Spirit Filled

The writer Luke says that on the day of Pentecost, the disciples “were filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4). This phrase—“filled with the Spirit”—is very important in the New Testament. In fact, apart from the disciples (Acts 2:4; 13:52), there are people who were also referred to as “filled with the Spirit” or “full of the Spirit”: Jesus (Luke 1:15; 4:1), Elizabeth (Luke 1:41), believers (Acts 4:31), Stephen (Acts 7:55), Paul (Acts 9:17; 13:9), and Barnabas (Acts 11:24). If we look at these names, we will realize that these people were extraordinary in their faith, commitment, obedience, and love and service to God and people.

But there is plenty of confusion as to what this phrase means. In Wesleyan-holiness churches, because of our theology of the “second blessing,” there seems to be the understanding that we received Jesus Christ at our conversion, then we receive the Holy Spirit later on when we are really serious in our Christian faith. This is ridiculous because it would mean that there are Christians who are exempted from following Romans 8, living in the Spirit, because they apparently have not yet received the Spirit. Or sometimes, because of our theology of gradual sanctification, there seems to be the understanding in which we receive the Holy Spirit in installment. The idea is that we received the Holy Spirit at some point, but we are not filled with the Spirit yet. We are halfway filled, and the Spirit is poured out, little-by-little, in our lives. This is also ridiculous because the Spirit is a person, and we do not receive a person in installment or partitively. There are other groups, like many Pentecostals, who speak of three different and gradual experiences: (a) receiving Jesus Christ at conversion, (b) being baptized with the Spirit later, then another experience called (c) infilling of the Holy Spirit, when one speaks in tongues.

So with all these confusions about what it means to be filled with the Spirit, how should we really understand it? What does the Bible say?

First, it is important to affirm that genuine Christians all have received the Holy Spirit in His fullness at conversion. The biblical metaphors of salvation reveal that to be saved means to receive the Holy Spirit:

• “Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’ By this he meant the Spirit” (John 7:37-39)
• We are asked to be born of the Spirit (John 3:5-7; Rom 7:6; Titus 3:5; Rom 8:4; Rom 8:15-16)
• Our salvation is sealed by the Spirit (Eph 1:13-14; 2 Cor 1:22; Rom 8:23)
• We are baptized with the Spirit into Christ and the church (1 Cor 12:13; Gal 3:27; Rom 6:3-4)

And having received the Holy Spirit at our conversion, we have also received Him fully. There is no genuine believer who is not full of the Spirit. The problem is most probably in the fact that we are not living the life that we should be living as people filled with the Spirit. We cannot blame God for not filling us with His Spirit, which is why we are struggling in our Christian lives. The fact is, when we were converted, He has already given us the Spirit to empower us to live the full Christian life. Now it is up to us to manifest such a Spirit-filled life. Maybe the problem is that we are clueless about what it means to be Spirit-filled, or we do not know how to live the Spirit-filled life, so we do not know what to do.

In order to understand what it means to be full of the Spirit, we are going to look at three passages. The commonality of these passages is in how they use the term “fullness,” which is plero in Greek.

Jesus is pleres pneumatos hagiou, “full of the Holy Spirit” (Luke 4:1)

The Gospels portray the whole life of Christ as lived in the power of the Holy Spirit. There was no moment in the life of Jesus when the Spirit was not operative in His life. The whole life of Christ was lived in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. He was conceived of the Spirit (Matt 1:20; Luke 1:35), baptized with the Holy Spirit (Matt 3:16; Mark 1:10), led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted (Matt 4:1; Mark 1:12; Luke 4:1), empowered by the Spirit in His ministry (Luke 4:14), anointed by the Spirit to minister (Luke 4:16-21; fulfilling Isa 61:1-2), drove out evil spirits by the Spirit of God (Matt 12:28), and resurrected in the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 3:18).

So, when we look at Jesus Christ, what does it mean to be full of the Spirit? It simply means being guided by the Spirit in every aspect of His life. If we look at the list above, we will discover that Jesus did not accomplish anything apart from the Holy Spirit. To be full of the Spirit is to accomplish the impossible. Even the facts of His birth and resurrection are in the light of the Holy Spirit. His victory over temptations and sin are in the power of the Spirit. All His ministries of healing, preaching, teaching, and exorcism are in the power of the Holy Spirit.

When we look at our humanity, we will definitely see a lot of weaknesses. We will see our limitations, whether they are grounded in our personality, upbringing, educational attainments, or socio-political status. But to be filled with the Spirit means to transcend all these things and accomplish feats that otherwise were inconceivable for us. This is also revealed in the lives of the disciples, who accomplished so much with their meager backgrounds. In the words of Optimus Prime, to be filled with the Spirit is to be more than what meets the eye.

A man is pleres lepras, “full of leprosy” (Luke 5:12)

To be full of leprosy is truly a bad experience, especially in the biblical times. But there is something about being filled with leprosy that is instructive to us as we try to understand what it means to be filled with something. To summarize, to be filled with leprosy is to have a life that revolves around leprosy. For a leper, his family relations, social life, political status, economic potential, and religious activities all revolve around his leprosy. In short, his being a leper affects every aspect of His life.

Socially, a leper is forced to live outside the community, separated from family and friends and thus deprived of the frame of reference and sense of identity that family and friends help provide. The Torah was clear, and the command was followed by the Israelites: “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has an infectious skin disease or a discharge of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean because of a dead body. Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them” (Numbers 5:2-3). Leviticus 13:45-46 tells us that lepers were to wear torn clothes, let their hair be disheveled, and live outside the camp. These homeless individuals were to cry “Unclean, unclean!” when a person without leprosy approached them. This is why the ten lepers that met Jesus Christ “stood at a distance” (Luke 17:12). They are not allowed to socialize, marry, and have their own families. A person who touches a leper will become unclean until the evening (Lev 13:46).

Economically, since they cannot socialize or stay in the community, they cannot be employed. They can only live by begging. Religiously, since leprosy is considered as a punishment from God (2 Kings 5:7; 2 Chron 26:20; John 9:2-3), lepers are looked down upon by people. The fact that they are unclean also makes them unfit and not qualified to enter the Temple and offer sacrifices.

This means that a leper’s life revolves around and is limited by what he is full of. In turn, to be filled with the Spirit, therefore, is to have a life that revolves around the Spirit. Our familial activities, our social relationships, our economic decisions, our employment options, our religious involvement, and aspect of our lives must revolve around the fact that we are filled with the Spirit.

We must be filled with the Spirit, not with wine (Eph 5:18)

This passage is very interesting because being filled with the Spirit is compared to being filled with wine. This comparison is actually extremely instructive, especially for those who have experienced being drunk. Basically, in this passage, what is emphasized is the importance of the influence of something that fills a person.

A person filled with wine is thoroughly influenced by wine. The physical and visible actions of a drunk are influenced by wine. A drunk cannot even walk straight. The actions of a drunk are completely influenced by the effects of wine. They can strip on the road. They can sleep on the road. The mind of a drunk is also influenced by wine. In the Philippines, you will know someone is drunk because they speak in English. Their inhibitions are low, and they can make rash decisions. In fact, many people got married, got pregnant, or have done crazy acts just because they are drunk? The emotions of a drunk are influenced by wine. A stone-cold human being can suddenly share his life story when drunk. An introvert can suddenly become talky when drunk. A drunk can express his anger more openly.

To be filled with wine is to be influenced by wine. Actions, decisions, and our ways of thinking are affected by wine. In the same way, to be filled with the Spirit is to be thoroughly influenced by the Spirit. Our actions, ways of thinking, decision-making, conduct, and everything are influenced by the Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit, therefore, is to live in the Spirit.

Conclusions

To summarize, to be filled with the Spirit is (1) to rise beyond our own self-conceived limitations, (2) to have a life that revolves around the Spirit, and (3) to be thoroughly influenced by the Spirit. As explained above, we who have genuinely been converted, have all received the Holy Spirit. The question is not whether we as Christians have or have not received the Spirit. The question is whether we are living in accordance with the Spirit who has already filled us?