This morning we continued the series ‘Battles & Blessings’, looking at Eph 5:1-20 and the blessing of the Holy Spirit, God’s precious gift to us. In this chapter, Paul reminds the Ephesians that the new life they have received in Jesus Christ needs to be reflected in their own everyday lives.(see Eph 4:17, Eph 5:3-4, 11). He says that sexual immorality, impurity and greed are ‘improper for God’s people’ (Eph 5:3) – such things are not part of this new set of clothes we have been given. Our new identity is as ‘God’s holy people’ (Eph 5:3). Obscenity, foolish talk and coarse joking have no place in the lives of God’s people. Such things are ‘fruitless’, and God wants us to be people who bear much fruit. (John 15:5) One of the ways we reflect God’s nature is to bear the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, to have evidence of this fruit in how we live. (Gal 5:22-23)
We are called to live out our new identity as children of God, children of the light (see John 1:4-5, 1 John 1:5, 1 Thess 5:5-8). The spiritual fruit which the Holy Spirit grows in our lives reflects God’s nature. God is good (Ps 119:68); He is righteous (Ps 48:10, Ps 116:5); He is the truth. (John 14:6) Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Is 9:6) God is patient, being slow to anger and rich in mercy. (2 Pet 3:9, Ps 103:8) He is kind (Rom 2:4). He is faithful and gentle with His people, remembering that we’re only made from dust, not snuffing out the smouldering wick or crushing the bruised reed. (Ps 103:13-14, Is 42:3) We are being called to grow fruit that’s entirely in keeping with God’s nature and character. The family resemblance is meant to be outworked in our lives so that this spiritual fruit is seen as evidence of our true identity as children of the light, children reflecting what our Father in heaven is like.
This is not done through self-effort or human endeavour; God gives freely of His Spirit to us and Paul urges us to be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18). This blessing is available to all of God’s children; it is God’s express desire and purpose that we are all filled with the Spirit. Paul has made it clear that all Christians have the Spirit of God (Eph 1:13, Rom 8:9) The question is, how much of us does the Holy Spirit have? Are we completely surrendered to Him? Do we rely on Him to guide and lead us or are we busy living independent lives? Luke 11:9-13 makes it plain that our responsibility is to ask, seek and knock. We have a heavenly Father who longs to give freely of His Spirit. Without this blessing, we will become discouraged and demotivated, but we can be confident that as we ask, seek and knock, God will open the floodgates of heaven and pour out His Spirit on us.
