Ephesians 5:15–21

Bible Studies for Life 
Samford University and Brookwood Baptist Church, Mountain Brook

Connected in Service 

Ephesians 5:15–21

Serve Each Other with Wisdom (15–17)

As with the Colossians (Col. 4:5), the recipients of this letter are exhorted to conduct themselves wisely in the world. They are a unique minority and because of their distinctive ways they will be subjects of scrutiny by outsiders. Do they really behave according to their claimed convictions? Will they offer a positive example of this gospel they proclaim? Hence the need for wise conduct lest the cause of Christ be jeopardized by thoughtless speech or action.

The injunction to “make every opportunity” is echoed in Colossians 4:5, and in both places it has special reference to Christian witness in the world. The statement that “the days are evil” is probably a confirmation that whatever the challenges that lay in the way of Christian witness at present will increase as time goes on. Nevertheless believers are to make the most of their time. Stewardship of time is as important as stewardship of possessions and it is one thing we all have in common. As long as we live together in this world, each of us has as much time as the other. It boils down to how we use the time that we all have in common.

Serve Each Other in Submission to the Holy Spirit (18)

“Be filled” is reminiscent of Ephesians 1:23, 3:19 and 4:13, where the Church is described as the fullness of God in Christ. This concept is critical to understanding the phrase, “Be filled with the Spirit,” which is literally “Be filled in Spirit.” To be filled with the Spirit is the functional equivalent of being in Christ or having Christ in us. Since Paul’s instruction here proceeds to addressing community worship, his exhortation here is not to cultivate individual spiritual experiences but to participate in the life of community, especially communal worship. It is incorrect, then, to look for ecstatic behavior as the primary sign of being “filled with the Spirit.” The primary sign of being filled with the Spirit is the cultivation and practice of those virtues that move us toward Christlikeness. Paul offers a listing of those virtues in Galatians 5:22–23, which he refers to as the fruit of the Spirit. A Spirit-filled believer is one who develops and exhibits love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Integrating all of these into one’s life (hence the word “integrity”) is what validates a Christ-follower as being graced by the Spirit’s residency in his or her soul.

Today, as at Pentecost, the worship and witness of Spirit-filled Christians is often met with mockery: “They have had too much wine” (Acts 2:12). Someone has noted, however, that some churches today have more of the atmosphere of being drugged than being drunk, of stagnation than intoxication. God help us when our worship becomes so boring and routine that we portray the gospel as dull and lifeless. Some day soon our brothers and sisters in the Southern Hemisphere might need to come our way and remind us of the joy and the witness of passionate worship of our Lord.

Being Filled with the Spirit Affects How Believers Live (19–21)

The reference to “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” is echoed in Colossians 3:16. The meetings of early Christians included music, as they not only sang and made melody to the Lord but addressed one another for mutual edification and blessing in songs already known to the community. The hymn quoted in verse 14 could well be one example of their “addressing one another.”

Paul follows with a general exhortation to mutual submissiveness. Christians should not be self-assertive, insisting on his or her own way. As Paul told the Philippians, believers are to count others better than themselves and put the interests of others before their own. In doing so they are following the examples of Christ who “emptied Himself,” “humbled Himself” and “became obedient to death on a cross” (Phil. 2:3–8).