Eph 5:18 — Be Filled with the Spirit

Why does Paul abruptly shift gears in verse 18 to warn the Ephesian Christians against the sin of drunkenness? The transition is actually not so abrupt when you stop and look back at the flow of thought beginning back in chapter 4, verse 17. Paul is drawing a sharp contrast between the lifestyle that characterizes unbelievers, a life of debauchery and hedonism, and the life that ought to characterize believers. The warning against drunkenness is a continuation of the same contrast, because drunkenness is an essential component of the pagan lifestyle. The key that links the warning of verse 18 with the preceding context of paganism is the phrase “which leads to dissipation.” Dissipation means behavior which shows lack of concern for the consequences of one’s action. Those who are drunk lose their inhibitions, and thoughtlessly give in to their sinful impulses. This is because of its association with dissipation, therefore, drunkenness is one of the prime characteristics of paganism.

But Christians have put off the old man with its dissipation and lack of restraint. In Christ we are no longer characterized by uninhibited sinful desires. Therefore, we should not allow ourselves to be tempted to indulge in our former sinful patterns by getting drunk. Rather, Paul says, we should be filled with the Spirit.

The thrust of my sermon this morning is to examine the meaning of this command to be filled with the Spirit. Before we delve into that topic, however, we need to make a brief comment about the use of alcohol. I am sure you are all aware that there are some Christians who want to read into this verse a prohibitionist rejection of alcohol per se. They assume that the phrase “which leads to dissipation” refers back to the word “wine” rather than to the statement “do not get drunk with wine” taken as a whole.

But it is drunkenness, not wine per se, that leads to dissipation. You see Paul is making a contrast, not between wine and the Spirit, but between being drunk with wine and being filled with the Spirit. Moderate and self-controlled use of alcohol is not, in itself, incompatible with being Spirit filled. It is only the irresponsible use of alcohol for the purpose of getting drunk that is incompatible with being filled with the Spirit.

The attempt to read Paul’s statement here as an absolute prohibition of the use of alcohol is based on a theological error. Prohibitionism confuses the created thing which God has made, and which in itself is good, with the abuse of the created thing by sinful men. It is not the created thing that is the problem, but the sinful heart of man that turns God’s good gifts of creation into an occasion for sin. In 1 Timothy 4:1-5 Paul clearly teaches that God has created all types of food for our enjoyment, “for everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude.” Jesus taught the same thing when he said, “There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man” (Mark 7:15).

I trust that these things are basic and that I do not need to explain them any further. Therefore, without further ado, let us take a closer look at this command to be filled with the Spirit. What does this mean? How do we obey this command?

There are two extremes that we need to avoid as we attempt to understand the meaning of this command.

The first extreme is that of the Charismatic. To be fair, not all Charismatics fall into this error, but historically the Charismatic movement has tended to interpret the notion of being Spirit-filled in primarily or exclusively experiential terms, and often in terms of a very specific type of experience, such as speaking in tongues, or some other form of non-rational, ecstatic utterance.

This interpretation appears to have a certain degree of Scriptural support. For example, in Acts 2:4 we read, “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.”

In addition to passages like this, the experiential, ecstatic interpretation seems plausible because of the way Paul compares the experience of being Spirit-filled with the experience of intoxication. Both are very real experiences that happen to a person, when a person comes under the control of a powerful external force. It is as if Paul is saying that being Spirit-filled is a superior or more exalted form of intoxication. In fact, the experience of being filled with the Spirit can sometimes be misinterpreted as intoxication by outsiders. For example, we read in Acts 2, the account of the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, that the Jews mistook the miracle of speaking in tongues as evidence that the disciples were drunk, to which Peter replied, “These men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day.”

So on a certain level it makes sense to interpret Eph. 5:18 in light of this historical background, and to conclude that Paul is saying, “Don’t get drunk with wine but be intoxicated with the Sprit!”

But it can readily be shown that this interpretation is incorrect.

First of all, it is a selective use of evidence to appeal to the day of Pentecost when the disciples were filled with the Spirit and spoke in tongues as a result. There are other passages, even in the book of Acts itself, where Christians are said to be filled with the Spirit, and this Spirit-filled condition is expressed in normal, non-supernatural ways. For example, in Acts 4:31, we read, “And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.” There are plenty of examples like this throughout Scripture. Bezalel and Oholiab are said to have been filled with the Spirit of God, and their Spirit-filled condition expressed itself not in a supernatural form, but in their ability to craft the intricate gold and silver metalwork in the tabernacle (Exod. 31:1-6).

Another argument against the Charismatic interpretation is that it violates the immediately preceding context in Eph. 5:15-17. Paul wants the Ephesian Christians to have full control over their faculties so that they will be able to “walk carefully, not as unwise men but as wise.” He wants them to make the most of the time, knowing that the days are evil. This requires intelligent, mature, rational use of one’s faculties, in order to have insight, discernment and good judgment in our Christian walk. Such carefulness is impossible if we are out of touch with reality, or if we have lost control of our faculties on account of drunkenness.

So when Paul goes on in v. 18 to contrast drunkenness with being Spirit-filled, he is continuing the same contrast between foolish conduct and wise conduct, between wasting time with foolish behavior and redeeming the time with careful walking. In view of this context, being Spirit-filled falls on the side of wisdom, carefulness, redeeming the time, and discerning God’s will. The Charismatic interpretation would place being Spirit-filled on the other side of the contrast, along with foolishness, intoxication, and loss of self-control.

The other extreme is that of the ex-evangelical who has recently converted to Calvinism and who wants to avoid any hint of subjective experience in the Christian life. The young convert to Calvinism thus interprets the command to be filled with the Spirit in purely objective terms. He begins with a correct premise: all believers are by definition filled with the Spirit. He then deduces a false conclusion: therefore the command to be filled with the Spirit is simply a command to be converted, to be a Christian rather than a drunk pagan.

The problem with these interpretations is that they both ignore the context. Immediately after commanding us to be filled with the Spirit, Paul expands on the command with four participial phrases:

Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.

Singing and making music with your hearts to the Lord.

Giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.

Each of these participial phrases is subordinate to the main verb, the imperative in verse 18, “do not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit.” As subordinate clauses they are intended to flesh out further what it means to be filled with the Spirit. When we recognize this about the text, it becomes clear that Paul isn’t commanding pagans to become Christians, but he is actually exhorting us as Christians to be filled with the Spirit. We have yet to define precisely what this means, but this much is clear: Paul is calling us to continually be in some sort of spiritual condition, a spiritual condition that we may in fact be falling short of in our actual Christian experience. In other words, the command to be filled with the Spirit pertains, not to justification, not to our legal standing before God which never changes, but to progressive sanctification, to our actual experience of God’s transforming grace in our lives, which does change. Justification is objective, outside of us, once for all. Sanctification is subjective, inside of us, and progressive. Being filled with the Spirit is part of our sanctification. Therefore, the young Calvinist is wrong.

We need avoid an imbalanced perspective. The Spirit’s indwelling power does indeed operate at the deepest levels of our being, including our hearts, emotions, and wills. There is a subjective element here that we must not discount. But it is equally imbalanced to assume that unless we are having some extraordinary experience, then the Spirit is absent. The Spirit is present and filling us with his sanctifying power whenever our hearts are resting in Jesus Christ alone, and our wills are engaged in his service.

When we consider the subordinate participles, wherein Paul fleshes out the implications of what it means to be filled with the Spirit, it becomes clear that Paul isn’t urging us to have mystical, ecstatic, or supra-rational experiences like speaking in unknown tongues. The first three participial phrases all have to do with corporate worship, specifically the importance of singing together and giving thanks in worship. The fourth participle, submitting to one another in the fear of Christ, introduces the section 5:22–6:9 regarding the mutual submission of husbands and wives, children and parents, and masters and slaves. Therefore, being Spirit-filled has to do with tangible and rational activities such as worshipping the Lord together with God’s people every week, wives submitting to their husbands, husbands sacrificially loving their wives, and children obeying their parents - these things are a far cry from the typical expressions of Charismatic piety that we often see today. Corporate worship and mutual submission are activities that demand the concrete, volitional, and intentional use of all our renewed faculties: our minds, our hearts, and our wills.

Being Spirit filled is totally supernatural and totally ordinary at the same time. It is supernatural because there is nothing more supernatural than the power of God’s Holy Spirit filling us, indwelling us, and impelling us to obedience. But it is ordinary as well, because the Spirit works through means. He works in and through the ordinary details of our lives, in our marriages, through the covenant nurture of parents, and even in our secular service to others in the world around us.

How then do we become filled with the Spirit? By faith in Christ, through the means of grace, in the context of the worshipping church.

(1) By faith in Christ

Being filled with the Spirit is not stoically trying to obey God in your own strength, and then hoping for the Spirit’s blessing. That would be attempting to be sanctified by the efforts of the flesh. Being filled with the Spirit is resting in the finished work and completed obedience of Jesus, the second Adam, and receiving the empowerment for obedience from the divine resources that are found in Christ alone, outside of yourself.

When Paul spoke early in Ephesians of his desire that we be filled with the Spirit, he spoke of the Spirit’s work in terms of a deeper grasp of and insight into the truths of the gospel by faith. We read these passages at the beginning in our second Scripture reading:

Read Eph. 1:17-22.

Read Eph. 3:14-19.

Being filled with the Spirit is the same thing as Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith. The reality of Pentecost is known and experienced and lived, not primarily through Charismatic phenomena, but by faith in Jesus Christ.

(2) Through the means of grace

So being filled with the Spirit starts with faith in Christ. But it doesn’t end there. Our faith must be continually strengthened and stirred up, so that it is a living faith that produces good works. For this we need the means of grace.

Turn to Westminster Confession 14:1 (p. 856).

This is taught in Acts 2:37-42 (Pentecost -> means of grace)

Read Eph. 4:10-13, 15-16 (notice the metaphor of growth into maturity)

(3) In the context of the worshipping church

Notice that another difference between the Charismatic interpretation and the one Paul is setting forth is that the Charismatic view of being Spirit-filled tends to be individualistic, whereas Paul’s view is corporate. We can only comprehend the profound depths and exalted heights of Christ’s love “with all the saints.” Corporate worship involves “speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.” Such worship takes place not in the temple of my own heart, but in the spiritual temple which is the church, the body of Christ.

Read Eph. 2:19-23; 3:21.

Therefore, I cannot be truly Spirit-filled by simply going into my prayer closet and doing spiritual exercises. Though private worship is certainly important, it is not enough. The Spirit fills us not as individuals but as a church. When the exalted Lord Jesus Christ poured out the Spirit at the day of Pentecost, he did so in the context of the assembly gathered for worship.

Next week we will look at verse 19, in depth, which reminds us one of the chief ways that we express the reality of Pentecost is through corporate worship, praising God with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.