Ephesians 5:18-22 Fixing a Broken Spirit

 A long time ago, I came down with lymphoma.  About six months before I found out about it, God began to work on my heart and to mend the places that were broken.

One of those places was my spirit.

Proverbs 15:13 says that when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.  And then Proverbs 17:22 says that a broken spirit dries the bones.

Of course, I knew all these verses, but God brought them to my mind in such a way that I knew He was talking about me.  My heart was sad, my spirit was broken, and thus my bones were dry or getting there.  Whatever that means

What is interesting here is that I was scheduled for a bone marrow biopsy in a few days when this happened.  But then the test was postponed for a week or so.  Like God was giving me some time to work on this.

So I asked God: how do I fix a broken spirit? 

The answer was Ephesians 5:18ff. 

I think this passage is greatly misunderstood.  And for several reasons.

The only spirit mentioned in this passage is the Holy Spirit.  Not the human spirit.

Or is it?

The New Testament was written originally in Greek.  There is nothing in the Greek texts that would indicate whether this is the Holy Spirit or the human spirit.

Being filled with the Spirit is a common expression in the Bible, but in the Greek, this is not the expression that is used.  This expression appears only here. This verb is not used in any other place in that sense.  In the New Testament, the expression being filled with the Spirit is found only in Luke-Acts, and like I said, it’s a very different expression.

But why would I think the verse is talking about the human spirit?  One reason is that you can’t command a person to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  That is simply not in your control. 

A second reason is that the verb ‘filled’ is followed by 5 participles, and if it was talking about being filled with the Holy Spirit, then these participles would all speak of the results of being filled.  And Greek participles do not have a future function.  But they don’t make much sense either.

A person filled with the Spirit would speak to themselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs?  He wouldn’t speak them out loud?

The participles are too explicit.  They are not the way anyone would describe the results of being filled with the Spirit.

These are things YOU do to fill your spirit.  YOU speak to yourself with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, YOU sing and make melody in your heart to the Lord, YOU give thanks always for all things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and YOU subject yourself to one another.  That is, you give yourself to serving others, living for others, doing things for others, and THAT will fill you with joy and meaning.

And I should mention this here as well.  I am very fussy when I use English translations.  When I see one, I use this passage as a litmus test.  If they get this right, they pass the test.

Verse 22 is a part of this sentence.  It’s one long sentence in Greek.

Verse 21 reads: being subject to one another in the fear of Christ, wives to your own husbands as to the Lord.

The words “submit” does not appear in verse 22.  The verb is implied.  It is the participle of verse 21.  It’s not a separate command.  It’s all a part of a person filling their spirit, by speaking, singing, and giving thanks.

Paul uses all this as a segue way to a new subject, the relationship between husbands and wives, but the part about subjecting applies to all believers, men and women. 

When I see a translation separate verse 22 off from the previous verses, with no mention of adding any words, and using the imperative ‘submit’, like this is a separate new subject, then it fails the test in my mind. 

Don’t wait for some spiritual prompting to start singing and making melody in your heart to God.  Or wait until things start looking really good before you start giving thanks. 

The command is to be filled in spirit.  This is in contrast with the world that finds getting drunk something to look forward to, a very desirable state to be in.

No, YOU fill your life with praise, thanksgiving, the words of God, and giving yourself for others.  And you will find your life taking on a joy and peace that you didn’t know you could have.