In Ephesians 5:18, Paul urges Christians to not get drunk on wine, leading to excess or reckless living. Paul, at first glance to Bible readers, may be giving more moral instruction to the people of God, and for sure, there is a moral dimension to his teaching there. Children of God are not to drink in excess because, as in Paul’s day and our own, being drunk lowers inhibitions and resistance to sin that leads to many dark consequences.
Even so, there is a turn in the apostle’s words here. If he were following the positive or negative substitution pattern that he presented previously in Ephesians, then we would expect him to say in Ephesians 5:18, “Do not get drunk on wine, but abstain from intoxication.” Instead, Paul says, “Do not get drunk on wine. Instead be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
Paul’s language of filling is significant in Ephesians. At the end of chapter one in Ephesians 1:23, Paul says that the church is Christ’s body, “the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” In Ephesians 3, Paul prayed that the Ephesians would know all the dimensions of the love of Christ so they “may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). In Ephesians 4, Bible readers discover that Jesus “ascended higher than the heavens, to fill the whole universe” (Ephesians 4:10) and put his gifts in the church that they might, “become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).
Christians are urged to put away wine that holds them under its influence and instead be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Apostle is encouraging the people of God to be filled with the Spirit, who fills up everything with the purpose of renewing and redeeming the universe for His glory.
Paul is urging the people of God to recognize that they have the privilege of reflecting the light of Jesus and to live in the light of the Son. Christians are to be the light of Jesus, both reflecting Him and shining the light of His presence that is our life. Paul encourages Christians with these truths so they can be filled with the radiance of Christ and His being and power since they have His identity and bear witness to these truths to others in the world.
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