Lessons #207 and 208
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual exposition not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GWT = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Filling of the Spirit (Eph 5:18)
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
We are concerned with living wisely that involves the filling of the Spirit. But before the apostle actually gets to the teaching regarding filling of the Spirit, he dealt with what a believer should avoid that is indeed an example of living unwisely which is drunkenness. The Holy Spirit through the apostle tells us that we should avoid drunkenness if we are not going to live unwisely but wisely. To ensure we recognize that it is not permissible for a person who wants to be filled with the Spirit to be drunk, the apostle issued the command do not get drunk on wine. This command is quite similar to the command given in the Septuagint of Proverbs 23:31:
Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly!
The Septuagint reads Do not be drunk with wines, but converse with righteous people, and converse on walks. It is because of this command do not get drunk on wine that we considered the doctrine of wine as presented in the Scripture. So, we return to examine this command the apostle issued in the first part of verse 18.
The prohibition do not get drunk on wine seemed abrupt to some and so there have been several answers given as the reason the apostle gave this prohibition at this point. A possible reason that some give is that the Ephesians, like the Corinthians, were getting drunk and so the prohibition is for them to stop it. This is an unlikely reason since there is nothing in the context of the epistle that suggests this kind of misbehavior in church worship among the Ephesians. Another suggested reason is that the prohibition is intended to warn against emulating pagan mystery cult celebrations or worship in which there were orgies that included heavy intoxication with wine. It is stated that the purpose of such intoxication was to cause the god of wine Dionysius to enter and fill the worshipper’s body so that he or she would comply with the deity’s will. This explanation makes sense since it is likely that Ephesians 5:18-20 is concerned with public worship. We cannot be certain as to the reason the apostle gave this prohibition at this point. This notwithstanding, as we have stated previously, the context suggests that the prohibition is concerned with an example of living unwisely.
In any event, the first thing we note about the prohibition do not get drunk on wine is that it is not a prohibition against drinking of wine. This is evident from the Greek word the apostle did not use in his instruction. Ordinarily, there is a Greek word (pinō) that means to drink liquid as the word is used in Jesus’ request to the Samaritan woman to give Him water to drink, as stated in John 4:7:
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
It is this Greek word that means to drink liquid that is used to forbid John the Baptist from ever drinking wine in Luke 1:15:
for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.
The Greek word used in this prohibition in Luke is not the Greek word used in the prohibition we are considering in Ephesians 5:18. If the apostle had used this Greek word then he would have meant that a believer should not ever drink wine but that is not the word he used. Anyway, the expression “get drunk” is translated from a Greek word (methyskō) that means “to cause to become intoxicated.” The apostle used this Greek word twice in his epistles; in our passage and in 1 Thessalonians 5:7:
For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.
Here he used it to describe the conduct of unbelievers. As we have stated, the Greek word used in our passage of Ephesians 5:18 is distinct from the Greek word that means “to drink a liquid” or to drink wine in an ordinary usage of the word. We mean that there is a distinction between the Greek word that means to drink liquid and the word used in Ephesians 5:18 that means to be intoxicated. This distinction is given Luke 12:45:
But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk.
The word “drink” is translated from the Greek word that we said is used ordinarily for drinking liquid that certainly includes wine while the expression “get drunk” is translated from the same Greek word the apostle used in Ephesians 5:18. The apostle knows his Greek so he was aware of the Greek verb that means to drink liquid since he used that Greek word in the ordinary sense of drinking wine as part of a meal in what he stated would have been the attitude Christians should take if there is no resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:32:
If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
Thus, from the Greek word the apostle used in Ephesians 5:18, it is clear that he was not forbidding drinking of wine but that of being drunk. Furthermore, ordinary drinking of wine, say in the course of a meal, does not keep anyone from being filled with the Holy Spirit. To think otherwise contradicts what we know of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was certainly controlled by the Holy Spirit throughout His stay on this planet. Luke makes references to the fact that Jesus was under the control of the Holy Spirit. After His water baptism and prior to His temptation by Satan, Luke tells us that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit in Luke 4:1:
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert,
As Jesus came to preach in Nazareth, Luke described Him as being under the power of the Spirit, implying that He was under the control of the Spirit, according to Luke 4:14:
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.
After Jesus welcomed the seventy-two disciples He sent on a missionary work, and prior to His praise of the Father, Luke tells us that Jesus was under the control of the Holy Spirit, as implied in Luke 10:21:
At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
Jesus could not have at any time been without the filling of the Spirit or being under the control of the Spirit since He is without sin, as stated in Hebrews 4:15:
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
The only way Jesus in His humanity is without sin is that He was never out of the control of the Holy Spirit. So, there can be no doubt that Jesus was never without the filling of the Spirit. If this is the case then to think that drinking wine would mean that a person is not filled with the Spirit would contradict the fact that Jesus was without sin. This is because we know that Jesus drank wine as a normal Jew of His time would. The fact that He drank wine is stated in Matthew 11:18–19:
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” ’ But wisdom is proved right by her actions.”
The point is that because Jesus was never without the filling of the Spirit but He drank wine indicates that the Apostle Paul would not have taught that drinking of wine is incompatible with the filling of the Spirit. Instead, he was concerned with drunkenness which is a sin. In any event, the first thing we note about the command against drunkenness is that it is not one against drinking wine.
A second thing we should be aware with respect to the prohibition do not get drunk on wine is that it is a general instruction given to the local church in Ephesus that is applicable to every local church. The command does not imply that the Ephesians as a group were getting drunk so that the apostle’s command is for them to stop being drunk, as some suppose because of the abuse of how to interpret the kind of Greek construction used in our passage that involves a command issued in a present tense preceded by a negative particle that means “not.” Misuse of the Greek command leads to interpreting the command to mean that the Ephesians should stop being drunk since they were already getting drunk. Instead, the command is used such that it is applicable to some members in the local church that have formed the habit of getting drunk so that the apostle commands them to stop being drunk as that is incompatible with living wisely or being controlled by the Holy Spirit. At the same time, the command applies to those who have not formed the habit of getting drink and the apostle wants them to continue with their habit so that they never get drunk. The implication is that our study does mean if you did not drink that you should start. No! Keep your practice of not drinking. By the way, this command implies that a believer can and does get drunk. It is this reality that is conveyed by the apostle several times that he wrote against the habit of drinking too much wine. He indicates that a deacon should not be devoted to wine, as we read in 1 Timothy 3:8:
Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain.
The verbal phrase not indulging in much wine is literally not devoted to much wine. Similarly, he instructs against older women being enslaved to much wine in Titus 2:3:
Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.
The verbal phrase addicted to much wine of the NIV is literally not enslaved to much wine. Thus, a believer should endeavor not to get drunk or be enslaved to drinking. A person is enslaved to wine if the individual gets restless unless the person gets a sip although the individual may not be drunk. Drunkenness occurs when wine affects a person’s though and behavior. We can even say whenever drinking o wine alters a person’s temperament then the individual is drunk.
It is our assertion that the apostle did not forbid drinking of wine in the prohibition do not get drunk on wine but excessive drinking or drunkenness. This is supported by the result the apostle provided that is connected with the prohibition he issued. This result clearly indicates he was concerned with drunkenness since we read in Ephesians 5:18 which leads to debauchery that literally reads in which is debauchery. The pronoun which refers to drunkenness. The translation of the NIV is certainly an interpretative translation that is a good one but that is probably not the only interpretation of the literal translation. There are two reasons for this assertion. The Greek preposition translated in could also be rendered to so that the literal translation could read to which is debauchery. The other reason has to do with the possible meanings of the Greek verb (eimi) translated is literally. The Greek word can refer to existence of something so means “to be present, available, to exist.” It is in the sense of to be present that the word is used in Mark 8:1:
During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said,
The clause during those days another large crowd gathered is more literally in those days the multitude being very great. However, the clause may be translated since a large crowd was present as suggested in the standard Greek English lexicon of BADG. It is in the sense of existence of spiritual gifts in the church that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 12:4:
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.
Another meaning of the Greek verb is to take place as a phenomenon or event hence “to take place, occur, become, to be.” It is this sense of something occurring or taking place that the Apostle used the word to indicate that division was occurring in the local church in Corinth, as we read in, 1 Corinthians 1:10:
I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
Another meaning of the Greek word is to belong to someone or something through association or genetic affiliation. It is in this sense the apostle used the word to chastise the Corinthians with respect to the division that was occurring in their midst, according to 1 Corinthians 1:12:
What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
The sentence I follow Paul may be translated I belong to Paul. Still another meaning of our Greek verb is concerned with how something is to be understood and so it has the sense of “to mean” or when used with a Greek word that can be translated “this” or “that” it can mean “that is to say or that means” as the apostle used it to explain what he meant by saying that there is nothing good in him in Romans 7:18:
I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
Each of the meanings we have considered makes sense in our context, as reflected in our English versions. The literal reading in which is debauchery could be understood to mean that in drunkenness exists debauchery or that debauchery results from drunkenness which is probably the sense that is rendered in the NIV or the GWT and many other English versions that reflect result or effect. It can also mean that debauchery is that which occurs along with drunkenness; this seems to be the meaning reflected in the NEB that rendered the literal Greek as the dissipation that goes with it. The literal Greek in which is debauchery could also mean that debauchery belongs to the same class as drunkenness; this is probably the sense that is reflected in the NAB that translated the Greek as in which lies debauchery. The literal Greek may be understood to mean that debauchery explains drunkenness which is the sense that is conveyed in the translation of the NRSV that reads for that is debauchery or in the NJB that reads this is simply dissipation.
The various samples of translation of the Greek clause that literally reads in which is debauchery is probably used by the apostle to express a complex thought in which he meant to indicate that the clause not only explains what drunkenness is but also what could further result from drunkenness. Drunkenness results from excessive use of wine implying that a person lacks self-control over wine but once a person is drunk the person’s behavior changes so that the individual becomes reckless in his or her conduct. This explanation is supported by the word debauchery used by the translators of the NIV in Ephesians 5:18. The word “debauchery” is translated from a Greek word (asōtia) that appears once in the Septuagint where its translators used the word to describe a Hebrew word (zālǎl) that means “to be lavish with, to squander.” Of course, the Hebrew word translated in the Septuagint with our Greek word refers to a glutton, that is, a person who is devoted to eating and drinking to excess as well as being involved in frivolous behavior as the word is used in the Hebrew text of Proverbs 28:7:
He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.
Our Greek word also appears with the sense of drinking binges in the Apocryphal book of Maccabeus, in 2 Macc 6:4 (NRSV):
For the temple was filled with debauchery and reveling by the Gentiles, who dallied with prostitutes and had intercourse with women within the sacred precincts, and besides brought in things for sacrifice that were unfit.
Our Greek word appears two other times in the NT beside our passage; and in each occurrence the translators of the NIV used different meaning. The translators of the NIV used the expression “being wild” in translating our Greek word in Titus 1:6:
An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.
The verbal phrase not open to the charge of being wild is literally not with an accusation of dissipation. In the other use of our Greek word in the NT, the translators of the NIV used the meaning “dissipation”, that is, in 1 Peter 4:4:
They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you.
Our Greek word generally denotes “wastefulness” as that is the sense of the adverbial form of our Greek word that is used to describe the profligate/prodigal son in Luke 15:13:
“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.
The clause and there squandered his wealth in wild living is literally and there he squandered his wealth living wastefully. The word in a literal sense means “lost life” in the sense that a person ruins his life, that is probably the reason some English versions translated our Greek word to indicate that one ruins self as we find, for example, in the way the translators of the TEV rendered our Greek clause as which will only ruin you. The REB has similar meaning in their translation the ruin that goes with it. Anyway, our Greek word refers to the act of spending or using something excessively; especially, that results in sinful license and so it refers to a behavior which shows lack of concern or thought for the consequences of an action hence the Greek word means “recklessness, senseless deeds, dissipation, profligacy.” The meaning of our Greek word as we have explored indicates that the literal clause in which there is debauchery is intended to convey that it explains what drunkenness entails in that it is the action of someone who is excessive in the drinking of wine but not only that; it reveals that such an individual lacks self-control and consequently the excessive drinking impacts the person negatively so that the individual involves himself or herself in a behavior that is certainly sinful. The point we want to stress is that the apostle is concerned not only to explain drunkenness in terms of excessive behavior but that such action reveals lack of self-control which when a person finally becomes drunk gets involved in further behaviors that reveals further lack of self-control and sinful conducts. This understanding that the literal clause is concerned not only to explain drunkenness as an act of lack of self-control that leads to further lack of self-control in one’s behavior is important in understanding what the apostle gives, that is, filling of the Spirit, as a contrast of being involved in drunkenness and its aftermath.
In any case, the apostle having stated what it means to live unwisely that affects the filling of the Spirit proceeds to deal with living wisely that requires the filling of the Spirit in the next clause of Ephesians 5:18 Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
What does the apostle mean in the command to be filled with the Spirit? How does a person go about obeying the command? Truly speaking, these two questions are difficult to answer. Nonetheless, we will give answers to these two questions that we believe to be indeed what the apostle meant. To give the answers to these two questions, there are five facts we should consider. A first fact is that this is the only passage in the NT Greek that we have a command that has to do with being filled with the Spirit which is what contributes to the difficulty of understanding what the apostle meant.
A second fact is that there are two Greek words that are translated “filled” in connection with the Holy Spirit. We need to consider these two words as they are necessary in answering the question of what it means to be filled with the Spirit. A first Greek word (pimplēmi) that is used only by Luke in connection with the filling of the Holy Spirit in the NT, means to be completely full hence means “to fill, to fulfill.” Literally, the word is used of things that can be noticeable so that it is used with the amazement of those who saw Peter perform miracle of healing of the crippled beggar in Acts 3:10:
they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
It is in the same sense of being filled with something that can be noticed that the word is used to describe the jealousy of the high priest and his group towards the apostles in Acts 5:17:
Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.
Figuratively, the word is used for the fulfilment of prophecies as the word is used to report the prophecy of Gabriel to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, regarding his temporary dumbness until the birth of John in Luke 1:20:
And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.”
The clause which will come true at their proper time is more literally which will be fulfilled in their time. This Greek word that means “to fill, to fulfill” is never used to issue a command in the NT, especially, in connection with the Holy Spirit but, as we indicated previously, only Luke used this word in Greek NT in connection with the Holy Spirit, specifically three times in his gospel and five times in Acts.
The second Greek word (plēroō) used in connection with filling of the Holy Spirit is one that appears in our passage of Ephesians 5:18 with a range of meanings. The word can mean “to make full, to fill, fill up” so that it is used of things being full or filled up in a literal sense as it is used of the sound that filled the house where the disciples were on the day of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2:2:
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
It is in this sense that the Greek word is used by the Jewish authorities to accuse the apostles of saturating Jerusalem with the preaching of the gospel in Acts 5:28:
“We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”
The word is used to convey that Satan filled the heart of Ananias with lies in Acts 5:3:
Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?
The word is used by the Apostle Paul to indicate that Jesus fills the universe with His presence in Ephesians 4:10:
He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)
The meaning “to fill” can be used of filling a person with qualities or power. Thus, Jesus is filled with wisdom in Luke 2:40:
And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.
It is used for some disciples being filled with joy in Acts 13:52:
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
The imperfect passive used in the Greek for our word here implies that it was something that kept on taking place indefinitely. The verbal phrase were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit according to the UBS handbook may be translated “joy possessed their hearts and the Holy Spirit completely possessed them.” Regardless of how the Greek is translated, it does not seem that Luke meant to state two different facts of being filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. No! He states one fact concerning the Holy Spirit. This means that that Luke states that the disciples were filled with the joy but it is not ordinary joy rather a joy that results from the Holy Spirit so he explained that the joy they were filled with is the same as saying they were filled with the Spirit. In effect, the verbal phrase were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit should be translated were filled with joy, that is, with the Holy Spirit. This interpretation is supported by the fact that the conjunction “and” is translated from a Greek word that can also be used for explanation in which case it means “that is, namely.” Furthermore, joy is a facet of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Thus, it makes sense that Luke should explain that when he stated the disciples were filled with joy that it should be interpreted as meaning they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Anyway, the meaning “to fill” can have the sense of “furnishing abundantly” as that is the sense the Apostle Paul used it to describe the gifts of the Philippians in Philippians 4:18:
I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.
The sentence I am amply supplied is more literally I have been made full. The Greek word we are considering can also mean to bring to completion that which was already begun hence “to complete” as it is used by the Apostle Paul to instruct the Philippians to complete his joy in Philippians 2:2:
then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
This second Greek word, unlike the first one, is used to issue commands only three times in the Greek NT, once in which the subjects are passive and twice in which the subjects are active. Its usage in which the subjects are passive in the sense of being recipients of the action of the verb is in our passage of Ephesians 5:18 where the present tense is used while the two usages where the subjects act are in the aorist tense in the Greek probably to convey the sense of urgency in doing what is commanded. So, it is used in the instruction of the Lord to the scribes and Pharisees in which He tells them to finish or complete what their forefathers began, that is, that they should continue the tradition of their forefathers of killing the prophets in Matthew 23:32:
Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!
The other usage in which the subjects are active participants is when the apostle used it with respect to the Philippians in the passage we cited previously, that is, Philippians 2:2:
then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
These two Greek words we have examined have essentially the same meaning as it is related to the Holy Spirit in the sense of being full of Him although there seems to be a different emphasis in each word. Actually, these two Greek words are used a total of ten times in connection with the filling of the Holy Spirit. Examination of these usages reveals that in nine of the usages there is no preposition that ensures the use of the phrase filled with the Spirit since in nine passages the Greek read literally filled of the Holy Spirit. It is only in Ephesians 5:18 that we have a Greek preposition that can be translated “with” or “by” among other possible translations. This can be explained by the fact that that is the only passage in the NT that the second Greek word is used as a command with respect to the Holy Spirit so that we understand that the Holy Spirit will ultimately be responsible for the result that is expected in the command. The phrase filled with the Spirit makes it difficult to understand what the Scripture says when it states that a person is filled of the Holy Spirit. The literal translation filled of the Holy Spirit conveys the meaning that Greek expression rendered of the Holy Spirit is concerned with the extent of the Holy Spirit in the person. In effect, it is concerned whether a person is completely full of the Holy Spirit or not. This interpretation is supported by the fact that the second Greek verb that we considered is related to a Greek adjective used in connection with the Holy Spirit in the criteria the apostles gave the early church with respect to the seven men to be chosen to serve the believers in Jerusalem, as we read in Acts 6:3:
Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them.
Stephen, along with the other men chosen to serve, was indeed described as those full of the Holy Spirit in Acts 6:5:
5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.
The word “full” is translated from a Greek adjective (plērēs) that pertains to containing within itself all that it will hold so means “filled, full.” The implication is that to say the men are to be full of the Holy Spirit means that they are to be directed fully by the Holy Spirit in such a way that they have shown the characteristics of the Holy Spirit in such a measure recognized by other believers. So, those who are full of the Holy Spirit are those who are totally possessed by the Holy Spirit or those the Holy Spirit directs. Anyway, our examination of the Greek words used in connection with the filling of the Holy Spirit reveals that the use of the phrase filled with the Holy Spirit may lead to misunderstanding what the Greek says since the Greek deals with being full of the Holy Spirit.
There is more. Examination of the two Greek words used in connection with the filling of the Holy Spirit leads to the conclusion that the filling of the Holy Spirit should be understood as consisting of two classes: a normal filling and a special filling. A normal filling is that in which there is nothing special that occurs as a result of the filling of the Holy Spirit other than reflecting the character of Christ while a special filling of the Holy Spirit is that in which something special takes place either in form of speaking the word or in performance of something miraculous. The first Greek word (pimplēmi) we examined is used for special filling of the Holy Spirit while the second word is used for the normal filling of the Holy Spirit as we will demonstrate. The first Greek word that we examined is used eight times in the NT in connection with the Holy Spirit. It is used once in a prophetic declaration of the fact that John the Baptist will be filled of the Holy Spirit from birth in Luke 1:15:
for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.
In the remaining usages of the first Greek word used in connection of the Holy Spirit, we find that it involves special speaking or something spectacular. Elizabeth is said to be filled of the Spirit and she declared Mary to be a blessed woman in Luke 1:41–42:
41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!
Zechariah was said to be filled of the Spirit, resulting in him prophesying, according to Luke 1:67:
His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
When the disciples were enabled to speak in foreign languages, it is our first Greek word that was used for the filling of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:4:
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
In two occasions, our first Greek word was used when speaking boldly with respect to God’s word was the concern as a result of the filling of the Holy Spirit. This was the case with Peter in Acts 4:8:
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people!
It was also true when the disciples spoke boldly as a result of the filling of the Spirit, as recorded in Acts 4:31:
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Paul before beginning his special ministry as the apostle to the Gentiles, was said to be filled of the Spirit and again, it was the first Greek word that was used in Acts 9:17:
Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord-Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here-has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
This filling of the Spirit in connection with Paul or Saul was definitely concerned with speaking the word of God and doing other miraculous things. We can tell that this filling of the Spirit in connection with the apostle is concerned with first speaking of the word of God in that soon after his meeting with Ananias Paul began to preach the word powerfully as we can tell by considering the following passages:
Acts 9:20:
At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.
Acts 9:28:
So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.
The next time we read of something spectacular performed by Paul our first Greek word is used to tell us he was filled of the Spirit so that he pronounced judgment of blindness on Elymas, as we read in Acts 13:9-11:
9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
Hence, it is clear that in all the passages where our first Greek word is used in connection with the filling of the Holy Spirit was used, something special occurred hence our use of the term “special filling of the Spirit.” This is not the case when our second Greek word (plēroō) was used. It is used to describe that believers were filled of the Spirit so that they were filled with joy, as in the passage we cited previously, that is, Acts 13:52:
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
We have already discussed this passage to indicate that it is associated with the normal aspect of the fruit of the Spirit and so nothing special about it. The other use of our second Greek word is in connection with the Holy Spirit is for issuing a command in our passage of Ephesians 5:18. In any event, we have argued that there are two kinds of the filling of the Spirit. On the one hand, there is the normal filling of the Spirit that every believer is commanded to experience. On the other, there is the special filling of the Spirit that God sovereignly gives an individual for specific tasks. Since this is not commanded, we should focus on the normal filling of the Spirit, which is commanded in the passage of Ephesians 5:18 that we are studying. Before we get to the command we are considering let me leave you for now with this important fact that if you want to enjoy the normal filling of the Spirit then you must obey God’s word, as implied in Acts 5:32:
We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."