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CTSJ 2:1 (Spring/Summer 1996) p. 6

Ephesians 5:18:Holy Spirit or Human Spirit?

Clifford Rapp, Jr. *

Chafer Theological Seminary

[*Editors note: Clifford Rapp received his B.A. degree from BiolaUniversity; and a Th.M. degree in Old Testament Literature andExegesis from Dallas Theological Seminary. He is a professor ofOld Testament and general biblical studies at Chafer TheologicalSeminary. Cliff also pastors Orange Coast Free Methodist Church,Costa Mesa, California.]

Introduction

Many understand Ephesians 5:18 to be a command to be filled with the HolySpirit. Generally teachers take this to mean that the believer surrenders to thecontrol of the Holy Spirit. That is, Paul commands believers to be continuouslyfilled with the Holy Spirit. Every true Christian has all the Holy Spirit, but thisverse commands that the Holy Spirit have all the believer. Holy Spirit controlshould characterize the Christian walk.

In spite of the appeal of this interpretation, a number of questions andalternative interpretations exist. This article primarily concerns itself with a singlequestion. That is, should we translate the word spirit ( , pneuma ), with acapital S referring to the Holy Spirit, or with a lower case s referring tosomething else?

What Kind of a Contrast?

A key question in determining whether to capitalize the S is What kind ofcontrast does the verse intend? There is obviously some kind of contrast intended

between do not get drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit.

Scholars make at least four suggestions as to how we should understand orinterpret the comparison. The first interpretation would take it as a non-literal,figurative difference, which one could call a balanced sentence. 1 Jerome Smithasserts, The balanced sentence employs a contrast, where the first member is

1 The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge , edited by Jerome H. Smith (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1992), p. 1386.

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employed solely to emphasize the last member. 2 He compares it to the Lords prayer, Lead us not into temptation, but where he says that there is not a realcomparison because the Lord does not lead people into temptation. The sole

purpose of the Lead us not is to emphasize Deliver us from evil. 3

Now it is doubtful that Paul would employ such a figure in Ephesians 5:18with the contrast between being drunk and being filled. In the context, thiscomparison is part of a series of comparisons (unwise/wise in verse 15 andfoolish/understanding in verse 17). It would seem both confusing and detrimentalto his argument to throw in a non-literal comparison at this point. Also the

possibility of Christians becoming drunk was a real problem. It was an issue withthe saints at Corinth. 4 That this is a figurative sentence is an unlikely possibilityand, additionally, it does not help to determine whether to use a capital or a lowercase S on the word spirit.

A second interpretation of the comparison in Ephesians 5:18 is to view it

exclusively as a contrast between two states. There is no contrast between wineand Spirit, but only between drunkenness and fullness. 5 Virtually everyexpositor recognizes that the primary contrast is between two states of being. Theverse says Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation. Because wecannot call wine itself dissipation, 6 the words for that must mean for thatstate of drunkenness is dissipation. The word order of the original language alsodoes not put the emphasis on the contrast between wine and Spirit. 7

Nevertheless if we understood the verse only to mean, Do not live in a state ofdrunkenness for that is dissipation, but live in a state of being full, we wouldmiss something important. Wine and Spirit are not the principle contrast, butthe apostle does contrast them and we should translate them. In any case, this

second view does not help to determine whether to use a capital or a lower caseS.

The last two ways of interpreting the intended contrast of Ephesians 5:18serve as a divide. They separate those who would use a lower case s and thosewho would translate with a capital S. Those who think that a small s isappropriate understand the comparison as an unbalanced comparison. Each sideof the comparison is missing an element. So, they say, the contrast is:

Do not get drunk with wine [in your X], but be filled [with Y] in your spirit.

2 Smith, p. 1151.3 Smith, p. 1151.4 1 Corinthians 11:21.5 The Interpreters Bible , edited by George Arthur Buttrick (New York: Abingdon-CokesburyPress, 1953), Volume X, Ephesians by Francis W. Beare, p. 7146 If wine itself was dissipation, then the Bible would require total abstinence.7 The Expositors Greek Testament , edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (Grand Rapids: Wm. B.Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1974 reprint), Volume III, Ephesians by S.D.F. Salmond, p. 363.

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As to what we should supply to fill in the blanks, there are at least twosuggestions. One view sees it as a contrast between the two natures of the

believer. People who interpret this way would then supply carnal nature orflesh to fill in the X. Then, they would understand spirit as the spiritualnature. Thus they interpret:

Do not get drunk with wine in your fleshly nature, but be fulfilled with something in your spiritual nature.

Others, who see the comparison as unbalanced, would fill in the blanks moreliterally. The X blank would be the mind or understanding. The spiritwould be the human spirit. And the Y blank would be the joy 8 that resultsfrom understanding what is the will of God or the mind of Christ. 9 So theyinterpret:

Do not get drunk in your mind with wine,

but be filled in your spirit with joy (or, with the mind of Christ).

They use a number of points to support this view. For those who would supplythe concept of joy, the verb translated be filled is commonly used of a person

being filled with human emotions such as joy. 10 In addition the most commonmeaning of the Greek preposition en ( ) followed by the dative case is toindicate location.

In favor of those who would supply the concept of the mind of Christ,Ephesians 5:18 begins with the word and 11 which sets it


forth as an example of the command given in verse 17. Accordingly, verse 18explains something of what understanding the will of the Lord entails. Since Paul

previously revealed that in Christ we are renewed in the spirit of [our ] mind, 12 it would seem possible that Paul might urge saints to lay hold of that truth by

being filled in their spirit with the mind of Christ. Also the most commonmeaning of the Greek preposition en ( ) followed by the dative case is toindicate location.

Concerning form, the Greek does not balance the clauses of Ephesians 5:18.On the negative side ( do not to get drunk with wine ), there is no preposition

( me methuskesthe oino ). Yet the preposition en occurs on

8 Unpublished notes from a 1995 presentation at Chafer Theological Seminar by John Geise.9 Dictionary of New Testament Theology , edited by Colin Brown (Grand Rapids: ZondervanPublishing House, 1967), Volume I, Fullness, by R. Schippers, p. 739.10 John 15:11; 16:24; Romans 15:13; 2 Timothy 1:4; 1 John 1:4; 2 John 12.11 Greek: (kai ), explicative general to specific.12. Ephesians 4:23.

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the positive side ( , plerousthe en pneumati ). Those whohold to an unbalanced comparison take it that, if Paul had intended pneumati(with the Spirit) to contrast directly with oino (with wine), he would not haveused the preposition en.13

The first of these latter explanations (taking the comparison of Ephesians 5:18as unbalanced) is awkward for two reasons. First, the idea of being drunk in thesphere of our carnal or fleshly nature does not fit. Drunkenness is a work of theflesh, 14 but it is the body or mind, not the fleshly nature that is the sphere in whichdrunkenness takes place. Second, fulfillment in our spiritual nature would seem to

be a work of the Holy Spirit. One would seem forced to say, Be fulfilled with theHoly Spirit in your spiritual nature. Then the phrase, (en

pneumati ), would be given two distinct meanings. 15 Abbott aptly comments,This seems an impossible combination, or rather confusion of two distinctideas. 16

The second of the two interpretations that take the comparison as unbalancedseems stronger, but is still not compelling. Paul views the human spirit as activein prayer, worship, and service, but not as a center or location for understanding.For example, when Paul says, I shall pray with the spirit and I shall pray withthe mind also, 17 he is not thinking of two spheres of prayer, but of twoinstruments to employ in prayer. In fact, in the matter of prayer, he writes that hecan pray in his spirit without understanding in his mind. 18 If Paul meant for hisreaders to know the location for understanding what the will of God is, he wouldhave used mind 19 or understanding, 20 rather than spirit without somequalifying phrase like in the spirit of your mind. Besides that, the concepts of

people being filled with the Spirit and believers full of the Holy Spirit are so

common in the New Testament that if Paul meant something different inEphesians 5:18, he certainly would have expressed it more clearly.

We may say the same thing for the phrase, with the Spirit ( , en pneumati ), that is, with or by the Spirit. In his writings Paul uses a variety ofgrammatical constructions to show the agency of the Holy Spirit. En pneumati isone of the most common ways. He uses en pneumati at least two other places in

13 One could also note that the result phrase, for that is dissipation , is not balanced in verse 18.However, the participles that follow in verses 1921 could be understood as results of being filledwith the Spirit.14 Galatians 5:21.15 Alfords Greek Testament, by Henry Alford (Grand Rapids: Guardian Press, 1976 reprint of1875 fifth edition), 3:134.16 A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistles to the Ephesians and to the Colossians,

by T. K. Abbott (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1897), p. 162.17 1 Corinthians 14:15.18 1 Corinthians 14:14.19 ( Nous). 20 ( Phren).

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Ephesians to indicate agency. In 2:22 it is by means of the Spirit that Godindwells the Church. In 3:5 it is by means of the Spirit that God reveals themystery of Christ. As Robinson notes,

It appears on the whole best to interpret the phrase as referring to

the Holy Spirit: and the interpretation is confirmed when weobserve the freedom with which the Apostle uses the preposition ininstances which are free from ambiguity; as I Cor. xii 3 Rom.xv 16 compare also Rom. xiv 17, where there is a contrastsomewhat resembling that of our text. 21

It is a very simple, natural interpretation to understand the en pneumati ofEphesians 5:18 as a reference to the Holy Spirit.

Those who support capitalizing the S in Spirit, take the contrast inEphesians 5:18 to be a balanced contrast. With wine and with the Spirit play

the same role on their respective sides of the contrast.22

In support of this view arethe New Testament passages that contrast drinking wine and being filled with theSpirit. Twice Luke makes this contrast. 23

Also culturally, drunkenness as a form of worship and spiritual experiencewas common and widespread throughout the Roman empire at the time of thewriting of Ephesians. 24 The readers would naturally view Pauls words throughtheir cultural experience, and Paul understood their perspective. The contrast

between drunkenness in the rites of Dionysius and the fullness of the Spirit in theworship of the church would have come to the minds of the readers as a matter ofcourse. Also in support of this view is the phrase ( , en pneumati ),

which carries the meaning in the Spirit elsewhere in Ephesians.25

Regarding the use of the preposition en, it was necessary for Paul to use it tomaintain the balance in function between Spirit and wine ( pneumati andoino ). The verb, be filled, is part of a class of verbs that in the active voice takethe genitive and in the passive voice take the dative to indicate the content offilling. 26 If Paul had written with the Spirit ( pneumati ) without the preposition

21 St. Pauls Epistle to the Ephesians, by Joseph Armitage Robinson (London: Macmillan and Co.,1904), pp. 203204.22 This view is widely held. H. C. G. Moule, for example, writes, I do not hesitate to supply thedefinite article, the Spirit. The context assuredly demands it, for we need a word which shall bean antithesis to the wine of the previous clause. Ephesians Studies (New York: A. C. Armstrongand Son, 1900), p. 274.23 Luke 1:15; Acts 2:4, 13.24 See Bibliotheca Sacra , Volume 136, Number 543, July-September, 1979, The DionysianBackground of Ephesians 5:18, by Cleon L. Rogers, Jr.25 Ephesians 2:22; 3:5; and possibly 6:18 where it would mean in association with.26 A Greek Grammar of the New Testament, by F. Blass and A. Debrunner, translated and edited

by Robert W. Funk (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1961), section 172, p. 95.

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en, he would have given, not the agency by which one is filled, but the contentwith which one is filled. For example, if we wanted to translate the bucket wasfilled with water into Koine Greek, we could use the passive of the verb pleroo followed by the word for water in the dative case. 27 Then we would understandthat water was what was in the bucket (content). If we wanted to translate the

bucket was filled with a hose into Koine Greek, we could use the passive of theverb, pleroo , followed by the preposition en and the word for hose in the


dative case. Then we would understand that the means used to fill the bucket wasa hose. 28

Objections to Interpreting Ephesians 5:18as a Reference to the Holy Spirit

The Meaning of Be Filled

Some point out that the Greek verb, ( pleroo ), means to fulfill orto fill [full]. It does not mean to control or to empower. It is only by imposingmeaning into the verb (eisegesis) that one can come up with the ideas of to becontrolled by the Spirit or to be empowered by the Spirit.

While no one would argue that the verb, pleroo , denotes to fulfill, or to fill[full], there are a number of factors that lead one to interpret it as connoting tocontrol. First, the verb is a passive imperative, which can mean allow oneself to

be 29 It is a matter of surrender or giving-in to the doer of the action. 30 In thiscase a surrender to the Holy Spirit.

Second, the verb is a present tense, which may indicate durative action. Anabiding state or condition is in view. Allowing oneself to be fulfilled by the Spiritshould be the constant experience of the believer.

Third, when the New Testament uses the adjectival form full of the HolySpirit, it describes the character of a person. A person full of the Holy Spirit is a

person capable of service within the body of Christ, 31 or of representing Christ tothose outside of the church. 32 A person full of the Holy Spirit is a person worthemulating. One should constantly surrender to the Spirit to become a person whomerits this description.

27 Paul uses this form, pleroo followed by a simple dative, in Romans 1:29 and 2 Corinthians 7:4.28 No examples of this construction have been found in biblical Greek to express content, thus,to see en pneumati here as indicating content is grammatically suspect ( Selected Notes on theSyntax of New Testament Greek , DTS 203, by Daniel Wallace, p. 65).29 Funk, section 314, p. 165.30 To take the en pneumati of Ephesians 5:18 as a reference to the human spirit would mean thatthe verb is not passive, but middle (see Abbott, p. 161).31 Acts 6:3.32 Acts 7:55.

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Four, as was mentioned above, the contrast in Ephesians 5:18 is primarily between two states, the state of drunkenness versus the state of being filled by theSpirit. 33 The person who is drunk is under the control of wine. A naturalconclusion is that the believer filled with the Sprit is under control of the Spirit. 34 What is the state of being filled by the Spirit if it is not each believer giving way

to the Spirits inner transforming work? Can it be any less than themetamorphosis from glory to glory which comes from the Spirit? 35

Additionally, consider that Paul uses the verb translated be filled four timesin Ephesians, once in the active voice, once in the middle and twice in the passive.When Scripture uses the active and middle voices Christ is the subject (Ephesians1:23; 4:10). Paul would have us to understand that Christ fills all in all. WhenPaul uses the passive, praying that the saints may be filled (3:19), or commandingthat they be filled (5:18), the natural inference is that Christ fills them. The first

passive use of the verb gives us a glimpse of the goal or the extent to which Christfills us, to the measure of all the fullness of God. The second use of the passive

explains the means by which Christ fills us with this fullness, that is, by means ofthe Holy Spirit. This is a simple, straight forward, consistent way ofunderstanding the text.

Taken this way we have a typically Pauline allusion to the Trinity. Christ fillsus to the fullness of God by the Spirit . It is typically Pauline not only to bring thethree Persons of the Godhead together around a single verbal concept, but also todo so in Their order of mention. 36 He usually varies the order of mentioning themembers of the Trinity from a strict first Person, second Person, third Personorder.

The Parallel with Colossians Three

Those who take the position that spirit in Ephesians 5:18 needs a lower cases remind us that two things equal to the same thing are equal to each other.They point out that Paul associates the filling of the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18 with

believers speaking to one another, singing in their hearts, giving thanks andsubmitting to one another. In Colossians the same concepts occur together whenwe let the word of Christ richly dwell in us. 37 Consequently, they conclude, being

33 Calvin comments, Such carnal excitement is contrasted with that holy joy of which the Spiritof God is the Author, and which produces entirely opposite effects. He also notes Erasmuswords, This is a pleasant kind of drunkenness, which stimulates you to psalms, to hymns, tospiritual songs . Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians, byJohn Calvin (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1948), p. 315.34 Men are said to be filled with wine when completely under its influence; so they are said to befilled with the Spirit, when he controls all their thoughts, feelings, word, and actions.Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians, by Charles Hodge (Grand Rapids: Wm. B.Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1974 reprint), p. 302.35 2 Corinthians 3:17, 18.36 2 Corinthians 13:14 for example.37 Colossians 3:16.

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filled with the Spirit must mean be filled in your [human] spirit with the word ofChrist.

This interesting bit of logic works well in mathematics, but Ephesians 5:18does not give us enough information to make such a deduction. There are two

many variables and possibilities. For comparison, in one passage Paul writes thathe worships God in his spirit, 38 while in another place he says that true believersworship in the Spirit of God. 39 In these two places Paul uses the same verb, thesame preposition, and the same word and case endings for spirit, but one cannotconclude that Pauls spirit is the Holy Spirit!

Ephesians 5:18 begins with the word and that introduces the verse as aspecific example of the command in the preceding verse 40. Believers are tounderstand what the will of the Lord is. One example of understanding the will ofthe Lord is to be filled with the Spirit. If one were to remove the specific examplein verse 18 the passage would still make sense. It is Gods will that Christians

speak to one another, sing, give thanks and submit to one another. This being thecase, the parallel in Colossians can be understood in either of two senses: (1)Letting the word of Christ dwell in us is another specific example of the will ofthe Lord 41, or (2) we may see it as equivalent to understanding the will of theLord.

The Parallel with 1 Corinthians 14

1 Corinthians 14 uses pneuma three times of the human spirit in the context ofworship. Paul sees the human spirit as an active agent of worship. The humanspirit is capable of praying, 42 singing 43 and


giving thanks 44 in the context of worship. Because being filled (en pneumati ) is conjoined to singing and giving thanks in Ephesians 5, it must referto the human spirit.

Since, however, as has been shown above, Paul indicates that the human spiritcan function independently from the mind, the human spirit would not be a logical

place to locate understanding of the will of the Lord. Believers would have to be

38 Romans 1:9.39 Philippians 3:3.40 explicative as noted above41 Those who take the reference to the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18 as a metonymy where the cause is

put for the effect, i.e., the Spirit for the operations of the Spirit, could also see Colossians 3:16 asa specific operation of the Spirit as in John 6:63.42 1 Corinthians 14:1415.43 1 Corinthians 14:15.44 1 Corinthians 14:1617.

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filled in their mind or understanding with the comprehension of the will of theLord, not in their human spirit. Paul must have had the Holy Spirit in mind.

Conclusion

There are a number of questions that we may ask about how to translate bythe Spirit in Ephesians 5:18. Yet when we consider all the issues, the evidence

brings us to the position represented in every translation of the English Bible: weshould capitalize the S to denote the Holy Spirit. 45 It has always been the will ofthe Lord that Church saints be filled by means of the Holy Spirit.

45 See, for example, KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, RSV, Living Bible, The New English Bible,The New Life Testament, and The New Testament in Hebrew and English.

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