01.02E. God Commands Us to “Be Filled with the Spirit.”
E. God Commands Us to “Be Filled with the Spirit.” The primary purpose for the Holy Spirit to fill us is not for our emotional enjoyment (although it may gladden our heart), nor for the fullness of the Christian’s spiritual life (although it will empower us to forsake worldliness and to live closer to the Lord), nor for the eradication of our carnal nature (although it will enlighten our understanding and help us to know how to apply what Christ has done to our old nature). Spirit-filling is given mainly to empower us to serve God by activities such as leading people to Christ, establishing churches, preaching life-giving, edifying sermons, and giving good counsel. The Holy Spirit has also been given to empower us to serve our Lord effectively in secular activities, which include being a worthy Christian spouse, parent and neighbor and serving God competently in our vocation as a living witness to the grace of God in our lives.24
According to most manuscripts and versions, the Epistle to the Ephesians was written “to the saints who are at Ephesus, who are faithful in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:1). Although some question the destination “at Ephesus”, the letter is nevertheless God’s inspired Word to believers chosen “in Him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:3). They had “faith in the Lord Jesus [and] love for all the saints” among themselves (Ephesians 1:15).
They “were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13). Yet, God writing through Paul told them, “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled [often] with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). In this verse God’s command to be filled often with the Spirit is contrasted with getting drunk with wine, an everyday problem of ordinary people at that time. This implies that to be filled with the Spirit is not just a privilege of the upper class. A light alcoholic beverage composed of two-thirds water and one-third wine was a commonplace item in the daily life of the people. Since drinking water in those days was frequently polluted, this light wine was consumed instead of water. However, if one drank too much of this water-wine mixture, he could get drunk and that would be dissipation. The word “dissipation” is a compound word consisting of a negative prefix with the word “saving,” both together meaning “incurable moral behavior” or “unruly emotional release.” The latter meaning is appropriate here. So whoever claims to be filled with the Spirit and at the same time displays unruly actions is not manifesting the Holy Spirit’s filling but is involved in actions prohibited by the Spirit. For this reason, in a passage dealing with the work of the Spirit, the Scriptures say, “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace” and again “Let all things be done properly and in an orderly manner” (1 Corinthians 14:33; 1 Corinthians 14:40).
“Be filled” is in the imperative mood, indicating that to “be filled [often] with the Spirit” is God’s command. Many wrongly believe that other than the Ten Commandments there are no commands from God that are binding upon us today. To the contrary, there are many commands both in the Old and New Testaments that remain in effect. For example, “Be holy, for I am holy,” “Devote yourselves to prayer,” “Rejoice always,” and “Do not quench the Spirit” are all words that God intends, by His grace, that we obey. So to “be filled with the Spirit” is just one of many biblical injunctions which we who have truly accepted the Lord should try our best to appropriate through faith and prayer. Otherwise, we will be disobedient to God’s Word, and our spiritual lives and service will be impotent and unfruitful. Especially when preparing to preach, we should pray for the Spirit’s filling and trust Him that we have been filled. Then we can preach with power, edification, and spiritual life, because God demands that we preach with the Spirit’s help. Thus we should remember and believe Jesus’ promise, “How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him” (Luke 11:13). We should not be like those who pray for Spirit-filling but doubt God’s willingness to answer and as a result receive nothing. We should pray in faith, purity, and obedience and then receive the filling with the Spirit. Commenting on Hebrews 13:8 (“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever”), F. F. Bruce writes, “His help, His grace, His power, His guidance are permanently at His people’s disposal.”25
“Be filled” is in the present tense. Originally, Greek verbs emphasized action but not time. The time element was developed later. The present tense denotes action that needs to be pursued with persistence or repeated again and again. A. T. Robertson’s explanation of “Rejoice always” in Php 4:4 gives the sense of the present tense, “The force of the present [tense] is plain in chairete, Keep on rejoicing.”26
I might say, “I get up every morning.” This saying indicates that I not only got up yesterday morning and this morning but also that every morning in the foreseeable future I will be getting up. The same idea is expressed by the present tense in “be filled [again and again] with the Spirit.” The believer should not think that to be filled with the Spirit once is enough to last throughout his lifetime. Rather he needs to know that he must be filled with the Spirit many times throughout his life-span. For example, the Scriptures record that Peter, the chief disciple of our Lord, was filled over and over again. He was filled on the Day of Pentecost and again before the high priest Annas. When the authorities released him to return to his fellow disciples, the believers prayed in one accord, and Peter was once more filled with the Spirit. When any believer is quietly meditating about God’s wonderful grace, or praying earnestly or if he is falsely accused in court, if he is able to take it by faith, he can be immediately filled with the Holy Spirit and thus be empowered to offer thanksgiving, praise, godly prayer or even a legal defense that cannot be refuted. This can certainly happen, because the Scriptures say that “all things are possible to him who believes” which also includes, “be filled [often] with the Spirit” (Mark 9:23; Ephesians 5:18).
Commenting on Ephesians 5:18, Foulkes explains, “Finally the tense of the verb, present imperative in the Greek, should be noted, implying as it does that the experience of receiving the Holy Spirit so that every part of the life is permeated and controlled by Him is not a ‘once for all’ experience. In the early chapters of the Acts of the Apostles it is repeated a number of times that the same apostles were ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’. The practical implication is that the Christian is to leave his life open to be filled constantly and repeatedly by the divine Spirit.” 27
“Be filled” is in the passive voice. The passive voice means that the subject is acted upon which is quite clear in both the English and Chinese translations. It tells us that to be filled with the Holy Spirit comes from neither our initiative nor our action. Spirit filling is not due to our struggle nor our good works. It is completely by His grace that He delights to give. As long as we fulfill the requirements for filling, we can take it and then enjoy it in our praise, thanksgiving and anointed service. His command guarantees our experience. However, we cannot force the Holy Spirit to do anything, even to bestow a spiritual gift. He does not take orders, but distributes “to each one individually just as He wills” (1 Corinthians 12:11). For you who earnestly desire to speak in tongues as evidence of your filling, you need to remember that the Holy Spirit is not a slave who must give heed to your commands. If you forget or neglect this truth, demons may use the opportunity to help you satisfy your desire by giving you tongues like those they give to mediums and witches. Thus when you pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit you must allow Him to distribute such gifts as He wills, because He knows exactly what you need and what you can do and when you should do it.
“Be filled” is followed by the dative of means (“with [by means of] the Spirit.”)
How are we to understand the word “filled” with regards to the Holy Spirit? Is the Spirit a quantity by which we are filled, or the means by which we are to be filled? Some understand Spirit-filling to be our receiving a greater quantity of Him, like the restaurant server filling our half-empty coffee cup up to the rim. However, here it is better grammatically to understand the Holy Spirit as being the means by which we are filled, rather than our receiving a greater quantity of Him. The Greek language uses case endings to show how a word is being used in a particular clause or sentence. This enables the writer to make his ideas clear and understandable. In Ephesians 5:18, “with the Spirit” (en pneumati) is best understood as being a dative of means, denoting that we are to “be filled by means of the Spirit.” If we were to be filled with more of Himself, the genitive case would most likely have been used, since the noun in the genitive refers to the material of filling, as when Jesus at the wedding in Cana of Galilee told the servants, “fill the jars with water” (John 2:7). An analogous genitive of causality occurs in Isaiah 11:2 : “The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him [Messiah], the Spirit [who produces or gives] wisdom and understanding, the Spirit [who produces or gives] counsel and strength, the Spirit [who produces or gives] knowledge and the fear of the LORD,” (retranslated). Hence the Spirit’s filling emphasizes what the Spirit produces in our lives.28
Thus our “being filled by means of the Spirit” denotes that the Holy Spirit is our Enabler or Helper Who fills us with the life, guidance, joy, boldness, ability, strength, insight, liberty or wisdom we need for a particular moment. By means of Spirit-filling, the Holy Spirit gave the disciples at Pentecost the ability to speak in a foreign language (Acts 2:4), Peter boldness and courage to proclaim a crucified, risen Savior to his countrymen (Acts 2:14-40), Stephen liberty to preach and courage to remain faithful unto death (Acts 6:8-15, Acts 7:1-60), Philip power to preach and perform miraculous signs (Acts 8:4-8) and Paul the faith to call for temporary blindness to fall upon the false prophet and sorcerer Elymas (Acts 13:4-12). Time would fail to tell how the Holy Spirit enabled Bezalel, Oholiab, Samson, Gideon, David and all the prophets and writers of Scripture to perform great and wonderful service for God. Further, He has helped many pastors, teachers, evangelists, and missionaries to fulfill their calling with power and glory. Further still, He has enabled many lay people to deal successfully with their families, jobs and ministries.
What the Holy Spirit did in past times He is willing and able to do today. He can enable the preacher to preach and the teacher to teach with liberty and power, and the congregation to listen with open ears to receive blessing and strength from hearing. The Christian life of service is mostly black or white: we either by faith rely upon the Holy Spirit to help and enable us in all our doings, or we by means of self rely upon our own resources (flesh) to do the job. In doing God’s work “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing” (John 6:63). Any life lived without the Spirit’s enabling results in a spiritual wasteland: useless sermons, dry Bible lessons, stern duties, and unsatisfactory relationships. May we allow God to fill us daily with the attitudes, feelings, strength and wisdom we need to be effective and fruitful for Him.
“Be filled” is in the second person and plural number. This tells us who should be filled. The candidates for filling are not just pastors, missionaries, elders and deacons but every member of Christ’s body, no matter how talented or how insignificant. Neither is any preference given to age or gender, because God told everyone in the Ephesian church to be filled. This is a grace that God has commanded every child of His to receive. Every believer should enjoy the blessing. Not only those who do God’s work in leading prayer meetings, teaching Sunday School or Bible studies, but also every mother and father who would “train up a child in the way that he should go” must be filled with the Holy Spirit to insure effective parenting (Proverbs 22:6). Here is the testimony of one mother: “A few months ago she…sought it [Spirit-filling] and received it. ‘Oh,’ she joyfully exclaimed as she told me the story, ‘since I received it, I have been able to get into the hearts of my children that I was never able to do before.’”29