to be communal and ethical, not merely experiential.

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Scripture text: King James Version — public domain.