Ephesians 5.18-The Commands in Ephesians 5.18 and Colossians 3.16 are Synonymous with Each Other
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday August 25, 2026
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 5:18-The Commands in Ephesians 5:18 and Colossians 3:16 are Synonymous with Each Other
Lesson # 361
Ephesians 5:15 Therefore, each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of paying careful attention to the manner in which each and every one of you make it your habit of conducting your lives. Each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to not make it your habit of conducting your lives in an unwise manner. On the contrary, each and every one of you must continue to make it your habit of conducting your lives in a wise manner 16 by continuing to make it your habit of taking full advantage of your opportunity for your own benefit because these days are characterized by evil. 17 For this reason, each and every one of must continue to make it your habit of not conducting your lives as foolish individuals. On the contrary, each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of conducting your lives as wise individuals by comprehending for the purpose of personal application what constitutes the Lord’s will (for the manner in which each one of you as a corporate unit are to continue making it your habit of conducting your life). 18 Consequently, each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of not permitting yourselves to be drunk by means of the excessive intake of wine because this is non-sensical behavior. On the contrary, each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of permitting yourselves to be influenced by means of the Spirit’s teaching. (Lecturer’s translation)
The command in Ephesians 5:18 to “be influenced by means of the Spirit’s teaching” and one in Colossians 3:16 requiring that “the teaching of the one and only Christ must continue to exist in a state of dwelling abundantly among each and every one of” the Colossians are synonymous.
This indicated by the fact that the Holy Spirit speaks to the believer through the communication of the Word of God regarding the Father’s character and nature, will, provision for doing His will, and consequences for not doing His will (Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 29).
The Holy Spirit inspired the Scriptures, (2 Tim. 3:16) makes them understandable to the believer, (John 16:13-16) guides the believer in the correct application of the Word of God and reproduces the character of Christ in the believer who obeys the Word of God (Gal. 5:22-23).
Therefore, by obeying the Word of God, you are obeying the voice of the Spirit.
Colossians 3:16 The teaching originating from and about the one and only Christ must continue to exist in a state of dwelling abundantly among each and every one of you. Each of you must execute this command by continuing to make it your habit of providing instruction, specifically by providing instruction for one another with regards to proper conduct. Each of you must provide this instruction by means of a wisdom which is absolute, by means of psalms, hymns, spiritual songs. Each of you must execute the command by continuing to make it your habit of singing with gratitude with your entire being for the benefit of God the Father. (Lecturer’s translation)
The commands, “be influenced by the Spirit” and “let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you,” are therefore synonymous because the Holy Spirit speaks to the believer through the communication of the Word of God regarding the Father’s character and nature and His will for the believer’s life.
This leads to another question, “Why did Paul in Colossians 3:16 not mention the Holy Spirit in that verse but does so in Ephesians 5:18?”
The answer is simply that Paul wanted to emphasize the Holy Spirit’s relationship to fellowship in Ephesians 5:18 whereas in Colossians 3:16 he wanted to emphasize the importance of the Word of God in relation to fellowship.
So, if you look at both passages, Paul is emphasizing that the Bible is a living book in that the Spirit inspired it and is speaking actively to the believer in the Bible.
One must realize that experiencing fellowship with God is in effect experiencing one’s eternal relationship with the Triune God and one’s union and identification with Jesus Christ.
One must not blur the distinction between our eternal relationship with God and fellowship with God though both are obviously related.
One also must not blur the distinction between one’s position in Christ and one’s experience.
When I say one must not blur the distinction between one’s eternal relationship with God and fellowship with God I mean that though they are related, they are different.
They are related because fellowship with God is experiencing one’s eternal relationship with God.
They are different in that sin does not cause one to lose one’s eternal relationship with God, but it does cause one to lose fellowship with God.
Let me use an analogy. I entered the Wenstrom family at physical birth.
When I disobeyed my parents, I lost fellowship with them.
I was sent to my room.
They didn’t disown me, but they refused to have fellowship with me until I did two things.
One I confessed I was wrong to them.
Then, I had to do what I was told.
The same is true in God’s family, if we sin, God will not have fellowship with us.
He doesn’t disown us when we sin.
He disciplines us because He loves us (Hebrews 12:4-11; Revelation 3:19).
We are still in His family.
When we confess our sins to our heavenly Father, we are restored to fellowship with Him and when we obey Him we maintain that fellowship with Him.
When I say, we must not blur the distinction between one’s position in Christ and one’s experience, mean that committing sin (mental, verbal, or overt) prevents us from experiencing our position in Christ as well as sanctification and yet it does not cause us to lose our position in Christ.
In fact, to experience fellowship with God is to experience one’s union and identification with Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
Now, lastly, there are many metaphors in Scripture which speak of experiencing fellowship with God from different perspectives.
For instance, experiencing sanctification speaks of fellowship with God from the perspective that it is experiencing being set apart to serve God exclusively.
Fellowship with God speaks of experiencing one’s relationship with God from the perspective that we are communing with God.
John uses the term “abide” in his writings (1 John 2:6, 10) which is a reference to the Lord’s Vine and the Branches Metaphor.
Our Lord taught His disciples that He is the Vine, and they are the Branches and that like a branch cannot bear fruit apart from the vine so they cannot produce fruit apart from Him (John 15:4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10).
This term “abide” is a reference to fellowship with God.
John also uses the term “walking in the light” (1 John 1:7) which speaks of fellowship with God from the perspective that it is living according to God’s holy standards.
In 1 John 1:5 he says that “God is light” which is a reference to the fact that as to His character and nature, God is holy.
So, the believer is living according to God’s holy standards when they are in fellowship with God.
God’s holy standards are found in the Word of God.
So, the filling of the Spirit and fellowship with God are not mutually exclusive.
They are inextricably related.
In other words, if you experiencing fellowship with God, you are obeying the command to be influenced by the Spirit.
In fact, experiencing one’s sanctification, and walking in the light and abiding in Christ or His Word are also inextricably tied to each other.
They all speak of experiencing fellowship with God from different perspectives.
Thus, when a believer confesses their sins, they are not only restored to fellowship with God, but they are filled with the Spirit since to be in fellowship with God demands obedience to God’s Word and the Holy Spirit inspired God’s Word and speaks actively to the believer through the Word.
They are also experiencing sanctification and are walking in the light, i.e., living according to God’s holy standards.
