A central theme in Ephesians is the work of the Holy Spirit. If this is a letter about God’s purpose for his church, about how to be united in love as his alternative society and about standing firm in spiritual warfare, then the Holy Spirit is crucial to all of that.
But before Ephesians is about the Spirit, it is first about the Trinity and indeed, it is only because it is Trinitarian that it can take us to the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 1, God the Father blesses us, choosing, electing, predestining us in love, in order that we might be adopted into his family as sons and heirs (1:3-5). All of these things happen “in Christ”, the one the father loves we are united with Christ so that we can be united to God and to each other (1:3-13). All things are united together in Christ (1:10) who is the head over the church (1:22). All of these things happen through the Spirit who we are sealed with, the Spirit is the seal or guarantee of our inheritance from the Father, in Christ (1:14; 4:30). Through the Spirit we have access to the Father (2:18). And so, Paul’s prayer for the church is that they may receive the Spirit of wisdom and revelation (1:17).
Just as we might talk about anti-Christ, we can also talk about the anti-Spirit. Satan is described as the “prince of the power of the air, the Spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. The question then is to which spirit we will submit? Will it be to the spirit of this age, represented by drunken debauchery (5:18) or will we be filled with the Spirit resulting in praise, thanksgiving encouragement and mutual submission (5:18-21)?
Where the spirit of this age, the anti-Spirit brings those subjected to him into darkness, bondage and death, the true Spirit brings light, life and freedom (2:2-10). Where the anti-Spirit causes strife and division, the true Spirit of God is the one who unites us together because just as there is one body, the church, so there is one Spirit (2:22; 4:3-4).
It is the Spirit who reveals God’s purpose and plan to us. He worked through the Apostles and Prophets who brought the special revelation of Scripture to us (3:5) and as the spirit of wisdom works in our lives to strengthen us (3:16) and to renew our minds to give us the mind of Christ (4:23).
Because of all of this we should submit to the Holy Spirit and not to the spirit of this world and age. We are not to grieve the Spirit (4:30) but by submitting to him we should allow him to work in our lives and our church.
Faithroots 