Ephesians 5
(1) Love Sacrificially like Jesus
Imitate God, since you’re His children and He loves you. Be loving, in the same way that the Chosen One loved us and handed Himself over for us. We should sacrificially offer ourselves as gifts to God and be like a fragrant incense.
(3) Be Pure
Impurities like greed and extra-marital sex shouldn’t even be mentioned when people talk about you. That’s how it should be for God’s sacred people. You shouldn’t have an ounce of bad character, and you should talk about senseless things or make hurtful jokes. Those things aren’t a good fit for you. What you should do instead is express thankfulness. After all, if people are impure, or they sleep around, or they want what others have, or they adore other things more than God, we know that they don’t have anything to inherit in God’s empire.
(6) Move from Darkness to Light
Don’t let anyone trick you with empty ideas, because those things bring God’s anger on the offspring of rebellion. So don’t participate in their behavior with them.
You used to be part of the darkness, but now you’re Light in the Ruler, so operate like children of Light. (After all, Light produces all kinds of things that are good, perfect, and true.) Try doing what makes the Ruler happy. Don’t become friends with the unproductive endeavors of darkness—instead, expose them. It’s a disgrace to even think about the things those people do in secret. Everything becomes visible when the light exposes them. By definition, everything that makes things visible is light. That’s why the ancient writings say,
“Wake up, sleeping people and emerge from those who are dead. The Chosen One will shine on you.”
—Isaiah 26:19 & Isaiah 60:1
Take a careful look at how you operate. Don’t operate like unintelligent people. Operate like intelligent people. Make the most of your time, because the days are rotten. That’s why I tell you not to be senseless, but to find out what the Ruler’s intentions are. And don’t get drunk, because that’s a waste. Instead, be filled with God’s Breath, speaking to each other using psalms and songs birthed by God’s Spirit. Have your heart sing and make music to the Ruler. Always be thankful to God for everything in honor of Jesus, the Chosen One. Rank yourselves under each other out of reverence for the Chosen One.
(22) Wives Should Go Beneath their Husbands
Wives, you should rank yourselves beneath your husbands like you do to the Ruler. After all, the husband is the head of the wife, in the same way that the Chosen One is the head of the church. (And He rescues the body.) In the same way that the church is ranked beneath the Chosen One, wives should be ranked beneath their husbands in everything.
(25) Husbands Should Love their Wives
Husbands, you should love your wives like the Chosen One loved the church and gave Himself up for her in order to perfect her and differentiate her. He cleaned her by washing her in the water of divine statements so He could have the church stand side-by-side with Him without her having any flaws, defects, or anything like that. Instead, she would be flawless and perfect. That’s why I’m telling the husbands to love their wives in the same way that they cherish their own bodies. If you love your wife, you are loving yourself—and no one ever neglects to take care of their own bodies. We nourish our bodies and cherish them, and that’s how the Chosen One treats the church since we are the limbs of His body.
“That’s why a man will leave his mom and dad and be glued to his wife. The two will become one flesh.”
—Genesis 2:24
That’s such a profound mystery… but I’m using it to refer to the Chosen one and the church. If you’re a husband, you should love your wife in the same way you love yourself. And if you’re a wife, you should respect your husband.