Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Ephesians 5:18

"And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit;" — Ephesians 5:18 (ASV)

A specific instance of the foregoing generalization follows. Quoting Pr 23:30, Paul warns against the folly of overindulgence in strong drink. Drunkenness was all too common in the pagan world, and cautions in the NT show that it presented a serious temptation to Christians. The danger of drunkenness (Galatians 5:21) lies not only in itself but in what it may induce. “Debauchery” (GK 861) in the NT means the type of wild living that characterized the prodigal son . In classical Greek it signified extravagant squandering both of money and of the physical appetites. Christians will avoid all such excess.

Instead of continuing in drunkenness, believers must go on being “filled with the Spirit.” That is a surprising alternative. We might have expected the apostle to plead for abstinence as over against intemperance. But he takes a more startling and positive line. He urges his readers to draw on the reinvigorating resources of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit produces a genuine exhilaration others vainly seek from alcohol. On the day of Pentecost the effect of such an experience was mistaken for drunkenness (Acts 2:13). “With the Spirit” is actually “in spirit”; the Greek text does not indicate whether the Holy Spirit is intended. However, it seems probable that Paul intended the Spirit, in view of the many other scriptural references to being filled with the Spirit.

The theological implications of “be filled” (GK 4444) are crucial for a biblical doctrine of the Holy Spirit. The imperative makes it clear that this is a command for all Christians. The Greek present tense used here rules out any once-for-all reception of the Spirit but points to a continuous replenishment (lit., “go on being filled”). Nor does it appear that Paul is urging his readers to enter into a new experience. Rather, he is inviting them to go on as they have already begun. Finally, the verb is passive: “Let yourselves be filled with the Spirit.” This is not a manufactured experience, though it can be rejected (cf. Galatians 3:2, 5). There may, therefore, be successive fillings of the Spirit; indeed, the Christian life should be an uninterrupted filling. What this verse will not substantiate is the claim that after becoming a Christian, a single, additional, definitive filling is essential for completion.