Let the Spirit Keep Filling you with Christ

Let your fullness be that which comes by the Holy Spirit! Ephesians 5: 18 instructs us to keep being filled “in the Spirit”. The Greek syntax, according to Dr. P. O’Brien, and the immediate context in Ephesians indicates that “in the Spirit” is less ambiguously translated as “by the Spirit”, though mostly translations use the phrase “with the Spirit”. The Spirit is the instrument through whom the Father and Christ do their work within us.

John’s Gospel teaches that the Holy Spirit has been sent by the Father and the Son to be our “Counsellor” to bring glory to Jesus, and also to remind us of the Word of Jesus. Colossians 3: 16 contains an instruction to “let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly”, with manifestations exactly the same as those that follow the instruction to be filled “in the Spirit” in Ephesians 5. So it is reasonable to say that we are Spirit-filled as we allow ourselves sumptuously to be fed on the banquet of the Word of Christ, the Scriptures. It is just as appropriate to say that the Scriptures come to life in us in an unveiled way as we keep inviting the Holy Spirit to fill us with Jesus and his Word.

As the Church we are deeply privileged, because we are in the centre of God’s cosmic plan being brought by Christ, with whom we have been granted a union with believers of all origins. We have been “raised with Christ” and share his dominion over the rebellious evil spiritual powers. That is “now”, but partly “not yet”. Christ has not returned and the Church is not yet mature and perfect. We are called upon to maintain the unity which the Spirit brought, and to proclaim Christ’s victory over the evil forces. This means that we have to pursue a lifestyle of repentance, putting off sinful and disuniting behaviour and replacing it with righteous and relationship-building behaviour which imitates the character of God. We need to replace folly with wisdom, to replace moral and spiritual intoxication with the fullness of God. Too much alcohol reinforces the first, and the Holy Spirit brings the second.

To understand “be filled in the Spirit” is aided by an understanding of the place of the Holy Spirit in the rest of Ephesians. All believers were sealed by the Holy Spirit and received him (1: 14-15) The old sinful life grieves the Holy Spirit. We are urged in Ephesians 4 and 5 to put to death the sinful life-style, and not to grieve the Spirit (4: 30).

We are urged to put on the new life that imitates God (5: 1) and this process is made possible and continues to be made possible by the Holy Spirit It is the responsibility of every believer to all how the Holy Spirit to bring about this transformation. So, “be filled by the Spirit” means to commit to living a Spirit-filled life by obedience to the Scriptures, and acknowledge that even our obedience is dependent upon enablement by the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 3: 20 includes a prayer that we continue in the process of being filled up towards the fullness of God. Let us be filled with God, with the love of Christ in our hearts, and cooperating with the Holy Spirit to bring this about.

Lindsay Johnstone

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