Pastor Rusty Milton
"Husbands Sanctifying Their Wives with the Word"
Ephesians 5:25-32 ESV

Husbands, love your wife by pursuing her sanctification. When filled with the Holy Spirit, we have the capacity to minister to one another out of reverence to Christ. Every disciple is called to die to themselves, and to submit to one another. This is played out very clearly in the marriage relationship, where husbands are called to give themselves unselfishly to service the needs of their wives. But how is that done? Rather than implying a husband should point out their wife's sin constantly, it means: helping her be clean and holy by encouraging and exhorting her with the Word, and ensuring she has enough time to worship and study in devotion. Husbands should also remember that they are the bride of Christ: when they fail, they should rely on the Spirit to encourage and refresh them in the Word.

Ephesians 5:25-32 ESV

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 

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. 

28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 

29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 

30 because we are members of his body. 

31 "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." 

32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.