Q: What does Ephesians tell us about the role of the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is mentioned a number of times in Paul’s letter to the believers in Ephesus. This essay will seek to outline and explain the various roles of the Holy Spirit as taught by Paul in his letter. The roles can be divided into four major roles which include the mediating of God’s blessings to believers, the subsequent unity of believers, aiding believers to live in light of these blessings and empowering believers in spiritual warfare.
Paul begins the letter to the Ephesians by teaching the believers about a significant role of the Holy Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit mediates the blessings of God to believers. This is seen in a number of ways throughout the first half of the letter but is most clearly explained in Ephesians 1:3,1 where Paul tells his readers that God has blessed them with “every spiritual blessing in Christ”. Fee proposes that the Greek word for “spiritual” in this instance refers to an adjective for the Holy Spirit and the blessings are therefore those that pertain to the Holy Spirit and not merely “spirit”.2 O’Brien agrees and further explains the nature of these blessings. He suggests that “in Christ” implies that the blessings or gifts given to believers are a result of God’s salvation work through Christ.3 The text in Ephesians 1:4-14 explains the nature of these gifts, which includes adoption as sons, redemption and forgiveness of sins amongst others. This is not the only section of the letter that speaks of the blessings of God which the Spirit appropriates to believers. The entire first half of the letter to the Ephesians (chapter one to three) speaks of these blessings that are founded on what God has done in Christ.4 Besides being the one who mediates these blessings to Christians, Paul teaches that other roles of the Holy Spirit include the way he acts within these blessings.
Firstly, the Spirit is a gift himself, given by God to the believer. This is found in Ephesians 1:13, which explains that once you have believed the gospel of salvation, you are marked with the promised Holy Spirit. In this verse, Paul teaches that one of the Holy Spirit’s roles is that of being a seal which marks a believer. The seal (the Holy Spirit) reveals God’s ownership of the believer and the indwelling of the Spirit which occurs at conversion. Furthermore, the seal of the Holy Spirit demonstrates the security of the salvation of believers.5 This is more clearly seen in the following verse, 1:14, where the Spirit is described as a deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession. The role of the Spirit here is not only as a seal of ownership which marks the believers of God and sets them apart from others, but also as a deposit which acts like God’s assurance to his people, that he will most certainly achieve their ultimate final redemption.6 This is also evident in Ephesians 4:30 which states that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit for the day of redemption. The day of redemption refers to the final day of salvation and judgment and the Holy Spirit’s seal acts as God’s guarantee that He will redeem His people.7
Another way in which the Holy Spirit acts within the blessings of God is found in 1:17, the beginning of Paul’s written prayer for the Ephesians. The Spirit is referred to here as the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. What knowledge and revelation will the Spirit be imparting to the believers? Paul prays that the Ephesians may know God better (Eph. 1:17). The Spirit will reveal to them the full extent of these God-given blessings they have in Christ. Fee states that the Spirit will give them a fuller understanding of God and all he has done in Christ.8 In addition, the verses that follow indicate that the Spirit will also aid in the believers’ understanding of their future hope of inheritance and of God’s great power for those who believe (Eph. 1:18-19). Paul shares with the Ephesians that he too was given this Spirit of revelation when by the Spirit, God revealed the mystery of Christ to him. Paul explains the mystery is that through the gospel Gentiles and Jews share together in the promise in Christ Jesus (Eph. 3:3-6). It is concerning this mystery that the next blessing comes about.
A further blessing of God to believers evident in this letter is that of reconciliation between Jew and Gentile and reconciliation between man and God. Through Christ’s death, the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile is destroyed and they now form one humanity (Eph. 2:14-15) who share together as heirs in the promises of God (Eph. 3:6). As a result of Christ’s work of salvation, believers are also brought near to God (Eph. 2:13), have access to the Father (Eph. 2:18) and are thus reconciled to God. Paul teaches that the Holy Spirit’s role within the reconciliation of Jew and Gentile involves the indwelling of the Spirit within each believer (Eph. 2:22). This indwelling of the Spirit is essentially God living in believers and O’Brien refers to this as a link between the believers and the heavenly realm.9 In light of the access believers have to God, Paul ends his letter by telling his readers to pray in the Spirit, meaning prayer that is guided by the Spirit.
Thus far, the initial key role of the Holy Spirit that Paul teaches about is that he is the member of the Trinity through whom God mediates his blessings to his people. Besides this fundamental role of the Holy Spirit and the various roles within it, Paul teaches that the second key role of the Holy Spirit is that of uniting believers. Unity is a significant theme that flows throughout the letter to the Ephesians. Unity of believers is established because of Christ’s death and the Holy Spirit is instrumental in creating it.10 In addition to the aforementioned verses that explain the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles, Ephesians 4 also speaks of the unity amongst believers. Through the indwelling of the Spirit in each believer, both Jew and Gentile create a united body of Christ. Fee states the one body is “the result of their common experience of one Spirit, whose presence in their lives is also the predicate of their one hope”.11 This is explained in Ephesians 4:4-5 where Paul outlines the oneness of the body of Christ.
Paul exhorts the believers to live a life worthy of the calling they have received (Eph. 4:1) with the aim to maintain this unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (Eph. 4:3). This exhortation begins a series of exhortations that will follow in chapters 4 to 6 of Ephesians. Paul is encouraging the believers to live a life in light of the blessings which have been previously outlined in chapters 1 to 3. Furthermore, Fee suggests that the subsequent exhortations should be understood in light of Ephesians 4:1-5 as what it means to maintain the unity of the body of Christ.12 The Holy Spirit plays an essential role in aiding the believers to live a certain way in order to be obedient to God’s command for unity.
The third key role of the Holy Spirit is that of helping believers to live in light of the gospel. It is due to the indwelling of Christ by the Spirit that believers can change the way they live. Fee explains that God’s power that strengthens the believers through the Spirit (Eph. 3:16) is necessary for his people to shine his glory in the world.13 Ellis identifies this third key role as “the fruit of the Spirit” which he explains as the evidence of Christ’s character seen through the attitude and conduct of the believer.14 Paul teaches the believers to live this way in Ephesians 4:2 where he tells them to “be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” These character traits can be found among the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. These commands and those that follow revolve around maintaining unity within the body of Christ by the way in which the believers relate to one another.
Paul continues by exhorting the Ephesians to put on the new self (Eph. 4:24), to live in a new way in accordance with who they are in Christ. He again reminds the believers they are “one body” (Eph. 4:25) and the importance of building one another up in the way they relate to each other (Eph. 4:29). Paul outlines how to achieve this in the commands he gives to them. He reminds the believers that they were once darkness but now they are to live as children of light (Eph. 5:8). The Holy Spirit enables them to do this. A number of positive (Eph. 4:32; 5:1-2, 8) and negative commands (Eph. 4:26-27, 29-31; 5:3-7, 11) are also given. Amidst the negative commands from 4:26-31, Paul tells the believers not to “grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (Eph. 4:30). O’Brien proposes that the Spirit is grieved when God’s people continue in sins that divide or destroy the body of Christ.15 Holladay agrees that the context of the passage suggests this and further states that the sins which grieve the Spirit are those committed against the fellowship of the church.16 It is clear why these sins would grieve the Spirit if one of the key roles of the Spirit is to create unity amongst believers.
In continuing with the Holy Spirit’s role of helping believers live in light of the gospel, Paul exhorts the Ephesians to “be filled with the Spirit”(Eph. 5:18). Stott explains that the command to “be filled” is written in the present imperative which indicates that there is to be a continuous filling of the Spirit in the believer.17 O’Brien asserts that being filled with the Spirit means that the Spirit mediates the fullness of God and Christ to believers so that they can change more and more into Christ’s image.18 Furthermore, the passage appears to explain that being filled with the Holy Spirit is achieved by the four actions that directly follow the command that is, speaking to one another with psalms, singing to the Lord, giving thanks to God and submitting to one another (Eph. 5:19-21). From 5:22 to 6:9, the last exhortation which involves submitting to one another out of reverence to Christ (Eph. 5:21) is made more clear in the example of various earthly relationships. Thus it can be said that being filled with the Spirit leads to fellowship with one another and also to God’s glory through heartfelt worship.19
It has been plain throughout the letter that it is a result of Christ’s work on the cross that enables the believers to live in a way which builds up others and brings glory to God. However, it is the Spirit given by Christ to dwell in believers that aids them in living in this way. In an additional example, Paul does not specify directly that the Spirit imparts gifts to believers in Ephesians 4:8-13. However, it can be implied from the passage that the Spirit acts on behalf of Christ to give gifts to believers.
The final role of the Holy Spirit is to give power to believers in spiritual warfare through the word of God.20 The last half of chapter 6 in the letter urges the believers to stand strong against the evil and dark forces of the world. The “sword of the Spirit” is one part of the armour of God that the believers are called to use in this spiritual battle and is explained as the word of God (Eph. 6:17). Fee maintains that the sword of the Spirit is about being empowered with the Spirit to boldly proclaim Christ so that all might hear and be delivered from Satan.21
In conclusion, Paul teaches in Ephesians that the Holy Spirit has a number of roles as a member of the Trinity. It is evident throughout the letter that the Spirit does not act by himself, but acts within the Trinity because of God’s salvation work through the death of Christ. He mediates God’s blessings in Christ to believers and creates unity amongst believers through his indwelling. He aids believers in living in light of God’s blessings and in order to maintain unity in the body of Christ. Lastly, he empowers believers to stand firm in the battle against evil powers in their proclamation of their Saviour, the Lord Jesus.
1 All Bible references and quotes in this essay are from the New International Version (NIV) of the Holy Bible.
2 G. Fee, God’s Empowering Presence, The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994) 666.
3 P. O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1999) 96.
4 E. Best, Ephesians (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1993) 38.
5 E. Woodcock, ‘The Seal of the Holy Spirit’, Bibliotheca Sacra 144 (1998) 150.
6 Woodcock , ‘Seal of the Holy Spirit’, 154-155
7 O’Brien, Letter, 439
8 Fee, God’s Empowering, 674
9 O’Brien, Letter, 221
10 O’Brien, Letter, 279
11 Fee, God’s Empowering, 699-700
12 Fee, God’s Empowering, 698-699
13 Fee, God’s Empowering, 695
14 E. Ellis, Pauline Theology: Ministry and Society (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1989) 33.
15 O’Brien, Letter, 346
16 J. Holladay Jr., ‘Ephesians 4:30, Do Not Grieve the Holy Spirit’ Review and Expositor 94 (1997) 85.
17 J. Stott, Baptism and Fullness, The Work of the Holy Spirit Today (Leicester, Inter-Varsity Press, 1975) 61.
18 O’Brien, Letter, 392
19 Stott, Baptism, 57-58
20 O’Brien, Letter, 482
21 Fee, God’s Empowering, 729
1
No comments:
Post a Comment