filled by the Spirit

EPHESIANS 5:18-21

SPIRIT FILING IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL TO LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. “Essential” means absolutely necessary, indispensable. Essential suggests that which is in the very essence or constitution of a thing,

WITHOUT EXAGGERATION, THIS PASSAGE IS CENTRAL TO OUR FAITH AND our understanding of our lives in Christ. It is impossible to overstate the importance of Spirit-filling. The main passage in the New Testament defining Spirit-filling for New Testament believers is Ephesians 5:18-21…

NAS Ephesians 5:18-21 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

IF YOU ARE NOT SPIRIT FILLED, you cannot claim to be obediently or effectively living the Christian life. Every Christian should be able to say, “Yes, I am Spirit filled!” If you are not now “Filled by the Spirit,” I would ask you why not? Spirit filling is a choice. God commands to be “Filled by the Spirit”; therefore, it is our choice whether to obey or not. You decide whether or not you are “Filled by the Spirit/”

“NO CHRISTIAN CAN FULFILL GOD’S WILL FOR HIS OR HER LIFE APART FROM being filled with (better “by” – TAR) His Spirit. If we do not obey this command, we cannot obey any other – simply because we cannot do any of God’s will apart from God’s Spirit.” – MacArthur

IS IT “WITH” THE SPIRIT OR “BY” THE SPIRIT? In my Greek classes I have taught this passage for many years. Greek scholars for years have argued how the prepositional phrase should be interpreted. Forgive the technical detail, but I would like you to get a sense of the scope of the argument, and in order to do so, some technical detail is necessary. The following paragraph is exemplary: “Many have taken ἐν πνεύματι (en pneu-ma-ti – the key prepositional phrase that may be correctly translated either by, with, in the Spirit – TAR) as indicating content, i.e., one is to be filled with the Spirit. But there are no other examples in biblical Greek in which ἐν (en) + the dative after πληρόω (play-ra-o; I fill) indicates content. Further, the parallel with οἴνῳ (oi-no; wine) as well as the common grammatical category of means suggest that the idea intended is that believers are to be filled by means of the [Holy] Spirit. If so there seems to be an unnamed agent. The meaning of this text can only be fully appreciated in light of the πληρόω (play-ra-o) language in Ephesians. – NET Notes

I ADMIT THIS IS HEAVY STUFF! Nevertheless, I hope you will read on. Remember, please, God chose the Greek language, not English or Spanish, to reveal Himself in the New Testament.

THERE ARE THREE KEY CONSIDERATIONS THAT MAY HELP US UNDERSTAND what Paul is saying in this passage of Ephesians 5:18. (1) In Eph 3:19 the “hinge” prayer introducing the last half of the letter makes a request that the believers ‘be filled with all the fullness of God’…

NAS Ephesians 3:19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

THE EXPLICIT CONTENT OF THE GREEK VERB πληρόω (play-ra-o) IS THUS God’s fullness, which is probably a reference to His moral attributes. In other words, it is God who fills us and it is with Himself by which He fills us.

NOW LET’S LOOK AT 4:10, the second key consideration (2)…

NAS Ephesians 4:10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

NOTE THAT IN 4:10 CHRIST IS SAID TO BE THE AGENT OF FILLING (with v. 11 adding the specifics of his giving spiritual gifts). Paul then brings his argument to a crescendo in 5:18: “Believers are to be filled by Christ by means of the Spirit with the content of the fullness of God”…

(3) AND THE THIRD KEY CONSIDERATION…

“THE GREEK WORD TRANSLATED ‘BE FILLED’ (πληροῦσθε [play-rous-thay] from the verb πληρόω [play-ra-o]) is a command in a form (present passive imperative) in the original language that means ‘keep on being filled by the Spirit.’” – Garner/TAR…

πληρόω (play-ra-o) “IS USED IN THE N.T. OF SOMETHING THAT IS FILLED WITH content, for example, ‘to fill’ containers or, in the passive as in John 12:3…” – Hoehner…

NAS John 12:3 Mary therefore took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

IT IS THE IMAGE OF SOMETHING BEING PERVADED BY SOMETHING ELSE. When we are filled by the Spirit we are pervaded by the Spirit. Pervade means to be present throughout. When we are filled the Spirit is present throughout our being.

“METAPHORICALLY, IN THE PASSIVE πληρόω (play-ra-o) CAN MEAN to be filled with something, such as unrighteousness.” – Hoehner

NAS Romans 1:29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,

πληρόω (play-ra-o) THUS “MAY BE SEEN TO CONNOTE THE IDEA THAT a person is completely controlled and stamped by the powers which fill him.” –Hoehner from Delling

THE ESSENCE IS THAT WE ARE TO LIVE UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE SPIRIT, not under the wine’s control. I would humbly suggest that it is a graphic and immediately apprehended analogy – agree?

INTOXICATION ONLY LEADS TO RECKLESS ACTIONS. “Dissipation” (ἀσωτία [a-so-tee-a]) may be seen to mean (among other connotations) recklessness. Paul, in v. 17, commanded the Ephesians – and by extension us – to avoid such foolish conduct…

NAS Ephesians 5:17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

“AS IS HIS PRACTICE. PAUL NOT ONLY INSTRUCTS BELIEVERS CONCERNING the way in which they are not to live, but also how they are to live. He had told the Ephesians not to be unwise but wise, not to become foolish but to understand what the will of the Lord is, not to be drunk with wine in which there is dissipation but – the positive exhortation – be filled by the Spirit.”– Hoehner…

THE BIBLE CONDEMNS DRUNKENNESS. Here are but two examples…

NAS Proverbs 23:19-21 Listen, my son, and be wise, And direct your heart in the way. 20 Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat; 21 For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.

NAS Isaiah 5:11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink; Who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them!

“THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE MEANS BY WHICH BELIEVERS ARE FILLED WITH Christ and His will.” – Hoehner… Note again v.17…

NAS Ephesians 5:17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

“THIS IS FITTING BECAUSE THE PARALLEL PASSAGE OF THE PRESENT VERSE, Colossians 3:16, also written by Paul, states…” – Hoehner…

NAS Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom…

BEING FILLED BY THE SPIRIT IS SUCH A CRUCIAL TRUTH TO GRASP. As I said at the beginning, it is indispensable. If we are ever to experience success and satisfaction in our Christian lives we must be continually “Filled by the Spirit.”

THE IMPERATIVE MOOD – THE FACT THAT IT’S A COMMAND – places the responsibility for being filled squarely upon us as believers. The passive voice shows tells us that we cannot fill ourselves; we must be submissive to God and allow Him to fill us, to control us.

BEING “FILLED BY THE SPIRIT” ENABLES GOD TO PRODUCE IN US THE FRUIT of the Spirit…

NAS Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

CHRISTLIKENESS. When the Holy Spirit controls the life of the believer His fruit will be produced in that life. Being filled by the Spirit will produce Christlikeness. The Fruit of the Spirit is Christlikeness.

BEING “FILLED BY THE SPIRIT” IS THE SAME THING AS WALKING BY THE Spirit…

NAS Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

WITH OUR CURRENT EMPHASIS IN THESE BLOGS ON “WALKING WORTHY,” I considered titling this message “Walking by the Spirit.” Both filling and walking entail being controlled by God.

THERE IS MUCH CONFUSION CONCERNING SPIRIT FILLING. I must say a brief word about this. It is a sad reality in the body of Christ today – the body of Christ is the church – regarding the baptism of the Spirit and the filling of the Spirit. It is my studied belief, that the main reason for this confusion resulting in division within the body of Christ is because some people confuse these two great doctrines (doctrines are truths).

THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS that unique, imperceptible, unemotional (not dependent upon emotion, not confirmed by emotion, but that does not mean that emotion does not usually accompany the baptism), one-time work of God by which He spiritually places the new believer into the universal, eternal, spiritual body of Christ.

WHEN WE WERE SAVED WE WERE BAPTIZED BY MEANS OF THE SPIRIT…

KJV 1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

THIS IS THE BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT; THIS IS NOT THE FILLING OF THE SPIRIT.

THE FILLING OF THE SPIRIT IS COMMANDED; the baptism of the Spirit is not commanded. It is sad that this essential fact is dismissed by so many who claim that through Spirit baptism they have been given a “second blessing.” There is no “second blessing” referring to salvation; there is only the blessing of salvation. If your salvation is real, it is complete. We may speak in terms of a second, third, fourth – six thousandth blessing if we are referring to the blessings God gives us as we obediently live the Christian life, but there is no “second blessing” in the sense of being more of God given us after the initial step of faith in the salvational experience.

ALL CHRISTIANS ARE BAPTIZED BY/IN/WITH THE SPIRIT at the moment of salvation.

BUT NOT ALL CHRISTIANS ARE SPIRIT FILLED.

“SURRENDER,” AND “SUBMISSION” ARE KEY WORDS IN SPIRIT FILLING. “FILLED BY THE SPIRIT” MEANS BEING CONTROLLED BY THE SPIRIT.

THE CONTEXT OF OUR PASSAGE ILLUSTRATES THIS. Verse 18 immediately precedes or introduces an extended passage on submission. The primary, usually determinative factor of the interpretive process, that is, context, is sadly overlooked, in my opinion, by most charismatics in arguing the question of filling.

IF YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN AND YOU ARE SURRENDED TO GOD’S WILL as revealed in the Bible, you are Spirit-filled. If you are a Christian and you are resistant to God’s will, you have indeed been baptized by the Spirit but you are not filled by the Spirit.

“HAVE THINE OWN WAY, LORD, Have Thine own way! Thou art the potter, I am the clay! Mold me and make me After Thy will, While I am waiting, Yielded (surrendered) and still.”

TO BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT IS TO BE YIELDED TO THE SPIRIT.

OBEDIENCE IS ESSENTIAL TO FILLING. Whereas there are no conditions imposed upon the believer (other than belief) relating to indwelling, baptism, sealing, and other ministries of the Holy Spirit, filling is conditioned upon the believer being obedient to other commands of Scripture.

THE KEY TO BEING FILLED BY THE SPIRIT is to be daily, deeply in the Scriptures… Colossians 3:16, the parallel to Ephesians 5:18, again…

KJV Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

NOTICE THE CLOSE COMPARISON TO OUR PASSAGE IN EPHESIANS. Listen again to Ephesians 5:19…

KJV Ephesians 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

I COULD EASILY WRITE A BLOG ON THE RESULTS OF FILLING BUT for today just let me say that whereas wine’s control produce dissipation, the Spirit’s control produces these beautiful results.

CONTRARY TO THE TEACHING OF CHARISMATICS AND PENTECOSTALS, though it is experiential, the filling of the Spirit does not necessary produce a physical reaction. The believer does not have to do or experience anything in the way of physical reaction. Rather the experience comes in the working out of the Spirit’s control.

AND LET ME MAKE THIS POINT BRIEFLY: NO ECSTATIC EXPERIENCE! Notice carefully that nowhere do we read in Ephesians 5 that the result of filling is ecstatic experience. Nothing is mentioned about the results of filling being speaking in tongues or suddenly having the gift of healings. “Just saying”…

LOOK AT IT THIS WAY: FILLING IS A MENTAL ATTITUDE. Instead of doing something in order to be filled, the believer must think something. Filling is a mindset. It is a moment-by- moment decision the believer makes to yield to the control of the Spirit. It isn’t how much of the Spirit the believer has, but instead it is how much of the believer the Spirit has. It is the indwelling Spirit who should be continually controlling the life of the believer. This spiritual control is manifested in the life of the believer through the word of God. The Spirit of God takes the word of God and uses it in the life of the believer to do the work of God.

BRIEFLY, WHILE THERE IS LITTLE DIFFERENCES, “PSALMS” PROBABLY referred to the singing in the early church of psalms with a stringed instrument, as was the Jewish practice in ancient times. “Hymns” were probably songs of praise to God, what the word historically meant. “Spiritual songs,” the third term, were probably songs of joy which issued from hearts that were filled, as opposed to the drunken songs of people controlled by alcohol. – from Hoehner

“SINGING THE PRAISES OF GOD IS A MOST APPROPRIATE RESPONSE of God’s children as they reflect on the salvation He has provided.” – Kent

“THE SPIRIT-FILLED CHRISTIAN IS HAPPY, PEACEFUL, ASSURED, AND productive regardless of the circumstances. Whether he is freely worshiping among fellow believers on Sunday morning or sitting in painful stocks in a dungeon at midnight like Paul and Silas (Acts 16:24-25), his heart will always be ‘singing and making melody with their hearts to the Lord.’” – MacArthur

AND AGAIN…

“GIVING THANKS ALWAYS FOR ALL THINGS”… That is another blog. Thanksgiving is the mark of the person who is “Filled by the Spirit.” We recently celebrated a national, traditional day of thanksgiving, but everyday should be a day of thanksgiving for us Christians. And “all things” includes the bad things as well as the good things. I encourage you to join me in thinking seriously on that…

AND, FINALLY, PAUL SAYS “BE SUBJECT TO ONE ANOTHER IN THE FEAR OF Christ.” Verse 21, as we will see next week, transitions into a lengthy section of submission, extending through chapter 6, verse 9.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO OVEREMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF GOD’S WORD the Bible to the Christian. In order to be surrendered to God you must know His will. Knowing His will is not accomplished apart from studying the Bible.

THE FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS COMMANDED BY GOD FOR TWO REASONS: (1) it is essential for the maturity of the believer (1 Cor. 3:1-3), and (2) it is essential for the believer’s service (Acts 4:31; 9:17, 20).

SPIRIT FILING IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL TO LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. You cannot say you are right with God as a Christian until you are surrendered to His will. This is a crucial teaching. Being filled by the Spirit is critical for living the Christian life by God’s standards (sadly, most of us too often live the Christian life by our own standards).…

– Professor Thomas A. Rohm

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