Ephesians 5:25-27: Words of Life and Death

‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.’ Prov. 18:21.

One of the most effective weapons and one of the greatest fertilizers in marriage is our speech. What we say and how talk to one another will either make or break your marriage. James 3:6, ‘And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.’ We can all think of words that have hurt us deeply and words that have lifted our spirits. Husbands and wives and are positioned in one another’s life by God to utilize the tongue for good, but we so often utilize it for evil. Today we want to focus on the power of our speech. In Ephesians 5:26 Paul is dealing with husbands loving their wives as Christ loves the church and he outlines how Christ saves us by His word, v25-27, ‘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 splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.’ Because of the massive impact of our words we will be spending a whole message considering them.

God created the universe by His words. Jesus cast out demons, healed the sick, raised the dead and calmed storms with His words. We are born again when we hear and believe. We are sanctified by the word. The word of God is our sword in spiritual warfare. Words are situated and used by God to great effect. As we reflect on Christ’s serving His bride with the word I would like us to consider the power of words in general in marriage. We are going to follow Paul’s analogy between Christ and ourselves, looking first at His words and then ours.