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Summary
We are called to walk carefully before God in light of the great salvation we have received in Christ. Drawing from Ephesians 5:15-21, this passage challenges us to examine whether our daily lives—especially our most significant relationships—reflect the careful, intentional living that our salvation demands.
Key Lessons:
- Because of God’s lavish salvation blessings (election, adoption, redemption, revelation, inheritance, and indwelling), we are called to live with careful intentionality, not carelessness or people-pleasing.
- Walking carefully means using time wisely by aligning our priorities with God’s revealed will, recognizing that the evil days we live in can rob us of opportunities to serve God effectively.
- Understanding God’s word practically—not just knowing facts but applying Scripture to real life—is essential to the careful walk, and we must pursue this through consistent engagement with the means God has provided.
- Being filled by the Spirit means allowing the Holy Spirit to fill us up with God and Christlikeness through the word, producing visible manifestations: singing truth to one another, giving thanks always and for all things, and voluntarily submitting to God-ordained authorities.
Application: We are called to examine our use of time, our practical engagement with Scripture, and whether any ‘intoxicant’—alcohol, social media, entertainment, or people’s praise—is blocking the Spirit’s work of filling us with Christlikeness. Where we find carelessness, we are called to repent and return to the gospel.
Discussion Questions:
- When you look at your most significant relationships—marriage, family, work—do they reflect someone walking carefully before God, or do they reveal areas of carelessness? What specific change is needed?
- Of the ten practical ways listed for understanding God’s word, which are you consistently using, and which are you neglecting? What is one step you can take this week?
- Is there an ‘intoxicant’ in your life—something that captures your soul and leads to wastefulness—that is blocking the Spirit’s work of making you more like Christ? What would it look like to repent of that today?
Scripture Focus: Ephesians 5:15-21 is the central passage, calling believers to walk carefully as wise people, understand the Lord’s will, and be filled by the Spirit. This is set in the broader context of Ephesians 1-4, which establishes the great salvation blessings (election, adoption, redemption, etc.) that motivate and ground the call to careful living.
Outline
- Introduction
- The Context: A Great Salvation
- The Overarching Command: Walk Carefully
- 1. Use Your Time Wisely
- 2. Understand God’s Word Practically
- 3. Manifest Spirit-Filling Continually
- Conclusion: Take Care
Introduction
If you happen to look in the bulletin, you may have noticed that we’re not continuing in the Gospel of John today.
Last time we were in John, we finished up a substantial section, the farewell discourse of John 13:17.
Before we resume with the rest of the book and in particular the crucifixion and resurrection account, I wanted to do a few sermons related to marriage.
We’ve already had one marriage for our church members this year, Tom and Doris Shinnick, and we’ve got four weddings on the schedule, and who knows if there might be one or two more added.
Considering the several new marriages that God is putting together and the many marriages that God already has put together at our church, I thought it would be useful to hear some teaching on marriage from the pulpit.
My plan is to do two messages on that classic marriage passage of Ephesians 5:22-33, the Apostle Paul’s specific instructions to wives and husbands.
But before that, I want to do a message to set the context for that divine marriage council, the passage right before, which is Ephesians 5:15-21.
That’s where we’re going to be today.
Let me now pray and ask for God’s help as we study his word.
Heavenly Father, we come for food. We need the food of your word. Lord, this is a dangerous world and if we are not equipped by your word, we will find ourselves pierced through with many sorrows.
God, help us to know what you want us to know and then help us to do what you call us to do. Help us to believe. Grant us repentance and faith as we need.
But Lord, as you equip us with your truth, help us to go all out in pursuit of you and in pursuit of holiness. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now that my oldest son is three, there are certain phrases that I find myself saying to him over and over again. One of the most frequent is, “Be careful.”
Be careful, Benjamin, to look both ways before crossing the street. Benjamin, be careful not to put too much food in your mouth at once. Benjamin, be careful when you’re running not to accidentally knock over your little brother.
Why must children be trained to be careful? Because they don’t come careful.
They come into this world naive and selfish. They don’t know that they need to be careful. They don’t know how to be careful. And they don’t know why they should be careful.
But children aren’t the only ones who need to learn to be careful, are they? Adults need to learn, too.
In fact, you could say that becoming a Christian is how a person finally learns to be careful like he ought.
The Christian has not only learned that this world is full of practical and relational dangers that require great care. But the Christian has also woken up to the much greater spiritual dangers of this world.
The deceitfulness of sin and of worldly pleasures. The wicked schemes of the devil and of his minions. And the judgment of God that hangs over all unrepentant sinners.
Yet Christians do not merely learn to care out of godly fear, but also out of love. Love for others and love for God.
After all, God was the one who first showed love and care for Christians while they were yet sinners. God sent his only beloved son to save Christians. God caused Christians to repent and believe in the gospel. God gave his holy spirit to Christians and then called them to live a careful life of holiness for his sake.
So of all people, Christians ought to be the ones who have learned to be careful.
“Becoming a Christian is how a person finally learns to be careful—waking up to the spiritual dangers of this world.”
But have you? Out of holy love and fear, have you learned to walk carefully before your God?
You might ask, “Well, how would I know?” Well, try looking at your most significant relationships.
Does your marriage demonstrate that you walk carefully before your God? Does your relationship with your children or your relationship with your parents demonstrate that you walk carefully before God?
Does your relationship with your boss or if you are the boss, does your relationship with your employees demonstrate that you walk carefully before God?
Or do these and other things show you to be careless? Or do you care, but it’s only about what people think rather than what God thinks?
Today, God by his word is going to speak to us as his children and teach us to be careful. God will teach us that we need to be careful. God will teach us how to be careful. And God will teach us why we should be careful.
If you would please open your Bibles and turn to the book of Ephesians, Ephesians 5:15-21.
The title of my message today is taken straight from the main exhortation of this passage: “Be careful how you walk.”
Our passage is Ephesians 5:15-21. If you’re using the Bibles that we’ve provided, you can find the passage on page 1,173.
Let’s read this passage. Ephesians 5:15-21.
Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is, and do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father, and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
In this passage, the Apostle Paul gives three ways that you as a believer in Christ, a disciple of Christ, must walk carefully in light of your great salvation.
This is the proposition: three ways you must walk carefully in light of your great salvation. We’re going to look at each one of these ways as we work through the text.
The Context: A Great Salvation
But first, we must give attention to the overarching command that appears at the beginning of verse 15. Notice how again it says, “Therefore, be careful how you walk.” Now, anytime you see a therefore in the text, the author is pointing out that what he is about to say is a consequence or a result of what he said before.
Right away we need to see the context to fully appreciate what God is commanding us here. What exactly has Paul been saying right before this? What exactly has Paul been saying up to this point in this letter?
Well, in the letter of Ephesians, Paul reminds believers of their great salvation blessings that they have received in Christ. Paul then calls the believers to live a holy life reflecting that great salvation.
If you want to think about what the whole book of Ephesians is about, that’s it: reminding you of your great salvation and then calling you to live holy as a result.
The Salvation Blessings of Ephesians 1-2
Now, what are the great salvation blessings that according to Paul you have as a Christian? Well, we just go straight back to chapter one. If you just glance over there in Ephesians 1, Paul says that God has lavished on you every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. And he begins to enumerate these starting in Ephesians 1:4.
God has bestowed on you election. God lovingly chose you for himself before the foundation of the world. God bestowed on you adoption. God made you a member of his own family with all the rights and privileges thereof.
God bestowed on you redemption. Jesus’s substitutionary death on the cross granted you salvation and the forgiveness of your sins.
God granted you also revelation. God made known to you the mystery of his will through Christ and through Christ’s word.
God bestowed on you inheritance. God granted you a place of honor and rule with Christ in his coming kingdom.
And God bestowed on you indwelling. God has given you his sanctifying Holy Spirit as proof of your salvation inheritance.
Now, any one of these six blessings in the beginning of Ephesians 1 is amazing by itself. But God lavished them all on believers in Christ, including you if you believe.
Yet, if you are such a believer, how many of these blessings did you earn from God? The answer is none. They were all grace gifts to you through Christ. It was completely God’s unmerited favor that gave you these things.
“Any one of these six blessings is amazing by itself. But God lavished them all on believers in Christ.”
In fact, if you go over to Ephesians 2 now, Paul goes on to recall for us how lost we all were before God mercifully intervened.
Starting in Ephesians 2:1, Paul says, “You, you believers, you were spiritually dead in your trespasses and sins. You were completely unable to do anything or choose anything but sin.
You walked according to the course of this present evil world. You acted just like the doomed religious or irreligious people all around you.
You were under the prince of the power of the air. That is to say, Satan was your real master. You fulfilled his same desires.
You lived following the lusts of your sinful nature, whatever your body and mind wanted. And you were innately a child of wrath. To your core, you were a person worthy of hellfire forever.
But then what happened? Ephesians 2:4.
But God, when you were hopelessly lost, God chose to rescue you. In mercy, in compassion, God chose to rescue you. God made you spiritually alive with Christ.
God granted you faith to believe in and to turn to God in Christ. God exalted you to the highest place of honor with Christ as a co-heir.
God determined to lavish his abundant kindnesses on you forever. And God made you, if you’re a Gentile, a fellow heir with all the believing Jews in the church.
This maybe doesn’t seem as significant to us today, but it certainly was back then. In Christ, God not only abolished the enmity between sinners and himself, but God also abolished the enmity that existed between groups of sinners, especially Jews and Gentiles. They were formerly in enmity with one another. But he abolished that enmity so that the two might become one new man in Christ, one new temple of peace for God.
Now, we’re just looking at Ephesians 1 and 2. I’m briefly recounting for you Paul’s own brief summary of amazing salvation realities.
It’s safe to say that we Christians don’t yet know the half of how wonderful these blessings are. But even the little that we know is overwhelming.
Paul actually prays in Ephesians 1 and 3 that we might learn in a greater way just how astoundingly blessed we are in Christ and in God’s love.
“We Christians don’t yet know the half of how wonderful these blessings are. But even the little that we know is overwhelming.”
But all these salvation blessings are designed by God to have an effect on you, his believing people. And what effect is that?
The Worthy Walk: Ephesians 4-5
Well, it’s a new holy life. A new holy life before God and before the world. If you just glance now at Ephesians 4:1, Paul begins to describe the worthy walk of those who have been so blessed by God in salvation.
In Ephesians 1:3, the book of Ephesians only has six chapters, but in Ephesians 1:3, Paul explains the greatness of the salvation you have received in Christ.
And then in Ephesians 4:6, Paul explains how you ought to respond with grateful, obedient, and sober living.
Paul says in Ephesians 4:1, “Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.” You see the term walk in this verse. Paul is not referring to you literally walking around on your feet.
Paul is instead speaking metaphorically about how you live your life.
Walk worthy. Live worthy. Think, act, and speak in a way that is appropriate, that is worthy, considering the incredible salvation calling you have received.
Now, following Ephesians 4:1, Paul gets more specific about what this worthy walk looks like. He even continues to use the words therefore and walk to mark out different sections of exhortation.
By the time we reach Ephesians 5:15, where our specific passage begins, Paul has already given several explanations of the worthy walk. I’ll just recount these for you briefly.
Because Christians have received such a great salvation, believers are to walk in unity and service. That’s Ephesians 4:1-16.
Believers also are to walk no longer as Gentiles, but as new creations. That’s Ephesians 4:17-32.
Believers are to walk no longer in sexual lust, but in godly love. That’s Ephesians 5:1-7.
And believers are to walk no longer in darkness, but as children of light. That’s Ephesians 5:8-14.
And this brings us back to our passage. If you again look at verse 15, we see those two same words of application that have been appearing since Ephesians 4:1: therefore and walk. Verse 15 and chapter 5 begins another section of exhortation from Paul and goes all the way to Ephesians 6:9.
Something important for us to realize here as we are in verse 15 is that the therefore that begins that verse does not simply refer to what Paul said in the few verses previous. When Paul says therefore in Ephesians 5:15, he is also referring to what he just said in a few verses above about believers no longer being in darkness but being in light, no longer participating in evil deeds but instead exposing them, and no longer living like those who are asleep but like those who are awakened to the shining of Christ.
That’s all true, but the therefore of Ephesians 5:15 goes back further than that. It goes back to that general word of application in Ephesians 4:1. And ultimately it goes back to the beginning of the letter to the great salvation blessings that all believers have received—Jew and Gentile alike—in Christ.
The Overarching Command: Walk Carefully
Because of those blessings, Paul says in Ephesians 5:15, what else should you do? How else should you walk worthy?
The answer from Paul in Ephesians 5:15 is walk carefully.
Walk carefully. Another way to say this command would be to walk attentively, to walk accurately, to walk circumspectly.
Because of your great salvation in Christ, your life with its priorities and decisions deserves careful attention to bring it in line with what God wants.
Notice this beginning phrase in Ephesians 5:15 is a command. This is not a suggestion from Paul or from God. This is a command and expectation for all who claim to be followers of Christ.
Let’s pause and ask ourselves: does my life manifest this kind of care for God’s sake?
By this point in Ephesians, God has given you more than enough reason to care. Look at all that God has done for you and is still doing for you.
Out of grateful love and out of reverent fear, surely you will now live carefully for the Lord’s sake. Won’t you live carefully?
“Because of your great salvation in Christ, your life with its priorities and decisions deserves careful attention to bring it in line with what God wants.”
Now to this, someone might say, “I do want to walk carefully before the Lord, but I just don’t know how.” Well, take heart because that is exactly what God now wants to explain to you, explained to us by his apostle.
The rest of our text explains how to walk or live carefully before God.
1. Use Your Time Wisely
Let’s now look at the three ways that you must walk carefully before God in light of your great salvation. The first way appears in the rest of verse 15 and in verse 16: use your time wisely. Look at Ephesians 5:15-16 together.
“Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time because the days are evil.”
You’ll notice that in these two verses, like the ones that follow, there is a contrast given for emphasis. Here, the contrast is between an unwise man and a wise man.
The Greek word for wisdom here refers to skillful living, knowing how to live life well. Now, the Bible teaches that only Christians really know how to live life well because they rely on the sure wisdom that is given by God himself in his word.
So Paul says to us here, don’t be like one of those who do not have the divinely given skill for living, but be like those who actually have it, because you actually do.
Now, what specifically does Paul have in mind in terms of exercising divine wisdom? Well, it is making the most of your time.
I’m guessing that everyone listening to me today will confess that they do not have enough time. You have so many wonderful plans, so many wonderful spiritual and ministry goals that you would achieve if you only had some more time.
Even the world today with its obsession with money and productivity has done lots of research into time management to come up with strategies and techniques. But Paul’s not talking here about brushing up on time management tips.
Paul’s talking to us here about priorities, how we allot the time that we actually have. Think about your last week and how you used your time. Did you use it well?
You might ask, well, how would I know if I used it well? That’s a difficult question to answer specifically, but I can say this: Godly use of time will reflect seeking God’s will according to God’s priorities.
Think about what God would have you be devoted to as is actually expressed in his Bible. Learning more about God, praying, making disciples, serving the church, serving your spouse, serving your children, being a good worker, being a good student, praising God and more.
Those are clear priorities from God in his Bible. Does your use of time reflect those priorities?
“Godly use of time will reflect seeking God’s will according to God’s priorities.”
If not, it’s time to realign your priorities with God’s own so that you may walk carefully as God commands.
Pastor Dave, are you saying I must cut out all time for rest and relaxation? Is it just work, work, work from here on out?
No, I’m not saying that. And God’s not saying that. Being a good and godly steward of your time includes allocating time for recharging.
You can glorify God. You can worship God in the way you spend your recreation time. But you need to ask yourself, am I devoting more time to recreation than I need?
Do I have time sinks in my life that prevent me from pursuing godly priorities? It may be that there are certain kinds of recreation that are just not for you, maybe for other people, but not for you.
Because these activities, these recreations tend to devour your time, squander your opportunities, and crowd out God’s priorities. You see, God cares about how you use your time in light of the great salvation that he’s given you.
You will one day need to give an account to God for how you used your time, how you used the opportunities he set before you. Wouldn’t you like to have an expectation of reward at that time when you are at the judgment seat of Christ rather than an expectation of loss, loss of reward?
The Evil Days That Steal Your Time
By the way, know that the evil one, the world, and your remaining flesh, that old sin principle, they are working against you when it comes to your time.
Because notice the phrase at the end of verse 16. It says, “Do all this because the days are evil.” Friends and brethren, this is not a world where we can afford to kick back, relax, and get to doing God’s will sometime in the future.
No, this is a world of evil. This is a world that’s in trouble.
People don’t know the Lord and are being led to hell. Believers are getting caught up in sin and piercing themselves through. Marriages and families are coming apart.
You must take charge of your time before evil comes and robs you of it and leaves a ruin in its wake.
If you remain naive, if you allow yourself to be unwise, evil will take advantage. Evil will steal all opportunities you have to serve God effectively and then leave you to pick through the wreckage of your life that’s left behind.
This is what will be the cost of your carelessness.
“You must take charge of your time before evil comes and robs you of it and leaves a ruin in its wake.”
Therefore, brethren, if you love God, if you are grateful for his salvation, if you regard his assessment of you with holy fear, and if you recognize the evil day in which we all live, then you must walk carefully before God by using your time wisely.
2. Understand God’s Word Practically
A second way to walk carefully in light of your great salvation appears in verse 17. This is number two in our sermon outline. Understand God’s word practically.
Verse 17 says, “So then, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” You see the “so then” at the beginning of this verse—this phrase refers back to everything Paul just stated in verses 15 and 16. Namely, the ideas that believers need to walk carefully and that they need to be wise with their time.
What’s going to help enable believers to do those things? Understanding the will of the Lord.
I mean, how would you even know whether you’re using your time well if you don’t know what the Lord’s will is? This very naturally comes afterward.
And notice in the presentation of this, we have another contrast. This time, the contrast is between being foolish and being understanding. Now the word for foolish here is a different Greek word than the word unwise that we saw in the previous verses. To be foolish means to lack practical insight.
If you’re this kind of foolish, you might know various facts, but you don’t get how things work in real life. Meanwhile, the word understand also refers to practical things, practical insight. You do get how things work and what to do.
Now what is it that Paul says believers are to have practical insight about? It is the will of the Lord.
Plenty of believers today are wondering about the will of the Lord. What is God’s will for my life? Whom does God want me to marry? What job does God want me to work? In what country does God want me to be a missionary?
Trying to discover this secret sovereign will of the Lord can be frustrating as it is in fact impossible.
Deuteronomy 29:29 says that the secret things belong to the Lord. They belong to God. But the things revealed, the things of God’s word, they belong to us and to our children.
Paul has already said back in Ephesians 1 that one of the blessings that God gave believers in salvation was the revelation of the mystery of his will. Not his sovereign will, not the secret way he’s going to work out all things, but his revealed will, his prescriptive will, what he wants you to do.
And where do you find that? Not in signs and circumstances, but in the word of God. The message of salvation. The revelation of Jesus as given by his apostles and prophets and recorded in the Bible.
It is only in the scriptures that you can discover what God wants you to do, even how God wants you to act by various principles in various kinds of situations.
For example, God won’t mysteriously reveal to you by some sort of sign the person that you are to marry.
“It is only in the scriptures that you can discover what God wants you to do, even how he wants you to act in various situations.”
But he does give you all the necessary principles in his Bible so that you can make that determination wisely and righteously.
Therefore, this exhortation from Paul in Ephesians 5:17 to understand God’s will is tantamount to an exhortation to understand the scriptures.
And we’re not talking about gaining a simple knowledge of God’s scripture. We’re talking about an understanding that sees how to apply the scriptures practically to life. And isn’t that what God emphasizes he’s after in various portions of scripture?
It’s not the one who hears the word of God who’s blessed. It’s the one who hears and does it.
And all of us can grow in this area, can’t we? And we must grow in this area if we are to walk carefully in light of God’s great salvation.
So again, apply this to yourself out of love and fear of God. How are you pursuing practical understanding of God’s will from the Bible? Are you ignorant or foolish in this area like the people of the world are? Or are you actually learning God’s will and doing it?
Remember, it’s only as you learn to apply the Bible practically that you will make the most of your days in this evil world.
Ten Ways to Understand God’s Word
And let’s get specific. What are some ways that you at Calvary can understand God’s word practically? I’ll give you 10. This is a non-exhaustive list.
One, come to church and pay attention and take notes during the sermon.
Two, come to Sunday school and learn about the topics or sections of scripture that we don’t normally get to in the pulpit.
Three, come to the weekly teaching ministries: Iron Man, Side by Side, Young Adult Ministry. These by design not only show you how to study scripture, but also how to apply it.
Four, be part of a men’s or women’s small group, which again is specifically designed to help you understand God’s word and put it into practice.
Five, do the homework beforehand for these and other ministries. When I say homework, I mean the study guide or whatever is assigned so that you come most ready to that ministry to grow by teaching and discussion and you can help others grow.
Six, read or listen to the Bible daily on your own. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount. Whatever is manageable for you.
Seven, take purposeful time to think about and to talk about with others what you’ve read or learned from the Bible.
Eight, memorize portions of the Bible that are particularly helpful or important to you.
Nine, use our church website or the Calvary app to listen to messages on the Bible or Bible-related topics that you didn’t get to hear in person when they were first done.
And then 10, read a good Christian book or listen to some Bible messages from other trusted preachers.
Consider these 10 simple ways you can fulfill this command from God to understand his word practically. If you will utilize these consistently, you will indeed learn how to apply God’s word to your life and consequently you will use your time well before God and you will walk carefully.
Now, do not say to me, “I’d love to, Pastor Dave, but I just don’t have the time.” We’ve already talked about this. You will always have time for whatever you prioritize.
God has commanded you to prioritize him and his will.
You may not be able with your specific life circumstances to learn the Lord’s will by every means that I just suggested, but you can surely use some of them.
Do it and do it consistently as is fitting for you as a Christian. If you do not want to be foolish, but instead to walk carefully as your God commands, understand God’s word practically.
“If you will utilize these consistently, you will learn how to apply God’s word to your life and consequently walk carefully.”
3. Manifest Spirit-Filling Continually
A third and final way that you must walk carefully in light of your great salvation appears in verses 18 to 21.
This is the third and final point of our outline: number three, manifest spirit-filling continually.
Manifest spirit-filling continually.
Look first at just verse 18.
“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the spirit.”
Here’s a third contrasting exhortation from Paul. This time it’s between getting drunk and being filled with the spirit.
We might ask, “Was drunkenness a particular problem in the Ephesian church?” Not likely.
Paul probably mentions drunkenness because of how illustrative that state of being is for describing the people of the world.
People without Christ are, as Paul has already mentioned in Ephesians 2, driven fundamentally by their cravings and passions. They thus tend to go to excess with comforts and pleasures, whether it’s alcohol, drugs, Netflix, video games, or something else.
The people of the world generally cannot control themselves but instead find themselves under the influence, even in bondage to various substances and activities.
Paul says this is not to be true of Christians. Christians are to be under a different influence leading to different results.
The unbeliever is led by drunkenness into what Paul calls dissipation. That word most basically has the idea of wastefulness.
But it is often used to describe various reckless, uncontrolled, and even immoral activities.
This is what the unbeliever is led to by his drunkenness. But the believer meanwhile is led into quite different activities, which we will look at more in just a moment.
What It Means to Be Filled by the Spirit
But what’s all this about being filled with the spirit?
I’ll tell you what this is not. This is not Paul telling you that as a believer, you need to be filled up with some portion of the Holy Spirit that you do not yet have. Oh man, I’m feeling pretty depressed today. I need more of the Holy Spirit. Oh man, I’m going to preach the gospel later. I better top up on the spirit.
No. If you’re a Christian, you received the entire Holy Spirit to dwell in you when you believed in Jesus. Ephesians 1 says that God gave you the spirit as a seal or as a guarantee of your inheritance.
God didn’t just give you only part of the spirit and thus only part of the seal because otherwise that seal would be no good. You couldn’t trust that guarantee.
Rather, God gave you the whole seal. He gave you the whole Holy Spirit.
So you don’t need a topup. You don’t need a second blessing or separate baptism of the Holy Spirit after your conversion.
You already have the spirit and all his glorious ministry to you and through you if you believe.
Okay, if Paul’s not saying that I need to be filled up with more of the Holy Spirit, then what is Paul saying?
Let me clarify for you something about this verse which is not easily apparent in the English translation.
In English, this verse sounds like it’s saying instead of being filled up with wine to become drunk, a Christian should be filled up with the Holy Spirit.
Grammatically speaking, however, the original Greek of this verse is saying something slightly different. Instead of being drunk by means of wine, a Christian is to be filled by means of the Holy Spirit.
In other words, the spirit is not the content of the filling, but instead the means by which you are filled with something else. The spirit is filling you up with something else. Okay, but what is that something else? Ephesians 5:18 doesn’t say specifically.
However, Paul has notably used filling language earlier in the book of Ephesians. These uses likely inform Paul’s meaning in Ephesians 5:18. I’ll highlight a few of these for you.
In Ephesians 1:22, Paul identifies the church as Christ’s body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
In Ephesians 3:17-19, Paul prays that the believers will know God’s power and Christ’s love better so that Christ might dwell in your hearts through faith and so that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
Finally, in Ephesians 4:13, Paul explains that believers in the church are to build up one another with their unique gifts until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
So, are you noticing a pattern in those verses?
Each time in Ephesians when Paul speaks of filling, it is of believers being filled up with God and Christ unto Christ likeness.
Therefore, what must Paul mean when he speaks of the spirit filling believers in Ephesians 5:18?
It must be the same sense. The spirit fills us with God and Christ unto Christ likeness. That’s what the spirit’s all about doing.
Now again, this verse is not teaching that God and Christ do not already indwell believers.
Receiving salvation means that God the father and God the son now reside in each believer permanently by the holy spirit because each person of the godhead is in each other person of the godhead. If the holy spirit dwells in you, well then so does the father and the son by the spirit. John 14:23 is explicit about that.
So that’s not what Paul is saying.
Rather, we have not yet all been filled up to the fullness of God as Paul said earlier in Ephesians, which is to say, we do not yet have full knowledge of God, his word, and his ways.
We need more filling of these things by the spirit so that we might then speak, act and think more like God and more like Christ.
To use a very limited analogy, please forgive this. We Christians are like balloons made into the shape of Christ, but we are not yet fully filled with air.
Christ is in us. But because we have not understood or adopted all of Christ’s ways, our balloon is not fully filled.
And we therefore do not look very much like Christ.
It’s only as the spirit fills us with the air of Christ by his word so that we think the thoughts of Christ and then speak the words of Christ and do the deeds of Christ that we actually are in essence filled up with Christ and actually look like Christ.
So Paul is saying in Ephesians 5:18 essentially: don’t be like the world under the influence of intoxicants like wine making you dissolute. Instead, be under the influence of the Holy Spirit by the word of Christ, making you more like God.
“It’s only as the Spirit fills us with the air of Christ by his word that we actually look like Christ.”
We read earlier the parallel passage in Colossians 3. There we see Colossians 3:16 says something similar, not quite the same as what we’re looking at in Ephesians 5:18, but something similar, an idea very much in parallel. Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom and teaching, admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
So the Colossians passage emphasizes the word filling us, where the Ephesians passage emphasizes the outcome of that word filling us: Christlikeness, being filled up to the fullness of God.
As part of walking carefully in light of your great salvation, you should be manifesting to others the ministry of the Holy Spirit filling you up with God.
By the way, are you noticing how these three ways of walking carefully build on each other?
Using your time wisely means prioritizing understanding God’s word practically. Understanding God’s word practically means being filled by the spirit continually with greater Christlikeness. This is what the careful walk before God looks like. These things all go together.
“Using your time wisely means prioritizing understanding God’s word practically, which means being filled by the Spirit continually with greater Christlikeness.”
So before we continue, let me pause again and ask you to ask yourself: is there some intoxicant in your life that is shortcircuiting this blessed process?
Are you under the influence or the control of something that is blockading the spirit’s effort to make you more like Christ by Christ’s word?
It could be alcohol like Paul says, but it could also be any other soul-capturing comfort or pleasure. Are you drunk with video games? Are you drunk with work, people’s praise, social media, AI chatbots, YouTube videos?
Is there something intoxicating you that just leads to more and more wastefulness and sin in your life?
If so, Jesus Christ by his apostle commands you today: stop.
Your God is calling you to walk carefully in light of your great salvation. Therefore, put away this intoxicant. Repent. Get rid of it. Cast it far from you if necessary.
And put yourself again under the filling ministry of the Holy Spirit unto Christ likeness.
Now, there’s more to this third command because Paul also notes some outward manifestations of being filled with God by the spirit. Just as people could tell back then who was drunk by wine, people should be able to tell who’s being filled up by the spirit.
We see these manifestations in verses 19 to 21, and we’re just going to look at those briefly. For an excellent, more in-depth treatment of verses 19 and 20, I recommend you look up Pastor Greg’s sermon from last year on Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. I’m going to be more brief in my treatment.
So, what does someone being filled up by the spirit with God uniquely manifest in his life?
3A. Singing
Well, first, the first spirit-filling manifestation is singing. 3A in our outline, singing.
Look at verse 19.
Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.
Those who are filled up with God, Paul says, cannot help but sincerely sing and recite spiritual songs to one another and to God.
Now, I don’t know if you have ever thought about this, but Christian songs are not just about praising God. They are also for instructing.
Instructing and encouraging yourself and instructing and encouraging other people. Just as Colossians 3:16 also says as we read.
This should be true in our public services. We gather together and sing. You are not just singing to God.
You are singing to one another. You don’t know how encouraging it is to the other believers here in this church when they see you and hear you singing in church.
On the flip side, you don’t know how discouraging it can be when someone consistently observes you not singing.
But it’s not just the formal services.
It’s also true outside the formal services. We should regularly be singing and quoting spiritual truths to one another from good Christian songs. Even the songs that make up the scriptures like the book of Psalms.
As we all know, songs can be particularly memorable and emotionally impactful.
If God’s spirit is working on you, affecting you, even in your emotions, it should come out in song. It should come out in quoting songs to one another.
“You don’t know how encouraging it is to other believers when they see and hear you singing in church.”
3B. Giving Thanks
A second spirit-filling manifestation is in verse 20: giving thanks.
Verse 20 says, “Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father.” Those being filled up with God should be known for thankfulness, even public giving of thanks to God.
Notice how continual Paul says this thankfulness should be. He says, “Always and for all things.” Now, that sounds really easy at first until you think through the implications of that. Can you give thanks always and for all things in your life?
Say, “I can give thanks for the good things.” That’s not what he said. He said, “For all things.” Because God uses all things for your good if you’re willing to believe the Lord.
This is what God’s spirit is intent on doing. This is how he fills you up with God. He fills you up with thankfulness.
And as Christ himself was thankful no matter your situation, because of the great salvation blessings you have from God, you always have reason to give thanks. And so you do.
Paul notes earlier in Ephesians 5:4 that continual thankfulness protects believers from greed and discontent.
This thanks, Paul says, is to be offered to the Father through Jesus Christ. Just as our prayers are made acceptable to God by Christ, so is our thanks.
Besides, it is the salvation blessings we have through Christ that enable us to give thanks always. So yes, to the Father through Christ.
“Because of the great salvation blessings you have from God, you always have reason to give thanks. And so you do.”
3C. Submitting
A third Spirit-filling manifestation is in verse 21, and that is submitting. Verse 21 says, “And be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.” This one might surprise you, but if you’re using the New American Standard 95 translation, the translators are right to include verse 21 in the same section and in the same sentence that we’ve just been looking at.
Really, the phrase “be subject” that you see in verse 21 could be more accurately, though more awkwardly, translated as “submitting” here because the original Greek verb is another participle, or in English, another “-ing” verb like the two previous. So: singing and speaking to one another with psalms, giving thanks, and submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.
That’s what verse 21 more literally says.
We’ll have more to say about this specific phrase next week, but notice here and now that submitting to God-ordained authorities—whether in the home, in the church, or in society—is a manifestation of the Spirit filling someone up to the fullness of God.
It’s no light or inconsequential matter. It’s an outcome of Spirit-filling.
Also notice that this subjection is done voluntarily by the one submitting out of reverence for Christ. It is not done out of ungodly fear of man, nor is it some kind of forced subjugation.
Now, each of these manifestations of Spirit-filling under Christ-likeness—singing to one another and God, giving thanks to God in everything, and submitting to God-ordained authorities—these are not things we normally see in the world, are they?
As they are not natural to fallen man, but they do mark, they ought to mark, those who walk carefully in light of God’s great salvation.
So, are they characteristic of your life? Are you continually being filled up with God by his word? Is it showing up in your desire to speak and sing God’s truth to others and to God?
You may not be the greatest singer, but you can always recite it. Are you someone characterized by sincere giving of thanks even in hard circumstances? And as being filled by God leads you to submit gladly to God-ordained authorities, even when they are imperfect.
“Submitting to God-ordained authorities is not a light or inconsequential matter—it is an outcome of Spirit-filling.”
If so, keep going. Excel still more. God is pleased. Rejoice in the work that God is doing in your life to make you more like Christ. That is a result of his salvation work in you. It’s not you earning your salvation. It’s God working out what he’s already done.
But if these things are not true of you, if they are not characteristic of you, well, it’s time to repent. It’s time to return to the gospel.
Conclusion: Take Care
Believe once again these amazing salvation realities that Paul outlines in the beginning of Ephesians and then start walking carefully before God as you ought. In American English we have the parting salutation “take care.” Ever heard that? Ever said that to somebody? Take care.
This phrase is meant to be a form of affectionate well-wishing. But if you think about it, it’s also good counsel.
Life is serious. There are both terrible and wonderful spiritual realities of which we must remain continually aware.
“Life is serious. There are both terrible and wonderful spiritual realities of which we must remain continually aware.”
Therefore, out of love and fear of God, let us take care. Even as a church, let us help one another be careful how we walk. Let’s close in a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, all your ways are good and all your commands to us are good. You never give a command in the Bible that is just going to be a burden. Rather, you say explicitly that your commands are not burdensome.
Even your commands to walk carefully are for our joy. They are for our good. They are for your honor, which is what we seek most of all.
God, I pray that you would apply this word to us by your Spirit in the ways that we need. Convict us for where we have gone astray. Comfort us even as you convict us, as you reassure us of our secure place in your kingdom in Christ.
You have begun a work in us that you have not yet finished, but you will keep working until the day you complete it in Christ Jesus.
God, I pray that no one would respond to this exhortation with mere legalism, that they would focus on the externals and say, “See, I’m walking carefully,” and neglect the heart. They don’t do it out of love and fear for you. They do it out of love and fear of people or love for themselves.
On the flip side, God, I pray that no one would respond to this message with despair, looking at how carelessly they have walked up to this point, even as a professing Christian, and say, “There’s no hope for me. I can’t do this.”
Even as our brother Pastor Crumbley was praying today: God, such were some of you. Yes, we were once careless people. We even became intoxicated with various pleasures and comforts of this world, leading to dissipation.
But then you changed us and transformed us. You forgave us, saved us, made us new, and gave us your Holy Spirit. So not only do we have forgiven grace from you but also transforming grace.
Lord, let us believe that and depend on that. Transform this congregation. Make us into a people who are not only careful before you but joyfully careful, expectantly careful that you will do the work.
Even through our own effort, even through our own striving and battling, you will do the work. You are the one who is in us to will and to work for your good pleasure.
Lord, thank you for this word. Help us to continue to think about it and talk about it so that we apply it as you want us to. In Jesus’ name, amen.