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I. In describing THE FUTURE CONDITION of the Church, the apostle has evidently in his mind two previous states of it — its original state when lying dead in trespasses and sins, and its subsequent earthly state, when separated from the mass of the ungodly and partially redeemed.

II. He points out THE CAUSES TO WHICH IT IS TO BE ASCRIBED. Of these he mentions four.

1. The first is the love of Christ. He "loved the Church."

2. The next is the sacrifice of Christ. He "gave Himself for it."

3. Hence the apostle goes on to bring before us the Holy Spirit as a third source to which the Church must ascribe its future holiness.

4. And how does the Holy Spirit carry on this cleansing process? The text shows us, and its answer to the question reminds us of the fourth means of our sanctification — the Word of God. "The washing of water," is "by the Word."

III. We have to go on now to our last point — THE GREAT END FOR WHICH ALL THESE MEANS OF HOLINESS ARE BROUGHT INTO OPERATION. It is, we are told, to "sanctify and cleanse" the Church. But why is the Church to be thus sanctified? What is the ultimate object aimed at in this cleansing? All terminates in this one blessed end, that Christ, in the great day of His triumph, may "present the Church unto Himself a glorious Church." Nothing dishonours, brethren, but sin; nothing but sin is really shameful. Now take sin from the soul, and you have removed from it everything that can degrade it. We may go farther — the chief glory of God is the holiness of God. His purity is His brightest attribute. His power and immensity strike us more, for our minds are debased, we have lost the perception of that which is most elevated in its character — moral greatness; but go up into heaven, or rather read the language of heaven as we find it in the Bible — power and majesty are both extolled in it, but this is the one great subject of adoration in heaven, in the very world where all the Divine greatness is most fully manifested — the purity of Jehovah; and this the song which, next to the song of salvation, rises most constantly in its splendid courts — "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts." No wonder then that the Church will be "a glorious Church"; the likeness of God will be put on her the image of Godwill shine in her; that attribute of Divinity, which is the perfection of Divinity, will be her crown.

(C. Bradley, M. A.)

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KJV: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

WEB: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly, and gave himself up for it;