_AFTER GENERAL EXHORTATIONS TO LOVE, TO FLEE FORNICATION AND ALL UNCLEANNESS NOT TO CONVERSE WITH THE WICKED, TO WALK WARILY, AND TO BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT; HE DESCENDETH TO THE PARTICULAR DUTIES: HOW WIVES OUGHT TO OBEY THEIR HUSBANDS, AND HUSBANDS OUGHT TO LOVE THEIR WIVES, EVEN AS CHRIST HIS C... [ Continue Reading ]
BE YE THEREFORE, &C.— "Since therefore God is so exceedingly good and merciful in the exercise of his pardoning grace toward you (ch. Ephesians 4:32.), let this excite you to be (μιμηται) imitators of him, in exercising all kindness and forgiveness one towards another, as becomes children of his own... [ Continue Reading ]
AN OFFERING, &C.— Some think that the words προσφορα and θυσια are used in reference to the _peace-offering_ and the _sin-offering,_ as the truth of both is in the sacrifice of Christ, which appeased God, and obtains the blessings consequent upon his favour. The words possibly are here used in conju... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL UNCLEANNESS OR COVETOUSNESS,— Or, _any kind of uncleanness or insatiable desire. Insatiable desire_ is certainly a literal rendering of the Greek word πλεονεξια, which plainly signifies the _desire of having more_ of any thing, whatever it be. And though the word is commonly used for _coveto... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER FILTHINESS, NOR FOOLISH TALKING, &C.— "Nor let there be among you anyshameful practices in secret, the very naming of which would put a modest person to the blush; nor any light, wanton, or obscene ways of talking, bantering, or joking, which are so far from innocent pleasantry, that they ar... [ Continue Reading ]
NOR COVETOUS MAN, WHO IS AN IDOLATER,— In whatever sense _covetousness_ is used, it may be called _idolatry;_ as it is setting up _something else,_ and, be it what it will, something comparatively _very base_ and _contemptible,_ and pursuing it, as if it were something that could be to us, as in the... [ Continue Reading ]
LET NO MAN DECEIVE YOU, &C.— "Let no man then, in this respect, amuse and deceive you with vain words and sophistical arguments, by which it is well known that many, and especially some who call themselves philosophers, attempt to vindicate some of these things, or at least to extenuate the evil of... [ Continue Reading ]
YE WERE SOMETIMES DARKNESS,— St. Paul, to express the great darkness in which the Gentiles were, calls them _darkness_ itself. The kingdom of Satan over the Gentile world was _a kingdom of darkness._ See ch. Ephesians 6:12. And so, on the other hand, we find _Jesus_ is pronounced by Simeon _a light... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH THE UNFRUITFUL WORKS OF DARKNESS,— It is well known that the word ακαρπος in Greek, and the word _inutilis_ in Latin, are sometimes used to express not only _unprofitable,_ but _mischievous_ things; and this is undoubtedly the meaning of the word here. See Romans 1:28.... [ Continue Reading ]
IT IS A SHAME EVEN TO SPEAK, &C.— Nothing could be more impure and abominable than some of the religious nocturnal mysteries of the heathens, to which the Apostle seems here in the primary sense to refer. Bishop Warburton, agreeably to his system, asserts, that if the lower sort of mysteries among t... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT ALL THINGS THAT ARE REPROVED— See John 3:20. The Apostle's argument here, to keep the Ephesian converts from being misled by those who would persuade them that the Gentile impurities were indifferent actions,—is to shew them that they were now better enlightened: to which purpose, Ephesians 5:5... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE HE SAITH, AWAKE, &C.— _"Wherefore,_ when God is speaking in the prophecies of the Old Testament, of the calling of the Gentiles, and of the light which they should have by Christ, he says in effect, to those who are yet in darkness, though not exactly in these words, _Awake, thou that slee... [ Continue Reading ]
REDEEMING THE TIME,— The word εξαγοραζομενοι, _redeeming,_ has a peculiar force, and implies, as the French word _racheter,_ and the English word _redeem,_ also does,—the _recovery_ and _purchasing again_ what has been lost. "Endeavour to _recover,_ and _bring back,_ as far as possible, the time whi... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE BE YE NOT UNWISE,— See Ephesians 5:10. The Christian prudence is, upon all occasions, to _consider what is the will of God._ Our duty varies with our circumstances; and it is a main point of wisdom to discern what are the duties which correspond to our present circumstances.... [ Continue Reading ]
BE NOT DRUNK WITH WINE,— It is highly probable that here may be a particular reference to those dissolute ceremonies called the _Bacchanalia,_ which were celebrated by the heathens in honour of their _god of wine._ While these rites continued, men and women made it a point of religion to intoxicate... [ Continue Reading ]
SINGING AND MAKING MELODY IN YOUR HEART— "Your hearts and affections corresponding with what is uttered by your mouths; without which no external melody, be it ever so exact and harmonious, can be pleasing to the Lord.... [ Continue Reading ]
GIVING THANKS ALWAYS, &C.— "Giving thanks to God for all the favours that he has bestowed upon you, and even for your afflictions, as occasions offer for the trial, the illustration, and improvement of your holiness and virtue." The words rendered _for all things,_ are translated by some _for all pe... [ Continue Reading ]
SUBMITTING YOURSELVES ONE TO ANOTHER— Though this verse, in grammatical construction, be joined to the foregoing discourse, yet it ought to be looked upon as introductory to what follows, and to be a general rule given to the Ephesians, to submit to those duties which the several relations that they... [ Continue Reading ]
WIVES, SUBMIT YOURSELVES, &C.— The Apostle's discourse on particular relative duties, is in the natural order in which the relations themselves commenced in the world, which was first between husband and wife; next, between parents and children; and, lastly, between masters and servants. The Apostle... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HUSBAND IS THE HEAD OF THE WIFE,— It is from the head that the body receives both health and life: St. Paul here pronounces this of _Christ,_ as the _head of the church;_ that by the parallel which he makes use of to represent the relation between husband and wife, he may both shew the wife the... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT HE MIGHT SANCTIFY AND CLEANSE IT, &C.— "That he might take away the power and pollution of sin from all its members, and infuse a principle of true holiness into them, and so consecrate them to God by the sanctification of his Spirit, as (Καθαρισας) having purged them from the guilt of sin, by... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT HE MIGHT PRESENT IT TO HIMSELF— The Alexandrian and other copies read, _That he himself might present to himself the church, glorious, without spot,_ &c. The Apostle, to recommend to husbands love and tenderness toward their wives, in imitation of Christ's affection to the church, shews, that w... [ Continue Reading ]
SO OUGHT MEN,— _So also,_ or _answerably to this, ought men;_ or, _on the other hand,_ taking the matter in a different but correspondent view.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WE ARE MEMBERS, &C.— The Apostle had here two things in view; the one was, to press men to love their wives, by the example of Christ's love to his church; and the force of the argument lay in this, that a man and his wife were one flesh, as Christ and his church were one; but this latter being... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS IS A GREAT MYSTERY:— It is plain by the fore-going verses, and by the application of the words in Genesis 2:23 to Christ and the church, that the apostles understood several passages in the Old Testament in reference to Christ and the gospel, which were not understood in their evangelical or sp... [ Continue Reading ]