New Wine, part 2

Be filled with the Spirit…Ephesians 5:18

Strange. Paul in Ephesians 5:18 says to not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit. And on the Day of Pentecost those filled with the Spirit were thought to be drunk with wine. Strange.

Some people think this is true and should be sought after. They think we should be searching for that fullness of the Spirit that puts us into some kind of drunken stupor. Perhaps not.

Rather, perhaps being filled with the Spirit is not a single act but an ongoing state of being. According to the present tense of the Greek word ‘filled’ the verb could also be translated: ‘be always being filled with the Spirit.’ But we do not need to rewrite the Bible. We all know, once we are filled with the Spirit, we remain full.

Paul is simply explaining what being filled with the Spirit looks like in Ephesians, chapter 5. We walk in love, Verse 2.  We avoid sinful acts, Verses 3-5. We allow no one to deceive us, Verse 6. We walk as children of the light, Verse 8. We walk circumspectly, not as fools walk, Verse 15. We remain full of the Spirit, Verse 18. 

In other words, as new creatures in Christ we are new wineskins filled with new wine. New wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved, Luke 5:38. Think not this is a new idea. God, in His wisdom, predicted this from the beginning. Then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain, and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine and your oil, Deuteronomy 11:14. 

This promise is repeated again and again, the promise of grain, wine, and oil. So, it must be important.