How does a husband wash his wife with the water of the word?

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Ferris Bueller

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Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. Ephesians 6:25-28​

Is Paul really saying a husband is to cleanse his wife by the water of the word? Or is that just an example of how Christ loves his bride the church and not a literal example for husbands to follow? If it is literal, what if the wife is an unbeliever who doesn't want to hear the word?
 
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dev553344

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Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. Ephesians 6:25-28​

Is Paul really saying a husband is to cleanse his wife by the water of the word? Or is that just an example of how Christ loves his bride the church and not a literal example for husbands to follow? If it is literal, what if the wife is an unbeliever who doesn't want to hear the word?
This text may be rooted in older circumstances when being dirty because of your environment was common.

I think this scripture is talking about treating your wife as you yourself would want to be treated. Remembering this scripture is from a time when women were treated as property similar to slaves.
 
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Wynona

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We women take in a lot of lies.

Personally, I believe that women, like Eve, are more susceptible to lies and false teaching (which is why we are not to have spiritual authority over men and men are to be the gate keepers of doctrine). This might be because of our empathetic natures.

I notice I sometimes have a hard time telling the truth even when its important because of feelings and "niceness". My particular husband doesn't have this problem.

My husband has lead me with spiritual discernment and a timely Scripture many times.

I have believed all kinds of lies about my appearance for example. But his opinion of me is unchanging. It doesn't fluctuate like mine does.

I enjoy my husband's "male brain" as a firm counter to my perspective.

That being said, I believe husbands are to use the Word of God in a lovingly transformative way.

If the woman is an unbeliever and doesn't want to hear the Word...well I think silence can be an option. Wives are told to win their husbands without a word with their behaviour. Maybe husbands can do the same, except by love whereas wives would focus on respect.

Serve her, pray for her, and love her unconditionally and then, she'll be more open to hear the Word of God.
 

Michiah-Imla

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Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. Ephesians 6:25-28​

Is Paul really saying a husband is to cleanse his wife by the water of the word? Or is that just an example of how Christ loves his bride the church and not a literal example for husbands to follow? If it is literal, what if the wife is an unbeliever who doesn't want to hear the word?

It’s just a command to love the wife as Christ loved the church.
 

Ronald David Bruno

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Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. Ephesians 6:25-28​

Is Paul really saying a husband is to cleanse his wife by the water of the word? Or is that just an example of how Christ loves his bride the church and not a literal example for husbands to follow? If it is literal, what if the wife is an unbeliever who doesn't want to hear the word?
It’s just a command to love the wife as Christ loved the church.
Water is symbolic for the Holy Spirit. Christ cleansed (baptized) His church with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit also sanctified us.
So we are to sanctify our wives, iron out out all the wrinkles, remove the blemishes in the same way as we do our won bodies. God is actually sanctifying us but we are cooperating with Him.
The YLT is more enlightening in this respect. It's one I use when others are no so clear.
"The husbands! love your own wives, as also the Christ did love the assembly, and did give himself for it,

26 that he might sanctify it, having cleansed [it] with the bathing of the water in the saying,

27 that he might present it to himself the assembly in glory, not having spot or wrinkle, or any of such things, but that it may be holy and unblemished;

28 so ought the husbands to love their own wives as their own bodies: he who is loving his own wife -- himself he doth love;"
 
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Mungo

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Water is symbolic for the Holy Spirit. Christ cleansed (baptized) His church with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit also sanctified us.
So we are to sanctify our wives, iron out out all the wrinkles, remove the blemishes in the same way as we do our won bodies. God is actually sanctifying us but we are cooperating with Him.
The YLT is more enlightening in this respect. It's one I use when others are no so clear.
"The husbands! love your own wives, as also the Christ did love the assembly, and did give himself for it,

26 that he might sanctify it, having cleansed [it] with the bathing of the water in the saying,

27 that he might present it to himself the assembly in glory, not having spot or wrinkle, or any of such things, but that it may be holy and unblemished;

28 so ought the husbands to love their own wives as their own bodies: he who is loving his own wife -- himself he doth love;"
Water is not symbolic of the Holy Spirit. Water is H2O, the wet stuff that falls from the sky.

It is true that on two occasions Jesus water as metaphor for the Holy Spirit but on both occasions he makes that clear by using the term living water. You can’t use that the assume that every mention of water in the Bible means the Holy Spirit.

Nor is the YLT a good literal translation in this case. The word translated bathing (washing in most translations) is loutro – a noun not a verb.


The NAB is better: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word,

There is one other occasion that the NT uses loutro is in Titus 3:5 where again the NAB correctly translates it as bath.
he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the holy Spirit

The use of loutro (bath) in Eph 5:26 is important because of the bridal connotations of the church as the bride of Christ. It was the custom in the Greek and Jewish culture for a bride to take a bath just before the wedding.

"The bride’s ritual bath took place on the morning of the wedding ceremony
itself. The bathing ritual was a pivotal coming-of-age rite for the young bride. Indeed,
if a girl died before being married, she would undergo this ritual of bathing after her
death. The loutrophoros was used in this ritual ceremony to carry water. Vase-paintings
seem to suggest that the groom did not bathe or that his bath was less important than the bride’s."

From The Nuptial Ceremony of Ancient Greece and the Articulation of Male Control Through Ritual by Casey Mason, Macalester College.

"The bride, meanwhile, will often visit the ritual bath known as the Mikveh in the week before the wedding, so that she may cleanse herself spiritually and enter marriage in a state of complete purity."
(BBC on Jewish wedding rites)
BBC - Religions - Judaism: Jewish wedding rites

In both cases (Eph 5:26 & Ti 3:5) the reference is to baptism with water.
 

Ronald David Bruno

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Water is not symbolic of the Holy Spirit.

It is true that on two occasions Jesus water as metaphor for the Holy Spirit

These two statements are contradictions. Lol you can't make your mind?
I hold to my explanation. Yours goes off on a tangent > brides ritual bath ... nuptial ceremony ...? Stick with he context. We are to love our wives like Christ loves the Church, sacrifices for her and sanctifies her. We love our wives as we love our own bodies.
 

Mungo

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These two statements are contradictions. Lol you can't make your mind?

There is no contradiction if you understand the difference between a symbol and a metaphor

I hold to my explanation. Yours goes off on a tangent > brides ritual bath ... nuptial ceremony ...? Stick with he context.
What I wrote gives you context

We are to love our wives like Christ loves the Church, sacrifices for her and sanctifies her. We love our wives as we love our own bodies.

I can agree with that.
 

Ronald David Bruno

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There is no contradiction if you understand the difference between a symbol and a metaphor
"A metaphor is a figure of speech that uses symbolism. It compares two things that aren't similar and proves they actually have something in common. In a metaphor, there is an additional meaning to a word. This makes it an example of symbolism" Dictionary
 

Mark51

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Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. Ephesians 6:25-28​

Is Paul really saying a husband is to cleanse his wife by the water of the word? Or is that just an example of how Christ loves his bride the church and not a literal example for husbands to follow? If it is literal, what if the wife is an unbeliever who doesn't want to hear the word?


Would you verify your scriptural reference: Ephesians 6:25-28?
 

ChristisGod

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Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. Ephesians 6:25-28​

Is Paul really saying a husband is to cleanse his wife by the water of the word? Or is that just an example of how Christ loves his bride the church and not a literal example for husbands to follow? If it is literal, what if the wife is an unbeliever who doesn't want to hear the word?
Well Paul is addressing believers there not unbelievers. He addresses your situation or question in 1 Corinthians 7.
 

prism

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It’s referring to the husbands role as a teacher of God’s Word.