The Filling of the Holy Spirit

By Eldon Woodcock

[Eldon Woodcock is Professor of Bible, Nyack College, Nyack, New York.]

On several occasions the New Testament refers to people being filled with the Holy Spirit. What does this involve? What did people do when they were filled with the Holy Spirit? How did that filling come about? How can Christians today experience the filling of the Holy Spirit?

What It Means to Be “Filled”

In New Testament Greek two words with their cognates meaning “to fill, to fulfill, to complete” are used in association with the Holy Spirit. They are πληρόω and πίμπλημι.[1] Both words are flexible enough to designate several kinds of filling. These words are strikingly similar in their meanings. One area of shared meaning is “to finish, complete, fulfill.” Both πληρόω and πίμπλημι are used to indicate a time at which something was to begin and the completion of a period of time at which something was to end.[2]

The verb πληρόω is used of Jesus’ finishing a presentation of His message (Luke 7:1) and of the apostles as having completed a specific mission (Acts 12:25; 14:26). This verb also describes Paul as having fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ (Rom. 15:19) and as having presented the Word of God in its fullness (Col. 1:25).[3] Paul used πληρόω to designate meeting the righteous requirements of the Law (Rom. 8:4).[4] Πληρόω often refers to events as “fulfilling” or “filling up” what had been prophesied, especially in Scripture (e.g., Matt. 2:15; Acts 3:18).[5]

The verb πίμπλημι pictures the future time of punishment before Christ’s second coming as fulfilling “all that has been written” (Luke 21:22).

Another way these words are used is to speak of filling up something physically. For example πληρόω is used of a net filled with fish (Matt. 13:48) and a house filled with the fragrance of perfume (John 12:3).[6] The verb πίμπλημι describes a wedding hall filled with guests (Matt. 22:10), a sponge filled with wine vinegar (27:48), and boats so full of fish that they began to sink (Luke 5:7).[7] In the cases of the house and the sponge, the object that was filled absorbed the quality of what did the filling.[8]

A person may be filled, that is, dominated or completely characterized, by that which does the filling. Unbelievers, for example, are said to be filled by various negative qualities. Paul used πληρόω when he wrote of unbelievers “filled[9] with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed … envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice” (Rom. 1:29). The adjective πλήρεις describes the Ephesians as furious (“filled with rage,” NASB) at Paul’s preaching the gospel (Acts 19:28). Πίμπλημι describes the people of the synagogue and the Pharisees as furious (“filled with rage,” NASB) at Jesus’ teaching and healing ministries (Luke 4:28; 6:11).[10] It also is used of the people of Ephesus being stirred up by the worshipers of Artemis in an uproar (“filled with the confusion,” NASB) that could have turned into violence (Acts 19:29).

Scripture also speaks of people being filled with positive qualities. When Christians are full (πληρόω) of goodness and complete in knowledge (“filled with all knowledge,” NASB), they can instruct each other (Rom. 15:14).[11] Paul asked God to fill Christians with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that they could lead fruitful lives and be pleasing to God (Col. 1:9–10). He prayed that Christians would be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:11). Jesus urged His disciples to obey Him so that their joy would be complete (John 15:11). Paul prayed that Christians would be filled with joy and peace so that they would overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:13). The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:52). Paul was greatly encouraged (“filled with comfort,” 2 Cor. 7:4, NASB).[12]

Πίμπλημι is used of those who witnessed Jesus’ healing a paralytic; they were filled with awe because of the remarkable miracle they had observed (Luke 5:26). Similarly when Peter healed a lame man, people “were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him” (Acts 3:10).[13]

These qualities characterized the people who were filled with them. This is a significant point to note in relation to being filled with the Holy Spirit. For people filled with the Holy Spirit are characterized by some of His qualities.[14]

The Fullness of God and the Fullness of Christ

In Ephesians 3:16–19 Paul prayed that God would strengthen the Ephesian Christians from His immense store of spiritual riches. God fills believers to the extent of their capacity to receive it,[15] and Paul prayed that the Ephesians would be “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Being filled with God’s fullness includes experiencing His presence, power, and control.[16] “As believers are strengthened through the Spirit in the inner person, as they allow Christ to dwell in their hearts through faith, and as they know more of the love of Christ, so the process of being filled up to all the fullness of the life and power of God will take place.”[17]

In Ephesians 4:12–13 Paul wrote that the purpose of certain spiritual gifts was “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Here Paul presented three purposes for the church, each introduced by a prepositional phrase beginning with ἐις that modifies the verb καταντήσωμεν (“to reach, attain”).[18] These purposes were

(a) to reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, (b) to become mature, and (c) to attain to the full measure of the fullness of Christ.

For Paul the church as the fullness of Christ was both a fact (1:23) and a goal (4:13).[19] Strauss describes what it means for the church to be the fullness of Christ or to be striving for that standard. “ ‘The fullness of Christ’ means the fullness that belongs to Christ, all He is in His humanity, with all the graces and qualities He possesses. He in His fullness is the essence of perfect manhood. And the stature He attained in His incarnation, the spiritual maturity level He possessed, is the measure toward which every believer should be progressing.”[20]

It is significant that the terminology of fullness is applied to the Father and to the Son as well as to the Holy Spirit.

What It Means to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit

Prerequisites of the Spirit’s Filling

Every Christian has a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit as a result of His regenerative, baptizing, and indwelling work.

The Holy Spirit’s regenerative work. Regeneration is the act by which God causes the new birth to occur, thereby imparting eternal life. It occurs the moment a person places his or her faith in Christ. The New Testament describes regenerated believers as born of the Spirit and as saved through the renewing work of the Holy Spirit (John 3:5; Titus 3:5).[21] His work initiates an ongoing relationship with believers. It is the basis for His other ministries to Christians.

The Holy Spirit’s baptizing work. In the process of describing the unity of diversely gifted believers, Paul explained, “we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body” (1 Cor. 12:13). The aorist tense of βαπτίζω and the words “we all” clearly label this baptism as a past event involving all Christians. Since it has already happened to all Christians, it evidently occurred at conversion. The passive voice of βαπτίζω and the instrumental dative (ἐν ἑνὶ πνεύματι) identify the Spirit as the One who causes this event to occur. The phrase “into one body” indicates the result of this baptism.

Baptism by the Holy Spirit involves His placing new believers into the body of which Jesus Christ is the Head (Eph. 5:23). This baptism, also designated as being “baptized into Christ,” brings new believers into union with Christ in His death and resurrection (Rom. 6:1–10; Gal. 3:27), for they are members of His body.

The Holy Spirit’s indwelling of Christians. The Holy Spirit indwells all those who have been justified by faith in Christ (Rom. 5:5). The Holy Spirit’s presence is a gift to Christians received at the moment of their conversion (1 Cor. 2:12; 2 Cor. 5:5). Thus the Holy Spirit lives within all Christians and only in them (Rom. 8:9; Gal. 4:6). In fact anyone who lacks His presence is unsaved (Rom. 8:9; Jude 19).

Paul pictured Christians as the temple of the Holy Spirit, a vivid image of His living within them (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19–20; Eph. 2:19–22). As the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, the temple is holy because He is holy. Thus Christians, inhabited by the Holy Spirit, are also to be holy.

Through the indwelling Holy Spirit God applies the power that produces life (i.e., spiritual vitality) within Christians, enabling them to stand firm in Christ and to develop a holy lifestyle (Rom. 8:5–14).

Only those regenerated, baptized, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit are in a position to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Meaning of the Spirit’s Filling

The Holy Spirit’s control. To be filled with the Holy Spirit involves an expansion and intensification of the impact of His indwelling presence. It is to have His presence saturate one’s being with His qualities of godliness in life and power in ministry. To be filled with the Holy Spirit means He advances His presence and power within a believer.[22] It means that He takes possession of the believer’s mind, thereby pervading his or her disposition and guiding the individual.[23] By means of this controlling influence, the Holy Spirit “moves the one who is filled into a new course of action and produces a new kind of life.”[24]

The believer’s yieldedness. Since all believers have received the Holy Spirit, who lives within them and relates to them, no believer has received only a portion of the Holy Spirit. What the Holy Spirit accomplishes within a believer depends on the extent to which the believer is yielded to the Spirit’s influence.[25] Since the extent of a believer’s yieldedness varies, the extent of the Holy Spirit’s control also varies. This is the basis for Pache’s conclusion that God desires to possess increasingly more of each believer.[26] As a believer surrenders more control of his or her life to the Holy Spirit, that person experiences spiritual growth and progressive victory over sin.[27] Therefore to maximize the Holy Spirit’s influence, believers need to be completely open to His leading.[28]

“When the apostle talks about being filled with the Spirit, he proceeds to show that one who is under the control of, or the influence of, the Holy Spirit, will find that the controlling Holy Spirit produces an entirely different kind of life. The man is different, not because of what he is himself, but because of the power to which he has submitted himself and the Person to whom he has yielded control.”[29]

There are two aspects to being filled with the Holy Spirit: His personal guidance and provision of power (the divine factor), and the believer’s response of complete openness and yieldedness to His leading (the human factor).

Continuing Condition And Special Empowerment

Does being filled with the Holy Spirit involve a continuing condition of yieldedness to the Holy Spirit’s influence or does it refer to His occasional empowering for special needs in ministry? Some have suggested that being “full of” the Spirit designates the former and that being “filled” with the Spirit depicts the latter.[30] But this is not always the case. Stephen was described as full of the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:3, 5), evidently indicating this continuing condition.

Yet later he was again pictured as full of the Holy Spirit (7:55) in a situation that involved a special empowering.[31] Christians were also described as being empowered for ministry by a filling of the Holy Spirit (4:8, 31).[32] Yet the command to be filled with the Holy Spirit evidently indicates an ongoing condition (Eph. 5:18).

The picture involves certain Christians described as filled with the Holy Spirit as a continuing condition while intermittently empowered by Him for ministry. These categories are not necessarily mutually exclusive. These fillings combine the continuing condition with the special empowering, although one may, in a given text, be more prominently in view than the other. Being full of the Holy Spirit as a continuing spiritual condition does not preclude special fillings that empower the believer for ministry or for handling especially difficult situations. Nevertheless the special empowerments occur in the context of the ongoing spiritual condition.

The Command to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit

In Ephesians 5:18 Paul gave the command, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”

Paul writes in order that his readers might understand and recognize their place in God’s redemptive plan. He so prays (1:15ff) and so writes concerning God’s activity in placing all things under Christ’s authority (1:22) in order that the church might come to understand the place they now have in this activity. He prays (3:14ff) that God would enable the church to comprehend God’s plan, power, and accomplishment which works first in the church (2:1–6, 11–22) and then through the church in the world (3:10, 20–21; 5:21ff). Paul’s concluding prayer in 6:15ff also demonstrates his agenda in that he requests their continued prayers for the furtherance of the gospel through his own proclamation.[33]

Leading into the key command is a prohibition against excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages.[34] This prohibition is appropriate, for alcohol depresses the centers in the brain that affect self-control, wisdom, discrimination, judgment, and the ability to make proper assessments.[35] It also produces the unpleasantness of a hangover.

Drunkenness is among the sins that Christians are explicitly told to avoid (Rom. 13:13), for it is characteristic of many unregenerate people (1 Pet. 4:3).[36] Christians, as sons of the light, are to avoid getting drunk, and they are to maintain self-control (1 Thess. 5:4–8). They are not even to associate with a drunkard who claims to be a Christian (1 Cor. 5:11), for drunkenness is incompatible with Christian living.[37]

As an example of ἀσωτία drunkenness is debauchery, dissipation, profligacy (Eph. 5:18).[38] It is associated with the excess, wastefulness, and riotous living that dissipated the wealth of the prodigal son.[39] Such overindulgence in alcoholic drink is harmful to both the drinker and others.[40] The term ἀσωτία “is broadly descriptive of moral degeneracy, laxity, and recklessness of conduct.”[41]

Ephesians 5:18 includes two present tense imperatives (μεθύσκεσθε and πληροῦσθε) and two instrumental datives (οἴνῳ andἐν πνέυματι).[42] The adversative conjunction ἀλλά (“but, instead, nevertheless”) points to a contrast between the two imperatives.[43]

The word “instead” (ἀλλά) points to the contrast between the old self and the new self (in 4:22–23), between darkness and light (5:8–14), between unwise (ἄσοφοι) and wise (σόφοι) living (5:15–17).[44] In 5:18 the contrast is between yielding to the controlling effects of excessive alcohol absorption and yielding to the control of the Holy Spirit.[45] Each produces its characteristic lifestyle. One might express the contrast in this way: Do not be filled with alcoholic spirits, but be filled with the Spirit.[46]

The verb πληροῦσθε (“be filled”) is a present passive imperative. As an imperative, it is a command that all Christians are to obey.[47] The verb in the present tense indicates a continuing, ongoing action or a series of repeatable actions.[48] The passive voice depicts believers yielding to what the Holy Spirit will accomplish through them.[49]

Anderson observes that the verses in Ephesians in which Paul used πληρόω or πίμπλημι (1:10, 22–23; 3:19; 4:10, 13) reflect one theme, namely, “God’s ultimate purpose in Christ and the relationship of the believer to that purpose.”[50] Thus believers are to be filled with the Holy Spirit, who operates “through the activity of the risen and exalted Christ.”[51] Anderson suggests the following contextual interpretation of Ephesians 5:12–21: “Because the days are evil, that is, an era under the influence of the spiritual forces of wickedness, believers should understand the will of the Lord, namely, His intended purpose in Christ and should conduct their lives wisely, being filled with the fullness of God’s Spirit, who is both working in and through the Church to declare Christ’s ultimate dominion over all realms of life.”[52]

Anderson adds, “This indwelling Spirit brings about mission, namely, the mission which is aligned with God’s intended purpose in placing all things in heaven and on earth under Christ’s feet (i.e., under his authority). Therefore, being filled with the Spirit is coming under the influence of the Spirit’s power, aligning one’s time and energy with the plan and purpose of God which is the summing up of all things in Christ, who is ultimately filling all things in heaven and earth, exercising his rightful authority over all realms of life.”[53]

The Spirit-filled Christian and the wine-filled drunkard are analogous in the sense that both make self-comfort subservient to their respective goals. Goodwin described being filled with the Spirit as a sort of spiritual drunkenness.[54] As drunkards are often insensitive to danger, pain, and even beatings, so Spirit-filled believers are little bothered by worldly troubles.[55]

Being filled with the Holy Spirit affects the entire range of a believer’s experience. Yet Christians continue to be capable of sinning. The Holy Spirit does not remove the believer’s self-control, but does enhance the use of his intelligence.[56] He exercises a powerful influence over believers whom He fills.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit includes power for wisdom, worship, and ministry.[57] The Holy Spirit “moves the one who is filled into a new and spiritually improved lifestyle.”[58] This marvelous power is available by yielding to the Holy Spirit as the primary controlling influence in a believer’s life.

Effects of Being Filled with the Holy Spirit

The New Testament indicates a number of effects that believers experience as a result of the Holy Spirit’s filling. These relate to three areas: character, worship, and ministry.

Christian Character

Strong spiritual interests. The indwelling Holy Spirit develops Christians’ spiritual interests, but it is Spirit-filled believers who are so saturated with the Holy Spirit’s presence and influence that His agenda becomes theirs. They “have their minds set on what the Spirit desires” (Rom. 8:5). As a result, they are less distracted by the annoyances and difficulties brought about by the hostile environment of the world.[59]

Submissiveness. After urging Christians to be filled with the Holy Spirit, Paul described such people as yielding to each other in ways that produce harmony in the most basic human relationships, including those of marriage, family, and employment (Eph. 5:21–6:9).[60] Although the indwelling Holy Spirit does affect Christian attitudes in these basic relationships, His impact on Spirit-filled Christians substantially increases the quality of these relationships within the Christian community. Perhaps this is why Paul’s exhortations concerning these relationships immediately followed his command to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Fruit of the Spirit. Since Christians have the Holy Spirit living within them, they are to be led by the Spirit (Rom. 8:5), to live by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16, 25), and to bear the fruit produced by the Spirit (5:22–23). The word “fruit” in verse 22 is singular, so it has a collective connotation. Thus it covers the entire list of ethical qualities described as His fruit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” When Christians are Spirit-filled, they are controlled by the Holy Spirit, who thoroughly develops and makes conspicuous these attitudes and qualities within them.[61]

Christian worship

Music. For Paul, one manifestation of being Spirit-filled is the consistent and ongoing quality of worship. He noted two aspects of the musical element in Spirit-filled worship. He expected believers to “speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs,” and to “sing and make music in your heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19).

These external and internal aspects of worship convey the genuine joy and priorities of Spirit-filled believers.

Thankful attitude. Paul described Spirit-filled Christians as “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 20). This attitude of thanksgiving is to saturate their music.[62] To be thankful to God for everything is a refreshing contrast to the chronic complaining that characterizes so many people. Perhaps this is why this attitude is a consistently conspicuous quality of those who are Spirit-filled.[63] It reveals their God-centered perspective.

Christian ministry

Believers filled with the Holy Spirit expressed that influence in various ways. All New Testament references to people being filled with or full of the Holy Sprit are found in Luke’s writings.

Before Pentecost. In three texts Luke used πίμπλημι in speaking of ministries that were carried out before Jesus’ birth. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, uttered a prophecy concerning the Virgin Mary and her baby (Luke 1:41–45). Zechariah the priest, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied about the prophetic ministry of his son, John the Baptist (vv. 67–79).

An angel informed Zechariah that John the Baptist would be filled with the Holy Spirit “while yet in his mother’s womb” (v. 15, NASB).[64] Although the New Testament generally pictures Spirit-filled people as regenerate, yielded adults, its reference to John the Baptist as Spirit-filled even while in his mother’s womb is an exception. As Nolland wrote, “Such total invasion by the Spirit of God is unprecedented, but it is quickly to be surpassed in the case of the one whose very existence is due to a creative movement of the Spirit (1:35) and whose task it will be to dispense the eschatological Spirit (3:16).”[65]

The Holy Spirit’s filling of John even before his birth emphasized God’s sovereignty in choosing John for his crucial prophetic task and preparing him for his ministry as a special man of God—the unique task of announcing the Messiah (vv. 16–17). By filling John with the Holy Spirit, God began to prepare him for his prophetic work even before he was born. John’s initial witness as the forerunner to the Messiah took place when both were unborn (vv. 41–44).[66] That John the Baptist would be continually filled with the Holy Spirit was an intensification of the usual Old Testament patterns for prophets.[67]

Jesus, full (πλήρης) of the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit into the desert for His confrontation with the devil (4:1–13).

Supernatural events leading to conversions. On the Day of Pentecost the disciples were filled[68] with the Holy Spirit, who enabled them to declare the wonders of God in languages they had not learned (Acts 2:4, 8–11). This led to Peter’s Pentecost sermon (vv. 14–40) that resulted in three thousand conversions (v. 41), clearly another manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s power.[69]

Early Christians were told to select seven men to distribute food to the poor within the church (6:1–4). To handle the disputes that had developed within this ministry, these men had to be full (πλήρεις) of the Spirit and of wisdom (v. 3). One of these men, Stephen, was described as being full (πλήρη) of the Holy Spirit and of faith (v. 5). The Holy Spirit displayed His power through these men, producing a rapidly growing number of disciples in Jerusalem, including many priests (v. 7). As a result of being full of the Holy Spirit, Stephen was also full (πλήρης) of God’s grace and power, enabling him to enhance his ministry by doing great wonders and miraculous signs among the people (v. 8). Alarmed, the unbelieving Jews opposed him, but they were unable to overcome the wisdom of the Spirit-filled Stephen (vv. 9–10).

After being brought to trial on trumped-up charges of blasphemy (vv. 11–14), Stephen presented an impassioned summary of Hebrew history, which further enraged the Sanhedrin (7:2–53).

Then, full of the Holy Spirit, Stephen “looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (v. 55). Still full of the Holy Spirit, Stephen, even as he was dying, interceded for his enemies, asking God not to hold their sin against them (v. 60).[70] Although Saul witnessed and approved these events at the time (8:1), he was later converted, and Stephen’s martyrdom may have been a factor in preparing him for that change.

Ananias prayed for Saul to regain his sight and to be filled (πλησθῇς, from πίμπλημι) with the Holy Spirit, a necessity for Saul’s apostolic ministry of healing and evangelism (9:17). Paul was immediately healed of his divinely induced blindness (v. 18). Nothing more was stated at that time about his being filled with the Holy Spirit. Later, however, Paul was said to be filled with the Holy Spirit (13:9). On that occasion he pronounced a curse of blindness on Elymas, a Jewish magician and false prophet (vv. 4–11). As a result, the proconsul of Cyprus was converted (v. 12).

Evangelism. Peter’s healing of a man crippled from birth gave Peter another opportunity to preach the gospel (3:1–26). As a result, many people believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. There were then about five thousand Christian men plus women and children (4:4).[71] Jewish opposition brought about the arrest of Peter and John, who had to defend themselves before the Jewish authorities (vv. 1–7). On this occasion Peter, filled (πληθσεὶς) with the Holy Spirit (v. 8), preached the gospel to the hostile Jewish leaders (vv. 8–12). Although there was no indication of any conversion occurring then, the Jewish leaders were concerned about the continuing spread of the gospel among the people (v. 17).

With Jewish opposition increasing, the Christians met together to pray specifically for boldness in presenting God’s Word and for God’s healing and miraculous power to be evident (vv. 23–30). God answered their prayers and filled (ἐπλήσθησαν) them with the Holy Spirit, thereby providing His means of fulfilling both requests (v. 31). As a result, they did speak the Word of God boldly and continued their healing ministry (v. 31; 5:12). As Schippers observed, “The filling is not an end in itself, but the condition for speaking with boldness in the missionary situation.”[72]

The church in Antioch had a thriving evangelistic ministry, even extending their outreach to Gentiles, with many people turning to the Lord (11:19–21). Sent from Jerusalem to investigate the situation, Barnabas approved and encouraged them to be true to the Lord (vv. 22–23). Barnabas was full (πλήρης) of the Holy Spirit and faith, and many people were brought to the Lord (v. 24). Barnabas clearly supported their outreach and doubtless participated with them in it. His being full of the Holy Spirit may also have produced his gracious and generous character that prompted him to bring Paul to minister to the church at Antioch (vv. 25–26), and to sell his land to produce funds for distribution to the Christian poor (4:32–37).

On his first missionary journey Paul preached the gospel at Pisidian Antioch (13:14–47). His message was generally rejected by the Jews, but among the Gentiles “all who were appointed for eternal life believed” (v. 48). Furthermore “the word of the Lord spread through the whole region” (v. 49). Though Jews expelled Paul and Barnabas from the region (vv. 50–51), the believers were filled (ἐπληροῦντο) with joy and with the Holy Spirit (v. 52). Their fullness was evidently linked to their ministry in both Pisidian Antioch and Iconium (Acts 14:1–7).

Summary

This survey of the New Testament data leads to three conclusions. First, manifestations of being Spirit-filled were varied. The Book of Acts describes Spirit-filled people as speaking in unlearned languages, performing miracles, proclaiming the gospel, and being gracious. Yet they did not necessarily do all of these things at any one time. Nor did any one of these occur every time someone was filled with the Holy Spirit. This means that there is no one manifestation that must occur every time a believer is filled with the Holy Spirit.

Second, being filled with the Holy Spirit is closely related to effective ministry, especially proclaiming the Word of God. These leaders in the Book of Acts were filled with the Holy Spirit in connection with their ministry, especially that of evangelism. Any spiritual power involved in this filling was bestowed for the purpose of Christian service. Thus an important aspect of being filled with the Holy Spirit is a divine empowering for a specific ministry. As such, it is not necessarily permanent.

Third, the two verbs that refer to being filled with the Holy Spirit convey the same meaning. When associated with the Holy Spirit, πληρόω and πίμπλημι and their cognates have the same range of meanings. As noted earlier, they are virtually equivalent terms. There is thus no observable difference in meaning between πληρόω and πίμπλημι when they refer to a believer being filled with the Holy Spirit.[73] Nor is there any noticeable difference between being “full of” or “filled with” the Holy Spirit.

Conditions for Being Filled with the Holy Spirit

Though Christians may wonder, “How are we filled with the Holy Spirit?” nowhere does the New Testament explicitly identify particular conditions as necessary prerequisites for a Christian to be filled with the Holy Spirit.[74] Nevertheless certain conditions that are incompatible or compatible with being filled with the Holy Spirit are presented in Scripture.

“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (Eph. 4:30)

The Greek verb rendered “grieve” is a present active imperative form of λυπέω. It means “to grieve, wound, cause pain, produce remorse, insult.”[75] Inconsistency between the faith one professes and one’s actions insults God’s righteousness and brings Him distressing pain.[76] Especially grievous to God is the behavior mentioned in Ephesians 4, including falsehood (v. 25), sinful anger (v. 26), stealing (v. 28), unwholesome conversation (v. 29), bitterness, rage, brawling, slander, and every form of malice (v. 31)—sins that disrupt the fellowship of the church.[77]

Yet what grieves the Holy Spirit may be broader than what is mentioned in Ephesians 4, for the presence of any sin grieves the Holy Spirit, since it is contrary to His holy nature.[78] Since the Holy Spirit finds it necessary to convict Christians of their sin and press them to deal with it, He will not fill such a believer until that has been done.[79] The remedy to grieving the Holy Spirit and suffering the disruption of His fellowship is for Christians to confess their sins and be cleansed by Jesus Christ (1 John 1:9). As Christians appreciate that cleansing and as they love God more, they are more strongly motivated to avoid grieving the Holy Spirit.[80]

“Do not put out the spirit’s fire” (1 Thess. 5:19)

The verb translated “put out the fire” is also translated “quench.” This is a present active imperative form of σβέννυμι, thus suggesting that the Thessalonian believers were to stop quenching the Spirit.[81] Literally σβέννυμι means “to extinguish a fire,” and in its figurative sense it means “to quench, stifle, suppress.”[82]

In the context (v. 20) prophecy, as an expression of the Holy Spirit’s activity, is not to be contemptuously suppressed.[83] Yet the principle of quenching the Holy Spirit was not limited to prophecy.[84] More broadly, it involves resisting His will, stifling His guiding influence.[85] Such resistance will hamper His filling.

A basic quality of being filled with the Holy Spirit is to be controlled by Him. For this to happen, the believer must submit to His will. The exhortation not to put out the Spirit’s fire means, positively stated, to yield to His guiding influence, following His leading (Rom. 8:14).[86] The difference between grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit is not entirely clear.[87] However, it seems evident that the Spirit is grieved by sinful behavior that violates His holy standard and thus brings Him pain, and that His fire is put out or quenched by resistance to His will, which in turn hinders His influence. The one involves issues of morality; the other, issues of guidance. In both exhortations the key response for a believer is to yield to the Holy Spirit and follow His leading.

“Live by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16)

Περιπατεῖτε is a present active imperative, picturing continuous action. Meaning “walk,” it often conveys the idea of “live.”[88] This figurative sense most likely arose because of the similarity between walking and living. Just as a person makes progress in walking one step at a time, so he or she moves forward in life one day at a time, one moment at a time. Thus walking or living by the Spirit involves being controlled by the Spirit day by day, moment by moment.[89] Believers need the enabling power of the Holy Spirit in order to follow the path God has set for them.

Be involved in ministry

The New Testament makes clear the close relationship of being filled with the Holy Spirit to ministry. Almost every reference to that filling occurred in a context of ministry, especially evangelism. Spirit-filling is thus not intended to produce a special spiritual status; rather, it is a divine equipping for service.

Conditions or Results?

Is the believer’s yieldedness to the Holy Spirit the result of His working or a condition for it? Is it possible that not grieving the Holy Spirit is a result of being filled with the Spirit rather than a condition for it?

If these conditions are also results, then the Spirit’s initiative and the believer’s response are both involved. These elements—not grieving the Spirit, not quenching the Spirit, walking by the Spirit, and being involved in ministry—are necessary if a believer is to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but they may also stem from the filling.

That is, when a believer is filled with or controlled by the Holy Spirit, he or she does not grieve or quench the Spirit and is walking in dependence on the Spirit, and is involved in ministry. If these are conditions for being filled with the Holy Spirit, they cannot be met apart from the Holy Spirit's working within the believer to make them happen.

Conclusion

The Greek verbs πληρόω and πίμπλημι are virtually synonymous in referring to different types of filling. When a person is said to be “filled” by a certain quality, that is a way of saying he or she is characterized by that quality. Being filled with the Holy Spirit involves a pervasive influence by the Holy Spirit over the believer and the believer’s yieldedness to the Holy Spirit.

The two commands in Ephesians 5:18 contrast the prohibition of drunkenness with the exhortation to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The latter is part of the Christian’s responsibility, which involves a continuous yielding to the Holy Spirit.

The results of being filled with the Holy Spirit are seen in believers’ character, worship, and ministries. They have strong spiritual interests, they are submissive to God, and they bear the fruit of the Spirit. They are drawn to a more intimate relationship with God through the Spirit’s influence. In their worship they present God-centered musical communications to Him and to each other. They also continually express an attitude of thanksgiving to God for everything. In their ministries Spirit-filled Christians in the New Testament period spoke in unlearned languages, healed people, saw a vision of God’s glory, and on one occasion, pronounced a curse of blindness on an unbeliever. In each case these astonishing events led to conversions. Manifestations of being Spirit-filled were varied, but were often associated with ministry. The most frequently cited ministry for Spirit-filled Christians was evangelism.

While no verses state explicitly any conditions for being filled with the Holy Spirit, four conditions do seem to be suggested: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, do not quench the Spirit’s fire, walk by the Spirit, and be involved in ministry. These conditions may also be results of being filled with the Holy Spirit. The New Testament clearly teaches that Christians should continue to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Notes

1. R. Schippers, “Fullness: πληρόω,” in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, ed. Colin Brown (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975), 1:733–41; Gerhard Delling, “πίμπλημι, ἐμπίμπλημι,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel, trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1968), 6:128–31; and idem, “πλήρης et al.,” 6:283–311.
2. Jesus used the verb πληρόω to declare that the time had come for Him to announce the kingdom of God (Mark 1:15) and that the right time for Him to reveal Himself had not yet come (John 7:8). Paul used the related noun πλήρωμα in stating that the time for Christ’s incarnation had arrived (Gal. 4:4) and that God will complete His redemptive program in Christ “when the times will have reached their fulfillment” (Eph. 1:10; Scripture quotations are from the New International Version unless noted otherwise). The verb πίμπλημι is used to state that the time for Mary to have her baby had arrived (Luke 2:6), that the time for Jesus to be circumcised had arrived (v. 21), and that the time for their purification was completed (v. 22). It is also used to state that Zechariah’s term as high priest was being completed (1:23).
3. The compound verb πληροφορέω pictures Abraham as fully convinced that God had sufficient power to do what He had promised (Rom. 4:21). The Lord enabled Paul to proclaim the Christian message fully (2 Tim. 4:17). Paul prayed that Christians would be fully assured (Col. 4:12).
4. Paul said the Law is fulfilled (πληρόω) by loving one’s neighbor as oneself (Rom. 13:8; Gal. 5:14), and he said the law of Christ is fulfilled (ἀναπληρόω) when believers carry each other’s burdens (Gal. 6:2).
5. Jesus stated that He had come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 5:17). Several statements described events as having occurred in order to fulfill what had been prophesied (e.g., 1:22; 8:17; John 18:9). Several verses state the necessity of Scripture being fulfilled (e.g., Mark 14:49; Luke 24:44; Acts 1:16).
6. The adjective πλήρης describes twelve baskets of bread and fish (Matt. 14:20), a full kernel of grain (Mark 4:28), and a man as “full of” leprosy (Luke 5:12, KJV, NASB). The noun πλήρωμα refers to twelve baskets of bread and fish (Mark 6:43) and the fact that everything (“fullness,” KJV) in the earth is the Lord’s (1 Cor. 10:26).
7. The verb ἐμπίμπλημι described the hungry as being filled with food (Luke 1:53), and God as providing (“filling,” KJV) people with food and joy (Acts 14:17).
8. That is to say, the house was characterized by the perfume’s fragrance and the sponge by the wine’s taste when placed to Jesus’ lips.
9. The adjective πλήρης is used of Elymas, who was full of all kinds of deceit and trickery (Acts 13:10). Only two verses use πληρόω to designate believers filled with a negative quality. Satan filled Ananias’s heart with the intent to lie to the Holy Spirit (5:3). And when Jesus informed His disciples that He was soon to die, they were filled with grief (John 16:6).
10. As a result of the apostles’ successes the high priest and his Sadducee associates were filled with jealousy (Acts 5:17). For the same reason the Jews, filled with jealousy, talked abusively against what Paul was saying (13:45).
11. Jesus was filled with wisdom (Luke 2:40).
12. Paul used the compound noun πληροφορία, which means “full assurance, certainty” (Walter Bauer, William F. Arndt, and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 2d ed., rev. F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979], 670). Paul used πληροφορέω when he wrote that he wanted believers to have the full riches of complete understanding (“full assurance of understanding,” NASB) in order to know “Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:2–3). He pictured the gospel as having come to them “with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction” (1 Thess. 1:5). The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews expressed the desire for believers to make their hope sure (“the fullness of hope,” Heb. 6:11, KJV) and to approach God with the full assurance of faith (10:22). The adjective πλήρης pictured Jesus Christ as full of grace and truth (John 1:14). It referred to Stephen as full of faith (Acts 6:5) and as full of God’s grace and power (6:8). As a result he did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Πλήρης also depicts Tabitha (Dorcas) as always doing good (“full of good works,” 9:36, KJV).
13. The verb ἐμπίμπλημι depicts people filled with joy as a result of having an abundance of food (Acts 14:17).
14. Πληρόω and πίμπλημι are so similar that they appear to be virtually synonymous. Nevertheless Delling suggests that they can be distinguished. He says πίμπλημι indicates satisfaction (“πίμπλημι, ἐμπίμπλημι,” 6:130–31).
15. John Eadie, Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians (1883; reprint, Minneapolis: James and Klock, 1977), 259.
16. Andrew T. Lincoln, Ephesians, Word Biblical Commentary (Waco, TX: Word, 1990), 214; and Charles Hodge, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians (1856; reprint, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1964), 191.
17. Lincoln, Ephesians, 214–15. J. A. Robinson wrote, “He has prayed for a superhuman strength, in order to the attainment of an inconceivable knowledge, which is to result in what he can only call fullness—‘all the fullness of God’” (St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians [New York: Macmillan, 1909], 87).
18. Lincoln, Ephesians, 255.
19. Ibid., 257.
20. Richard L. Strauss, “Like Christ: An Exposition of Ephesians 4:13, ” Bibliotheca Sacra 143 (July-September 1986): 264. Colossians 2:9–10 has similar wording.
21. The New Testament also credits God the Father with giving believers this new birth, making them spiritually alive (Eph. 2:4–5; James 1:17–18). Also Jesus Christ is said to impart that life (John 5:21).
22. John Goodwin, A Being Filled with the Spirit (Edinburgh: James Nichol, 1867), 11–12.
23. Ronald B. Mayers, “The Infilling of the Holy Spirit,” Reformed Review 28 (spring 1975): 157; and Michael Green, I Believe in the Holy Spirit (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975), 149.
24. J. Dwight Pentecost, The Divine Comforter: The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit (Westwood, NJ: Revell, 1963), 158.
25. René Pache, The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit (Chicago: Moody, 1954), 118; and John F. Walvoord, The Holy Spirit (Findlay, OH: Dunham, 1958), 192.
26. Pache, The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit, 129.
27. Ibid., 130-31.
28. Goodwin, A Being Filled with the Spirit, 11–12.
29. Pentecost, The Divine Comforter, 157. Similarly Walvoord described this filling as what the Holy Spirit accomplishes in the believer who is yielded to Him (The Holy Spirit, 192).
30. Green, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, 149, 152; Leon Morris, Spirit of the Living God (London: InterVarsity, 1960), 89; and Pentecost, The Divine Comforter, 156.
31. D. Martin Lloyd-Jones found elements of both ideas in Acts 7:55 (Life in the Spirit in Marriage, Home and Work: An Exposition of Ephesians 5:18–6:9 [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1974], 44–46).
32. Here the Greek verb is a form of πίμπλημι.
33. Chip Anderson, “Rethinking ‘Be Filled with the Spirit’: Ephesians 5:18 and the Purpose of Ephesians,” Evangelical Journal 7 (1989): 59.
34. F. F. Bruce identified Proverbs 23:31a (LXX) as the source of this quoted prohibition (The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984], 379).
35. Lloyd-Jones, Life in the Spirit in Marriage, Home and Work, 15.
36. Cleon L. Rogers Jr. argues that the background for Ephesians 5:18 was the cult of Dionysius or Bacchus, the god of wine (“The Dionysian Background of Ephesians 5:18, ” Bibliotheca Sacra 136 [July-September 1979]: 249-57). Since this cult was widespread, it is possible that it had participants in Ephesus. Nevertheless, as Lincoln points out, this is unlikely for there is no evidence of any such misbehavior within the Ephesian church as there was in Corinth (Ephesians, 343). Drunkenness in Ephesus may be plausibly understood as another example of a problem that has plagued many societies.
37. Goodwin, A Being Filled with the Spirit, 15; and Dennis Leggett, “Be Filled with the Spirit, Ephesians 5:18, ” Paraclete23 (fall 1989): 10-11.
38. Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 119.
39. Mayers, “The Infilling of the Holy Spirit,” 158. Bruce notes that the adverb ἀσώτως is used of the lifestyle of the prodigal son in Luke 15:13 (The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians, 379). So also Lincoln, Ephesians, 344.
40. Bruce, The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians, 379.
41. Herbert G. Miller, Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians (London: Skeffington and Son, 1899), 281.
42. Rogers, “The Dionysian Background of Ephesians 5:18, ” 256.
43. Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 38.
44. Lincoln, Ephesians, 343.
45. Pentecost, The Divine Comforter, 159; and Charles C. Ryrie, The Holy Spirit (Chicago: Moody, 1965), 93–94.
46. Rogers argued that since being filled with the Holy Spirit involved a supernatural filling, it would be logical to infer a supernatural filling of the wine god Bacchus through drinking wine (“The Dionysian Background of Ephesians 5:18, ” 256). However, the evidence does not require a contrast that explicit. See Lincoln, Ephesians, 343.
47. Goodwin, A Being Filled with the Spirit, 15; and Mayers, “The Infilling of the Holy Spirit,” 157.
48. Mayers, “The Infilling of the Holy Spirit,” 157; and Lincoln, Ephesians, 344.
49. Mayers, “The Infilling of the Holy Spirit,” 157. Anderson renders it, “Let yourselves be filled” (“Rethinking ‘Be Filled with the Spirit’: Ephesians 5:18 and the Purpose of Ephesians,” 62).
50. Anderson, “Rethinking ‘Be Filled with the Spirit’: Ephesians 5:18 and the Purpose of Ephesians,” 63.
51. Ibid.
52. Ibid., 64.
53. Ibid.
54. Goodwin, A Being Filled with the Spirit, 233–34. Lincoln cites Philo (De Ebrietate 146–48), who drew a similar analogy between the characteristics of drunkenness and being possessed by God (Ephesians, 344). Lincoln also noted the fact that at Pentecost some people confused Spirit-filled people at Pentecost with drunks (Acts 2:4, 13, 15).
55. Goodwin thoroughly developed this intriguing analogy, probably more than is warranted (A Being Filled with the Spirit, 233–34). There is a significant difference between enslavement to a habit-forming drug and conscious yielding to the Holy Spirit’s influence. Furthermore part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23) is self-control, a quality that drunkards lack. Nevertheless there is some validity in this analogy as indicated by Paul’s contrast.
56. Bruce, The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians, 380.
57. Lincoln, Ephesians, 345.
58. Pentecost, The Divine Comforter, 158.
59. Goodwin, A Being Filled with the Holy Spirit, 233–34.
60. Ryrie, The Holy Spirit, 102.
61. Tim LaHaye, Spirit-Controlled Temperament (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1966), 58; and Wick Broomall, The Holy Spirit: A Scriptural Study of His Person and Work (New York: American Tract Society, 1940), 181–83.
62. The expectation that thanksgiving would be expressed in music is also stated in Colossians 3:16–17.
63. Pache, The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit, 134.
64. The expression in the Greek text can mean either “from birth” (NIV) or “while yet in his mother’s womb” (NASB). In view of John’s prenatal response to the presence of the prenatal Jesus (Luke 1:41–44), the latter seems more likely. See Darrell L. Bock, Luke1:1–9:50 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), 86.
65. John Nolland, Luke 1:1–9:20, Word Biblical Commentary (Waco, TX: Word, 1989), 1:31.
66. Bock, Luke 1:1–9:50, 134–38.
67. In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit came and went, remaining only to empower a person to accomplish a designated task.
68. The Greek word translated “filled” is ἐκπλήσθησαν, from πίμπλημι.
69. The apostles’ ability to speak in languages they had not learned was a temporary spiritual gift given in the days of the early church for the purpose of confirming the authenticity of the message of the apostles. This miracle and other signs and wonders were “the signs of a true apostle” (2 Cor. 12:12; see also Heb. 2:3–4). See Walvoord, The Holy Spirit, 173–88; William J. McRae, The Dynamics of Spiritual Gifts (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 43–45; David K. Lowery, “1 Corinthians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, ed. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck (Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1983), 535–37, 539; and Robert G. Gromacki, The Holy Spirit, Swindoll Leadership Library (Nashville: Word, 1999), 218–25, 227–36.
70. Pache, The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit, 134.
71. William J. Larkin Jr., Acts (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1995), 72. This number includes the converts at Pentecost (Acts 2:41), converts added daily after Pentecost (v. 47), and the many who responded to Peter’s preaching (4:4).
72. Schippers, “Fullness, πληρόω,” 1:739.
73. Verses in Acts that describe the power of Spirit-filled believers in ministry often use a form of πίμπλημι (Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 9:17; 13:9). Πληρόω is also used of Stephen, who, full of the Spirit, had a ministry of evangelism and miraculous signs (6:3–8) and who saw a vision of the ascended Christ as he was being martyred (7:55). Πληρόω is used of Barnabas and the disciples who were filled with the Holy Spirit in their evangelistic ministry (11:24; 13:52).
74. Several authors point up conditions necessary for being filled with the Holy Spirit, including self-examination (Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 11:28), recognizing one’s spiritual emptiness, desiring and seeking to be filled (John 7:37–39; 1 Cor. 12:31), asking to be filled (Luke 11:13), and believing that one is filled (Rom. 14:23; Gal. 3:1–5, 14). (See, for example, LaHaye, Spirit-Controlled Temperament, 63, 66; Mayers, “The Infilling of the Holy Spirit,” 161; and Pache, The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit, 120.) However, these verses are not relevant to the subject of being filled with the Holy Spirit. They speak of “receiving” the Holy Spirit, or they refer to some spiritual issue that does not directly involve the Holy Spirit at all.
75. James F. Holladay Jr., “Ephesians 4:30: Do Not Grieve the Spirit,” Review and Expositor 94 (1997): 84; and Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 481.
76. Holladay, “Ephesians 4:30: Do Not Grieve the Spirit,” 84.
77. Ibid., 85.
78. Walvoord, The Holy Spirit, 200.
79. Pentecost, The Divine Comforter, 159. Goodwin suggests that grieving the Holy Spirit diminishes His activity within Christians much as grief diminishes human energy (A Being Filled with the Holy Spirit, 19, 269).
80. Holladay, “Ephesians 4:30: Do Not Grieve the Spirit,” 86.
81. Leon Morris, The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians, New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1959), 175–76; and Ryrie, The Holy Spirit, 95. But see F. F. Bruce, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Word Biblical Commentary (Waco, TX: Word, 1982), 125, for the view that it means to avoid doing this habitually (rather than to stop doing it).
82. Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 745.
83. Bruce, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 125; and Goodwin, A Being Filled with the Spirit, 279.
84. Morris, The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians, 175.
85. Walvoord, The Holy Spirit, 197.
86. Ibid., 199.
87. Morris says quenching does not differ much from grieving, since both involve conduct contrary to the Holy Spirit’s will (Spirit of the Living God, 98).
88. Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich say it refers figuratively to one’s “walk of life” (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 649).
89. Walvoord, The Holy Spirit, 204. See also Goodwin, A Being Filled with the Spirit, 257.