5:26–27

In the Greek, 5:25–27 are one continuous sentence. But it may be clearer to start a new sentence at 5:26, for example:

He did this in order to…
-or-
He died in order to….

In 5:26–27, Paul gave two purposes for which Christ gave himself up for the church: Christ did this:

(a) in order to make the church holy (5:26a),

(b) in order to present the church to himself in a perfect, beautiful condition (5:27).

The second purpose is the ultimate purpose, Christ’s long-range goal. He died for us so that in the future when he comes to get us, we will be radiant, holy and blameless.

5:26a

to sanctify her: The clause to sanctify her is the purpose Christ gave himself for the church (5:25b). Christ gave himself for the church in order to sanctify her.

to sanctify: Some English versions translate the Greek verb here as “to…make holy.” The Berean Standard Bible and older English versions translate this verb as sanctify. There are two possible ways to interpret the meaning of the Greek verb here.

(1) It means to make holy/pure. For example:

to make her holy (New Living Translation (2004))

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004), Contemporary English Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

(2) It means “to set apart, to make God’s special people.” For example:

He did this to dedicate the church to God (Good News Translation)

(Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New Century Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). In the NT, sanctify usually means “set apart for the service of God,” but here the meaning is “made pure” because of the word “cleansing” which follows. You can translate this:

⌊He did this⌋ to make them pure

See holy, Meaning 4 in the Glossary for more information.

5:26b

cleansing her by the washing with water: The clause cleansing her by the washing with water is a metaphor. Paul meant that Christ “washed away” or removed our sins (cf. 1 John 1:7, 9). It is another way to say Christ made us holy (5:26a). Paul was not referring to Christ literally washing the church or Christians to get the dirt off their bodies.

by the washing with water: Paul said that Christ removed our sins by the washing with water. This probably refers to baptism. Paul may have been comparing baptism to the ceremonial bath taken by a Jewish bride before marriage. Just as a Jewish bride was given a bath before her marriage, so Christ washed away our sins through baptism when we became his bride.

In order to avoid implying that Christ physically washed the church, you may need to include your word for “baptism” in your translation. For example:

…to make her holy and clean, washed by baptism and God’s Word (New Living Translation (1996))

(In the above quote from the New Living Translation (1996), the word “her” refers to the church.)

through the word: There are two interpretation issues that you need to consider when you translate this phrase:

Issue 1 : The meaning of the phrase the word. Here the word means the words that God or Christ spoke. It refers to God’s Word, the Christian message. When we heard and believed God’s Word, trusted in Christ and were baptized, Christ made us pure and cleansed us from sin.

Issue 2 : To which part of the verse is word connected. Two of the main interpretations are:

(1) word goes with “cleansed.” According to this interpretation, Christ cleansed the church both with water and with the word. For example:

washed by baptism and God’s word (New Living Translation (2004))

(New Living Translation (1996), God’s Word, Revised English Bible)

(2) word goes with sanctify/make holy in 5:26a. According to this interpretation, Christ cleansed the church with water, and then he sanctified it by the word. For example:

dedicate the church to God by his word, after making it clean by washing it in water (Good News Translation)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) as this seems to have the most support among commentaries.

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