Filled With the Spirit (Ephesians 5:28)

It would be true to say that Christians want to be filled with the Spirit. Many books have been written about the topic, and when we read them we find that there is a diversity of opinion about what us meant. Some say that the filling of the Spirit occurs when one is baptised in the Spirit, while others insist that they don’t happen at the same time, and even then there can be diverse opinions as to whether the filling is an emotional experience. The filling of the Spirit has been connected to several post-conversion experiences ranging from occasions of surrender to the will of God, perhaps at a conference for deepening the spiritual life, to moments of spiritual ecstasy when a person spoke in tongues or prophesied about a matter.

It is possible to conclude from some biblical references to people such as Elisabeth when meeting Mary, Zechariah when stating that his son would be called John, and Peter at Pentecost being filled with the Spirit that the experience only comes occasionally. Yet there is not an indication in those passages that those individuals were only filled with the Spirit on those specific occasions or that it was only such experiences that could be regarded as signs they were filled with the Spirit. The fact that the filling is not perceived as occasional is seen in the tense of Paul’s verb in Ephesians 5:18: literally, he writes, ‘Keep on being filled with the Spirit.’

Contrasted with filled with wine

We might be surprised that Paul contrasts the filling of the Spirit with becoming drunk with wine. Why did he make that comparison? Perhaps he was contrasting two kinds of drinking – drinking the Spirit and drinking wine. We should not be surprised that receiving the Spirit should be likened to having a drink of liquid because he is described as refreshing water. Isaiah predicted that God would pour water on the thirsty and floods on dry ground and he was referring to experiencing the Spirit when he said those words. I would say that there is a real possibility that this is what Paul is doing, contrasting two kinds of drinking.

So we should not be surprised at Paul’s description of experiencing the Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 12:13, he describes what believers went through at conversion, and which changed both their identity and experience: ‘For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.’ Their change of identity is revealed in them now belonging to the body of Christ; their change of experience is that they now drink of one Spirit. What does it mean to say that ‘all were made to drink of one Spirit’? It has been suggested that it means believers are irrigated by the Spirit even as fields are irrigated by water, and that this process continues throughout their Christian lives. So there is a sense that a successful Christian life depends on what we are drinking.

In order to understand Paul’s emphasis, we need to appreciate the place that wine had in everyday life at that time. Obviously, the apostle is referring to intoxication here. Wine was a daily commodity that could be abused very easily and cheaply. It was freely available, and was usually part of a meal, and would be used when people met together. Drinking too much wine could lead to singing about a topic, perhaps a song about one’s country or an individual who was a good soldier or leader, or about their gods if they had been drinking wine at the temples. Drinking might even lead to quarrels and fights.

Examining Paul’s description here in Ephesians 5:18-21 reveals that there are some similarities and differences between being filled with the Spirit and with drinking a lot of wine, probably at a religious gathering. Similarities are people getting together, speaking to one another, singing to and expressing appreciation of the God they worship; a possible difference is that those filled with the Spirit will submit to one another whereas those who are drunk with wine might have an argument.

There are two aspects connected to the contrast between filled with the Spirit and drunk with wine. They are, first, absorbing the Spirit and absorbing the wine; second, there is the outcome. What is absorbed controls the outcome. Being influenced by the Spirit leads to certain practices; being filled with wine leads to certain practices, which Paul describes as debauchery. In contrast, Paul uses five participles in connection with his instruction to be filled with the Spirit: (1) addressing, (2) singing, (3) making melody, (4) giving thanks and (5) submitting. The presence of those features indicates when a person is filled with the Spirit.

The necessity of fellowship

Some interpreters suggest that Paul is describing worship services when he refers in Ephesians 5:18ff. to the filling of the Spirit. It is possible that he is, but it is also possible that he is describing what spiritual life should be like in the households of his readers because that is where the submitting that he later refers to in this letter occurred. Whichever option is accepted, or even if both are accepted, fellowship is essential. In today’s world, fellowship can occur in addition to church services and household circumstances, and such fellowship is very desirable. Why?

Obviously, it is good for believers to get together. Yet mere physical togetherness is not what the apostle has in mind. What they do when they are together is also very important. One verse that comes to mind in this regard is Malachi 3:16 in which a gathering of believers for fellowship is described: ‘Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name.’ The Lord was pleased with what they were doing and recorded their action in his book of remembrance because he intended to bless them as a consequence.

What does Paul specify as suitable expressions of fellowship that reveal the filling of the Spirit? The first activity is that believers address one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Does this activity include what is next said by Paul when he mentions singing and making melody to the Lord with one’s heart? Or is Paul saying that after speaking to one another, the believers then engage in praising God? It looks to me as if the second option is in view, which then leads to the conclusion that conversations between persons filled with the Spirit will lead to mutual praise of God. That conclusion would also be seen in the parallel passage in Colossians 3:16 where ‘teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom’ is followed by ‘singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.’ That is obviously a challenging practice. What do we speak about when we interact with one another? Does our conversation lead to heartfelt expressions of praise?

Continuing on with Paul’s description of a believer filled with the Spirit, we see that such believers will give ‘thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (v. 20). Those believers in their times of fellowship edify one another, praise the Lord together, and pray together. Their prayer here is described as gratitude, the giving of thanks. Their gratitude extends to everything that occurs to them and in them and through them in divine providence. The impression is given that they numerated and identified specific ways in which they could thank their heavenly Father for his grace. They counted their blessings and traced them to the One who oversees their lives as their Father in heaven. From him comes all the spiritual blessings that they enjoy, and it is appropriate for them as filled with the Spirit to thank the Father for his grace. Whatever their experience, and no doubt many aspects of it were difficult, they knew that their Father was able to work all things for their good, and so they thanked him.

They offered their prayers in the name of Christ. This is what Jesus had commanded his disciples to do when he was giving them final instructions in the Upper Room before he was arrested. Praying in this way will include an acknowledgement of who he is and where he is. He is the Saviour and Lord, the one who has been highly exalted and given the name above every name, who has opened the door for us to approach the Father with our petitions. A person filled with the Spirit remembers what he owes to Christ, and that the answers he receives to his prayers only occur because of what Jesus has done when he suffered on the cross and what he is doing as our Intercessor in heaven.

The last aspect of Christian fellowship that Paul mentions is mutual submission. He goes on to explain in detail how submission is worked out in three areas: between husbands and wives, parents and children, and masters and servants. In order that those areas of life, as well as all others, will be spiritually profitable, those involved will need to be filled with the Spirit, and when they are so filled, they will express submission. Submitting is an expression of humility, of being willing to take a low place and put others before ourselves. This was the example that Jesus gave to his disciples in the Upper Room when he washed their feet. He did so because he was with them as a servant even although he was also their Lord and Master. The filling of the Spirit does not lead to a person promoting himself at the expense of others. Such submission can only be done by those who are already submitting to Christ.

Conclusion

Paul’s description here highlights two important aspects of the filling of the Spirit. First, when believers are filled with the Spirit, their lives will be marked by right relationships at two levels. Vertically, they will have a right relationship to God through ongoing praise and prayer. Horizontally, they will have a right relationship with other believers expressed in ongoing edifying discussion and mutual respect resulting from a humble self-perception. It is not difficult to deduce that when a person does not have those relationships he or she is not filled with the Spirit.

Second, Paul’s description highlights the centrality of Jesus in the life of a person filled with the Spirit. He mentions Jesus in connection with their joint praise, their joint prayers and their mutual submission. Their praise is directed to him (usually when Paul refers to the Lord, he is focussing on Jesus), their prayers are offered in his name, and they submit to one another because they have a reverential awe of the One who came to save them.