What does it mean to be “filled with all the fullness of God”?

Explanation:

Paul prays that the Father would grant the Ephesians his Spirit (Ephesians 3:16), that they would comprehend the depth of Christ’s love (Ephesians 3:18), and that they may be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19). So what does it mean to be filled with all the fullness of God? God’s essence is love. We know this because God is essentially a triune being, and the relation between the triune persons is characterized by love. The clause, Be filled with all the fullness of God, has to do with being filled with the same fullness with which God is filled. ⁴ Of course, we already said that God is essentially triune so that God is filled with love. Thus, to be filled with all the fullness of God means to be filled with love in the way that God is filled with love.

Counterargument:

It is possible that Paul has in mind that believers be filled with all the fullness of God, in the sense that believers be filled with love. The only problem is that while God is essentially loving, he is also just, kind, powerful, gracious, patient and so on. Thus, why should we choose the attribute of love over God’s other attributes when it comes to being filled with all the fullness of God? Maybe Paul does have in mind that to be filled with all the fullness of God has to do with being filled what that which fills God, but that this includes all of God’s communicable attributes and not just love. If Paul thought being filled to the fullness of God entailed being filled specifically with love, we should expect him to point this out.

Response to counterargument:

While we do not want to rule out the notion that Paul wants believers to be filled with all of God’s communicable attributes, there is some reason from the context that he emphasizes love. Paul prays that the Father would strengthen the Ephesians by his Spirit in their inner being (Ephesians 3:16), that they may be rooted and grounded in love. He also asks that they may comprehend the depth of Christ’s love that surpasses all knowledge (Ephesians 3:18–19). Finally, he asks that they be filled with all the fullness of God. Clearly, love is on Paul’s mind because it is Christ’s incomprehensible love that allows for the believers to be filled with all the fullness of God. Thus, if Paul emphasizes one particular attribute in Ephesians 3:19, it is God’s love.

Explanation:

We want to know what Paul means when he says, Be filled with all the fullness of God). The first thing to note is that the preposition with should be taken in the sense of to/toward. That is, Paul prays that the Ephesians would be filled toward, or to (as in reaching a goal), all the fullness of God. So what sort of quality is one filled with as he is filled toward all the fullness of God? We can detect from the context that to be filled with all the fullness of God has to do with being filled with love. We can detect this because Ephesians 3:19 has a purpose clause, which means that it states a purpose, and the purpose it states is related to what precedes it. Specifically, Paul prays that the Ephesians would know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, in order that they may be filled to the fullness of God. In other words, the purpose of knowing Christ’s love is to be filled toward the fullness that God has. ⁵ Thus, since the knowledge of Christ’s love is to be filled with all the fullness of God, this term seems to be equivalent to being filled with love.

Counterargument:

There are two problems with this argument. First, the purpose clause of Ephesians 3:19b may be related to Ephesians 3:19a, or it may be related to Ephesians 3:14. In Ephesians 3:14, Paul says that be bows on his knees before the Father, and then he writes three purpose clauses (Ephesians 3:16, Ephesians 3:18, Ephesians 3:19). Each purpose clause may reflect his purpose of bowing before the Father. ⁶ In other words, Paul prays to God in order that the Ephesians may be strengthened by his Spirit (Ephesians 3:16), that they may comprehend Christ’s love (Ephesians 3:18), and that they may be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19). If this is right, then being filled with all the fullness of God is not the result of knowing the love of Christ.

Second, even if we do take it that the purpose clause of Ephesians 3:19b is connected with Ephesians 3:19a, Paul does not say that the knowledge of the love of Christ will fill the believers to the fullness of God in the sense of love. Rather, he says that knowledge of the love of Christ will fill believers to the fullness of God, whatever it means to be filled to the fullness of God. Maybe it means being filled with love, and maybe it means being filled in virtue, or something else. The point is, even if the purpose clause of Ephesians 3:19b is connected to Ephesians 3:19a, we cannot deduce that being filled to the fullness of God has to do with love rather than some other communicable attribute.

Possible weaknesses:

The weakness of this view is not the notion that being filled with all the fullness of God has to do with being filled in a way akin to the way God is filled (even in a very limited sense). Rather, the weakness is the notion that being filled with all the fullness of God specifically has to do with love. For the fullness of God implies love, and even more than love.

Explanation:

Paul prays that the Ephesians may be filled to the fullness of God. At first, it is not clear what this means, but when we reach Ephesians 4:13 we find our answer. Paul explains that Christ gifted the church with apostles, evangelists, shepherds and teachers (Ephesians 4:12), who are to equip the saints (Ephesians 4:13), until we all reach unity of the faith to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. In other words, Paul explains that Christ equips the church so that its members can grow toward the full stature that Christ already has. ⁹ And once we recognize that Christ wants the church to grow into the stature that he already possesses, we can see what it means to be filled with all the fullness of God: it is to attain to the stature of the fullness of Christ. ¹⁰

Counterargument:

The problem with this view is that it is not possible to be filled with all the fullness of God, if such has to do with attaining to the stature of Christ. For Christ is God, and we can never attain to his divinity, neither can we attain to his sinless life.

Response to counterargument:

The notion here is not that we will attain to the fullness of the Godhead. Neither is Paul saying that we will in fact attain to the full stature of Christ in this life. Rather, Paul prays that the believers in Ephesus will be continually transformed and grow toward the image of Christ. That is, to be filled with all the fullness of God is to continually submit one’s life to Christ and be filled with his power and presence, as we attain to the stature of the fullness of Christ. ¹¹

Explanation:

When Paul prays that the Ephesians be filled with all the fullness of God, he likely means that the Ephesians live up to what God created them to be. We can deduce this because we know that Christ calls Christians to be perfect. ¹² Specifically, in Matthew 5:48 Christ teaches, You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. Elsewhere, in 1 Peter 1:15 we read something similar, where Peter writes, As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all of your conduct. ¹³ Thus, to be filled with all the fullness of God is to live up to what God made us to be, which means living a life of perfect holiness. Of course, Paul knows that sin often impedes such efforts to be holy, but his prayer is to God on behalf of the Ephesians.

Counterargument:

The problem here is that there is no obvious connection between Ephesians 3:19, Matthew 5:48, and 1 Peter 1:14. Matthew records a saying of Christ that comes at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, where Christ explains how Christians ought to fulfill the law. Thus, Matthew 5:48 has to do with the commands of Christ, while Ephesians 3:19 is a prayer to God by Paul where the clause, Be filled with all the fullness of God, could be taken in any number of ways. For example, being filled with all the fullness of God might have to do with being filled with all the Holy Spirit, or with God’s love. In fact, there is nothing from the direct context that suggests being filled with all the fullness of God has to do with the Ephesians’ being all that God created them to be.

Response to counterargument:

In fact, when one looks at the context that follows Ephesians 3:19, one notices that in chapters Ephesians 4:1 – 5:33, Paul will spend a concerted effort exhorting the Ephesians to put off their old selves and live a new life as Christians. Most telling is Ephesians 4:22–24 where Paul tells the Ephesians to put off their old self which belongs to corrupt desires, and to put on the new self that is created after the likeness of God. Thus, living a holy life modelled after Christ is on Paul’s mind, and Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:19 anticipates this theme.

Possible weaknesses:

One weakness of this view is that it does not account for the passive form of the verb to fill. The passive suggests that the action of being filled with all the fullness of God is happening to the believer, and not something the believer does. While living up to one’s potential suggests that the believer is the one doing the action.

Explanation:

Paul prays that Christ may dwell in the hearts of the Ephesians (Ephesians 3:17), and that they may be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19). For Paul, there is a connection with having Christ in the believers’ hearts and being filled with the Holy Spirit. Thus, since he asks in Ephesians 3:17 that Christ dwell richly in the believers’ hearts and that they be filled with all the fullness of God, these likely have the same meaning. That is, Paul prays that the Ephesians be filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul does something very similar in Romans 8:9–10. ¹⁶

Counterargument:

While it might be that being filled with all the fullness of God has to do with being filled with the Holy Spirit, this is not clear from the fact that Paul thinks of the Spirit of Christ as being akin to being filled with the Holy Spirit. In Romans 8:9–10, Paul clearly equates Christ’s Spirit with the Holy Spirit, but it is hard to see how this is to the point in Ephesians 3:19. It is true that Paul in Ephesians 3:17 prays that Christ may dwell in believers’ hearts, but he does not explicitly mention the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 3:19. Rather, he prays that the Ephesians may be filled with all the fullness of God. Being filled with all the fullness of God could mean any number of things, including that they would be filled with God’s love, or that they would attain to the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).

Explanation:

Paul prays that the believers be filled with all the fullness of God. Most likely, Paul prays that the believers be filled with the presence of God, which is akin to the Holy Spirit. We can deduce this because the verb to fill is in the passive voice. In other words, Paul is praying that God act upon the Ephesians believers so that they will be filled with all the fullness of God. The notion of God filling places with his presence is a common Old Testament theme. For example, God fills the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34–35) as well as the temple (1 Kings 8:10–11). ¹⁷b In the New Testament, believers are the temple of God, so we should not be surprised that believers might be filled with all the fullness of God (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Counterargument:

While the passive suggests that God is doing the action, it is not clear that the action is the filling of the Holy Spirit. Rather, just before this, Paul prays that the Ephesians know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. Also, in Ephesians 1:17–19 Paul asks that God enlighten the minds of the Ephesians to comprehend the immeasurable greatness of God’s power. Thus, Paul may be asking for God to illumine the hearts and minds of the Ephesians to comprehend the love with which God loves them, so that they are filled to the fullness of God.

Possible weaknesses:

It is possible that to be filled with all the fullness of God has to do with being filled with the Holy Spirit, but this is not the plain meaning of the phrase. It would be more clear if Paul said filled with all the fullness of God’s Spirit, or something similar.