How Are We Filled with the Spirit? Part One

So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people, but as wise. . . Therefore,
do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get
drunk with wine, in which there is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.
Ephesians 5:15, 17–18 NASB

Even though every believer has the Holy Spirit, it is possible to operate our lives apart from His control. But when that happens—which it does with many Christians every day—what is missed is nothing short of tragic.

When we operate under His control, the potential for peace and joy, calm and comfort, guidance and insight, confidence and courage know no bounds. That is not an exaggeration; it is a fact. This is why an understanding of the filling of the Spirit is absolutely crucial.

Our spiritual tank is full. We, as believers, have all the fuel that is needed for all the power, insight, comfort, guidance, courage, and dynamic we will ever need. But how do we get the fuel flowing so we can operate our lives as God intended? Or, to use the scriptural terms, how are we filled with the Spirit? It is clearly a command in Scripture.

But this command is in the passive voice. Did you notice that? “Be filled” is the command, not “Fill yourself up with the Spirit.” Just as a person gets drunk by drinking alcohol, so an individual is filled with the Spirit by involving himself or herself in the process that leads to it.

For example, I cannot be filled with the Spirit while I have known and unconfessed sin present within me. I cannot be filled with the Spirit while at the same time conducting my life in the energy of the flesh. I cannot be filled with the Spirit while I am walking against God’s will and depending upon myself. I need to be sure that I have taken care of the sins that have emerged in my life and that I have not ignored the wrong that I have done before God and to others. I need to walk in dependence on the Lord on a daily basis.

Jesus emphasizes the same thought in John 15, where He commands us to abide in the vine. Why? Because “apart from Me you can do nothing” (15:5). And when Jesus says nothing, He means nothing.

The command to “be filled” is also in the present tense. It is a continuous appropriation, not some great high-and-mighty, once-in-a-lifetime moment. Instead, we are regularly to pray, “Fill me, Lord, for this moment, in this hour, as I’m facing this challenge.”

It’s like we are saying, “Lord, I want to be filled. I want to be used. I want to be available. I deliberately and consciously make myself dependent upon You.”