What on earth does it mean?
We occasionally hear the criticism that a person is “so heavenly minded that he is no earthly good.” I’d like to meet that person. A surplus of heavenly-minded people does not appear to be this world’s main problem. I suppose there is the rare instance where such an objection—understood the right way—might be valid. But, by and large, the Scriptures present to us a beautiful harmony of lofty, heavenly truth with very practical consequences in our lives. Nowhere is this more evident than in the book of Ephesians. The first half of the epistle concerns our position in Christ: seated in the heavenlies (Eph. 2:6); the last half addresses our practice: our walk on earth. In the fifth chapter alone, we are told to walk in love (v. 2), in light (v. 8), and in wisdom (v. 15). And it is in this intensely practical chapter that we are commanded, “do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit” (v. 18).
What does that mean? How do we get filled with the Spirit? What will happen to us when we’re filled?
What it doesn’t mean
Before considering what it means to be filled with the Spirit, it can be helpful to consider what it doesn’t mean. A common pitfall is to become careless with the language of Scripture and treat a variety of the Spirit’s works as being the same thing. It is not uncommon to hear filling, baptism, and anointing (and sometimes even indwelling and sealing) being spoken of as if they were all names for exactly the same event. You can be sure that any understanding of the filling of the Spirit that confuses it with His other works is really a misunderstanding. Carelessness with the Word of God is not the path to truth.
Once it has been assumed that these works are all one and the same—some sort of “second blessing” that only extra spiritual Christians receive—this event is then linked with speaking in tongues or some other flamboyant display. Oddly, the pandemonium that is frequently associated with these performances is more in keeping with the half of the verse that speaks of being “drunk with wine.” Any true work of the Spirit in our lives will be characterized by the self-control that is part of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:23). The filling of the Spirit is not a code word for speaking in tongues or for any of the other works of the Holy Spirit.
What does it mean?
This is the essential question. To find the answer, we must look to the Word. Paul says that instead of being drunk with wine, we are to be filled with the Spirit. The illustration is very simple: instead of being controlled by wine, we are to be controlled by the Spirit.
When we are saved, we need a change in behavior. Instead of walking “according to the course of this world” (Eph. 2:2) as we formerly walked, we should now “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which [we] have been called” (Eph. 4:1). Who or what will change us? The answer is simple: the Holy Spirit. When a person gets drunk, they are influenced by alcohol and behave differently than they would normally behave. Paul says that instead of letting wine influence and change us, we should let the Holy Spirit influence and change us. You’ll note a significant difference that was alluded to earlier. The sin of drunkenness is characterized by a lack of self-control. The filling of the Spirit is characterized by increased self-control. Instead of being slaves to the flesh, we are able to submit ourselves to God and to His Word.
Another detail is important. Some of the Spirit’s works relate to our position (e.g. sealing). Others, like the filling of the Spirit, relate to our practice. Being filled with the Spirit is not a reference to a greater endowment of the Holy Spirit; it is not a matter of somehow getting more of the Spirit (we received all of the Spirit when we were saved, and He took up residence within us). Rather, it is a matter of allowing the Spirit to have more of us. If we have areas of our lives that we have shut Him out of, where we refuse to let Him in that He might convict and change us, then we are not filled with the Spirit. Again, this refers to our condition, not our position in Christ. We may have submitted many elements of our daily lives to Him so that He can use us. But Paul is urging us to submit all of our lives to Him; to let Him into every corner of our lives; to be filled with the Spirit.
How do we become filled?
Ephesians 5 and 6 describe to us the results of being filled with the Spirit: speaking to one another in psalms and hymns, giving thanks to the Father, submitting to one another, etc. But when we turn to the book of Colossians, we discover a parallel passage. Starting in Colossians 3:16 we find the same list, but this time they are said to be the results of “[letting] the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.”
We are sometimes tempted to adopt the view that the Holy Spirit typically operates in mystical and vague ways, guiding us through our feelings. But the Bible says that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it” (Jer 17:9). Our feelings are no sure guide. That is not to say that the Holy Spirit never directs us in ways that are inexplicable to us, nor is it to deny God’s constant, providential care in our lives. But it is to say that His characteristic method of dealing with us is through an infinitely far more reliable and objective instrument than our hearts or feelings: the solid and unchanging Word of God. The Scriptures are the channel through which the Spirit primarily works in our lives.
Do we want to be filled with the Spirit? Then we need to immerse ourselves in the Word of God. We need to hunger for it, read it, mediate on it, and obey it. We need to feed on it. Without a passion for the Scriptures that translates into devotion to the Lord, we cannot be filled, for being filled with the Spirit is the parallel of letting the Word of Christ dwell in us richly.
What happens after we are filled?
As already mentioned, the verses following the command to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18) give us a description of the Spirit-filled life. We note that the passage says nothing about speaking in tongues. The Spirit-filled life is a miraculous life, but miraculous in a deeper sense than ostentatious shows of power. Being filled with the Spirit allows us to live the kind of life that pleases God; it gives victory over the flesh. Only by being filled by the Spirit can we day by day put off the old man and put on the new. Being taken up with spiritual concerns, having hearts of praise, speaking to one another in an edifying manner, a perpetually thankful spirit, and putting others before ourselves—this is the fruit that only the Spirit can produce in us. Do you recognize such a life? Have you read of one before? It is the life that the Lord Jesus modeled for us during His time on earth. In short, when we are filled (or controlled) by the Spirit, He reproduces the life of Christ in us.
There is one other result of filling that we should consider. When we examine other references in the New Testament to being filled with the Spirit, we find that in a large number of them (e.g. Lk. 1:41, 67; Ac. 2:4; 4:8, 31; 7:55; 9:17), those who were filled testified to Christ. This doesn’t surprise us, does it? The Holy Spirit came to glorify Him (Jn. 16:14). So when we allow the Holy Spirit to control our lives, we, too, will exalt the Lord Jesus.
The character and the testimony of Christ—these are the consequences of being filled with the Spirit. The Spirit’s filling is a glorious and heavenly truth. But the evidence of it should be seen on earth every day.