Ephesians 5: 18: Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit
The verse found here in Ephesians is a unique verse. There are five verbs found in the New Testament that have to do with the Holy Spirit. Out of those five verbs, four of them are singular type verbs and are a once only activity that happens in your life. The fifth verb is a repetitive verb and it is the verb that is found here in Ephesians 5:18.
Here are the four singular verbs that we find:
#1- John 3:6- That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Being born of the Spirit into the family of God is a singular event, just as being born in the natural is a singular event. When you truly repent of your sins and you ask Jesus to come into your heart, when you have fully and totally surrendered your life to Him, then you are adopted (or born again) into the family of God by the adoptive work of the Holy Spirit.
#2- 1 corth 12:13- For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
When that singular, adoptive work of the Spirit has taken place in your life, you are immersed through spiritual baptism into the Body of Christ. Once you have become a son or a daughter by accepting the redemptive work of the cross and making it your own, you have died to your own body through spiritual baptism and you have come alive to His body. There is only one body of Christ made up of those who have the Spirit of adoption given to them by the Holy Spirit.
#3- 1st Corth: 3:16- Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?
Another singular work of the Spirit is the fact that when you have been baptized by the Spirit into the Body of Christ, the Holy Spirit indwells you. He moves inside of you. We become the dwelling place of the Spirit. The person of the Holy Spirit is living within you, guiding you, directing your life, empowering you, bringing you to full maturity in Christ. I know that it is hard to believe that the third person of the God Head, the Trinity, has taken up residence within your life, but it is one of the profound truths of Gods Word.
#4- Ephesians 1:13-14- And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.
The fourth singular activity of the Holy Spirit is that you are sealed by Him unto redemption and that the person of the Holy Spirit is your permanent inheritance. He is your earnest or pledge of full redemption. He is the guarantee of your resurrection and complete deliverance from sin, and the eternal salvation acquired for us by Christ. The Holy Spirit is your down payment of Heaven and the full and final restoration that will be yours.
#5- The 5th verb used in the N.T. regarding the Holy Spirit is a repetitive verb and we are commanded to do this over and over. It is not a singular, one time event.
Eph. 5:18 says to "be filled with the Spirit". It actually means to "continue being", or to be "repetitive with that filling" of the Holy Spirit. The infilling of the Spirit should occur daily in your walk with Him. Many believe that the Holy Spirit moves inside of you at the moment of salvation, but sadly, many do not believe in the baptism or overflowing dimension of the Spirit. This further dimension of the Holy Spirit moves you from simply being a container of the Holy Spirit to that of being a river, or channel by which the Holy Spirit is flowing from. John 7: 38 tells us that "from our innermost being will flow rivers of living water.' You can call it the baptism of the Holy Spirit, Being baptized with the Holy Spirit, the infilling of the Holy Spirit, being filled with the Holy Spirit, the over flowing of the Holy Spirit, BEING EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, and you would be correct in all of them. These are all different ways of saying the same thing. It is that continual, repetitive act of being filled with the Spirit.
May we respond to His Word, claim His promise, and fulfill His command that was given to us in this verse.
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