Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Ephesians 5:15-21 | Date: April 12, 2015 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

I’m happy Pastor Boyd has finally let me back in the pulpit. It has been a strange couple of months the way the schedule has gone. It’s good to be back. Open your Bibles with me, if you will please, to Ephesians chapter 5. We’ll continue our expositions through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 5.

Let’s begin our reading with verse 15. You’ll remember this passage, chapter 5, verses 1 and following. Paul is dealing with exhortations as to how we are to live. Now in verse 15:

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another, out of reverence for Christ.”

Let’s bow for prayer. Our Father, we pray that the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight. We ask in Jesus’ name, amen.

You’ll recall that as we worked our way through Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, we saw that in the first three chapters, I don’t think there was one imperative, not one command as to how we should behave and what we should do. But rather, he spends his time expounding the basics of the Christian faith: our salvation, what it is, and how it came about. He traces it from eternity to eternity. And then, in chapter 4 and verse 1, he turns a corner and says, “Therefore, I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you’ve been called.” That is, all of this that we have been reading and studying about salvation has ethical and moral implications. We are to live in a way—or he uses the metaphor here in chapter four, walk in a way—that is worthy or consistent with this calling that we have received in Jesus Christ.

And then in chapter 4, he expounds this great change that has come about, particularly verses 17 and following; he talks about the great change that has come about in every believer’s life, that we’ve come out of darkness into light, and it has ethical and moral implications. Now in chapter 5, he returns to the metaphor of walking, and he says in verse 2, “Walk in love.” And he gives Christ and the gospel as the model for what love is. “Walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Here’s the model, the epitome of love: Christ’s self-sacrifice in order to redeem those who had no rights to it at all. And here’s how we are to love one another.

Next, we saw in verse 8, “Walk as children of light.” And through this whole passage, verses three through 14, the overwhelming emphasis is that on sexual morality. We saw that together last time that we were here, which it seems was some time ago. And now he uses this exhortation, this metaphor of walking again, and that’s in verse 15: “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise.” So walk in love, walk in the light, and today now, walk in wisdom.

Walk As Wise

You’ll notice he set us up for this in verse 10: “Try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.” Here’s the rule by which we live. This is what marks the believer. Unlike the world, we try to discern what pleases the Lord, and we act and make our decisions accordingly. Well, now that is the idea of verses 15 and following. Walk, be careful how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise.

You may have various translations here, I know. You have this translated in different ways. The ESV that I have says, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise.” If you have the NIV, it is, “Be very careful then how you live.” The Holman Christian Standard Bible says, “Pay careful attention how you walk.” Or, I think still my favorite is the King James translation of this: “See that you walk circumspectly.” We don’t use that kind of language anymore, so maybe it is a little outdated, but it’s really very precise, isn’t it? See that you walk circumspectly, looking around, watching for dangers, watching for the potholes, watching for those things that would make you stumble. See that you walk circumspectly, looking around, being very careful, not as unwise, but as wise.

Now then, this idea of wisdom. I suspect that lying in the background of all of this is the concept of wisdom that we find in the Old Testament. The Apostle Paul, of course, was very familiar with that. Wisdom in the Old Testament, the word translated “wisdom,” actually is a word that is elsewhere translated “skill.” And so you have wise builders, and that is, they’re skillful in their craft and so on. Well, wisdom in the Old Testament wisdom literature—Psalms or Proverbs and Ecclesiastes—in the wisdom literature, wisdom is the skill of living rightly before God. It’s not just an intellectual concept. A wise man is not just somebody who’s smart. It’s someone who’s skillful in the art of living before God. He understands his position as God’s creature, he understands who God is, and we live accordingly. We understand that God has revealed himself, that he has revealed his will, he has commanded us how to behave, and so a wise person is one who lives, or to use the metaphor here, who walks accordingly.

In the Old Testament wisdom literature, there are two ways. You often see that you have the foolish woman calling and you have lady wisdom calling. You have the way of foolishness and you have the way of wisdom. You have the way of death and you have the way of life. There’s two ways throughout all the wisdom literature in the Old Testament. One is wise, one’s unwise, one’s foolish. You’re either a wise person following the teaching of the Lord that he has revealed, or you’re a fool.

And it’s an interesting concept that the wisdom literature has. That is, sin then—disobedience to God, violating his law—is not only wrong, it is that. It’s not only rebellion against God, it is that. But for your own self-concern, it’s foolish. To disobey God, to fail to follow his will, is the most foolish thing a person can do. And so we have these two ways: wise and foolish. Sin is personally injurious. It is wise to follow God. And so he’s promoting here and commanding a life of humble obedience to God, which is really the wise thing to do.

So again, verse 15: “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise,” adept, skillful in the art of living before God successfully.

Making The Best Use Of Time

Notice then how he elaborates on that in verse 16: “making the best use of time because the days are evil.” Again here, I’m sure we have several different translations. The ESV that I use here translates it, “making the best use of time.” That clearly is the sense of it. The word that’s used, we find it in the King James Version, “redeeming the time.” It’s the typical word that is used of redemption by the blood of Christ. As you know, the word “redeem” means to purchase. And so it’s another metaphor: buying back the time. Don’t you wish you could buy time? “Oh, I’d love to have another day in the week or another six hours in the day. How much more I could get done.”

Well, Paul uses that metaphor here. Buy back the time. Redeem the time. Make the best use of the time that you have. The point of all of that, of course, is to know how to use the brief span of your lifetime well. Know how to use your hours and your days and the weeks and the months and the years that God has given you. Or, to look at it another way, know how to use those opportunities that God has given you. Know how to use them well and for his glory.

You ever notice how some people, when they become a Christian, seem to grow in the Lord faster than some others? I think there are a lot of factors that go into that. I’ve seen that all my life; I’ve been in the church all my life. I think there are a lot of factors that play into that. One is intellectual capacity. Some people are just smarter than others. I have a good friend in ministry. He was converted at age 14; he immediately started reading Augustine. Not too many of us have done that yet. Some people have a greater intellectual capacity. They read through the scriptures, they hear the teaching, and they get it, and they get it fast, and they grow faster. That’s part of it. That’s sovereignly given.

Some people have better opportunities than others. My heart goes out to Christians who are in churches that are not faithful in really expounding the word. And after years of being there, I’m certain they’re Christians; they’ve just not had the exposure to the teaching of the word and they haven’t grown. Again, that’s partly God’s providence. A lot of factors play into that. But above all of that, what accounts for it in every case? The person who grows is one who has taken advantage of the opportunities that he has. And that’s true of every one of us regardless of intellectual capacity. It depends somewhat on opportunities, but every one of us takes advantage of the opportunities that we have and we grow accordingly.

And that’s Paul’s idea here: making the best use of the time, buying back the time, taking the effort and the time intentionally to read and study the scriptures, to be there when the scriptures are taught. You see some people, they’re there every Sunday school. They’re there every Sunday morning, Sunday night. They’re there every time the scriptures are open. They’re there every time there’s opportunity for prayer. And you know, you’re just not surprised that they grow strong and quickly.

And I think that’s part of Paul’s point here: make the best use of your time, make best use of every opportunity. And I don’t think he’s speaking just in terms of growth and spiritual maturity, but I think he’s also speaking in terms of service—making the best use of the time to serve Christ, taking advantage of those opportunities for evangelism, helping, serving, doing things of eternal value, making best use of the time. And he’s telling us here, there’s no excuse for the lazy Christian. You are before everything else, before anything else, you are a Christian first. And he is saying here, there’s no excuse for the lazy Christian to be uninvolved, but we should seize every moment and every opportunity to serve Christ and to live for him as he has called us to do. So walk as wise, not as unwise, buying up every moment, taking advantage of every opportunity to learn and to grow and to serve Christ.

And the reason is, verse 16 again, “making best use of the time because the days are evil.” The age to come has dawned. Citizens of heaven with Christ, we’re seated in the heavenlies with him. Well, we’re not there yet entirely, are we? Consummation has not come. The days are still evil. And because of all the threats, and because of all the dangers that are all around us spiritually, we must buy up every opportunity to learn, to grow, to serve, to be faithful, and to walk as those who are wise and who know what the will of the Lord is.

I’m tempted here to say something about—maybe I will. It has long been a frustration of every pastor. Every pastor has run into it. If you’ve been in the ministry more than, oh, five or 10 minutes, I think you’ve probably run into it. Someone comes and they need help because there’s some crisis, or they’ve fallen into some sin, and your heart goes out to them. You want to help. And what they’re looking for very often is a button that you push that somehow makes this better. And there just is no button. And your heart goes out to them, and you want to help, and you will help as much as you can, and you will spend as much time with them as you need to spend, and all of that.

And because you’re sympathetic with them, you can’t always say it, but you’re thinking in the back of your mind, “Brother, for all this time I’ve known you, you have not been serious about pursuing opportunities to serve God, to grow. You have been lax in service for God in virtually every way that I know of, and now you find yourself in a mess and you wonder why.” Now you can’t say that when it’s at the crisis, of course. But I say that not to complain about those who have felt it, and in degree we’ve all been there. But I say it as a matter of exhortation for all of us. Take advantage of the opportunities. Buy up the time. Walk wisely. Live for God.

Then he gives a contrast again in verse 17: “Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” There’s an “us” and there’s a “them.” There’s a foolish way and there’s a wise way. Here he says what marks the difference is we know what pleases God and we live accordingly. This is the essence of wisdom. We know what pleases God and we live accordingly. God’s purpose in redeeming us is not just to rescue us from hell. Thank God we have that. But God’s purpose in redeeming us is not just to rescue us from punishment. God’s purpose in redeeming us is to restore us to the image of his Son. And he is determined to shape us like him. And the means that he has given is his word—to shape our thinking and our minds and our lives so that we become more and more to look like Christ. In this business of walking in wisdom, and as we’ll see, being filled with the Spirit, it has nothing to do with mystical enablements, but it has to do with strengthening our minds and our lives with the means that He has given to us to grow and to follow Him.

Be Filled With The Spirit

All right then, now we come to verse 18, and I’m going to spend the rest of our time here. I hope this doesn’t get to be too pedantic, too technical as we walk through it. But this is one of those verses that is just often discussed and people often question over it. And so because of the interest that’s often in it, I’m going to spend a little bit more time and pull you through some of the thinking that, to the conclusion, I think is right. I’ve told my students in school, when you preach, don’t give your congregation the ingredients to the cake. Just give them the cake. People don’t want to be labored through all the process of things. I may break that rule today, I hope it’s okay, but we’re going to walk through this carefully, so I hope we can understand what’s going on here, and maybe drive the point in a helpful way.

Verse 18: “Do not get drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.” Big question is: what does it mean to be filled with the Spirit, and then how do we get it? And of course, there’s been endless discussion on this for many, many years.

It seems to me that this is just, first of all, an extension of what Paul is saying in verse 17. Don’t be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is, and—and I think this is just cluing us in that this is a further elaboration of verse 17—and do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.

I’m sure you’re familiar with the Pentecostal interpretation of this; it has to do with speaking in tongues. In fact, there is a related expression—it’s not this expression, there’s a related expression in the book of Acts that is associated with speaking in tongues. We may—no, we probably won’t get to that today. But that clearly is not what Paul has in view in this passage. More commonly, this verse is taken in what historically is known as the “higher life” teaching, the “victorious life,” the “deeper life” teachings. And there are lots of prescriptions that go with it. Well, in order to be filled with the Spirit, first you have to be a believer. Second, you have to confess your sin. You have to confess all sin. You have to confess all known sin, and then you must yield yourself to the Spirit, and then you allow Him to take control, and you end up with a mystical kind of idea where you’re sort of animated by the Spirit, and the Spirit is living through you, some kind of way like that. There’s lots and lots and lots of teaching in that regard. In fact, when I first started reading theology, that was the first interpretation and understanding of this that I came in contact with. And I don’t think that’s what’s going on here. I think it’s entirely mistaken.

All right, let me take a little bit of time to talk about this expression “to be filled.” And then we’ll look at the expression “to be filled with the Spirit.” There’s a related expression—this is not this one here, but there’s a related expression that’s translated “filled”—that appears primarily in the book of Acts. And it’s—well, I’ll give you some samples. Luke 1:41: “Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women,'” and so on. Another one in Luke, Luke 1:67: “Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying…” you’re familiar with that. Then the book of Acts: “They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues.” Then Peter, “filled with the Spirit, said to them…” That’s chapter 4 and verse 8. Acts 4:31: “They were filled with the Spirit and continued to speak the Word of God with boldness.”

And you see in this expression, that pattern occurring quite often. “He was filled with the Spirit and…” He was filled with the Spirit and spoke in tongues. He was filled with the Spirit and spoke boldly. He was filled with the Spirit and prophesied. He was filled with the Spirit and rebuked. You find this kind of expression where we find then this becoming an occasional moment when the person is empowered for a particular task to serve God with discernment and with boldness.

I think that is closely related to the expression we have here, but it’s not exactly. The expression that’s used here—let me give you some samples of that. Acts chapter 13, verse 52: “The disciples were filled with joy.” Now, what does it mean to be filled with joy? I mean, I have not just this much joy, but this much joy? Well, clearly the idea of completion and filling up is somewhere lurking in the background of all of that, but the idea is what? Characterized by joy? Controlled, governed by joy? These are joyful people.

Let’s look at another one. Romans chapter one, verse 29, where he speaks of the unbelieving: they are “filled with all manner of unrighteousness.” What does it mean to be filled with unrighteousness? It’s not this much, but this much. They’re characterized by unrighteousness, governed by unrighteousness, controlled, overcome by unrighteousness, something like that. Another one, Romans 15 verse 13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace. Again, the idea is what? Characterized by joy and peace? Governed by joy and peace? There’s some observable quality that defines or identifies them. To be filled with joy is to be joyful. Characterized by joyfulness. To be filled with unrighteousness is to be characterized by or governed by or identified as one who’s joyful or unrighteous or so on.

Another one, Romans chapter 15, verse 14: “filled with all knowledge.” Filled with all knowledge. Again, characterized by one who understands the will of the Lord, the things of God. Another one, 2 Corinthians 7 verse 4: “filled with comfort.” “I am filled with comfort in all our affliction.” What does that mean? It means I’m comforted, governed by comfort, characterized by comfort. Ephesians—let’s move along. Well, if you’d like to jot some down: Ephesians 3:19, Philippians 1:11. I should slow down. Ephesians 3:19, Philippians 1:11, Colossians 1:9, “filled with the knowledge of his will.” 2 Timothy 1:4, “filled with joy.” In all of these, you see, it’s something like “characterized by”; there’s some observable quality that defines or identifies the person.

Now, there’s another related expression. Instead of the verb “to be filled,” there’s the adjective, “full,” “full of.” So again, let’s give some of these. Acts 6:3: “full of wisdom.” What’s that mean? Characterized by wisdom, governed by wisdom, one who is wise and behaves accordingly. “Full of faith.” What does that mean? Characterized by faith, faithfulness. Acts chapter 6 and verse 8: “full of grace and power.” Acts chapter 9, verse 36: “full of good works,” characterized by good works. Acts 13:10, where he speaks of Elymas the sorcerer: he is “full of deceit,” full of deceit and trickery, characterized by deceitfulness. The crowd in Acts 19:28 was “full of rage,” characterized by rage.

Well, this is getting pedantic, but I’m trying to drive the point: again, there’s some observable quality that defines the person. This expression, “full of,” or “to be filled with,” does that. And then we have a few times then, elsewhere, where we have people who are, to use this expression, “filled with the Spirit.” Luke chapter 4, verse 1: “Jesus, full of the Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.” Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan. What does that mean? This much Spirit? Characterized by the Spirit? Governed by the Spirit? Dominated by the Spirit? Led by the Spirit? Acts chapter 6 and verse 3 again, where he gives the instructions for selecting those servants, those first deacons: “Choose seven men full of the Spirit and of wisdom.” What does that mean? These men who are obviously, by the way they behave, dominated by the Spirit. Acts chapter 6 and verse 5: “Stephen was a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” Well, if you’d like some more: Acts 7:55, Acts 11:24.

And there’s one, just to give a contrast that I think is helpful. And it is a stark contrast. It’s Acts chapter 5 and verse 3. You remember what’s going on in Acts 5? Yeah, Ananias and Sapphira. Remember what Peter asks? “Why has Satan filled your heart so that you would lie against the Holy Spirit?” What does it mean for Satan to fill his heart? Is there something he poured in? It’s a metaphor, right? And he’s speaking of control, governed. Satan has taken control. Satan has influenced. And you’ve given way to that influence.

So then the idea here, “be filled with the Spirit,” seems to be that of being characterized by the Spirit, under the influence of the Spirit, being governed by the Spirit, controlled by the Spirit, something like that. There’s some idea of completeness, of course, involved with the metaphor of being filled, but the idea is that of a controlling factor, a controlling influence that has come into our lives.

Now then, look at verse 18 again, and you’ll see that, I think, in the contrast that Paul gives. “Do not get drunk with wine.” Don’t be controlled by the liquor. Don’t be controlled by the alcohol. “Don’t be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit.” The idea of control or influence, again, is there. Characterized by the Spirit, under His influence, in His control.

Now we should distinguish this from another expression in the New Testament, and that is “baptism with the Spirit.” Baptized by the Spirit. That is an initial event that happens at the outset of the Christian life when we are brought into union with Christ through the work of the Spirit. But this is an ongoing thing. Notice he commands it: “be filled.” This he addresses to believers.

Oh, there are so many other expressions that are related and I wanted to look at some of them. We’re running late today. Let me just mention a couple quickly. In Romans 8 and verse 13, we find an expression, “if we are led by the Spirit,” to be led by the Spirit. Now, that is almost always in our day understood in some mystical way that the Spirit is leading me to write this letter, to buy this car, to buy that house, or whatever. Or what you hear in the church usually: “The Spirit has told me to quit teaching this Sunday school class,” and “The Spirit has told me to quit this and not to do that,” and things like that. God gets blamed for lots of things and there’s this mystical leading that happens. That’s not at all what Paul has in mind in Romans 8. When he speaks of the leading of the Spirit in Romans 8, he’s speaking of coming under a new dominating factor in our lives. We’re led by the flesh. If we’re in the flesh, we’re dominated by the flesh. But now in Christ, we’re dominated by the Spirit. We’re led by the Spirit. That’s why Paul can use other expressions like “the spiritual man” is the Christian. A spiritual man is not a higher level of Christian. A spiritual man is a Christian. He’s not a carnal man. He’s not a man dominated by the flesh. He’s one who has come under the influence of the Spirit of God.

Now the difference here in Ephesians 5:18 is, as I mentioned, this is an imperative. This is a command. It’s something we’re commanded to do. It is our responsibility: “Be filled with the Spirit.” It is something that ought to characterize every believer, but the command implies that there’s some kind of responsibility on our part. And whatever else is involved in this—we’re going to expand on this a little further—but I think the idea here is simply what we see so often in the Apostle Paul, and we’ve seen it a hundred times here before: be what you are. Are we people who have come under the dominating influence of the Spirit of God? Well, yeah, that’s what it is to be a Christian. That’s what he tells us in Romans 8 and in Galatians 5. What it is to be a Christian is we’ve come under the dominating influence of the Spirit of God. And now he’s saying, “Yeah, do that.” There’s more to be said, but that’s at least what he’s saying. And I think that’s what Paul has in mind in Galatians 5 when he says, “walk in the Spirit.” You are people who are led by the Spirit, by definition; that’s what a Christian is. So walk in the Spirit, be what you are.

This has nothing to do with ecstatic experiences. He’s not speaking of tongues here or anything like that. He’s not speaking of surrender and “give control over and be animated by some mystical kind of a sense.” He’s simply saying, as he says so often: be what you are.

Let The Word Of Christ Dwell In You Richly

Well then that raises the next question. How can I be filled with the Spirit? How can I come under His dominating influence more consistently?

I want you to read this passage with me one more time, and then we’re going to go somewhere else and see a parallel teaching, but I think it’ll help to keep this in our mind carefully. Look at verses 18, 19, and 20—well, 18 through 21 again.

“Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.” And now notice the way he describes what being filled with the Spirit looks like. “Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

Now turn forward a few pages and look at Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3, verses 16 and 17: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Does that ring a bell? It’s clearly a parallel passage, isn’t it?

All right, what does it mean, first of all, in verse 16, to “let the word of Christ dwell in you”? Think about that. You don’t have to answer. It’s a rhetorical question. Think on that. What does it mean for the Word of Christ to dwell in you? Well, clearly it entails learning. But it entails more than that, doesn’t it? If the Word of Christ dwells in us, it becomes a controlling factor in the way we live and think and behave, right? Well, what then does it mean for the—”Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly”—it becomes a dominating factor in our lives in a big way, right? Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Now it seems then it’s roughly a parallel to what we have—actually very closely a parallel to what we have in Ephesians chapter 5. The initial command is different. In Ephesians it’s “be filled with the Spirit.” Well, here it’s “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” The virtues that attend to each of them are the same: teaching one another, singing to one another in psalms, in spiritual songs, giving thanks and so on. And there’s a huge corporate dimension to this that we’re going to have to see next time. We don’t have time today.

Well, it makes perfect sense then: to be filled with the Spirit, in a sense, is to be filled with the Word of Christ, or to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly. It seems then that what we have when we put all of this together is that we have the answer to the question: how or by what means does the Spirit fill us? How does He become the influence over us, the dominating factor in our lives? How can we be filled with the Spirit in that sense? Well, by a changed heart, of course; that’s the initial step. That’s what the Spirit does. But how do we progress from there? The answer is: let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. And this is the means, this is the stuff that the Spirit of God uses to transform our lives. Letting the Word of Christ dwell in us richly is the means by which we are filled with the Spirit and shaped for life and service for Christ.

Well, then we have an implied responsibility. When he says, “be filled with the Spirit,” we have an implied responsibility, and that’s this big theme we find over and over and over again in the Bible. Read your Bible. Study your Bible. Meditate on the word. Listen to the word of God when it’s taught. Soak your minds in the scriptures. This is the stuff that the Spirit of God uses to shape your life as He has called it to be.

This runs all through the Bible, doesn’t it? Joshua 1:8: “This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you’ll meditate in it day and night. Then you’ll make your way prosperous, and in that you’ll have good success.” “How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed to your word.” “Your word I’ve hid in my heart that I might not sin against you.” “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, or stands in the way of sinners, or sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night, and he will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth his fruit in his season.”

It’s everywhere in the Bible, isn’t it? Giving our minds the influence of the scriptures, exposing ourselves to God’s self-revelation, and this being the stuff that the Spirit of God uses to transform us. He’s not speaking of mystical surrenders. He’s speaking of applying the means that He has provided to be transformed.

You’ll see the contrast there. Back in Ephesians 5, verse 18: “Don’t be drunk with wine, and that is debauchery.” That’s what characterizes that. “But be filled with the Spirit.” What does that look like? We’ll see more of this next time. Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord, giving thanks, submitting to one another. This is the results of a Spirit-filled life. This is the life of wisdom. Paul is simply continuing and expounding this theme that he began in chapter 4: the transformed life. And here he tells us, it is our responsibility to apply ourselves to the means that God has given for transformation by the Spirit.

Now there are some other questions associated with this. I don’t have time to get into them. Does this imply that some people are not filled with the Spirit? There are some teachers who have made much of that: some are and some aren’t filled with the Spirit. It would seem, I think, that’s probably not the best kind of language to use. It would seem that because, by definition, a Christian is one who has become under the influence of the Spirit—under the dominating influence—he’s led by the Spirit. By definition, that’s what a Christian is. Probably best, and the best I’ve ever seen of it, is simply to say: it is not the Christian getting more of the Spirit, but simply the Spirit getting more of the Christian.

This is back to a familiar theme that we find in the scriptures of the cooperative efforts of the Christian in sanctification. Or better than the word “cooperation,” probably, is the word “participation.” Participating in the work that God is doing in us—acting the miracle. This is all supernatural: God taking control of a life and transforming it from the inside out. And our responsibility in it is to participate and to avail ourselves and expose ourselves to the means that He has given to it.

This is what it is to walk in wisdom. A mind and a heart shaped by the Word of Christ, by the Spirit of Christ within. Entirely supernatural. And yet it’s our responsibility to see to it, to take advantage of the means, and bring our minds and our hearts under the influence of the gospel over and over and over and over again. This is the life of wisdom. May God give us to put ourselves to it. Amen.

Our Father, we need this exhortation. We need to be reminded of the wonderful means that you’ve given to us to grow, to be wise, to live in a way that is not only honoring to you, but a way that in turn will be fulfilling and joyful for us. Thank you for the enablement of your Spirit. We’re thankful for the great work that He has done in sanctifying us to the Lord Jesus. We pray that you would give us more faithfully by those means by which He works in our lives, that we may look more and more like our Savior. I pray in His name.