Ephesians 5:25-27 – “…Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”

The Bible teaches that Jesus gave his life on Calvary for the sake of a church that is “radiant” (NIV) or “glorious” (KJV). This church is not just a religious organization, or a Christian ministry. It is a living entity, holy, cleansed from sin and impurity. It is Jesus’ bride. Yet there are many “churches,” denominations, and Christian organizations that do not fit the description here. There is a difference between a “religion” (i.e., Christianity) and a radiant or glorious church.

In Maranatha, we normally refer to this radiant, glorious, holy church as the “faithful church” and the Christianity that does not fit these criteria as the “unfaithful church.” Of course, the phrase “faithful church” never occurs in the Bible itself – it is merely a convenient moniker for the church described in Ephesians 5:25-27.

How do we define “the faithful church”? In this passage, Paul lists seven attributes of the faithful church:

1) Cleansed through the word – The faithful church follows the revelation of God in their lives (the word used in the original Greek here for “word” is “rhema,” not “logos,” and refers to “prophetic words” rather than to the written Word or the Bible). God’s daily revelation becomes part of their identity and guides them away from things that displease God. The unfaithful church, in contrast, is not cleansed through the word.

2) “Radiant” or “Glorious” – The faithful church is full of God’s glory and the operation of the Holy Spirit. It has spiritual light (revelation) from Eternity, not merely human ideas and organization. It is spiritually magnificent.

3) Without stain – A stain is a mark from an outside source. A stain on the clothing usually comes from outside, spilling onto the fabric. Here it symbolizes defilement of the church from worldly influences – things from outside the church that leave an unsightly mark, visible to everyone. The faithful church is free from stain – there is no contamination from the world, nothing to tarnish its eternal splendor.

4) Without wrinkle – Unlike stains, which come from without, a wrinkle is a defective arrangement of the fabric itself. The unfaithful church always has things out of place, out of proportion, badly timed, inappropriately expressed. The services are either chaotic (spontaneous and having no order) or liturgical (stuck in old patterns of tradition, like a crease in the fabric that never comes out). The faithful church is without wrinkle, perfect in its arrangement and order. God is not a God of confusion, but of order and peace.

5) Without any other blemish – A blemish is a visible defect or ugly spot that is part of the object itself, not just a stain left from another object. The unfaithful church has many distortions because of its vain attempts to adapt to the surrounding cultural values, politics among the leadership, false doctrines, and materialism.

6) Holy – Paul mentions this attribute TWICE in the passage, emphasizing its importance. Holiness or sanctification is an essential attribute of the faithful church. It is consecrated to God, set apart for His will and purposes and separated from sin and fleshliness.

7) Blameless – The faithful church does nothing to harm anyone and cannot be accused of wrongdoing or blamed for anyone’s problems.

Throughout the Scriptures, we find pairs of women who, side by side, illustrate the attitudes and choices of a church that pleases God (and those that do not). Martha and Mary provide one example of this pattern. When these pairs present a contrast between two women (Sarah and Hagar, Hannah and Peninnah, etc.), we know that it prophetically represents the faithful church and the unfaithful who are nominal believers. Paul makes this prophetic interpretation clear in Galatians 4:21-31. We believe that God included these pairs of contrasting women throughout the Bible to teach us about the difference between the faithful church and the unfaithful church.

Take the example of Mary and Martha in Luke 10. The Lord taught us that there would be a faithful church that hears his voice and obeys him, and an unfaithful church where people follow their own ideas an understanding, even though they do it in the name of Christ. Hannah and Peninnah provide another example (1 Samuel 1).

“That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:27 KJV)