Understanding Purity || Ephesians 5:25-26 || Manna for the Mind #70

Welcome to Day 70 of the “Manna for the Mind” devotional series! This series is about taking scripture passages (typically 1-3 verses) and building our understanding of their teachings through their context and connecting scripture. I believe that doing this helps us understand how to be the type of human that God created us to be.

Today’s focus passage is Ephesians 5:25-26. We’ll be looking at marriage, pruning, holiness, and cleansing.

Ephesians 5:25-26

25           For husbands, this means love your wives just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her.

26           to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.

Paul wanted Christians to show the world that something new and good was happening through Christian marriages. He viewed marriage as a representation between Christ and the church. It wasn’t something that Paul thought was needed for a proper life or a cure for lust. According to Paul, marriage was a holy union, an active representation, and a precious relationship needing tender, self-sacrificing care. Let’s switch this to a definition: marriage is a holy union/living symbol/precious relationship that needs tender and self-sacrificing care, representing the relationship between Jesus and the church.

In this culture, marriage is between one man and one woman, so the representation of roles and responsibilities between the husband and wife is referenced in this passage and other related passages. However, our culture views marriage as a relationship between two loving individuals of age. To help bridge the gap between the two views, I will go with one person assuming one set of responsibilities and the other assuming the other. The masculine/feminine dynamic doesn’t always assume the masculine/feminine responsibilities. I want to be very upfront about how I’ll dissect this passage, especially while we’re celebrating PRIDE month!

How should a man love his wife? How should we love our significant other in our relationships? Be willing to make sacrifices, prioritize their well-being, and care for them as you’d care for yourself. Understanding how to do this comes from seeing what Jesus did for the church. Christ’s death makes the church holy and clean. Jesus cleansed us from our past sinful ways and set us apart for his sacred services. We often experience this through the acts of baptism. Through baptism, we are prepared for entrance into the church. A Middle Eastern bride would be prepared for marriage by a ceremonial bath, which is why we’re seeing analogies to marriage, purity, etc.

This sets us up to discuss holiness, purity, and sacrifice throughout this devotional. Jesus’ sacrifice made us holy and pure in God’s eyes and to help fulfill the commands of God on earth. Because of this, we can work toward sharing that holiness and purity with the community around us to help encourage others to do the same. We can then plant the seeds of what Jesus does. Jesus does this in John 15:2-3. We’ll focus on verse 3.

John 15:2-3

2             He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.

3             You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you.

Jesus makes a distinction in his “I am the vine. You are the branch,” speech between cutting off branches and cutting back branches. Fruitful branches are cut back to promote growth. From a spiritual perspective, God might discipline us to strengthen our character and faith. I remember this feeling when I was terminated from my last church job. I lost what felt like everything. It took the wind out of my sails. Ironically, it’s been a year to date as I write this devotional from when I was fired. However, the pruning from that has been super beneficial when I reflect on it. It’s led me to a refreshed vision of his blog. It led me to understand my place in the world, helping people, which led me to pursue being a tax professional. It led me to realize that my life was stunted because of my rut. It led me to get my driver’s permit, look into different careers, and further my education, opening myself to understanding other parts of life and more. The pruning hurt, but it was needed. I needed to be cut back to grow in what God’s called me to do.

Branches that don’t bear fruit are cut off at the trunk because they’re worthless and can infect the rest of the tree. There’s something about keeping a community that wants the best for you and encourages you to grow continuously. If there’s a friend who does nothing but bring you down and bully you, it may be time to cut them off. People who don’t bear fruit for God or try to block the efforts of God’s followers will be cut off from God’s life-giving power.

To prevent being cut off, we must follow what John 17:17 says.

John 17:17

17           Make them holy by your trust; teach them your word, which is truth.

Christians become pure and holy through believing and obeying God’s word. They’ve already received forgiveness for their sin through the sacrifice of Jesus. Yet, we must apply God’s word daily. This purifies our minds and hearts. How does this work? Scripture shows us our sin, motivates us to confess it to God, renews our relationship, and guides us back to the right path. People might show you areas where you’ve sinned, but that’s as far as they can go. Some people might judge or condemn you for it, but their voice is worthless. God is the ultimate judge and the only one to answer for our sins. Sure, our sins might have hurt those around us, but God will guide us in reconciling that relationship with them if we do that. We often let the voices of those around us take more power and ownership in our souls than we do with God’s voice.

We must keep our focus on God. Hebrews 10:21-25 has this to say about it. We’ll focus specifically on verse 22.

Hebrews 10:21-25

21           And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house,

22           let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

23           Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

24           Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

25           And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

As Christians, we aren’t to come before God halfheartedly or with evil motives but boldly with pure and sincere worship. To check whether we have sincere hearts, we must evaluate our thoughts and motives according to His Word. We can be open and outspoken with God. There’s no guilt in our conversations with God. We can go to him fully confident because of what Jesus did for us. There’s no doubt or hesitation about going to God. We can be sure that he hears and answers us. It may not be in the ways we’d expect, but God is more significant than all of our ways.

The imagery of our bodies being washed with pure water is a picture of baptism. It’s an outward sign of an inward cleansing of our hearts. Through the act of baptism, our lives change for the better. We have a personal relationship with God that is not hidden behind religious barriers. God is available to us through Christ, who can draw near to him without any old systems. We can grow in our faith in God, overcome any doubts and questions life throws, and have a deep relationship with God. We can inspire and cheer on each other as Christians. We can come together and worship! All this is possible because we serve a holy God that makes us whole and pure!

Father God, thank you for this beautiful and loving relationship we get to have with you. We notice the cleansing that happens during our baptism, whether that happened when we were young, just becoming adults, or later in life. Help us to find that cleansing daily and remember that we are holy and purified beings who honor you with everything. It’s in your name, we pray. Amen.