Living in the Light

5 You are God’s children whom he loves, so ·try to be like [imitate] him. ² ·Live a life of love [Walk in love] just as Christ loved us and gave himself for us as a ·sweet-smelling [fragrant] offering and sacrifice to God.

³ But there must be ·no [no hint/mention/rumor of] sexual sin among you, or any kind of ·evil [impurity] or greed. Those things are not ·right [proper; fitting] for God’s holy people. ⁴ Also, there must be no ·evil talk [obscenity; filthiness] among you, and you must not speak foolishly or tell ·evil [crude; coarse; vulgar] jokes. These things are ·not right for you [out of place/character]. Instead, you should be giving thanks to God. ⁵ [^LFor] You can be sure of this: No one will have a ·place [inheritance] in the kingdom of Christ and of God who sins sexually, or does ·evil [impure] things, or is greedy. Anyone who is greedy is ·serving a false god [^Lan idolater].

⁶ Do not let anyone ·fool [deceive] you ·by telling you things that are not true [or with shallow philosophies; ^Lwith empty words], because these things will bring God’s ·anger [wrath] on ·those who do not obey him [^Lthe children/sons of disobedience]. ⁷ So ·have nothing to do with them [or do not partner/associate with them]. ⁸ In the past you were ·full of darkness [^Ldarkness], but now you are ·full of light [^Llight] in the Lord. So ·live [walk] like children ·who belong to [living in; ^Lof] the light. ⁹ ·Light brings [^LFor the fruit of the light is] every kind of goodness, ·right living [righteousness], and truth. ¹⁰ ·Try to learn [Discern; Test and prove] what pleases the Lord. ¹¹ ·Have nothing to do with [Take no part in] the things done in darkness, which are ·not worth anything [^Lunfruitful]. But ·show that they are wrong [expose them]. ¹² [^LFor] It is shameful even to talk about what those people do in secret. ¹³ But the light makes all things ·easy to see [visible; exposed], ¹⁴ and everything that is ·made easy to see [visible; exposed] ·can become [or becomes a; ^Lis] light. This is why it is said:

¹⁵ So be very careful how you ·live [walk]. Do not ·live [walk] like those who are ·not wise [foolish], but ·live wisely [like those who are wise]. ¹⁶ ·Take advantage of every opportunity [or Make the most of your time; ^L…redeeming the time/season], because ·these are evil times [^Lthe days are evil]. ¹⁷ So do not be ·foolish [ignorant] but ·learn what the Lord wants you to do [or understand the Lord’s will]. ¹⁸ Do not be drunk with wine, which ·will ruin you [is debauchery/reckless living], but be filled with the Spirit. ¹⁹ ·Speak [^L…speaking] to each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord. ²⁰ ·Always give [^L…always giving] thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Wives and Husbands

²¹ ·Yield [Submit; Be subject; ^L…yielding/submitting; ^Cgrammatically linked to the previous sentence, and so part of being filled with the Spirit] to each other out of ·reverence [respect; fear; awe] for Christ.

²² Wives, ·yield to [submit to; be subject to; ^Lto] your husbands, as you do to the Lord, ²³ because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. And he is the Savior of the body, which is the church. ²⁴ As the church ·yields [submits; is subject] to Christ, so you wives should ·yield [submit; be subject] to your husbands in everything [Col. 3:18; 1 Pet. 3:1–6].

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church [Col. 3:19; 1 Pet. 3:7] and gave himself for her ²⁶ to ·make her holy [sanctify her], cleansing her in the washing of water by the word [^Cthe “washing” may be (1) baptism, (2) spiritual cleansing (Titus 3:5), or (3) an analogy drawn from the Jewish prenuptial bath (Ezek. 16:8–14); the “word” may be (1) the Gospel, (2) a baptismal formula, or (3) the confession of the one baptized]. ²⁷ He did this so that he could present the church to himself ·like a bride in all her beauty [in splendor; glorious], with no ·evil or sin [^Lstain or wrinkle] or any other ·wrong thing in it [^Lsuch thing], but ·pure [holy] and ·without fault [blameless]. ²⁸ In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they love their own bodies. The man who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ [^LFor] No one ever hates his own ·body [^Tflesh], but feeds and takes care of it. And that is what Christ does for the church, ³⁰ because we are ·parts [members] of his body. ³¹ The Scripture says, “·So [For this reason] a man will leave his father and mother and be ·united [joined] with his wife, and the two will become one ·body [flesh; Gen. 2:24].” ³² This ·secret [mystery] is ·very important [or great; profound]—I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³ ·But [However; In any case; or To sum up] each one of you must love his wife as he loves himself, and a wife must ·respect [reverence; v. 21] her husband.