ANTIGUAS Y NUEVAS APLICACIONES BIOTECNOLÓGICAS

(1994)

Paul’s prohibition in Eph. 4:30 is well known: “And do not² grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” As often happens in a well-known text, however, its familiarity causes us to overlook some of its significant features. In this essay I wish to offer some exegetical and theological reflections on this passage, which in its own way touches on most of the key issues in Pauline pneumatology. I offer these musings in honor of, and with gratitude to, Rodman Williams for his service and contributions on behalf of the present-day renewal of the Spirit in the churches.

Some Exegetical Observations³

This passage is the second of two such solemn interruptions in the series of parenetic materials that begin in v. 25. The first, “and neither give a place to the devil” (v. 27), follows two exhortations on speaking truthfully (v. 25) and not sinning in one’s anger (v. 26). These are then followed by two further contrasts between the “old person”

and the “new”: working with one’s own hands to provide for the needy vis-à-vis

1 The substance of the exegetical observations for this paper appear in my study of the Spirit in Paul, God’s Empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1994). All translations are my own unless otherwise indicated.

2 This μή is omitted in P⁴⁶, thus turning the prohibition into an indicative: “And you are grieving the Holy Spirit of God.” Although this is the “more difficult” reading, it is so suspect contextually that it must be judged a solecism by the scribe of P⁴⁶.

3 The following commentaries on Ephesians were consulted for this study and are cited in the footnotes by the author’s last name: T. K. Abbott (Edinburgh: T. & T.

Clark, 1897); M. Barth (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1974); F. F. Bruce (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984); G. B. Caird (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1976); R.

W. Dale (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1987); J. Eadie (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 3rd edn., 1883); G. G. Findlay (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1892); J. Gnilka (Freiburg: Herder, 1971); W. Hendriksen (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1967); J. L. Houlden (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1970); A. T. Lincoln (Waco, Tex.: Word, 1990); J. A.

Mackay (New York: Macmillan, 1953); H. A. W. Meyer (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck &

Ruprecht, 1880); C. L. Mitton (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973); A. G. Patzia

(Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1990); J. A. Robinson (London: Macmillan, 2nd edn.

1904); S. D. F. Salmond (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, repr. 1961 [1903]); H. Schlier (Düsseldorf: Patmos, 1957); R. Schnackenburg (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1991 [German orig. 1982]); E. F. Scott (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1930); J. R. W.

Stott (Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP, 1979); B. F. Westcott (London: Macmillan, 1906);

A. S. Wood (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978).

stealing (v. 28), and speaking to build others up and benefit those in need vis-à-vis

“unwholesome⁴ talk” (v. 29). Our text appears at this point,⁵ followed in turn by five vices that are to be done away with (“bitterness, rage, anger, shouting, slander”), along with all other evils (v. 31). In contrast, believers are to be kind and forgiving towards one another in the same way that God has forgiven them through Christ (v.

32). This structure is best seen by displaying it in bare outline:

Do not lie,

but speak truthfully;

Do not sin in your anger;

Neither give room to the devil.

Do not steal,

but work, and give to the needy;

Do not speak garbage,

but speak what builds up the needy;

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.

Get rid of all evils:

bitterness, rage, anger, shouting, slander;

Be kind and forgiving,

just as God has forgiven you in Christ.

It does not take much imagination to recognize that all of this is directed specifically towards Paul’s concerns in 4:1–16, that his readers “maintain the unity of the Spirit”

(v. 3) because they are the one body of Christ by the one Spirit. The sins described here destroy relationships within the community of faith; likewise, the righteousness here described presupposes life in the believing community. Life in Christ means to live the life of God in the context of “one another” (v. 32).

At the same time these exhortations flow directly from vv. 17–24, where the parenesis began by setting out the two ways of “walking,” and concluded with the imagery of putting off the “old person,” and of “being renewed in their minds [by the Spirit]” and thereby putting on the “new.” The present exhortations not only offer specific examples of the two ways of walking, but also indicate their respective sources. The sins that divide and thereby destroy the unity of the body come directly from Satan. To continue in any of them is to grieve the Spirit, who has “sealed them for the day of redemption” (v. 30) and is responsible for the behavior that maintains their unity. And, of course, the pattern for all of this is none other than the living God himself, whose Holy Spirit is grieved when his people fail to walk in his ways.

As to the prohibition itself, especially as a significant Pauline Spirit text, several items call for further attention.

1. One of the interpretive keys to this passage lies with a phenomenon literary critics call “intertextuality,”⁶ the conscious embedding of fragments of an earlier text

4 Greek σαπρός, which literally means “decayed, rotten” (referring to perishables) or

“unsound, crumbling” (referring to nonperishables, including buildings).

5 The close connection between the Spirit and speech has been noted by Robinson, p.

113, and re-emphasized by Lincoln, pp. 307–8; cf. 4:11 and especially 5:18–19.

6 On this question see R. B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989). For another example of such intertextuality in Pauline Spirit texts, see especially Phil. 1:19, where Paul “echoes” Job 13:16 (LXX) with its literary milieu and thus apparently transfers some of that setting to his own situation. At the same time he does so with some obvious contrasts between himself

into a later one. Since Paul’s spiritual life and theology are thoroughly imbued with Old Testament realities,⁷ we should not be surprised to find him not only quoting the Old Testament to support an argument, as in most cases, but also at times borrowing or “echoing” the language and setting of a specific Old Testament passage or motif and refitting it into his own setting. That seems to be precisely what he has done in this sentence, which echoes the language of Isa. 63:10⁸ and at the same time reflects interests similar to that passage (vv. 1–19).

First, then, a word about Isaiah 63. After picturing the messianic judgment of him who treads the winepress alone (vv. 1–6), the prophet applies that oracle to Israel’s present situation, but in light of its past. Verse 10 comes at the end of the section that describes God’s gracious redemption of Israel in the Exodus (vv. 7–9) and speaks of Israel’s rebellion in terms of “grieving his Holy Spirit.” The prophet uses this language because this is his understanding of “the divine presence” in the tabernacle in the wilderness: “It was no messenger or angel but his presence that saved them”⁹ (v. 9)—a direct recall of Exod. 33:12–14. This in turn is followed by a call for Yahweh to return to his people’s present distress, in which the prophet once more recalls the glories of the Exodus. Again in light of Exod. 33:12–14 he equates God’s

and Job. Cf. the echoes of Ezek. 36:26–27 in 2 Cor. 3:3–6, and of Deut. 30:1–6 in Rom. 2:29.

7 The evidence for this is writ large in the corpus. Both Paul’s theological

presuppositions and therefore his thought-world are thoroughly conditioned by the Old Testament.

8 This is often noted in the commentaries but then rather summarily dismissed. Paul’s Greek reads καὶ μὴ λυπεῖτε τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τοῦ θεοῦ; the LXX of Isa. 63:10 reads καὶ παρώξυναν τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον αὐτοῦ. That Paul is here “citing” the LXX best explains both the unusual “fullness” to the name and the word order. In the only other place where he uses the full name (1 Thess. 4:8, “who gives τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ τὸ ἅγιον into you”), the αὐτοῦ in that case comes between “the Spirit” and “the holy.”

The two linguistic differences between Ephesians and the LXX of Isaiah are easily explained. Paul substitutes τοῦ θεοῦ for αὐτοῦ because in Paul’s sentence the pronoun would have no antecedent (but in making the substitution he keeps the word order of the LXX). He substitutes λυπεῖτε for a form of παροξύνω because the latter means

“irritate” or “vex,” understanding the Hebrew

םצעו

to mean “grieve” (correctly so;

this is the only instance in the LXX where

בצע

is rendered with παροξύνω).

9 This reflects the text of the LXX (cf. NRSV, NAB, NJB, REB), which in turn reflects one way of punctuating and reading the Hebrew text. The difficulty lies with the combination

רצ אל מתרצ־לכב

. The LXX translator understood

םתרצ־לכב

to go with the preceding line (“became their savior in all their distress”) and either had

ךצ

(“envoy”) in his Hebrew text or read

יצ

^for

רצ

(“distress”). Paul almost certainly knew the LXX in this case, although his (proper) substitution of λυπεῖτε for παροξύνω indicates that he knew the Hebrew text as well. In any case, the Greek text more accurately reflects the text of Exod. 33, to which the prophet is clearly alluding, than does the more common English translation of the Hebrew “the angel of his presence saved them” (RSV; cf. NIV, NASB).

presence with his Holy Spirit, which is made certain in this case because “the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest” (v. 14).¹⁰

The rest of my observations on this text do not require that Paul, by “citing” Isa.

63:10 in a big way, is here reflecting on the whole Isaiah passage. But it would add considerably to our understanding if such were the case. Here, after all, is the one certain place in the Old Testament, whose language Paul seems clearly to be echoing, where the motif of God’s presence is specifically equated with the Spirit of God. Such an equation is certain in Paul by his use of the temple metaphor (= the place of God’s presence), now understood in terms of the Spirit’s dwelling within and among his people.¹¹ It is very likely, therefore, that we should be prepared to hear this text in the light of Eph. 2:22, where God’s dwelling in his temple, the church, is specifically equated with the presence of the Spirit. In any case, the Spirit as God’s own personal and empowering presence is the key to our hearing Paul’s own concerns in this prohibition.

2. It should be noted that, in so echoing Isa. 63:10, this becomes the only place in the corpus where Paul uses the full ascription, “the Holy Spirit of God.”¹² In this context this usage is almost certainly intentional, as a deliberate recall of Isa. 63:10, and for effect.¹³ Elsewhere, when Paul wants to emphasize the relationship of the Spirit to God, he refers simply to “the Spirit of God”¹⁴; and (sometimes) when he wants to emphasize the aspect of holiness, he uses the full name, “the Holy Spirit.”¹⁵ Here the full ascription is not just a form of solemn speech, calling special attention to the role of the Spirit in ethical life, but also an emphatic declaration that the Holy Spirit is none other than the Spirit of God. Thus the ascription itself focuses on the concluding words of the introductory paragraph (4:23–24): that they are to be renewed in their minds (by the Spirit) and thereby to put on the new person, created to be like God in the righteousness and holiness that come from the truth (the gospel).

Both of these aspects—the Spirit as the presence of God and his relationship to ethical life—need closer examination.

3. One of the more noteworthy features of the long section of parenesis extending from 4:17 to 6:9 is that Paul’s primary focus throughout is God himself, his character and his deeds that reflect his character. Thus Gentiles are aliens to “the life of God”

(4:18), whereas those who have “learned Christ” have put on a “new person,” created κατὰ θεόν (v. 24; “according to God”; “to be like God” [NIV]). Those who forgive and walk in love are “imitators of God” (4:32–5:2). For Paul the goal of the “new creation” is none other than our being recreated in the image of God, which was rolled

10 Which is a direct recall of Exod. 33:14, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

11 See the four places where Paul refers either to the church or the believer as the temple of (the living) God: 1 Cor. 3:16–17; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; and Eph. 2:21–22. In each case (except 2 Cor. 6:16, where it is implied), Paul specifically attributes the reality of the temple with the presence of the Spirit.

12 Although see 1 Thess. 4:8, noted above (n. 8), where the companion ascription occurs: “God … who gives his Holy Spirit (τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ τὸ ἅγιον).”

13 So many interpreters (Meyer, Eadie, Salmond, Bruce); cf. Lincoln, p. 307: “that Spirit who is characterized by holiness and who is God himself at work in believers.”

14 E.g., Rom. 8:9, 14; 1 Cor. 2:14; 3:16; 6:11; 7:40; 12:3; 2 Cor. 3:3. The same is true of the three instances where he designates the Spirit as “of Christ” (Rom. 8:9; Gal.

4:6; Phil. 1:19) and where he emphasizes the relationship of the Spirit to Christ.

15 E.g., 1 Cor. 6:19 and 1 Thess. 4:8.

in the dust in the Garden. Thus the “glory of God” is the ultimate purpose of all that God has done for his people and their salvation. But such glory is not simply that which comes to God as the result of his grace in redemption, which is the first and most obvious point of reference for such language.¹⁶ It is also for the “glory of God”

that we are to bear the fruit of righteousness (Phil. 1:11). That is quite the point of the prayer in Eph. 3:14–21: that being empowered by the Spirit, Christ might live in us in such a way that we come to know his love and thus be filled unto the fullness of God.

Paul’s point with this language in part is that, when God’s people do not live “like God,” they thereby grieve the Holy Spirit of God.

My present point, however, is not simply the ethical one, which I will note in a moment, but the personal one. This text joins many others in making it quite clear that Paul understood the Spirit in fully personal terms. Using the terminology of Isa. 63:10 and reflecting its conceptual context, Paul appeals to his readers not to grieve God’s Holy Spirit.¹⁷ One can only grieve a person, and our misdeeds grieve God himself, who has come to indwell us individually and corporately by his Spirit.

One of the inadequacies of the word “spirit,” and concomitantly of our impersonal images of the Spirit (wind, fire, water, oil), lies right here. Since “spirit” does not tend to call forth personal images, and since our view of God is often laced with a kind of transcendence that keeps him especially distant from our everyday lives, it is easy for us to pass off our sins in a much too casual way. Here, then, is the text that forever reminds us that such sins bring grief to God himself. Presuppositional to this exhortation is the prayer in 3:16, that we are indwelt by God’s own empowering presence in the person of his Holy Spirit. Therefore our misdeeds, which reflect the character of Satan, bring grief not just to ourselves and the ones whom we have injured, but to the God who in mercy has chosen to indwell us. Hence the weightiness of this solemn word to God’s people, urged to walk worthy of their calling by

maintaining the unity of the Spirit: And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Do not, as Israel, reject God’s very presence, his Holy Spirit, whose dwelling within and among us is the evidence of “salvation” and his giving us “rest.”

4. This leads to further discussion about the role of the Spirit in ethical life from the Pauline perspective. It is clear from such passages as Gal. 5:16–6:10 and Rom.

8:4, 13–14 that Paul understood the Spirit to be the empowering presence of God, enabling the ethical life that has God’s glory as its ultimate goal. That note has

already been struck in Eph. 3:16, and is the presupposition behind 4:3–4 (and v. 23, if it refers to the Spirit). Although the present exhortation is expressed negatively, the presupposition behind these words is that the Spirit is grieved precisely because he is present to empower us for better things: truthful and edifying speech, giving to the needy, kindness, and forgiveness. But more still is involved. As with the emphasis on the full name, the Holy Spirit of God, so also the imagery of the Spirit as God’s seal speaks to the ethical dimension of life in the Spirit.

16 See especially the repeated refrain, “the praise of his glory,” in the opening berakah (1:3–14), which first of all has to do with redemption per se, but finally with the fact that God has created a new humanity out of Jew and Gentile alike. Such a refrain recurs throughout the corpus (Rom. 15:7; 2 Cor. 4:4, 6, 15; Phil. 2:11; 1 Tim. 1:11).

But so does the refrain that, by living in conformity with his character, we too reflect or reveal that glory (1 Cor. 10:31; 2 Cor. 3:17–18; Phil. 1:11).

17 Schlier, p. 227, notes that this language stands in sharp contrast to joy, one of the most distinctive evidences of the Spirit’s presence.

This is now the third occurrence of the “seal” imagery in the corpus.¹⁸ The

imagery itself derives from a wide variety of transactions in the Greco-Roman world, most often in the form of a stamped imprint in wax bearing the seal of the owner or sender. It was used primarily to denote ownership and authenticity, but also thereby to guarantee the protection of the owner.¹⁹ Paul uses it metaphorically seven times in all, with several different nuances.²⁰ The primary referent in 2 Cor. 1:21–22 and in Eph.

1:13–14 is “ownership.” By the seal of the Spirit God has placed his own divine imprint on our lives indicating that we are his—for now and forever.²¹ But inherent in this imagery is also the notion of “authentication,” which seems to be the primary referent in the present usage. Granted, the final emphasis is on our eschatological future. But in this context Paul is probably urging that, by “sealing” us with his Holy Spirit so as to walk in ways that are “like God,” God has thereby authenticated us as those who are truly his own. To put it another way, as we live the life of God

empowered by his Holy Spirit, we demonstrate ourselves to be the authentic people of God. As always in Paul, the Spirit is the singular identification mark of believers,²² an

18 See 2 Cor. 1:21–22; cf. 1:13–14 in the present letter.

19 See “σφραγίζω” 2b, BAGD, p. 796; MM, pp. 617–19; and the discussions by G.

Fitzer, TDNT, VII, pp. 939–43 and R. Schippers, NIDNTT, III, p. 499.

20 The verb occurs here and in Rom. 15:28; 2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13; the noun in Rom.

4:11; 1 Cor. 9:2; and 2 Tim. 2:19. The usage in Rom. 15:28 is unique and apparently refers to the sealing of a bag of produce to guarantee that it was ready for market.

Thus the gift for the church in Jerusalem is “handed over under seal as it were” (G.

Fitzer, TDNT, VII, p. 948). In Rom. 4:11 circumcision functions as God’s seal, ratifying Abraham’s righteousness by faith before he was circumcised. In 1 Cor. 9:2 the emphasis is primarily on authentication; the Corinthians themselves are God’s seal, authenticating Paul’s apostleship.

21 My contemporizing language should not obscure an important Pauline point, hinted at by Robinson, p. 194, that in 1:13 this imagery functioned to certify to his Gentile readers that they had got in on God’s promises to Israel. By living like (pagan) Gentiles (4:17), they grieve the Holy Spirit who has thus sealed them for the day of redemption.

22 The frequent suggestion that “sealing” refers to baptism ought forever to be laid to rest, since it has no linguistic or exegetical basis whatsoever. This linkage has a considerable history, usually on the basis of its appearance in 2 Cor. 1:21–22. It has

22 The frequent suggestion that “sealing” refers to baptism ought forever to be laid to rest, since it has no linguistic or exegetical basis whatsoever. This linkage has a considerable history, usually on the basis of its appearance in 2 Cor. 1:21–22. It has

In document Agricultura, Medio Ambiente y Sociedad (página 64-69)