²⁵ Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church [Col. 3:19; 1 Pet. 3:7] and gave himself for her ²⁶ to ·make her holy [sanctify her], cleansing her in the washing of water by the word [^Cthe “washing” may be (1) baptism, (2) spiritual cleansing (Titus 3:5), or (3) an analogy drawn from the Jewish prenuptial bath (Ezek. 16:8–14); the “word” may be (1) the Gospel, (2) a baptismal formula, or (3) the confession of the one baptized].