What does it mean to “be filled with the Spirit”?
3:18 — explains –> 5:18
“Do not get drunk with wine…but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18) does not mean we need more of the Spirit.
We already have Him!
No, being filled with the Spirit means “to know the love of Christ” and to thereby be “filled up to all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18-19).
Wine relaxes us.
God’s unconditional love relaxes us.
Paul is simply advising us to let God’s unconditional love, not wine, be our lasting source of relaxation.
Note that knowing the love of God is a lifelong and eternal adventure. This is why we’re literally told to “be being filled.”
So we have all of the Spirit that we’ll ever need. And being “filled with the Spirit” simply means “getting to know the love of Christ.”
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