The Glorious Church Series

• The substitutionary atonement of Christ was accomplished once for His bride on the cross (Heb 9:28). No one can repeat that saving action, but we may follow Jesus’ model of self-sacrifice, giving up our physical life for the sake of another. (This is a model of self-sacrifice up to and including an ultimate sacrifice if necessary. Lesser acts of selflessness would also be included) (Liefeld, W. L. (1997). Vol. 10: Ephesians. The IVP New Testament commentary series. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press.).

For "The Glorious Church", Christ shows a:

b) Purifying Love (5:26–27)

Ephesians 5:26-27 [26] that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, [27] so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (ESV)

The first of the three purpose clauses states that Christ gave himself up for the church in order to ‘sanctify her’. The basic idea of this verb ‘sanctify or make holy’ is that of setting someone apart to God for his service. Christians are described as those who are ‘sanctified in Christ Jesus’ (1 Cor. 1:2), whom God has set apart for himself in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 6:11). (O'Brien, P. T. (1999). The letter to the Ephesians. The Pillar New Testament commentary (420). Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.).

Closely related to Christ’s sanctifying work is his ‘cleansing’ the church ‘by the washing of water with/through the word’. Cleansing points to the removal of sin, while sanctification focusses on being set apart to God. To use systematic theological categories, it is positional or definitive sanctification that is in view here, not progressive sanctification (O'Brien, P. T. (1999). The letter to the Ephesians. The Pillar New Testament commentary (421–422). Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.). (In Ephesians 5:26 there is an allusion to Baptism), in which the bestowal of the Spirit and baptism in water play a central part—the baptism involving not only the external washing but the inward and spiritual grace which it signifies. When Ananias of Damascus said to Paul, “Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name” (Acts 22:16), he implied that the external washing symbolized the more important inward cleansing from sin. And the participial clause, “calling on his name” (that is, the name of Christ), throws light on the phrase “by/with the word” in our present text: the “word” or “utterance” is the convert’s confession of the name of Christ as baptism is administered (Bruce, F. F. (1984). The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians. The New International Commentary on the New Testament (388). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.). This is the “word of faith” (Ro 10:8, 9, 17), of which confession is made in baptism, and which carries the real cleansing (Jn 15:3; 17:17) and regenerating power (1Pe 1:23; 3:21) (Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments (Eph 5:26). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.)