Ephesians 5:20

εὐχαριστοῦντες πάντοτε ὑπὲρ πάντων : giving thanks always for all things. Another coordinate clause giving a third and more particular way in which the being “filled with the Spirit” should express itself. The two preceding sentences referred to praise, both outwardly with the mouth and inwardly in the silence of the heart. This third sentence mentions a special form of praise, viz., thanksgiving. This thanksgiving is described as a constant duty, the πάντοτε which would have been inappropriate with the λαλοῦντες and with the ᾄδοντες καὶ ψάλλοντες being in place here where, as in the case of joy and prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17), the matter is one primarily of attitude or spirit. The ὑπὲρ πάντων, “for all things” (neut., not masc., as understood by Theodor.), is taken by many in its widest possible extent, as including things evil as well as good. The Epistle does not deal, however, particularly with the sufferings of the Christian, but with what he receives from God and what his consequent duty is. It is most accordant, therefore, with the context to understand the πάντων as referring to all the blessings of the Christian, the whole good that comes to him from God. ἐν ὀνόματι τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ : in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The phrase ἐν ὀνόματι … Χριστοῦ is different from ἐν Χριστῷ and of wider application. It has different shades of meaning, authority, power, honour, dependence, etc., in different connections. Here probably it expresses the idea of doing something in dependence upon Christ, or in regardfulness of what Christ is; cf. John 14:13; John 15:16; John 16:23; Colossians 3:7. τῷ Θεῷ καὶ πατρί : to God and the Father. The RV gives “to God, even the Father” in its text, and “to the God and Father” in the margin. But the most appropriate rendering of the title is the above. The title designates One who is God and at the same time Father; the Fatherhood here, as elsewhere, being no doubt primarily the relation to Christ, as is suggested by the ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι, etc.