Filled with the Spirit

Have you ever wondered what it means to be filled with the Spirit? I mean... the Holy Spirit is a person. Surely I have as much of Him as I will ever get. So what is Paul getting at when he commands, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18)”?

The fact that Paul contrasts being drunk on wine and being filled with the Spirit implies that there is something common to both experiences. What is it?

A person that is drunk on wine has yielded control of his body to alcohol. So perhaps being filled with the Spirit is asking the Spirit to control your life.

This proposition seems to make sense, but does it accord well with Paul’s theology of the Holy Spirit? I think it does. Romans 8 – for example - contains references to being controlled by the Spirit. Here are two examples: 1) “The mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace (v6)” and 2) “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. (v9)”

Incidentally, the second example dispels any temptation to believe that a person can be a Christian and yet not have the Holy Spirit in them. So it would be wrong to believe that the Holy Spirit enters a person some time after he has been born again – for example, when he is “filled with the Spirit”.

So far, our proposition fits well with some other Biblical teaching on the subject. But does it fit with the grammar? The form of the Greek “be filled” verb tells us three things: 1) it is a command, 2) God does the filling, and 3) the filling must happen on a daily basis. None of these compromise our proposition that being filled with the Spirit is asking the Spirit to control your life. It worth noting, however, that since God does the filling, we should: 1) ask Him to take control of our lives through the Spirit, and 2) we should do it on a daily basis. This is why Jesus taught us to pray “thy will be done”.

Yielding control of your life to God is a process. You should pray for the Holy Spirit to take control every day, yielding control as He leads and guides. Allow Him to take the keys to every room in your life. Don’t leave Him in the entrance hall and deny Him access elsewhere.

Therefore, being filled with the Spirit is asking God to take control of your life through the Spirit on a daily basis. Remember, you have as much of the Spirit as you will ever have, but how much of YOU does the Spirit have?

Cheers for now - Ian