Present Her Holy & Blameless
In the fifth chapter of Paul’s letter to Ephesus, he commands and instructs the men in the local body; saying, “²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, ²⁶so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless.”
If you know me well, you know my overly careful handling of the Scriptures, and in this passage Paul is clearly placing the responsibility of sanctification and purification of the Church on Christ. Yet, while we consider the context, we see Paul is applying this doctrinal truth to the responsibility of husbands to be like Christ in their dealings and stewarding of their wives.
A Holy Church
Before I dig deeper into that, I want to pause on such a revealing and awesome truth about Jesus. The truth is that after His role at Creation, His advocacy on our behalf to the Father, His incarnation, His 33 year-long earthly life, His humiliating and painful death, which made way for His triumphant resurrection — at the end of it all — is His pursuit to sanctify, wash, and present to God a bride who is without spot or blemish, one who is holy and blameless.
Christ’s desire is to make a people whose “righteousness is like filthy rags” (Isa 64:6), into people who are without spot or blemish. That is us on our best day, when we’ve read our Bible, spent time with God in prayer, steered clear of sin, and listened to our favorite worship music; THAT is like filthy rags! And yet, Paul says, “He (Christ) who knew no sin, became sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus cares so much for the institution that we call the “local church,” that He became like filthy rags, taking the penalty of such filthiness; Ultimately, so that we can then take on his righteousness which is perfect and pure.
Isaiah 1:18 is made manifest in Christ and then perfectly communicated by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:21.
“Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.” (Isa 1:18).
To adopt a passion for the local church is to adopt Christ’s passion for His bride; this has led me to have strong convictions for how local churches should look, how people should be stewarded and discipled, and even has made me revisit my commitment to a local church. If it is the heart of Jesus to make sure His church is presented to Himself holy and blameless, then it is this heart for the Church that I pray to develop.
A Holy Wife
A mention of a man’s headship over his wife or household is rarely missed when speaking on a husband’s responsibility to love his wife. Clearly, we are called to lead within the home and to lead our wives. But, do we as husbands ever stop to think “leading her where?” We see that as Christ sanctifies the Church He does so knowing He will “present her to Himself.” Again, if we are to apply this text rightly then we must understand this text as saying, at the very least, we have an accountability to God to steward our wives spiritually.
Understand also that she is a part of that “Church” that Christ will sanctify and present to Himself. So, it is not a husband’s job to be her righteousness, as that is what Christ has already offered her, but it is our responsibility to steward her spiritual walk. If we look back at this portion of Paul’s letter to Ephesus, in verse 26 we are given vision for what it looks like to steward her spiritually. Paul tells us that Jesus sanctifies His Church by “cleansing her by the washing of water with the word,” and we are to partner with Christ in this effort, not only as we disciple others, but as we love our wives.
What does this mean?
It means, to give her Jesus. In every way, in action, in speech, in prayer, and in Scripture — give her Jesus. Surely, she has a biblical responsibility to respect and love her husband; but from a husband’s perspective, it shifts the focus of responsibility off of her responsibility and onto his own responsibility to be sure he can stand before God and be certain he is leading her closer to Him.
Look at Hosea, maybe one of the most explosive displays of God’s love outside of the Gospel itself. God commanded Hosea to marry a prostitute, and he obeyed. He married a woman named Gomer, after bearing three of Hosea’s children, she would find herself back in the life of a prostitute. Hosea, who now may be frustrated, angry, or confused is commanded by God to “Go again” find her and love her. Hosea finds her being sold as a sex slave in the marketplace, and yet still he obeys, even to the point that He agrees to pay to purchase his wife back. Hosea paid for what was technically already his — sound familiar?
Hosea then speaks vows to Gomer, saying “ᶾyou shall stay with me for many days. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man, so I will also be toward you.”
He continues by prophesying over Israel, who had been like a prostitute, rejecting God to have relations with the world. Hosea continues, “⁴for the sons of Israel will remain for many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar and without ephod or household idols. ⁵Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.” (Hosea 3).
A quick summary of this text: Israel had played the harlot and had rejected the Lord. Yet as Hosea had pursued Gomer, God had painted a picture of His pursuit of Israel (the Church); a people who have rejected Him and yet He looks to take them again as His Bride. It is prophesied that Israel will return and seek God and “David their King,” the name David is here, because they had yet to know the name Jesus, but that is who the text is referring to here. But look at the end of verse 5 — “they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.” It is the goodness of God that is made manifest in Christ fulfilling His responsibility to present His Bride as holy and blameless that we are to model towards our wives; just as Hosea modeled toward Gomer. Gomer surely had tasted and seen the goodness of God as Hosea relentlessly pursued her and in doing so (potentially) led her closer to God.
Husbands, love and steward your wives as if you will have to present her holy and blameless before the Lord.