Efésios 5
John MacArthur · Citado em PreceptAustin
Efésios 5:18
MacArthur explains it this way - "To be filled with the Spirit is to have one’s mind completely under His divine control. This requires the Word’s dwelling richly in the believer (cf. Col. 3:16-note). And when our minds are under God’s control, our behavior inevitably will be as well. It is not a matter of available power but of available will. By the Spirit’s power, all believers are able “to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which [they] have been called” (Eph. 4:1-note). Those who truly “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” will “make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts” (Rom. 13:14-note). Being controlled by God’s Spirit comes from being obedient to His Word. The Spirit-filled life does not come through mystical or ecstatic experiences but from studying and submitting oneself to Scripture. As a believer faithfully and submissively saturates his mind and heart with God’s truth, his Spirit-controlled behavior will follow as surely as night follows day. When we are filled with God’s truth and led by His Spirit, even our involuntary reactions-those that happen when we don’t have time to consciously decide what to do or say-will be godly. (MacArthur, J: Romans 1-8. Chicago: Moody Press) Victor Edman once said that "The Spirit-filled life is no mystery revealed to a select few, no goal difficult of attainment. To trust and to obey is the substance of the whole matter." John Eadie says that "Men are intoxicated with wine, and they attempt to “fill” themselves with it; but they cannot. The exhilaration which they covet can only be felt periodically, and again and again must they drain the wine cup to relieve themselves of despondency. But Christians are “filled” in or with the Spirit, whose influences are not only powerful, but replete with satisfaction to the heart of man. Ps 36:8; Acts 2:15, 16. It is a sensation of want—a desire to fly from himself, a craving after something which is felt to be out of reach, eager and restless thirst to enjoy, if at all possible, some happiness and enlargement of heart—that usually leads to intemperance. But the Spirit fills Christians, and gives them all the elements of cheerfulness and peace (Gal 5:22-note, Gal 5:23-note); genuine elevation and mental freedom; superiority to all depressing influences; and refined and permanent enjoyment. Of course, if they are so filled with the Spirit, they feel no appetite for debasing and material stimulants (Ed: cp the effect of "walking by the Spirit" distinguishes the appetite of the lusts of the flesh! Gal 5:16). (Ephesians 3 Commentary) Thomas Brooks - If you would not be taken with any of Satan's devices, then labor to be filled with the Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord is a Spirit of light and power; and what can a soul do without light and power against spiritual wickedness in high places? (Eph. 6:12). It is not enough that you have the Spirit—but you must be filled with the Spirit, or else Satan, that evil spirit, will be too hard for you, and his plots will prosper against you. That is a sweet word of the apostle, 'Be filled with the Spirit' (Eph. 5:18); that is, labor for abundance of the Spirit. He who thinks he has enough of the Holy Spirit, will quickly find himself vanquished by the evil spirit. Satan has his snares to take you in prosperity and adversity, in health and sickness, in strength and weakness, when you are alone and when you are in company, when you come on to spiritual duties and when you come off from spiritual duties, and if you are not filled with the Spirit, Satan will be too hard and too crafty for you, and will easily and frequently take you in his snares, and make a prey of you in spite of your souls. Therefore labor more to have your hearts filled with the Spirit than to have your heads filled with notions, your shops with wares, your chests with silver, or your bags with gold; so shall you escape the snares of this fowler, and triumph over all his plots. Luther says, a holy gluttony is to lay on, to feed hard, and to fetch hearty draughts, until they be even drunk with the abundance of the Spirit. Oh that there were more such holy gluttony in the world! (Precious Remedies Against Satan) Octavius Winslow NOVEMBER 13. "Be filled with the Spirit." Ephesians 5:18 The possession of the Holy Spirit in the fullness of His grace contributes essentially to the constitution of the spiritual mind. The antagonist of carnality is the Spirit. "If we walk in the Spirit, we shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." As the Spirit of God, He is the author of all that is spiritual. As the Spirit of holiness, He maintains and carries forward the work of sanctification in the soul. He it is who forms, and He it is who leads forward, the spiritual mind. The large possession of the Spirit! nothing can exceed the blessing. Without the Spirit of God, what is man? He is the mark of every fiery assault, the prey of every prowling foe—a magazine of corruption, around which a thousand sparks—sparks of his own kindling—fall. But possessing the Spirit; even in its most limited measure, what is man? A living soul—a holy being—a temple of God—an heir of glory. But suppose him possessing the Spirit in the plenitude of His grace, not partially, but "filled with the Spirit—what must be the invincibility of his might in the resistance of sin! what the potency of his shield in disarming the power of temptation! and what the eminence of his attainments in spiritual-mindedness, as a child of God! While others are girding for the conflict, or are adjusting their armor, he is covering himself with glory on the battle-field. While others are training for the race, he has well-near reached the goal. "Filled with the Spirit," he is filled with all the fruits of the Spirit. Faith is vigorous, hope is bright, love is fervent. He is mighty in the "Spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." It was this possession of the Spirit in His fullness which gave to the apostles, who until then were so timid and unbelieving, such irresistible boldness and power on the day of Pentecost. Some in their hearing exclaimed, "These men are full of new wine." But the secret was, "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit." And the hearts of the great mass to whom they preached the crucified Savior bowed before the power of their preaching, "as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind." Oh seek to "be filled with the Spirit"! then will your thirstings for God be deeper, your breathings after holiness more intense, your communion with your heavenly Father closer, and your faith in Jesus stronger. The indwelling of the Spirit is the root of all holiness; but the communication of the Spirit in the plenitude of His gracious, sanctifying, Christ-transforming influence, is the secret of an elevated tone of heavenly-mindedness. Would you repel some strong assault, or vanquish some powerful corruption, or throw off some clinging infirmity, and abide by the verdant banks and quiet waters of fellowship with the Father and with His Son Christ Jesus?—oh ask, and you shall receive, the fullness of the Spirit. Beware of being guided by any other than the Spirit of God. The temptation is strong, and the tendency to yield to it equally so, of being biased in forming our theological views, and in modeling our Christian practice, by the profound research, the distinguished talents, the exalted piety, and admired example of men. But this must not be. It is inconsistent with the honor that belongs, and with the love that we owe, to the Spirit. A human must necessarily be a fallible guide; against the influence of whose doctrinal errors, and practical mistakes, no extent of learning, or depth of spirituality, or eminence of position on their part, can insure us. We are only safe, as we constantly and strictly follow our Divine and heavenly guide. Blessed and Eternal Spirit! to Your teaching would I bow my mind. To Your love would I yield my heart. To Your consolation would I carry my sorrows. To Your government would I resign my entire soul. "You shall guide me by Your counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory." (EVENING THOUGHTS or DAILY WALKING WITH GOD) James Smith THE FILLING OF THE SPIRIT "Be filled with the Spirit." Ephesians 5:18 That which is our greatest privilege—is here spoken of as if it were our duty. Indeed, privileges always imply duties—and duties suppose privileges. Every believer has the Spirit—but we have not that measure, that fullness of the Spirit that we might have. There is a fullness—and we may receive more; there is abundance—and we are invited to come and obtain freely. The parties to whom Paul wrote, had the Spirit, and were sealed by the Spirit unto the day of redemption; and yet to them he says, "Be filled with the Spirit." An increase is possible—is desirable—is certain. (Ed: Yes, an increase in the sense of greater dependence on the presence and power of the Spirit, but not an increase in the "amount" of the Spirit we receive - every believer has all of the Spirit they will ever receive. The goal now is for the Spirit to have more of us! cp Col 2:10) It would be a preservative from a multitude of evils; keeping the soul holy, the body chaste, the person fit for Christ's service, and prepared for heaven. It would qualify us for all other duties, influencing the views, thoughts, motives, words, and actions. It would rule our wills, control our passions, direct our energies, employ our talents, honor our profession, and increase our happiness! It is therefore a duty (Ed: It is command so in that sense being filled is our duty and hopefully should be our desire not our drudgery!), to which we ought immediately to attend. We have the promise, the invitation, the examples, the inducements, and the exhortation, placed before us in God's Word. Shall we despise or neglect all these?....O Spirit of God, come and fill my soul! Let me be filled with your light, your life, your love, your power, your holiness, yourself! O to be full of God! (Our Comforter) Charles Hodge - People are said to be filled with wine when they are completely under its influence; so they are said to be filled with the Spirit when he controls all their thoughts, feelings, words, and actions. The expression is a common one in Scripture. Of our Lord himself it was said that he was “full of the Holy Spirit” (Luke 4:1), and of Stephen that he was “full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5), and also of Barnabas (Acts 11:24), etc. To the Christians, therefore, the source of strength and joy is not wine, but the blessed Spirit of God. As drunkenness produces rioting and debauchery, so the Holy Spirit produces a joy which expresses itself in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. (Ephesians 5:17-18 Commentary) Wayne
Efésios 5:18
MacArthur writes that "The Christian who is filled with the Holy Spirit can be compared to a glove. Until it is filled by a hand, a glove is powerless and useless. It is designed to do work, but it can do no work by itself. It works only as the hand controls and uses it. The glove’s only work is the hand’s work. It does not ask the hand to give it an assignment and then try to complete the assignment without the hand. Nor does it gloat or brag about what it is used to do, because it knows the hand deserves all the credit. A Christian can accomplish no more without being filled with the Holy Spirit than a glove can accomplish without being filled with a hand. Anything he manages to do (Ed: No matter how "religious" or "good" it looks to others - it is not a "good work" that give glory to the Father because it is a natural and not a supernatural work! Cp Mt 5:16-note, ) is but wood, hay, and straw that amounts to nothing and will eventually be burned up (1Co 3:12, 13, 14, 15). Functioning in the flesh produces absolutely nothing of spiritual value (Ed: See Jesus' warning Jn 15:5). (MacArthur, J: Ephesians. Chicago: Moody Press) Are you letting the Word of Christ richly dwell within you (Col 3:16-note) so that you might be controlled by the will of God in the Word of God as taught by the Spirit of God? D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones - If it were possible to put the Holy Spirit into a textbook of pharmacology I would put him under the stimulants, for that is where he belongs. Vance Havner spoke to the fear of many believers regarding teaching on the filling with the Holy Spirit when he said "Satan has scored a point in making us so afraid of extremism about the Holy Spirit—which abounds indeed—that we may miss the true in our fear of the false. We can be so wary of getting out on a limb that we never go up the tree!" J I Packer said essentially the same thing when he declared "With a perversity as pathetic as it is impoverishing we have become preoccupied today with the sporadic extraordinary and non-universal ministries of the Spirit to the neglect of the more general ones." How can you tell that you are "filled with the Spirit"? First a General "Marker" -- Note that the first "organ" Paul describes as being impacted by being filled with the Spirit is our speech -- "speaking" is the first word in Eph 5:19 (In Greek and English). Can I suggest a rough guide by which you can carry out a self-examination to assess whether you are "Spirit filled" or "Spirit controlled?" How is your speech? Profane or pure? Gutter-like or godly? Self focused or Savior focused? Grateful or grumbling? And so Ephesians 5:19 gives four "markers" of a person controlled by the Spirit. How would you assess your attitudes and actions today (and remember you are not under law but grace) using these "markers" of a Spirit filled saint? (1) Joyful (Eph 5:19) (2) Thankful (Eph 5:20) (3) Submissive (Eph 5:21-33) Are you joyful, thankful and submissive? Then you are being controlled by God's Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit is to have one’s mind completely under His divine control. Being filled with the Spirit parallels allowing the Word to dwell in us richly (See table above - Col 3:16-note). When our minds are saturated with, marinated by and yielded to God’s Holy Word and His Spirit's control, the fruit will show in our behavior (thoughts, words, actions, deeds). It is not a matter of available power (God's supplies are infinite) but of available will (my yielding is finite and often "flighty"). Too often we live our Christian lives as if we were yo-yo's on a string, sometimes up, sometimes down, in a state of spiritual flux (and unspiritual flesh)! By the Spirit’s power, all believers are enabled to walk (supernaturally) in a manner worthy of the calling with which [they] have been called (Ep 4:1-note) Adrian Rogers on filled with the Spirit - Imagine that a man had bought a new car. He invites his friends over to see the flawless paint job, to sit in the soft seats. But everywhere he goes, he has to push it, which can be extremely exhausting. So rather than being a good thing, his car is really more of a burden. But then one day, someone introduces him to the ignition (cf Acts 19:2). He discovers that if you put the car in "drive," it can surge forth in power. "Why didn't somebody tell me about this before?" he asks. "Nobody could be that dumb," you say—unless that person is a Christian who does not understand the power of the Holy Spirit of God. Many Christians don't understand that when they got saved, God implanted an engine into their salvation. I don't mean any disrespect by calling the Holy Spirit an engine, but He is the dynamism, the power of our Christian life. Some people are like the man and his car. Rather than salvation carrying them, they're the ones always pushing it, grinding out their Christian experience because they haven't yet discovered the wonderful Spirit-filled life. The Spirit will turn your drudgery into dynamism. Rather than making Christianity a burden, He will make it an empowering blessing to you. Suppose your pastor staggered into the pulpit one Sunday morning—thick-tongued, bleary-eyed, his hair disheveled, his clothes rumpled and wrinkled. Someone would say, "I think the pastor is sick." Then someone else who was closer in proximity to him would say, "No, he's drunk!" Tongues would wag. Meetings would be called. But the same Bible—the same verse—that says not to "get drunk with wine" also says to "be filled with the Spirit." It would be a greater sin for the pastor to show up not filled with the Spirit than to show up drunk. You may not agree with my statement that it would be better for someone to be drunk than to not be filled with the Spirit. But the Bible says it is a greater sin to fail to do what you ought to do, than to do what you ought not. And because you can only do one thing at a time, if you do what you ought to do, you can't be doing what you ought not to do. By the way, I believe far more harm is done in our churches by people who are not Spirit-filled than by people who are drunks. Far more harm is done by people who are trying to do the work of God in their own flesh...The first reason for being filled with the Holy Spirit is obedience....Being filled with the Spirit is not a good idea, not a suggestion. It is an imperative if we are to be obedient to the Lord. The second reason for being filled is because of your obligations, to help you accomplish the tasks that are before you. Many people think, "If I just knew what I was supposed to do, then I'd have it made." No, just knowing what to do is not enough. You also need the power to do what you know you ought to do. You can't do it alone. You need the Spirit's empowerment....How can you be filled with the Spirit? It is not your responsibility to persuade God to fill you with His Spirit. Many people think, "If I could just persuade God to fill me with His Spirit, I could finally walk in victory." No, it is not your job to talk Him into it; it is your job to permit Him to do it. God wants to fill you with His Spirit. It is His desire to do so. He longs for you to live in the power, freedom, and victory that He alone can provide you. If you have trusted him for salvation through Jesus Christ, His Spirit already lives within you. Now let Him have all of you. One of the requirements for being filled with the Holy Spirit is that we bow to Him in full surrender. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be filled with His life, the Spirit of the living God. Is there any area of your life that is out of bounds to the Holy Spirit? Your financial life? Your sexual life? Your personal life? Your career ambitions? Your recreational hobbies? Anything? Anywhere? To be filled with the Spirit means that there is a Person who is completely occupying the temple, the sanctuary of your life—every room, every desk drawer, the key to every closet. Everything now belongs to Him. That's what it means—a complete commitment. You just turn the keys over to Him. Are you ready to do that? (What Every Christian Ought to Know Day by Day) Wayne Detzler on filled with the Spirit - Blow into a child’s balloon, and the air penetrates to every part. Soon it is round and large, and it becomes a source of delight to the child. (When it bursts, of course, it may bring more distress than delight to the adults!) The balloon is useless until it has been blown up; it is just a flabby rubber disc. Christians, too, are only spiritually successful when they are filled with the Spirit. The word translated ‘Spirit’ is pneuma in Greek. We see it in such English relatives as ‘pneumatic’, a machine operated by air pressure. ‘Pneumonia’ is a disease affecting the lungs and hindering the breathing. This connection between the ‘Spirit’ and ‘air’ was also known to the Greeks. It is seen in the Lord’s word play: ‘The wind blows wherever it pleases…So it is with everyone born of the Spirit’ (John 3:8). Being filled with the Spirit is the privilege of every Christian, and the apostle gives some basic teaching in Ephesians 5:18. First, being filled with the Spirit is stated in command form. It is the responsibility of believers. One cannot simply sit back and wait for it to happen; being filled with the Spirit depends on the direct decision of believers. Just as eating is not automatic, so being filled with the Spirit requires the exertion of spiritual effort. Second, the command to be filled with the Spirit is stated in the plural. An American idiom might express this more clearly: ‘ “You all” be filled with the Spirit.’ Spirit fulness is not the prerogative of supersaints but the responsibility of all Christians. The Christian church can only adequately fulfil its function in the world when every member knows this Spirit fulness. Third, the command is stated in the passive voice. As the New English Bible translates this, it becomes clear: ‘Let the Holy Spirit fill you.’ It is similar to a container plunged into water. The container must do nothing except be empty. The water will rush in as a matter of course. Finally, this verse is couched in the present tense: ‘Be continually filled with the Spirit.’ Continual, progressive action is characteristic of the present tense in the Greek language. Being filled with the Spirit is not a single event at a specific time in the Christian’s life. It is the recurring joy of every Christian. In Bristol we have a major firm producing hot-air balloons. When the balloon is in flight it is repeatedly filled with hot air by a piece of onboard equipment. Christians are only kept aloft spiritually by the continuing fulness of the Spirit. Having stated the principle positively, one must also make two negative statements. ‘Filling’ with the Spirit is not the same as being sealed with the Spirit. The Ephesian Christians were already ‘sealed’ with the Spirit (Eph 1:13). Nevertheless they were capable of grieving the Spirit (Eph 4:30). They required the fulness of the Spirit. Second, this filling is also not synonymous with Spirit baptism. Corinthian Christians were baptized with the Holy Spirit (1Cor 12:13). The schismatic tendencies of the Corinthian church revealed with obvious clarity that they were not filled with the Spirit. Instead they were very worldly Christians indeed (1Cor 3:1–3). The fulness of the Spirit is not a one-time, automatic Christian experience to be grasped by faith. It is a progressive, daily responsibility of all believers to be seen in their behaviour. If you are filled with the Spirit, you know it. So does everyone else. (Living Words in Ephesians) In his devotional Ray Stedman sums up this section writing that "When you became a Christian, when you believed in Jesus Christ and received Him as your Lord, the Holy Spirit came to live in you. You have the Spirit, but the interesting paradox is that, though all Christians have the Holy Spirit, we constantly need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The filling of the Holy Spirit is the momentary taking from Him of the resources you need for the situation in which you are. It has nothing to do with an experience or a feeling or a crisis; it is a quiet drinking again and again of an inner supply of strength. This is a truth that many Christians seem to miss. They think that Christianity means coming to church, getting a blessing, and then going away to try to live in the light and warmth of the blessing until it leaks away, and then they must come back and get filled up again. But that is not Christianity. When Jesus said of the person who drinks of Him, "Out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water," John says, "By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive" (John 7:39a). That is the strengthening that comes from within, and there is plenty there for any situation. (Ephesians 5:15-20 Live Overflowingly) WHAT FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT DOES NOT MEAN Wayne