7 Reasons to Be Filled with the Spirit

Ephesians 5:18 says to all Christians, "Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit." The verb "be filled" is famously a present tense verb which means to do it regularly, continually. Then it is an imperative verb, which means that it is a command and not a suggestion. Last it is a passive verb, which means that while the command is given to us, God is the One who must "fill" us. We put ourselves out there to be filled, but then we must trust Him to fill us.

Yet, why should I be filled with the Spirit? Phil Sasser in his sermon on February 5 addressed that question and gave us seven reasons why we want to be filled with the Spirit.

1. We need his help. A conviction essential for us to have as Christians is that we need help. The most important help God gives to us is the Holy Spirit. In fact, he is called "the Helper" in John 14:26, "the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."
2. We need his revelation. Apart from God's Spirit we {C} cannot know spiritual things. Paul tells us that "no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God" (1 Cor. 2:11). This is one of the key reasons God gave to us his Spirit: "we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God" (v. 12). We need God's Spirit to understand his Word, his truth, and all things that pertain to him.
3. We need his wisdom. Life is so often about the gray and not the black-and-white, about the choice between two good options, not between the good and the bad options. We needs God's Spirit to give us wisdom for the moment.
4. We need the fruit of the Spirit. In Galatians 5:22-23 Paul lists many character traits, and he calls them "the fruit of the Spirit": "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." I need God's Spirit to produce in me (the meaning of "fruit") these character traits. My hard work and self-discipline will not ultimately produce the "love" I need and the "joy" I desire. God must do that. My efforts position me to receive his Spirit, but ultimately it is his Spirit that does it. This means that while sometimes my hard work will see his Spirit work in me progressively (the normal occurrence), there are times when God's Spirit will work instantaneously in me to produce new character and fruit that all my hard work could never accomplish.
5. We need his purity. The Spirit is called the "Holy Spirit," and this reminds us of what he will do in our lives, build the holiness which God demands. We are thus "being transformed into the same image [of Christ] from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:17-18). As we said, sometimes he does this gradually, but sometimes he does in a moment what we couldn't do in 50 years of effort.
6. We need his power. In Galatians 3:1-3 Paul reminds us that we are to continue in the way we began the Christian life. "Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?" Our Christian life began with the initial receiving of the Spirit (cf. Rom. 8:9-11). Yet, we are to continue the Christian life through the Spirit, not merely our works: "Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" There is still more, for the Spirit desires even to work "miracles among you," not by our "works of the law," but "by hearing with faith." Paul's point is faith in all aspects of the Christian life, but he is also reminding us that the power of the Spirit which saves us is to continue throughout the Christian life, even to the extent that we see "miracles." Let us never thing that we get beyond our need for the power of God in our lives that comes through the Spirit.
7. We need his presence. Moses cried out to God, "If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here" (Ex. 33:15). We are to have that same passion for the presence of God. Part of the way that we experience the presence of God is through the practice of spiritual gifts in our meetings. These are called "the manifestation of the Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:7). When we encounter spiritual gifts through other believers we are encountering God, and that is what our souls crave above all things.

There is much more to say about the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts, but these seven reasons certainly give us motivation to cry out daily to "be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18). So cry out in your prayer time. Cry out during worship on Sunday mornings. Invite others to pray for you. Pray as families. Pray as small groups. However you do it, pray to be filled with God's Spirit.

-Daniel