The 5G Christian: Grateful
2168 εὐχαριστέω [eucharisteo /yoo·khar·is·teh·o/] v. From 2170; TDNT 9:407; TDNTA 1298; GK 2373; 39 occurrences; AV translates as “give thanks” 26 times, “thank” 12 times, and “be thankful” once. 1 to be grateful, feel thankful. 2 give thanks.
Four results of being filled with the Spirit
Singing to one another
Singing to the Lord
Thanking the Father
Honoring and Respecting one another
(1) The early Church was a singing church. Its characteristic was psalms and hymns and spiritual songs; it had a happiness which made people sing.
(2) The early Church was a thankful church. The instinct was to give thanks for all things and in all places and at all times. John Chrysostom, the great preacher of the Church of a later day, had the curious thought that Christians could give thanks even for hell, because hell was a warning to keep them in the right way. The early Church was a thankful church because its members were still dazzled with the wonder that God’s love had stooped to save them; and it was a church that gave thanks because its members had an awareness of being in the hands of God.
(3) The early Church was a church where people honoured and respected each other. Paul says that the reason for this mutual honour and respect was that they reverenced Christ. They saw each other not in the light of their professions or social standing but in the light of Christ; and therefore they recognized the dignity of everyone.
Grounded in Gratitude
We are always to do this in the spirit of thanksgiving (cf. 1 Thess. 5:18) and submitting ourselves to one another. Singing in worship is not to be a protracted display of ego, and as 1 Corinthians 14 suggests believers are to defer to each other, taking turns. Here as in 1 Corinthians 14 nothing suggests a clergy-dominated worship service. Everyone is allowed to join in and participate as the Spirit leads them.
20 The perpetual accompaniment of all these outlets of the Spirit in the Christian life is thanksgiving. The context is not restricted to that of the church’s liturgy as is indicated by “always” (pantote). Such gratitude to God is to cover every circumstance, “even if it be disease or poverty” (Chrysostom, in loc.), and is to be addressed to God the Father—the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Eph 1:3, 17), who is also “our God and Father” (Gal 1:4)—in the name of the Son as the one who fully reveals him.
33.349 εὐχαριστέωa; εὐχαριστία, ας f: to express gratitude for benefits or blessings—‘to thank, thanksgiving, thankfulness.’
εὐχαριστέωa: τί βλασφημοῦμαι ὑπὲρ οὗ ἐγὼ εὐχαριστῶ; ‘why should anyone revile me about that for which I thank God?’ 1 Cor 10:30.
εὐχαριστία: μετὰ εὐχαριστίας τὰ αἰτήματα ὑμῶν γνωριζέσθω πρὸς τὸν θεόν ‘let your requests be made known to God with thanksgiving’ Php 4:6.
Thanks is often expressed in highly idiomatic ways. For example, in some languages one says thank you by saying ‘may God pay you.’ Such a phrase may be so standardized as to even be used in expressing thankfulness to God himself. In other instances, thankfulness may be expressed as ‘you have made my heart warm.’
33.350 χάριςc, ιτος f: an expression of thankfulness—‘thanks.’ τῷ δὲ θεῷ χάρις τῷ διδόντι ἡμῖν τὸ νῖκος ‘thanks be to God who gives us the victory’ 1 Cor 15:57.
33.351 ἐξομολογέομαιc; ἀνθομολογέομαι: to acknowledge one’s thankfulness, restricted in NT usage to contexts in which God is the one being thanked—‘to thank, to give thanks to.’
ἐξομολογέομαιc: ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν, Ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι, πάτερ, κύριε τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς ‘Jesus said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth’ Mt 11:25.
ἀνθομολογέομαι: ἀνθωμολογεῖτο τῷ θεῷ ‘she gave thanks to God’ Lk 2:38.
33.352 εὐχάριστοςb, ον: (derivative of εὐχαριστέωa ‘to thank,’ 33.349) pertaining to expressing thanks—‘thankful, thanking, grateful.’ εἰς ἣν καὶ ἐκλήθητε ἐν ἑνὶ σώματι· καὶ εὐχάριστοι γίνεσθε ‘to which you have been called together in one body; be then thankful’ Col 3:15. For another interpretation of εὐχάριστος in Col 3:15, see 25.99.
Another way in which the Spirit-filled life is manifested, is in the giving of thanks for all things. Regarding the all things, Expositors says: “The ‘for all things’ is taken by many in its widest possible extent, as including things evil as well as good. The Epistle does not deal, however, particularly with the sufferings of the Christian, but with what he receives from God and what his consequent duty is. It is most accordant therefore with the context, to understand the ‘all’ as referring to all the blessings of the Christian, the whole good that comes to him from God.“
19, 20 The four participial clauses derive a certain imperative force from πληροῦσθε ἐν πνεύματι (plērousthe en pneumati, “be filled with the Spirit”) on which they depend. They are to be treated as coordinate rather than subordinate. They modify the subject and thus describe the condition of those who are continually being filled in the sphere of the Spirit. Theodoret took ὑπὲρ πάντων (hyper pantōn, “for everything”) as masc.; i.e., that we should thank God for all who have received his blessing, but the context demands the neuter.
20. thanks … for all things—even for adversities; also for blessings, unknown as well as known (Col 3:17; 1 Th 5:18).
unto God and the Father—the Fountain of every blessing in Creation, Providence, Election, and Redemption.
Lord Jesus Christ—by whom all things, even distresses, become ours (Ro 8:35, 37; 1 Co 3:20–23).
Thankful (Eph. 5:20)
Someone defined the home as “the place where we are treated the best—and complain the most!” How true this is! “My father never talks to me unless he wants to bawl me out or ask about my grades,” a teenager once told me. “After all, a guy needs some encouragement once in a while!” Marriage counselors tell us that “taking each other for granted” is one of the chief causes of marital problems. Being thankful to God for each other is a secret of a happy home, and it is the Holy Spirit who gives us the grace of thankfulness.
How does a grateful heart promote harmony in the home? For one thing, the sincerely grateful person realizes that he is enriched because of others, which is a mark of humility. The person who thinks the world owes him a living is never thankful for anything. He thinks he is doing others a favor by permitting them to serve him. The thankful heart is usually humble, a heart that gladly acknowledges God as the “Giver of every good and perfect gift” (James 1:17). Like Mary’s gift to Jesus in John 12, gratitude fills the house with fragrance.
To be sure, all of us are grateful for some things at some special occasions; but Paul commanded his readers to be thankful for all things at all times. This exhortation in itself proves our need of the Spirit of God, because in our own strength we could never obey this commandment. Can we really be thankful in times of suffering, disappointment, and even bereavement? Keep in mind that Paul was a prisoner when he wrote those words, yet he was thankful for what God was doing in him and for him (Eph. 1:16; 5:4, 20; Phil. 1:3; Col. 1:3, 12; 2:7; 3:17; 4:2). When a Christian finds himself in a difficult situation, he should immediately give thanks to the Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, by the power of the Spirit, to keep his heart from complaining and fretting. The devil moves in when a Christian starts to complain, but thanksgiving in the Spirit defeats the devil and glorifies the Lord. “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thes. 5:18).
The word gratitude comes from the same root word as grace. If we have experienced the grace of God, then we ought to be grateful for what God brings to us. Thank and think also come from the same root word. If we would think more, we would thank more.
5:19–21. Paul then gave four results of being filled with the Spirit. First is communication with one another with psalms (psalmois, OT psalms sung with stringed instruments such as harps), hymns (hymnois, praises composed by Christians), and spiritual songs (a general term). Second is communication with the Lord by singing and making melody (psallontes, singing with a stringed instrument) in the heart. Church music, then, should be a means of believers’ ministering to each other, and singing should be a means of worshiping the Lord. Third is thanking God the Father (cf. 1:2–3, 17; 3:14) continually for all things (cf. Col. 3:17; 1 Thes. 5:18). Fourth, Spirit-controlled believers are to submit to one another, willingly serving others and being under them rather than dominating them and exalting themselves. But basic to Christians’ attitudes toward others is their reverence for Christ. Paul next elaborated on this subject of submission (Eph. 5:22–6:9).
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ [Eph. 5:20].
Another evidence of being filled with the Spirit is an attitude of thankfulness. We note in the Book of Psalms a great amount of thanksgiving and praise to God. And it is on a high level. We don’t have enough of that among believers today. We should all say, “Praise the Lord, and thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift.” Can you say that from the heart? It is no good unless it comes from the heart. The filling of the Spirit produces a life of thankfulness so that we can honestly thank God for all things.
As I write this, there is a great deal of nonsense being promoted which I call sloppy agape. I heard recently, “Just say to everybody, ‘I love you.’” My friend, if you don’t love them, don’t say it. If you do love them, show it.
Dr. Howard Kelly was a great surgeon and a great obstetrician. He wrote in the field of obstetrics, and his works were classic among doctors for a long time. He was also a great Christian, a wonderful man of God. The story is told of his taking a walk in the country outside the city of Baltimore in one of those lovely rural areas. He became thirsty and stopped at a farmhouse to ask for a drink of water. A little girl answered the door. She said that her parents had gone to town and there was no water in the house but there was cold milk down at the spring. Would he like a glass of milk? He said, “I surely would.” So he sat on the porch while she got a glass of milk and brought it to him. My, it was delicious! She asked, “Would you like another glass?” He said, “I surely would.” So she brought him another glass. He thanked her, then went on his way down the road, thinking what a lovely little girl she was. Not many days later the little girl became sick. She had a pain in her side and was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital. Who do you suppose was the doctor who came in and examined her? It was Dr. Kelly, and he recognized her as the little girl who had given him the glasses of milk. He performed the necessary surgery and took special care of her. When it was time for her to go home, her parents came for her and waited anxiously for the bill because they didn’t have the money to pay for the operation and the hospital costs. When the bill was presented to them, they opened it with trembling hands. Under the total balance was written, “Paid in full with two glasses of milk,” signed “Dr. Howard Kelly.” This was love in action, and the love he expressed was the fruit of the Spirit, because Dr. Kelly was a wonderful Christian.
My friend, you don’t have to run around telling everyone you love them—show them that you love them. Be filled with the Spirit so there will be love and joy and thanksgiving in your life. This is very practical. This is down where the rubber meets the road.
Why don’t you “drive into the filling station” and ask God to fill you up? The old gas tank is empty. You and I don’t have anything worthwhile in ourselves. We need to go to Him and tell Him that we are empty and that we need the filling of the Holy Spirit so we can live for Him. We need to see that it is an impossibility by ourselves but that He can do it through us.
Let me repeat this because it is so important: we are told to be filled with the Holy Spirit—this is the only command given to the believer relative to the Holy Spirit. The other ministries of the Holy Spirit are accomplished in us when we receive Christ. Every believer is regenerated by the Holy Spirit. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God …” (John 1:12). The believer is also indwelt by the Spirit.“… Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Rom. 8:9). And the believer is sealed by the Holy Spirit “… in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” (Eph. 1:13). Also the believer is baptized by the Holy Spirit. “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body …” (1 Cor. 12:13). These four ministries of the Holy Spirit take place the moment the believer puts his trust in Christ. It is all accomplished for us. The only thing which is left up to us is to obey His command to be filled with the Holy Spirit (see v. 18).