Ephesians 5.18-How to Be Influenced by the Spirit
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday September 1, 2026
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 5:19a-Believers Communicating with One Another with Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs
Lesson # 364
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 19 with result that each and every one of you as a corporate unit continue to make it your habit of communicating with one another by means of psalms, hymns as well as spiritual songs so that each and every one of you as a corporate unit continue to make it your habit of singing and specifically continuing to make it your habit of making music with your hearts for the benefit of the Lord. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 5:19 is composed of the following:
(1) Participial result clause: lalountes heautois psalmois kai hymnois kai ōdais pneumatikais (λαλοῦντες ἑαυτοῖς ψαλμοῖς καὶ ὕμνοις καὶ ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς), “with result that each and every one of you as a corporate unit continue to make it your habit of communicating with one another by means of psalms, hymns as well as spiritual songs” (Lecturer’s translation).
(2) Participle result clause: adontes kai psallontes tē kardia⸃ hymōn tō kyriō (ᾄδοντες καὶ ψάλλοντες τῇ καρδίᾳ⸃ ὑμῶν τῷ κυρίῳ), “so that each and every one of you as a corporate unit continue to make it your habit of singing and specifically continuing to make it your habit of making music with your hearts for the benefit of the Lord” (Lecturer’s translation).
These two participial clauses present the result of the recipients of this letter continuing to make it their habit of obeying the command in Ephesians 5:18, which required that the recipients of this letter continue to make it their habit of permitting themselves to be influenced by means of the Spirit.
Specifically, continuing to make it their habit of permitting themselves to be influenced by means of Paul’s Spirit inspired apostolic teaching.
Although the three verbs in Ephesians 5:19 all function as result participles, there are only two participial result clauses because Paul employs the figure of hendiadys, which indicates that the third verb identifies specifically the referent of the second verb.
So therefore, Ephesians 5:19 is making only two assertions, which are the result of obeying the command in Ephesians 5:18.
The first assertion states that obedience to this command will result in the recipients of this letter continuing to make it their habit of communicating with one another by means of psalms, hymns as well as spiritual songs.
The second assertion states that obedience to this command will result in the recipients of this letter continuing to make it their habit of singing and specifically continuing to make it their habit of making music with their hearts for the benefit of the Lord.
In the first participial clause, the apostle Paul employs the verb laleō (λαλέω), which pertains to people communicating with each other.
The referent of the masculine plural form of this verb is of course the recipients of this epistle, who we noted were Gentile church age believers located throughout the various cities and towns in the Roman province of Asia.
The masculine plural form of this verb not only refers to them as a corporate unit but also as individuals because it is also used in a distributive sense emphasizing no exceptions.
The reflexive pronoun heautou (ἑαυτοῦ) emphasizes the action of the Gentile Christian community in the Roman province of Asia communicating with one another by means of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
It is functioning as a dative direct object, which indicates the recipients of this letter were to continue receiving the action of communicating with one another by means of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
Paul puts it in the dative rather than accusative case because he wants to emphasize with the recipients of this letter the personal responsibility that each of them has to continue to make it their habit of communicating with one another by means of psalms, hymns as well as spiritual songs, which is the result of obeying the command in Ephesians 5:18.
The noun psalmos (ψαλμός), “psalms” pertains to a musical composition containing words of a spiritual nature praising God.
Usually, the word refers to one of the 150 psalms in the Hebrew Scriptures.
This word functions as a dative instrumental of means, which expressing one of the means by which the Gentile Christian community in the Roman province of Asia were to continue making it their habit of communicating with one another.
Thus, it expresses the idea of these Gentile Christians continuing to make it their habit of communicating with one another “by means of” psalms.
The noun hymnos (ὕμνος), “hymns” pertains to a musical composition containing words of a spiritual nature praising God.
However, unlike psalmos, the word does not refer to the Psalms of the Old Testament.
This word also functions as a dative instrumental of means expressing one of the means by which the Gentile Christian community in the Roman province of Asia were to continue making it their habit of communicating with one another.
Therefore, it expresses the idea of these Gentile Christians continuing to make it their habit of communicating with one another “by means of” hymns.
The noun ōdē (ᾠδή), “songs” pertains to a piece of music sung accompanied by some kind of musical instrument which praises or thanks God.
In other words, it speaks of a melodic pattern with verbal content which thanks or praises God and is modified by the adjective pneumatikos (πνευματικός), “spiritual,” which pertains to that which is produced by the Holy Spirit’s teaching in the Word of God.
Like the previous two nouns, the noun ōdē (ᾠδή) functions as a dative instrumental of means expressing another means by which the recipients of this letter were to continue to make it their habit of communicating with one another.
Therefore, it expresses the idea of these Gentile Christians continuing to make it their habit of communicating with one another “by means of” spiritual songs.
Now, the participle conjugation of the verb laleō (λαλέω) functions as a nominative in simple apposition, which identifies communicating with one another by means of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs as being a result of obeying the command in Ephesians 5:18 to permit oneself to be influenced by Paul’s Spirit inspired apostolic teaching.
The present tense of the verb laleō (λαλέω) is a customary present tense, which expresses not only the idea of the recipients of this letter “making it their habit of” communicating with one another by means of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs but also of “continuing” to do so.
This is indicated by the contents of Ephesians 1:15 and 4:30-24, which affirm that the recipients of this epistle were already making it their habit of communicating with one another by means of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs because these verses affirm that they were already obeying His Spirit inspired apostolic teaching.
The participle conjugation of the verb laleō (λαλέω) functions as a participle of result, which indicates the actual outcome or result of the action of the second person plural present passive imperative conjugation of the verb plēroō (πληρόω), which appears in Ephesians 5:18.
Therefore, in Ephesians 5:19, the participle conjugation of the verb laleō (λαλέω) expresses the idea of the recipients of the Ephesians letter continuing to make it their habit of permitting themselves to be influenced by the means of Paul’s Spirit inspired apostolic teaching “with the result that” they continue to make it their habit of communicating with one another by means of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
Many interpreters view this as a participle of means.
However, believers are not filled or specifically influenced by the Spirit by communicating with one another by means of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs but rather by obeying the Spirit inspired Scriptures.
In fact, the five participles which appear in Ephesians 5:19-21 are all presenting the result of the believer obeying the Spirit inspired Scriptures.
In this context, they are presenting the result of the recipients of this letter continuing to make it their habit of permitting themselves to be influenced by means of Paul’s Spirit inspired apostolic teaching in this letter.
