Be Filled with the Spirit

November 29th, 2024
by Dr. D. Lance Waldie

Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.

Paul’s letter to Ephesus is so closely linked to his letter to Colossae that the two epistles are commonly called sister epistles. Instructing the Colossians to “let the word of Christ richly dwell within you” (v. 16), Paul tells them what results is teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God… giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Wives, be subject to your husbands (vv. 16-18).

Likewise, in Ephesians 5:18 Paul says, “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.” What follows, however, are the same results: speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ (Eph. 5:19-21). So, to richly dwell on the word of Christ is to “be filled with the Spirit”—two sides of the same coin!

In Ephesians 5:18 Paul first commands that Christians “do not be drunk with wine.” Wine itself is never forbidden in the Bible for consumption, but the over-indulgence of wine is. Since alcohol kills impurities in water, wine was often mixed with water in order to avoid stomach ailments. Paul even instructed his protégé Timothy to drink some wine because of his frequent stomach problems associated with drinking contaminated water (1 Tim. 5:23).

Paul’s main concern in Ephesians 5:18 is that instead of being filled with wine and under its influence, believers should be “filled” with the Spirit and under its stimulus. Paul likens drunkenness with “dissipation” (i.e., wickedness) in v. 18. Of note is that two other passages in the NT speak of being filled with the Holy Spirit, and they too contrast the Spirit’s filling with drunkenness. The angel in Luke 1:15, when speaking to the father of John the Baptist concerning John’s birth and life, told him, “He will not drink wine or strong drink, but he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb.” Likewise, when the Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost, the people spoke in foreign languages (tongues) they had never learned. Onlookers thought they were drunk with wine (Acts 2:13), yet in reality they were under the influence of the Holy Spirit, having been baptized with the Spirit. As a result, they were filled with the Spirit.

So Paul’s twofold command was, first, Do not allow yourselves to come under the influence of wine, and second, Allow yourself to be influenced by the power of the Holy Spirit. Although the grammar of the passage allows for the translation to read, “Be filled with the Spirit,” it is more appropriately, “Be filled by the Spirit.” All Christians have all of the Holy Spirit they are going to get, but by allowing the Spirit to fill them each day, they permit God to grant them the fruit of His holy presence (cf. Gal. 5:22-23). They are filled both by and with His Spirit.

Food for Thought

The NT does not teach us to pray that God will fill us with His Spirit; it teaches us to be filled with His Spirit by richly dwelling on Scripture. As Christians, we have been regenerated, baptized, indwelt, and sealed by the Holy Spirit—all of which occurred instantaneously at our conversion. That happened one time, and it was fully the work of God. When Christ baptized us with the Spirit, we believed! It is thus a gift from God. Yet the filling of the Spirit comes and goes based on our actions. We don’t get it by singing or praying but by dwelling richly on the Scriptures, given to us by the Spirit Himself (cf. 2 Peter 1:19-21). Being filled with the Spirit is about being totally dominated and controlled by God’s word. We must submit ourselves to Him every single day in order to have that and be under His influence. Diligent study of the Bible and meditational prayer is the key to this. Make sure you are getting your fill-up every day.