Strengthened By the Spirit

The first of four prayer petitions that the Apostle Paul makes in Ephesians 3:16-19 is that the Christian Believer will be strengthened by the Holy Spirit in verse 16: That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. Let us meditate on four principles in this verse.

First, the substance of our strength is that we have been strengthened with might), that is, the power and ability to perform anything that He desires of us. In other words, God does not call upon us to do anything that He doesn't first empower us to so. This does not mean that we have power to do anything we want to do because Christ is in us. Many pervert verses such as Philippians 4:13 to teach this. Rather, all that God commands us to do we can do through Christ and His indwelling Spirit. In short, this power is the ability to do anything God wants us to do. For example, many Christians say, “Oh, I can’t be a witness; I’m just not qualified.” But God says that we are witnesses (Acts 1:8) and that we can be effective witnesses because He has given us the power and ability. To say anything different is to call God a liar. Oh, may we claim the power God has provided!

Second, the sphere of our strength is the inner man. The world today concentrates on the outer man; it is obsessed with physi­cal form, fashion, and fitness. But no matter what we do, the outer man grows weaker with age and is in a constant process of decay. The inner man, however, is designed to be continually growing stronger with power from the Holy Spirit. What makes up the inner man? Our intellect, emotions, and will, all that we are. And the tool that the Spirit uses is the Word of God.

Third, the source of our strength is His Spirit. What is “spirituality?” Many people use this term without a clue as to what it means. We hear such statements as, “I don’t consider myself to be religious, but I feel I am spiritual.” But what does “spirituality” mean? Paul told the Corinthian believers, who were anything but spiritual, “He that is spiritual judgeth all things” (I Cor. 2:15). The Greek behind “spiritual” (pneumatikos) means “non-carnal” or “dominated by the Spirit, in contrast to [the] natural.” To really be spiritual, then, means that we are characterized not by our natural instincts but by the Holy Spirit. Those who say such things as the above, therefore, are not spiritual at all because they are not dominated by the Holy Spirit but by their own opinions.

This is why Paul further says, “He that is spiritual judgeth all things.” Here is crucial principle. “Judgeth” is the same word translated “discerned” in the previous verse: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” The Greek for “discerned” (anakrino) means “to investigate, examine, enquire into, scrutinize, sift, and question.” To discern something means that we don’t say, “Well, as long as that Bible teacher talks about God or Jesus, then he’s okay.” True spirituality means that we examine everything, that we investigate, question, and scrutinize what is being taught and practiced, not from the perspective of the flesh, natural inclination, or personal opinion, but by the domination of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word. Most people are, just like the Corinthians, anything but spiritual; they are, in fact, the very opposite, looking at everything from their perspective not God’s. The truly spiritual person does not accept everything that comes along; rather he or she first examines it biblically to see if it’s right or wrong.

Fourth, the scale, the measuring rod, of our strength is according to the riches of His glory. The key words are according to. The Greek is not ek, which means “out of,” but kata, which means “down” and, therefore, shows “dominion.” So, God has not given “out of His riches” but “according to,” that is, “dominated by” or “in proportion to” His riches. The story is told of John D. Rockefeller that whenever he played golf in Florida, he gave his caddy a dime. He didn’t give according to his riches but “out of” his riches. But God gives us strength according to His riches, and that is a lot of strength!