What It Means to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit # 4

"Be Filled In the Spirit"

Now it is impossible for anyone to adequately explain ALL the Fullness that is "in the Spirit," but the Holy Spirit Himself can penetrate, pervade, and flood our spirit and  soul and reveal in our hearts ALL that Christ is; and the Holy Spirit can make Christ ALL in us and through us. That is why Ephesians 5:18 instructs us to "be filled in the Spirit."

"But be filled with (the) Spirit". (Greek Interlinear New Testament)

"But be filled with or in the Spirit". (ASV)

"But be constantly controlled by the Spirit" (Wuest New Testament)

"But be filled with the indwelling of the Spirit" (Conybeare).

"But drink deeply of God's Spirit" (Weymouth).

In Acts 2:4 and in Acts 9:17), as well as in many other parts of the New Testament, we are told that we are filled "with" and "by" the Holy Spirit. Also, In Romans 8:9 and in 1 Corinthians 6:19, we are told that the Holy Spirit dwells in those who are redeemed. But here in Ephesians, we have the full and consummate meaning of what it means to be "filled in the Spirit"; and that is because in Ephesians, God reveals the great Fullness of ALL that He purposed In Christ, and He reveals ALL that we are included in because we are In Christ.

Therefore, being filled "with the Spirit - by the Spirit - in the Spirit" means being immersed into the Realm in which the Holy Spirit permeates, infuses, floods, and fills ALL THINGS WITH HIS PRESENCE AND POWER. It means being controlled, surrounded and possessed in the Realm in which the Holy Spirit Himself is energizing, working, and bringing about ALL that God has purposed in the Christ. When we begin to comprehend all that is involved in the command of our Lord that we "be filled in the Spirit," many of us may think that being filled "in the Spirit," being filled in the Entire Realm that is "in the Spirit," seems an impossible reality. But we must not think this because God is rich in mercy, and He has engraced us with ALL things in Christ.

So in Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, John 1:33, and Acts 1:5, we find that the Word of God tells us that Jesus Christ Himself baptizes us, immerses us, "in the Spirit." In the gospels, we find John the Baptist preparing the way of the Lord as he heralds the Christ. -

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; He will baptize [immerse] you in the Holy Spirit and fire" (Matt. 3:11).

"I indeed have baptized you with water: but He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit" (Mark 1:8).

"John answered, saying unto them all, 'I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I cometh, the latchet of Whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: He shall baptize [immerse] you in the Holy Spirit and with fire ..." (Luke 3:16).

"... But He that sent me to baptize with [in] water, the same said unto me, 'Upon Whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth in the Holy Spirit.' And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God." (John 1:33, 34).

After His resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ commanded His disciples that "they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the Promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of Me.' "

"For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized [immersed] in the Holy Spirit not many days hence" (Acts 1:4,5).

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 5)