Be Filled With The Holy Spirit

By Pastor M. Isi Eromosele

In Ephesians 5:18, Apostle Paul wrote, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.”  What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? And, how can we be filled with the Spirit?

Being filled with the Spirit means, basically, having great joy in God. And since the Bible teaches that "the joy of the Lord is our strength" (Nehemiah 8:10), it also means there will be power in this joy for overcoming besetting sins and for boldness in witness.

Basically, it means radiant joy, because the Spirit who fills us is the Spirit of joy that flows between God the Father and God the Son because of the delight they have in each other. Therefore, to be filled with the Spirit means to be caught into the joy that flows among the Holy Trinity and to love God the Father and God the Son with the very love with which they love each other. 

And then, in answer to the second question, the way to be filled with the Spirit is by trusting that the God of hope really reigns; that not a sparrow falls to the ground apart from his will (Matthew 10:29) - and that he runs the world for you and for all who trust His Word. In believing that, you will be filled with the Holy Spirit and with joy.

What Does "Baptize in the Holy Spirit" Mean?

The phrase "baptize in (or with) the Holy Spirit" was apparently coined by John the Baptist. All four of our gospels record that he said, "I have baptized you with water, but He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33).

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:12, 13:

Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

According to this one reference, Paul conceived of Spirit-baptism as the act by which the Spirit made us members of Christ's body. Once we were alienated from God, cut off from Christ (Ephesians 2:12), but then the Holy Spirit swept over us and brought us to life by uniting us to the living Christ and thus to His people in one body. This is a once-for-all event. It is never repeated, and nowhere does Paul ever admonish a Christian to be baptized by the Spirit.

Baptism with the Holy Spirit is an experience you have with God after conversion in which the Holy Spirit falls upon you in such a way that your heart bursts forth in the utterance of tongues (some ecstatic speech or unknown language).

We are sometimes urged to seek a "second blessing" or second experience of the Spirit after our initial conversion experience. Two things need to be said.

First: the blessing of the fullness (or baptism) of the Holy Spirit may occur at the moment of conversion and leave nothing to be sought but its preservation and growth or repetition. Second: even if one does not experience the fullness of the Spirit at conversion, the thing to be sought is not "the second blessing," as if that experience would be the end of our spiritual quest.

What we should seek (and this applies to all Christians) is that God pour his Spirit out upon us so completely that we are filled with joy, victorious over sin and bold to witness.

And the ways he brings us to that fullness are probably as varied as people are. It may come in a tumultuous experience of ecstasy and tongues. It may come through a tumultuous experience of ecstasy and no tongues. It may come through a crisis of suffering when you abandon yourself totally to God. Or it may come gradually through a steady diet of God's Word and prayer and fellowship and worship and service.

However it comes, our first experience of the fullness of the Spirit is only the beginning of a life-long battle to stay filled with the Spirit.

Pastor M. Isi Eromosele is a part of the Leadership Pastors at God’s Intervention Center in New York. He is also the Founder and CEO of Oseme Group, a global management consulting company based in New York City.