In the passages preceding, Paul has been walking through ways in which we are to “imitate God as dearly loved children.” He has addressed speech, sexuality and deception versus truth so far. Each one has examined both the action and their consequences closely.
Today he addresses two more items. First, drunkenness. The verb is present imperative, implying that this was an ongoing issue – and the result is “debauchery” or “dissipation,” an indulgence in pleasure that ignores the end results. It’s not that alcohol is innately bad – Jesus served up some tasty wine – but we should not be giving it control over us. And it may not be alcohol that does this for us – entrainment, leisure, money, power selfishness. Any of these can lead to bad fruit.
The next part of this command is to be “filled with the Spirit” as an alternative to drunkenness. On the one hand this means that, to begin with, we need to make sure we are connected to the Holy Spirit through the justification offered through the way created by Jesus Christ. But it also means to be open and yielding to the prompting and direction of the Holy Spirit.
The verb again indicates that this is an ongoing command – another tense of “filled” was used by Jesus during the wedding at Cana, to command the filling of jars with wine. So this is not a one time thing but an ongoing, constant filling.
There are then five results from this filing of the Holy Spirit: addressing each other with songs, singing, making melody, giving thanks and submitting to one another. One of the purposes of “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” is to address each other, as both encouragement and exhortation. Another is to take it to God in our hearts.
Lots of people see singing as a take-or-leave hobby or preference. But God seems to see it as a far more vital piece of our relationship with Him. From the hosts of Israel to Paul and Silas in prison to the people of God into eternity in Revelation, we are created to sing to God.
Next, and related, being filled with the spirit results in giving thanks, even for difficult things.
Then Paul ends this section taking about the result of submitting to one another – a transition to the next section where he will walk through applications in different relationships.
This mutual submission is difficult to navigate in many relationships. But if we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we will be far better equipped to accomplish that navigation. If we are truly filled with the Holy Spirit, the specifics will work themselves out, as the spirit works through us.
So the command, at the end of the day, is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Everything else flows from that.
– Sermon Notes, Bart Hodgson, Seed Church, Lynnwood WA, January 24, 2021