Ephesians 5:15-20 Be Filled with the Holy Spirit
Most of us can remember back when we were a child hearing one of our parents say to us as we left the house, “be careful!” or perhaps as the parent calling out to your child the same warning. One might even recall the words; “look both ways before crossing a road.” Words of caution offered by someone with greater experience are always invaluable, maybe not always heeded, but good advice nonetheless. Paul, knowing the nature of darkness and its potential lure and inevitable truth decay, says Christians need to be constantly assessing our situation and be aware of the dangers in the world. We should not overreact nor should we live thinking we will never encounter challenges or problems, we need to walk wisely.
That includes not wasting our time, when Paul says we should make the best use of time he is not referring to taking time-management classes or meticulously planning our days, he is saying we need make Jesus a priority by spending time with Him and following Him. Unless we are careful, we can get so involved with our careers, pursuing social events or get involved in some potentially huge time consuming activity, that we run out of time for prayer, Bible study, teaching the Bible to our kids or perhaps even minimize participation or attendance at church services. Just like the “slippery slope” discussed in Chapter 16, we begin to rationalize thinking these are insignificant things in our lives as we continue to rationalize a little more time away from God, then a little more, slowly increasing until we ultimately end up back in the world. Don’t be fooled by the pressures of the world, turn towards Jesus, not away from!
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
We are to avoid being foolish, Paul wrote in his first letter to the church in Corinth, “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (1 Corinthians 1:20b, ESV). So where do we find wisdom? Paul wrote here in Ephesians that we should understand the will of the Lord. Some may be quick to reply, “how can we know the will of God?!” Paul often wrote about the will of God. For example, we read in the Book of Romans, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2, ESV, emphasis added) Paul reminds us that as the result of being saved we are able to purge and reject the world, plus we are able to worship and know God. This knowledge and understanding applied in our lives allows us to discern the will of God.
Paul also in his first epistle to the church in Thessalonica, while addressing some of the same concerns he is addressing here in his letter to the Ephesians said, “For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;” (1 Thessalonians 4:2-5, ESV, emphasis added) Here Paul states that we are to follow Jesus and continue being sanctified as part of God’s will for us. A few verses further, Paul adds this, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-22, ESV, emphasis added) We see that the will of God is revealed in His Word, if we do not know His Word, we cannot know His will! The will of God and the Word of God are inseparable and both can be known.
The term ‘then’ is like the words ‘therefore’ and ‘so’, they connect the previous series of verses to the current verse. Here we are to look carefully how we walk as Paul just finished discussing how the world contains darkness and that we as Christians are to walk as children of light and keep away from the darkness. We are to walk carefully knowing the dangers, not unwise but wise!
Paul says we should make the best use of our time (see also James 3:13; Titus 3:1-3 and 1 Peter 1:13-15), any time we spend that is contrary to God’s Word or that which keeps us away from doing what god wants us to do we are using our time unwisely. We are always to be obedient and loving. Time is often considered a commodity since most people believe they do not have enough time to get everything they “need to do” done. How we spend our time truly reflects on what is important to us, since our time is generally spent doing the things we desire to do. If something is important enough to us, we will find the time to do it.
The phrase, “the days are evil,” means that there is opposition to God and His Word. Anything that is contrary to God’s Word or keeps us from doing God’s will is evil (see also Ephesians 6:13 and Galatians 1:4). Once we begin to accept and think this way, we can better assess what we do on a daily basis and perhaps focus more on God.
The foolishness that Paul is referring to in verse 17 is essentially a way to reason or think that is contrary to God. God’s wisdom is foolishness to man and man’s wisdom is foolish to God (see also 1 Corinthians 1:20-25). The Greek word that is translated here as ‘understand’ is syniēmi, which can also carry the meaning, “for us to consider.” That means knowing the Word of God is not an option for a Christian, we should have a hunger to learn as much as we can. However, we also need to consider the Word of God in all that we do. We need to have a Christian worldview and truly believe that the Bible is true, as a result we apply the will of the Lord in all that we do. We are to consider His will when we wake up in the morning and consider His will as we make decisions throughout the day. Studying the Bible allows us to know what we should be doing, considering His will helps us apply those things we learned.
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
We see in Paul’s instruction and guidance on how we should walk as Christians being focused on our relationship with God and indirectly with others, especially non-believers. We have learned that if our behavior is like those that are not saved, we run the risk of not being able to influence or demonstrate that we are different, thus losing our ability to witness or have an effective ministry. Paul now begins to address how we should interact directly with people, that’s all people, believers as well as non-believers. He begins with the need to remain sober; this applies to any substance that voluntarily takes us either away from God or where we can lose control of our own thinking and actions. To be sober means to understand something clearly. If we are under the influence of something we may not be able to comprehend the truth or understand what is going on around us. Instead of allowing ourselves to be under the influence of something foreign we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. If we are filled with the Holy Spirit we are able to fully comprehend and fully understand. The Greek word implies an on-going action of being filled. We must remain sober otherwise we run the risk of being persuaded by temptation. The word ‘debauchery’ in the English generally means excessive indulgence, something corrupt or wicked. The Greek word also implies a lack of morals or a dissolute life.
When Paul writes that we are to address one another by psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, he is not saying we are to sing to each other instead speaking. We are to maintain a heart like that of one singing to God. When people are in a good mood or happy they often sing, whistle or hum a song. Our hearts should always reflect the joy of knowing God, especially when we talk to others.
Christians often use the words ‘psalm’, ‘hymn’ and ‘spiritual song’ interchangeably, however Paul seems to be delineate them here in verse 19 (see also Mark 14:26; Acts 16:25; 1 Corinthians 14:26; Colossians 3:16 and James 5:13). The word ‘psalm’ is usually a song that is sung with accompaniment, in all probability Paul is referring to the Book of Psalms; a ‘hymn’ is a religious ode or song in honor of God (early Christian writers refrained from using the word since it was commonly used in conjunction with praising heathen deities) and the term ‘song’ (ōdē) is a song in praise or honor of someone, in this case, one that praises God (unfortunately this term was also affiliated with pagan deities). Paul undoubtedly listed these to demonstrate they are all appropriate to praise and honor God. The advice to make, “melody to the Lord,” is good advice since while we are making melody to the Lord, such as singing or humming a Christian song, we are less likely to be sinning!
There may be times when we don’t feel like giving thanks, Paul says we should get used to it! God always knows best and even though we may be going through a difficult time we need to acknowledge God and His blessings. We are to give thanks to God for all things, all the time. We are to give thanks to God the Father. (see also Colossians 3:17 and 2 Thessalonians 1:3). Paul says we should offer our thanks in the name of Jesus (see also John 14:13 and Hebrews 13:15). Jesus made it possible to approach God, without Him we would not have salvation as our own righteousness is simply unacceptable (see Isaiah 64:6).