FILLED, ANOINTED, ILLUMINATED, AND PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT

 

 

What does it mean to be “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18)? Isn’t it like being pregnant? Either you are or aren’t. It’s not a matter of degree. Either you have the Spirit or you don’t.

 

I’d like to suggest that being “filled with the Spirit” is to be filled with the things of the Spirit, especially the Word, the sword of the Spirit:

• and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, (Ephesians 6:17–18)

 

The sword of the Spirit is the Bible since He authored it. Therefore, it also seems likely that “praying at all times in the Spirit” could be understood as “praying according to the will of God as expressed through His Word?” Besides, Paul asks us to pray in this matter for all the saints. This means that we must pray with understanding (1 Corinthians 14:15). This is something that cannot be done with the gift of tongues.

 

Ephesians tells us to be “filled with the Spirit,” seems to be something we do when we fill ourselves with the Words of the Spirit as these parallel verses in Colossians suggest:

 

Ephes. 5:18-22 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,     20always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…     22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

Col. 3:16-18 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.   17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.   18Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

 

“Filled with the Spirit” in Ephesians seems to equate with the parallel verse: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16). Therefore, to be filled with the Spirit is to be filled with His Words.

 

Is the Spirit the Author of the Word of God? There are many verses that indicate this:

• Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. (1 Peter 1:10–12)

 

The prophets prophesied by the Spirit and those who preached the good news by the Spirit also wrote by the Spirit—the Words of the Bible:

 

• knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation [“understanding” NLT]. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20–21; Acts 1:16)

 

It seems that the Spirit will bear witness to Jesus with Words as had the Apostles:

• “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.” (John 15:26–27; 14:27)

 

According to Paul, every Word of the Scriptures had been inspired by God, presumably through the Spirit:

• All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17)

 
What is the “witness of the Spirit?” Again, it seems to be the Word He authored:

• And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” then he [the Spirit] adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” (Hebrews 10:15–17; quoting Jeremiah 31:31-34; also 3:7)

 

Also, each letter to the churches closes with: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2:7).

 

The witness of the Spirit also requires the illumination of the Spirit:

• these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. (1 Corinthians 2:10–15)

 

The spiritual person is the one who has the Spirit who illuminates the truths of God. Without the Spirit, the truths of the Bible seem foolish and will not be properly comprehended or appreciated:

• But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. (1 John 2:20; 27)

 

The Spirit anoints us to understand His Word. Without the renewal and regeneration of the Spirit, we walk in the darkness. It is therefore not a leap of faith to conclude that the Holy Spirit works largely, but not exclusively, in conjunction to His Word.