Ephesians 5:21-6:9 NLT

Outline

• Greetings (1:1-2)
• The Divine Purpose: The Glory and Headship of Christ (1:3-14)
• Prayer That Christians May Realize God's Purpose and Power (1:15-23)
• Steps Toward the Fulfillment of God's Purpose (chs. 2-3)
  • Salvation of Individuals by Grace (2:1-10)
  • Reconciliation of Jew and Gentile through the Cross (2:11-18)
  • Uniting of Jew and Gentile in One Household (2:19-22)
  • Revelation of God's Wisdom through the Church (3:1-13)
  • Prayer for Deeper Experience of God's Fullness (3:14-21)
• Practical Ways to Fulfill God's Purpose in the Church (4:1;6:20)
  • Unity (4:1-6)
  • Maturity (4:7-16)
  • Renewal of Personal Life (4:17;5:20)
  • Deference in Personal Relationships (5:21;6:9)
    1. Principle (5:21)
    2. Husbands and wives (5:22-33)
    3. Children and parents (6:1-4)
    4. Slaves and masters (6:5-9)
  • Strength in the Spiritual Conflict (6:10-20)
• Conclusion, Final Greetings and Benediction (6:21-24)

Ephesians 5 NLT

21 And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 

22 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 

23 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. 

24 As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. 

25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 

26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. 

27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. 

28In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. 

29 No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. 

30And we are members of his body. 

31 As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” 

32 This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. 

33 So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Ephesians 6 NLT

1 Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. 

2 “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise:

3 If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.” 

4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord. 

5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. 

6 Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. 

7 Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 

8 Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.

9 Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites.