Living in the Spirit's Fullness...Continued from page 1

You probably noticed that when I asked the first question, there was a nervous ripple of laughter around the place. Then as I carried on in that same vein, it got quieter and quieter. Some of you are now thinking: I do believe he's serious, I do believe he's really asking us what difference did it make? 

Well, isn't that why we listen to the Word of God -- so that we might take it to heart, put it into operation and see transformation taking place in our lives? Obviously, that is the case, and I'm sure many of us have been taking the Word of God seriously. 

But I suspect that in taking it seriously, some have found it a bit of a struggle. If we honestly look at the way we tried to obey these instructions in Scripture, we found it was more difficult than we imagined. So let’s deal with the practical issue of how Paul’s instructions are realistically possible in our lives.

The key verse is Ephesians 5:18. This is what the verse says: "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. (Debauchery means all kinds of inappropriate and unacceptable behavior.  We know what happens when people get drunk.) Instead be filled with the Spirit."

The first question I want to try to answer for you if this: What does the Bible actually say in this passage about the practical means of living in obedience to what the Bible instructs? The operative word in this particular verse is the verb to be ‘filled’. Dependent on this verb, be filled, are four other words that follow immediately afterwards and they are called 'participles'.  The four are: singing, speaking, thanking and submitting. The Apostle Paul doesn't  suddenly, right of the blue, say, "Okay, you should be speaking this way, singing this way, thanking this way, submitting this way.” Instead he says that as a result of being 'filled with the Spirit' this is the natural repercussion. It will affect your singing, your speaking, your thanking, and your submitting. 

Then he focuses on the fourth of those participles, saying, "Now let me talk to you about 'submitting' and show you how submission is something that doesn't come naturally, any more than the kind of thanksgiving or the speaking or the singing that I'm talking about, doesn't come naturally.” Paul says that this submitting, which is the result of being filled with the Spirit, will work its way out into the relationship of wives to husbands, husbands to wives, children to parents, and parents to children. 

What he is saying, in effect, is this: healthy relationships, as taught in Scripture, are dependent upon us living in the fullness of the Spirit.” That’s the key!   Therefore, if realistically, we are to see these instructions work out in our lives, we are going to have a working knowledge of what it means to be living in the fullness of the Spirit.