Many people look to Ephesians 5 for its teaching on being filled with the Holy Spirit. Many think Ephesians 5-6 is all about marriage. But the main idea of Ephesians 5:15-6:9 is Christ's relationship with believers and their relationships in the church. This is the Great Mystery now revealed in 5:32.

It is essential to recognize the literary structures built into this passage. It starts with 5:15 and ends with 6:9. Paul uses a jump, jump high, jump pattern throughout. The high point of the high jump, and therefore the controlling idea of the passage, is 5:32. The chapters of Beyond Eden, Ephesians 5-6 make special reference to this pattern throughout the book. Listeners will become thought leaders on this passage as they grasp the big picture and the patterns in this passage.

The high jump (of verses 5:22-6:9) takes off from 5:21. In this verse, Paul redefines submission. The traditional "vertical" meaning of submission is replaced with a "horizontal" reciprocating submission. Spirit-filled believers submit themselves to the teaching and correction they receive from one another (19a and 21).

Great marriages between two believers embody the kind of reciprocating care Paul teaches in this famous passage. Most of all, Christ’s example embodies his sacrificial care and love for the church. (5:22-31)

Great families also embody this kind of reciprocating care. Husbands and wives do so on the horizontal level. And even in the vertical relationships of children and parents and slaves and masters, all practice reciprocating care for one another in Spirit-filled and beneficial relationships. (5:33-6:9)

What is not taught in Ephesians 5:15-6:9? 

• There is no teaching on gifts of the Spirit.
• There is no teaching on headship in any way.
• There is no teaching that husbands are responsible for a wife’s wrinkles, physical or spiritual.
• There is no teaching that wives must obey their husbands.
• There is no teaching that fathers are leaders in the home any more than mothers.