On the day of Pentecost, Christ poured out the Holy Spirit on his church, equipping her to serve him, giving her what was needed to do her work until the day that he returns in glory. What does the Spirit working in the church look like? Paul explains in Ephesians 5:18–21 as he calls you to keep on being filled with the Spirit.
Be filled with the Spirit. Don’t get drunk! Being under the influence of the Spirit is not to be confused with loss of self-control. In particular Paul warns against drunkenness. Excessive wine leads to debauchery–the kind of life which is the opposite of love, light, and wisdom. Recognize the temptation, and shun it. This is not a command for total abstinence, but it is a stern warning against the abuse of alcohol. It is perhaps something that we need to be particularly aware of as we react against errors of fundamentalism. But, likely the reason Paul singles out this sin is because of its influence. We talk about a DUI. We are to be under the influence, not of alcohol or any other substance, but under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Keep on being filled with the Spirit. Keep on being filled with the Spirit. This is the present tense, and reflects an on-going activity, not a particular event (a second blessing). Pentecost is essential. What Joel had prophesied, became a reality recorded in Acts 2. The ascended Lord, having received the fullness of the Spirit from the Father, together with his Father pours out the Spirit upon the church. This is not a repeatable event in the life of individual believers (your private Pentecost), but is as unique, and yet as lasting as the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. When you are baptized into the name of the triune God, you are ingrafted into the Spirit-baptized church of the Lord Jesus Christ. The verb is an imperative–you must do this. Obey! And the verb is passive. You don’t fill yourself, you are filled by God. How can all this be? Our text is the one place where we are commanded to be filled with the Spirit, but the basic idea shows up elsewhere. Compare with Colossians 3:16, 17, where having the word of Christ dwell in you richly forms the parallel to being filled with the Spirit. Grasp the close connections among Christ and his Word, and the Spirit. The Spirit and the Word, the Word and the Spirit. Distinguish them, but don’t ever separate them. And don’t play them off against each other. Ask yourself whether you are more filled with the Spirit today than you were five years ago? five months ago? Is there progress in your life as a believer.
“The Spirit is to have sole and absolute dominion in or lives — not drunkenness, the thing mentioned in this verse, but also, as we consider our world today, things like drugs, pornography, gambling, and even things that are good in themselves, like a personal relationship, marriage, family a job, money, and power. Where any one of these dominates, where any becomes an ultimate commitment, as they tend to do, the counterproductive result is, using Paul’s word, debauchery or dissipation, which, if persisted in, has consequences in our lives that are inevitably disintegrating and eventually destructive. In Ephesians 5:18, the command to be filled with the Spirit, we may say, is the first of the Ten Commandments, ‘You shall have no other gods before me,’ applied specifically to the Spirit.”
Richard B. Gaffin Jr., Word and Spirit, p. 432
As a Spirit-filled Christian… Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and Spiritual songs. Being filled with the Spirit shows itself in several ways. Paul follows the command to be filled with four participial phrases which give specific form to his command. (Our English translations may make it difficult to see the grammatical connection.) Your worship is clearly directed to God. The purpose of worship is not our entertainment, but the glory of God. Your growth in Christ is personal, but not just individual. We speak to one another in singing, in a manner that parallels the building up of one another in Ephesians 4:16.
“Not only is the preaching of the word a means of grace in corporate worship, the singing of the people of God also ministers grace. Songs are addressed not only to the Lord in praise and petition, but also to one another as we instruct, warn, and encourage.”
Edmund P. Clowney, “Corporate Worship: A Means of Grace” in Give Praise to God, p. 97
Make music in your heart to the Lord. Your worship is first of all directed to God. The purpose of worship is not our entertainment, but the glory of God. Our singing music made in the heart (not just with the vocal cords) to the Lord.
Give thanks. Give thanks to the Father. Thanks to God the Father flows out of the theocentric doxology of Ephesians 1:3–14. That doxology, like this expression of thanksgiving, is trinitarian. The Father has chosen you in love from before the foundation of the earth, 1:3–5. He has raised you with Christ, 1:6–7; 2:4–6. He has sealed you with the Spirit, 1:13–14; 4:30. All the blessings you have flow out of this work of the Father. All of life is included here. The focus in singing points you to public worship, though singing isn’t limited to that. But notice that nothing is excluded from the scope of giving thanks.
Submit to one another. Submitting does not come naturally to us. We want to be in charge. We don’t want to be told what to do. We tell ourselves that we are just as good as (or a little better than) the next person. Mark 10:33–45 records the request of James and John and the ensuing debate among the remaining disciples. But notice that Jesus describes that looking for preeminence, for authority, as a pagan concept. He came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Paul will expand on what that mutual submission looks like, but we will take that up in weeks to come.
Let me ask you: are you continuing to be filled with the Spirit? If not, turn to Christ now. If so, sing—to the Lord and for his people as well, giving thanks to God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And submit to one another joyfully as you give thanks to God for everything.