Filled with The Spirit (Eph. 5:18-21)

We can see from the context that Paul is explaining how Christians should redeem the time, by which he means that Christians should liberate the time they have from foolish decisions. Instead they have to understand what the will of the Lord is. The way to experience the will of the Lord is by being filled with the Spirit.

Filled with the Spirit – What Does Paul Mean?

Paul contrasts the filling of the Spirit with drunkenness, which may seem a strange comparison. Yet we also know that onlookers on the Day of Pentecost, when they saw the exuberance of the Christians, assumed that they were drunk. So it suggests that there is some similarity, although superficial. We get the basic answer to what it means by realising that to be filled with something means to be under the control of it. A drunk person is under the control of strong drink and a Christian should be under the control of the Holy Spirit.

Various things happened when a person in the Bible was filled with the Spirit. Elizabeth blessed Mary the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:41); Zechariah praised God after his speech was returned (Luke 1:67); the apostles spoke at Pentecost when filled with the Spirit (Acts 2:4); Peter was filled with the Spirit when he testified before his opponents (Acts 4:8); on one occasion, disciples were filled with the Spirit when they prayed (Acts 4:31); Ananias promised Paul that he would be filled with the Spirit when he called on the Lord (Acts 9:17); Paul was filled with the Spirit when he rebuked a false prophet (Acts 13:9); and the disciples in Iconium were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:52).

I suspect that last reference points to another reason why the onlookers on the Day of Pentecost thought that the disciples were drunk, and that is that they were full of joy. We know that sometimes a drunk person can give the impression that he is very happy (indeed, in some places when a person is drunk he is described as happy). And joy should mark believers.

Being filled with the Spirit means that we will be under the control of the Spirit. This raises the question as to how we come under the Spirit’s authority. Some people think it happens when we let him have control, which is another way of saying that we are in charge. There is no hint in the verses cited above from Acts that the persons involved let the Spirit have control. Instead he ruled over them in divine power and did through them what he wished to say or do.

This is a reminder that the Spirit is sovereign in the Christian life, although it does not mean that he ignores our human faculties. Indeed, in verse 17 Paul says that believers should understand the will of the Lord, with ‘Lord’ here being a reference to Jesus. The only way that they can understand what Jesus wants them to do is by the Spirit’s teaching, although he expects them to use their mental faculties to bring this about. Paul had mentioned this requirement earlier in 5:10. We discover the Lord’s will from his Word and we should pray that the Spirit will enlighten us each time we read the Scriptures. Of course, at the time Paul wrote this letter, most of the New Testament had not been written.

Frequently today when individuals refer to finding the Lord’s will they are referring to discovering God’s personal will for their life. They talk about personal guidance as if the Bible contained some special statements designed only for them and not for anyone else. But the Bible is revelation, and it is revelation for every believer. The will of God for believers is their sanctification, or becoming increasingly like Jesus, and if they are not experiencing that work it does not matter what other impressions they may have when reading the Bible.

That is what we are doing by considering the verses in our passage. We are going to look at several things that Paul says are the evidence or the consequences of being filled with the Spirit. It is notable that Paul does not say that we speak to the Spirit when filled with the Spirit. Instead, he says that Christians speak to one another and that they speak to the Father.

We should also note that the command to be filled with the Spirit is a present imperative, indicating that this is to be the continuous state of believers. A description of a believer should be ‘one that is filled with the Spirit’. Such an ongoing experience does not make him superior to other believers. All it means is that he is living the normal Christian life.

The other detail that we need to ask is whether Paul mentions three activities here or four activities. If he has four activities, they are speaking to one another, singing, giving thanks to God and submitting to one another. However, if there are three activities, they are praise, thanksgiving and submission – those who hold this view argue that praise covers horizontal and vertical aspects, although I find it difficult to understand how speaking to one another can be classified as praise. So I take it that there are four activities although they will be inter-connected.

Another question that can be asked is whether or not Paul is describing a church service here. It is generally assumed that he is, yet I am not convinced that is the case since throughout this section he is describing Christian living in general rather than a specific activity such as a worship service. And the same can be said about the parallel passage in Colossians 3:16-17. We must remember that it was not always easy for every Christian in a community to meet for what we call public worship. Here Paul is describing what being filled with the Spirit looks like rather than what a church service looks like.

Speaking

It is obvious from the words that this is a public activity involving at least two people who can speak to one another. As just noted, we might assume that Paul is only speaking of church activity, yet the fourth item in the list – mutual submission – describes general Christian behaviour. I cannot say if there was a custom in the early church of people using psalms, hymns and spiritual songs when speaking to one another. Of course, they may have done. Yet it is possible that Paul is reminding them about what Spirit-filled Christians will speak about when they meet with one another at any time.

Obviously, we should ask what is meant by psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. The danger is that we might understand these terms by how they are used today rather than how they were used when Paul wrote the letter. It has been pointed out that compositions called psalms, hymns and songs are found in the Book of Psalms and I see no reason why Paul did not mean the Psalter here. Even if he meant more than the actual Psalter, the use of ‘spiritual’ would suggest that he has Spirit-inspired compositions in mind.

Paul does not say that they are to sing them to one another, but to speak them to one another. Therefore, it looks to me that he could be telling his readers that talking about the psalms is a good way of having Christian fellowship. After all, as it has often been pointed out, all spiritual experiences are dealt with in the psalms. We need to remember also that the early Christians did not have Bibles to carry around with them. Instead they had to remember suitable passages. No doubt, there were those who could remember vast sections, but most believers would not have such a capacity. So they would have learned the parts of the Bible that are easiest to recall, and the psalms come into that category, especially as they also could be sung.

Paul is not suggesting that the only part of the Bible that should be read is the Book of Psalms. We are fortunate, and blessed, to be able to carry the entirety of God’s Word around with us. The question is, do we speak about it when we meet together, because Spirit-filled believers will use God’s Word to help one another.

Singing

If the speaking described by Paul required more than one person, it looks as if the singing described by him did not. It is unusual to use the singular word ‘heart’ to describe more than one person, although it is possible that Paul used the singular to stress unity among the believers who were resident in Ephesus, because he was aware of attempts to destroy it (Acts 20:29-30). Yet it is also possible that he is describing what a Spirit-filled believer will be doing when he or she is by themselves.

If the focus of the speaking is the building up of one another, the focus of the singing is Jesus. I think if Paul had the Father in mind here, he would have said so, as he does in the next section. But he instead connects a spiritual mind to ongoing joy and honour in a believer’s heart about the unique relationship he has with Jesus. Is Paul not saying that there is enough known about Jesus and experienced from Jesus to make a believer into a singing person within his soul?

I suppose we could ask why he connects singing with the title, Lord. In answer to that question we could consider what psalms, hymns and spiritual songs refer to him as Lord. Without doubt, the one collection that does is the Psalter. There is an argument that says Jesus is mentioned in every psalm because he is the Lord praised in every psalm. Yet even the psalms that obviously refer to him give him divine titles, and you can consider them when you have the opportunity (Psalms 16, 22, 24, 45, 102 are some of them).

Paul’s description of a Spirit-filled believer is that he has a heart full of melody. One definition of melody is ‘a pleasing sequence of sounds’. When we come to sing about Jesus, it is not hard to find a sequence. We can sing about him as the Sufferer, Shepherd, and Sovereign; as the prophet, priest and king; as the Creator, Controller and Re-creator of all things. And such sounds very sweet to the One who sees our hearts and he hears a real melody arising from within us.

Giving thanks always

The third mark that Paul gives of a Spirit-filled Christian is permanent gratitude to the heavenly Father. This is a reminder that the believer is called to a life of thankfulness to God for his providence, for his control of all things. It is not only permanent; it is also persistent because among the all things are some hard things that will test the believer’s commitment. Someone has said that we are to give thanks in all things rather than for all things. Yet Paul says here that believers should see reasons in everything they occure for which they can give thanks.

Such prayer is presented through the name of Jesus. Paul does not mean that we place the phrase ‘the name of Jesus’ at the close of our prayers, although there is nothing wrong with doing so provided we recognise the significance of his name. What does it mean to pray in the name of Jesus? It includes acknowledgement of his status, admiration of his achievements, affection for his person and anticipation of the blessings that will come. When those details are present, we will pray in his name.

Submitting to one another

The fourth consequence of being filled with the Spirit is submission to one another in the fear of Christ. Paul here calls his readers to a transforming practice of regarding others better than ourselves. He is not suggesting that believers concede their God-given place in society or in the church – after all, here he is telling his readers what they must do. Indeed, in the next passage he proceeds to show how different relationships among the believers can be lived out without losing their distinctives. He does tell wives to submit to their husbands, and children to submit to their parents, and slaves to submit to their masters. Instead, he tells each person to remember that every other believer, no matter their gender, their age and their status has the high rank of servants of God.

The practice of submission to one another removes the notion that independence and isolation are Christian virtues. A person living by himself cannot practice submission. Instead, in order for submission to be possible, there has to be involvement with one another. When a Christian decides to detach himself from another Christian he removes the possibility of mutual submission.

Are we filled with the Spirit?