Key PassageDo not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.Ephesians 5:18 (NIV)
Biblical Use of the Filling of the Spirit
An Experience
Acts 4:8, Acts 4:31
Both of these accounts in the book of Acts describe being Spirit-Filled as an experience. It is as if the Lord simply dumped an experience on the believers.
This experience was unique and nothing in Scripture tells that the believer should ever expect to experience this filling of the Spirit.
An experience by definition is not something that you can be told to do. It simply happens.
A Way of Life
Acts 6:3-4, Ephesians 5:18
Both passages describe the filling of the Spirit as a way of life.
Both passages describe the filling of the Spirit as something that believers can control.
Definition of the filling of the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18
The filling of the Spirit is a phrase that describes a believer who is living for Jesus Christ.
The believer is an incurable God-lover.
A believer who is consciously disobeying his Lord would not be Spirit-Filled.
Understanding the Tense of Ephesians 5:18
In the original Greek the “be filled with the Spirit” is in the present command tense. Unlike English Greek tense speaks more about kind of action. In this passage the idea would be more like “keep on being filled as you have been.”
A Parallel Passage
Colossians 3:16
A passage that says the same thing as Ephesians 5:18 is Colossians 3:16. In fact much of Colossians can be found in Ephesians.
This Scripture describes how the believer is to apply the Bible to all of life.
What does it not mean to be filled with the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18?
Romans 8:5-9
The believer is not asked to give the Spirit control of his life. The Spirit is in control of the believer’s life in the sense that the believer will not miss receiving the work of the Spirit that Jesus purchased for him on the cross. All believers will be incurable God-lovers and experience a changed life.
Evidence of Being Filled with the Spirit
Ephesians 5:19-33
The evidence of being Spirit-filled is a desire to obey Scripture because you love the God of Scripture. The work of the Spirit in the life of the believer always results in a changed life. Titus 2:11-13