Living a Fulfilled Life in the Spirit

That teaching, along with the teaching today, will be foundational teachings as we move forward into next years teachings on biblical marriage, parenting, and relationships.

As a reminder, the letter to the Ephesians is one of the letters Paul wrote from prison. In the first three chapters, Paul gives theological knowledge and the last three are practical knowledge. The letter outlines God’s salvation plan and encourages both Jews and Gentiles to unity in the faith.

Paul emphasizes, we are no longer in darkness, but children of the light and the light of the Lord. Thus, we must live as such.

Therefore, we do not live in darkness or the old way of life. Instead, we must be filled with the Spirit, which entails a life of worship towards God and submissiveness towards one another out of reverence for Christ.

Ephesians 5:18–21 ESV

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Do not live in the old way of life

Ephesians 5:18 ESV

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

NOTE: The Bible never demands total abstinence from intoxicants except when taking special vows. However, the Bible often speaks against drunkeness.

Why the contrast between drunkenness and being filled with the Spirit?

“Ephesus was a center of pagan worship and ritual. The Ephesian culture worshiped Dionysus or Bacchus, the god of wine and drunken orgies. They believed that to commune with their god and to be led by him, they had to be drunk. In this drunken state, they could determine the will of their god and determine how best to serve and obey him.”

Anders, M. (1999). Galatians-Colossians (Vol. 8, p. 172). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

The Romans or Greeks regularly associated drunkenness with being possessed by Dionysus, the god of wine. So, the people of that time would understand Paul’s contrast between being filled with wine and being filled with the Spirit.

The result of drunkenness leads to a loss of self control which often leads to riotous living or what is suggested by the word “debauchery,” (asotia= unsavable) wastefulness.

People normally drink strong drinks or drink to the point of drunkenness to rise above their cares, for a sense of exhilaration, for joy, and for personal pleasure. They do so to gratify the desires of the flesh which is contrary to the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16–21 ESV

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Those qualities should not be evident in the life of a Christian who walks in the way of wisdom. That was the old life in darkness and futility of thinking (Eph 4:17-19).

We now live for God, to glorify God, according to His word. The old ways of life leads to wastefulness and ruin. Therefore, we can no longer look at how the world does things. We can no longer allow our old way of thinking govern our life and relationships. When the old person is put off and the new is put on, the old ways are put off and the new ways direct our lives. So. . .

Be filled with the Spirit

Ephesians 5:18 ESV

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

Being filled with the Spirit is a walk in love, holiness, and wisdom.

“be filled” is Greek present passive imperative verb. The present tense of the verb implies a continual or habitual action. The passive voice of the verb indicates being a recipient of the action. And the imperative mood identifies the statement as a command.

This is not only the desire of Christians but the desire of God for us. The fact that the verb is in the passive mood indicates that while it is a command, something we are responsible to fulfill, it is something that we allow God to do for us. That is not only a matter of ability (we cannot fill ourselves; only God can do that) but a matter of right (we belong to God, and he has the right to fill us). In 1:13 the Holy Spirit is God’s seal on us, the mark of ownership. In 4:30 this sealing is the reason we should not grieve the Spirit. We have seen that Ephesians emphasizes God’s initiative in the work of salvation. We are the product of his grace. It is therefore consistent with the teaching of Ephesians that we regard the filling and control of the Holy Spirit to be God’s sovereign right in our lives.

Liefeld, W. L. (1997). Ephesians (Vol. 10, Eph 5:18). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Being filled with the Spirit is not a once and for all experience. It is a daily experience, evident by the life we lived. Often times, we associate being filled with the Spirit, here, with “filled with the Holy Spirit” in the Book of Acts. However, in verse 18, a different word is used. In the Book of Acts, being filled (pimplemi) was associated with being filled to do miraculous things like speaking in tongues, prophecies, or being healed. Here, in verse 18, filled (pleroo) has nothing to do with miraculous events. In context, it means diffuse throughout one’s soul, directed, influenced, or ultimately governed by the Holy Spirit.

The two uses of the words do not contrast what happens in the life of the believer. Instead, they emphasize the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer and the church. You will find in chapter 4 of Luke’s Gospel that Jesus was both full of the Spirit, led by the Spirit, and empowered by the Spirit.

Luke 4:1 ESV

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness

Luke 4:14 ESV

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.

Luke 4:18 ESV

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

Being filled with the Spirit is a command to allow the Spirit to permeate and control every aspect of our life. It is us asking God to take control.

This implies a continual attitude of obedience and offering of oneself to God, daily.

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

And there is evidence!!!!!

Joyful evidence of being filled with the Spirit

Ephesians 5:19–21 ESV

addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

One of the evidences of being filled with the Spirit is our worship.

The focus here is not in the specific expressions of communication but the corporate worship of God. Psalms, hymns, and songs may suggest different types of religious music but we must view them as synonomous to worship. Whereas the drunkard sings in joyfulness to things other than God, our joy is solely focused on God. Unlike the unwholesome speech associated with our old ways (Eph 4:29), our words are fruitful and wholesome, and an expression of gratitude towards a loving, merciful, gracious, patient, faithful, forgiving, and just God. We do not worship based on feeling but on the knowledge we know the God we serve. Listen to what Paul writes to the Colossians:

Colossians 3:16–17 ESV

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Acts 16:25-28

Paul and Silas jailed. What was more important, the chain breaking or the worship of God in present circumstances? What motivated them to worship God after being beaten and imprisoned, in the inner most part of the jail, little to no lights, and feet in stocks?

Another evidence of being filled with the Spirit is our attitude towards one another. We live with an attitude of submission to authority and to those in need. The Christian attitude of submission is servitude. And we do so out of reverence for our Lord, Master, and Teacher Jesus Christ.

John 13:12–17 ESV

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

Philippians 2:3–5 ESV

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

Conclusion

If you are living a life in darkness, I warn and plead with you through the gospel of Jesus Christ to stop. It is a life of wastefulness and ruin. There is no benefit, no gratification in that life. Matter of fact, it is not life at all. The result of living in darkness is God’s wrath, which is everlasting destruction and being shut out from His presence and the glory of His might. Life is in Christ Jesus our Lord. In order to be saved, you must believe or place your trust in Jesus, who is God incarnate, born of a virgin, lived and did everything according to the will of God the Father, demonstrated the love of the Godhead by dying on the cross for sin, by which those who believe in Jesus is made right with God and sealed for inheritance by the Spirit to dwell with the Father and Son forever, in heaven; all made possible by His (Jesus) resurrection on the third day. There is no special prayer to recite to be saved, but there is a calling out to be saved. Call on on the name of Lord, repent, and believe!

For the children of God, our life as light in the world and light of the Lord requires us to put off the old ways of doing things which is a life of wastefulness. Instead, we ask God daily to fill us with the Spirit or to take control. How many of us ask God to do that on a daily basis? I’m not talking about the Jesus take the wheel moments. I am talking about a daily attitude of knowing you are poor in spirit and your only need is God. If you are not doing that, start! As we found, a life filled with the Spirit is not one without evidence. Worship and genuine care for one another in the attitude of submission and servitude in evidences found in the Spirit filled. Let our songs of worship teach and admonish one another with wisdom and express gratitude from our hearts the Gods work in our lives and the lives of others.

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