NOTES for Eph 5:10-11

For today's Day of the Holy Spirit, let us quote words from the liturgy written by St Theophanes the Branded, who lived in the first half of the ninth century.

Source of life, in whom we believe, stream of goodness, Holy Spirit of God, bring my deadened mind to life and by Your action raise it up to sing of Your divinity.

O Spirit of wisdom and the fear of God, Spirit of truth, counsel, and understanding, Giver of peace, dwell in us, so that, sanctified by Your indwelling, we may sing without ceasing in the night: We glorify You, Lover of humankind.

Almighty and Lord of all, who preserve all creation from decay, grant us sanctification and enlightenment, so that, filled with Your light, we may sing without ceasing in the night: We glorify You, Lover of humankind.

Come to us, Holy Spirit; make us partakers of Your holiness, of unfading Light, of divine life, and of Your fragrant gifts, for You are the stream of the Godhead, proceeding from the Father through the Son.

Today the Orthodox Church celebrates the Day of the Holy Spirit. The Epistle to the Ephesians reminds us that 'the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth' (v. 9), and calls us to 'be filled with the Spirit' (v. 18). The apostle Paul calls this new state of the human being 'light in the Lord'; the apostle John also turns to this image of light when he speaks of brotherly love among believers (1 John 2:10). In the spirit of love we are called to 'seek those who have gone astray' (Matt 18:10-14), to resolve problems in our relationships (Matt 18:15-18), and, finally, to receive God's grace in unanimous prayer in the name of Christ and in His presence, just as we were promised.

How to know what pleases to God? How should one behave in order not to be guilty in front of Him? These questions are not simple and more again, they are far from being futile, because in our life several things depend on the practical answer to these questions.

The apostle Paul in the epistle to Ephesians uses a famous verb translated into English as "proving". It means indeed "to examine, to verify, to authenticate ". Thus, the apostle calls us to walk, as the children of light, by examining our works, verifying if they will be acceptable in front of the Face of the Almighty.

All these words form a single sentence in the Greek text, and it is important. The verification must be based on criteria, that is why the apostle calls the essential criterion: fruits of the Holy Spirit. Thus all which can be called fruits of the action of the Holy Spirit in our life is pleasant unto God. It is particularly every goodness, righteousness and truth.

Maybe the apostle tries to pass on with these words something, that can’t be express by words. The modern language indicates that by a rather vague term "good". It is in particular what we call "good", its increase (and, thus, the decrease of evil) which becomes for the apostle Paul the criterion on which our works and our life are acceptable unto God.

How can one know what is pleasing to God? How should one act so as not to be guilty before Him? These questions are not simple and, most importantly, far from idle, for very much in our life depends on the practical answer to them. In the letter to the Ephesians the apostle Paul uses a remarkable verb, translated into Russian as "test." It really does mean "to test, check, find out the truth about something." This verb was used when checking recruits' fitness for military service; in those times there was no medical commission, and they checked the ability to throw a spear and the like. This means the apostle calls us to act as children of light, checking our actions "for fitness," checking whether they will be pleasing before the face of the Almighty.

In the Greek text all these words form one sentence, and this is important. A test must be based on criteria, and therefore the apostle names the main criterion: the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Thus, what is pleasing to God is what can be called the fruits of the action of the Holy Spirit in our life. Chiefly this is all goodness, righteousness, and truth. Perhaps by these closely related words the apostle is trying to convey something that cannot fit into words. Modern language designates this with the rather vague term "good." Precisely what we call good, its growth and therefore the diminishing of evil, becomes for the apostle Paul the criterion of whether our actions and life itself are pleasing to God.

When speaking about spiritual life, Paul never tires of repeating that the fullness of the Kingdom is incompatible with any sin (vv. 3-7). Such persistent reminders of this obvious fact were evidently connected with the fact that for many Christians (and, perhaps, not only in Ephesus) it was not obvious at all. Judging by some of the apostle's instructions in his letter to the Ephesian Christians, they were evidently already prepared to accept as normal that sin would remain, to some extent, part of their life (vv. 1-3, 15-21).

This was connected to the fact that many in the Ephesian church looked at Christianity not as life in the Kingdom but as a new religion, perhaps as a distinctive form of Judaism for Gentiles. In that case one would have to make peace with the presence of sin in the life of the faithful, because there are no sinless people, and Judaism never required the impossible from a person. It required only the absolute exclusion of sin committed consciously and voluntarily, not every sin in general. The latter was an unattainable ideal toward which one could and should strive, but which could not be demanded of anyone as the norm of life.

Apparently the Christians of Ephesus looked at the matter in the same way, accepting as a given the sins of some of their brothers. Paul, however, understands perfectly that Christianity is not a new religion at all, but precisely life in the Kingdom, and therefore he insists on the ideal that in the Kingdom can and must become reality. He knows that for a Christian sin means not only deviation from the path of righteousness, but also the loss of the Kingdom, which is not always noticeable at once only because the Kingdom has not yet been fully revealed in our transforming but still untransformed world. The one who sins truly finds himself in that outer darkness which the Savior Himself contrasts with the Kingdom, and if he does not always realize it, that is only because he still has the opportunity to avoid both the final choice that he will have to make at the Last Judgment and the full consequences of the sin he has committed, consequences that remain hidden from a person until the end of time.

But Paul calls his readers to look at the situation through the eyes of a person for whom the end of time has already arrived, and to evaluate each of their actions accordingly, so as to become inhabitants of the Kingdom in full measure here and now.