Tuesday, March 27, 2007

More of the Spirit or 'filled with the Spirit' (part 2)

Ephesians 5:18
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”

It is important to note that when a believer is ‘filled with the Spirit’ that it does not mean that he receives more of the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:5-6 declares to us that God has given us the Holy Spirit the moment we get saved. Now the Holy Spirit lives in every believer (Jn. 14:16-17; Rom. 8:9,11). So when we say be ‘filled with the Spirit’ it ought not to be taken as though we mean that you must receive more of the Holy Spirit. Every believer has the opportunity to live a Spirit-filled life. The question is not ‘do you have more of the Holy Spirit,’ rather does the Holy Spirit have all of you? This is not to say that we are void of responsibilities and become totally passive. We must work in relation to and accordance with the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:16). We must get rid of known sin because we know that sin grieves the Holy Spirit of God (Eph. 4:30) we do this through genuine confession and repentance (1 Jn 1:7-9). Then we must be totally given over to Him as He leads us (Rom. 8:14), and avoid ‘quenching’ Him (1 Thess. 5:19) or putting Him off or disregarding His clear leading. Finally, we must be obedient Christians. Obedience to God and His Word is the key (Col. 3:16). Indeed a Spirit-filled believer is also a Word-enriched believer.

4 comments:

CindyMae said...

This is a wonderful post. It is such an awesome thing to be filled with the spirit!!!

Unknown said...

I appriciate your comments Cindy.

The Good Reporters said...

Great post. Happy Easter.

Unknown said...

Thanks, you too. This Sunday is one of my most favorite Sundays of the year!