5:26 Christ
gave himself for the church (Eph 5:25) “to make her holy, cleansing her with
the washing of water by the word.” This purpose clause indicates the goal of
Christ’s self-giving—it was to make the church holy. To make people holy—or sanctified—is
to include them “In the inner circle of what is holy, in both cultic and moral
associations of the word.” In the Old Testament, sanctification referred to
setting apart for religious use, often with reference to the sacrifice of an unblemished
animal, whose blood in turn sanctified the worshipers. Of Christians
specially, it can refer to being consecrated by baptism, as seen in the second
part of 5:26—“cleansing her with the washing of water.” The word translated “washing”
can refer to a bath or—as here—to the washing of baptism. (Constantine R.
Campbell, The Letter to the Ephesians [The Pillar New Testament Commentary;
Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2023], 254 [note: Campbell is a critic of
baptismal regeneration])