Our Lord Jesus provided the perfect example of marriage in the redemption of His Bride, the Church. Furthermore, because of this perfect example of His love for His bride, the Apostle Paul presented Christ as the pattern for the husband.

Paul highlighted one important aspect of Christ’s love in Ephesians 5:25–26. After he declared that “Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it,” Paul continued, “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.”

One of the privileges that we have, as the Bride of Christ, is to be sanctified by Him as our Bridegroom. Following this pattern, husbands ought to carefully guard the purity of their wives and encourage them in sanctification as their marriage deepens and matures over time.

Let’s consider the latter three phrases in Ephesians 5:26 and draw some practical applications as we seek to follow the example of our Lord.

Christ sanctifies us: “With the Washing”

Cleansing is very important throughout the Old Testament. The holy instruments of the tabernacle and the Temple were washed on a regular basis. The priests washed their hands and feet in the laver that stood in the courtyard of the tabernacle (see Exodus 30:18–21).

As children of God, we are considered to be “instruments” or “vessels” according to Scripture, and we are to be diligent to keep ourselves set apart as “a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (II Timothy 2:21). Husbands and wives, in obedience to our Lord, should encourage one another to be washed, or cleansed, spiritually on a daily basis.

Christ sanctifies us with the washing “Of Water”

In the Old Testament, vessels were set apart by the sprinkling of blood and the washing in living (running) water. Houses were thoroughly cleansed and set apart by hyssop dipped in “the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water” (Leviticus 14:51).

Similarly, as God’s redeemed, we are sanctified by water and by blood. In Ephesians 5:26, the water is emphasized. Yet at the cross when Christ was crucified, “one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water” (John 19:34). Husbands and wives can rejoice that Christ has not only called for our sanctification, but He also made it possible by His own sacrifice.

Christ sanctifies us with the washing of water “By the Word”

The Apostle Paul identified the water as the Word of God. Here it is the ῥῆμα (rhema), the spoken and life-giving Word of the Lord that is in view. As vital as personal devotions are to the spiritual health of an individual, this passage clearly indicates that a husband and wife are to seek sanctification together in the living Word of God.

Together as a couple, husbands and wives should pray, study, memorize, and commune under the cleansing power of God’s Word. Practicing these three phrases in Ephesians 5:26—“with the washing of water by the word”—will result in a harmonious marriage that will reflect the union of Christ and His Bride.