Ephesians 5

The idea of putting off the old self and putting on the new self is continued. Not only do we stop our past evil deeds, but we put on the new self, imitating God. Love is what we should walk in, following the way in which Jesus lead us. Continuing to put off the old self, those things of the past are described as not being named among you. They should be no longer part of you in such a way that it cannot be even remotely mentioned of you. There are further instructions with respect to this, such as not associating with the sons of disobedience, since the followers of Christ are light in the Lord. Instead, expose their evil deeds in the same way that light exposes darkness. All this is continuing to enforce the idea of removing the filthy evil deeds and putting on the new self in Christ.

Paul moves on to talk about wives and husbands. Wives are to be submissive to their husbands in the same way in which they are submissive to the Lord. The reason for this is because the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the church. There is this imagery of marriage that is similar to this image of Christ and the church. This is a weighty responsibility placed upon the husbands, which makes the previous chapters describing the manner of walking seemingly necessary. Husbands are instructed to love their wives in the same way in which Christ loved the church. We see the love of Christ his act of sacrifice for the church as he bore our sins on the cross. Husbands love your wives with this kind of love, which is yet another weighty instruction placed upon husbands.