And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
The verse forbids being drunk with wine because wine brings excess, calling for refusal of every course that wastes vitality, weakens strength, or clouds the mind in order to glorify God in body and spirit which are His, and it commands instead to be filled with the Spirit who alone gives true healing and lasting peace rather than the fleeting excitement of stimulants. The warning reaches wine, intoxicating liquor, tobacco, and cider, which can intoxicate like stronger drinks, destroy sound judgment, enslave to sensual passion, and hinder growth in grace, and it forbids selfish indulgence in eating and drinking, even in moderation that cultivates appetite for stimulants and leads toward drunkenness. The command to be filled is also a promise that when the whole heart is surrendered the Spirit will be given to dwell within, even as He was given without measure to Jesus, and being filled means giving Him perfect control over soul, body, and spirit to keep the body in health and the heart pure for perfect service to God. Being filled requires being emptied of self, ceasing to talk of self, flatter self, pity self, and exalt self, so that Jesus fills the soul, takes away sin, molds fierce passions and defects of character, and gives a new motive power in the likeness of God with fresh testimony and prayer in the Spirit. The Spirit-filled life wakes to light and walks wisely redeeming the time, having no fellowship with works of darkness but reproving them, speaking in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thanksgiving and mutual submission, turning to song rather than anger when provoked, and in marriage showing wives submitting as the church to Christ and husbands loving as Christ loved the church.
Meaning of the Contrast
Ephesians 5:18 forbids becoming drunk with wine because wine brings excess, and this means refusing every course that expends vitality, decreases strength, or beclouds the intellect. Such a course sins against God and fails to glorify Him in body and spirit, which are His by purchase through the sufferings and death of the Son of God. To be filled with the Spirit instead is to be set against that excess and brought under a sanctifying control that keeps life sober, clear-minded, and devoted to God.
The warning covers wine, intoxicating liquor, tobacco, and cider, which are wholly unnecessary to Christian growth. Even wine and cider can intoxicate just as stronger drinks do, destroying sound judgment and bringing a person under the control of sensual passions. Drinking intoxicating liquor places a person wholly under the control of the evil power that devised stimulants to deface and destroy the moral image of God in man. A religious person who loves and uses these stimulants does not grow in grace, and virtue is not cherished. The prohibition also forbids selfish indulgence in eating and drinking. It applies even to moderate drinking, which can gradually cultivate a taste for stimulants, undermine resolution and reason, and lead toward drunkenness and the sacrifice of principle.
True healing and refreshment for body and soul come from being filled with the Spirit, not from the excitement or oblivion of stimulants or from indulging lower appetites and passions. Selfish pleasure gives only temporary hilarity, which fades and leaves discontent and despondency. The Spirit points instead to lasting peace and rest in Christ.
Promise of Being Filled
The command to be filled with the Spirit is also a promise that its fulfillment is certain. When the whole heart is surrendered for His indwelling, the Spirit is given to dwell within. As the Spirit was given to Jesus without measure, God delights to give abundantly to those who seek Him, and those who seek the Lord with all their heart will be filled.
Being filled means giving the Spirit perfect control over all actions and feeling His sanctifying influence on the heart. It is coming under divine control, with soul, body, and spirit devoted to doing God's will, trusting God and using sanctified words by the Spirit's help. So filled, the body is preserved holy and the spirit pure and unstained amid surrounding corruption and defilement, and the body is kept in the very best condition of health without selfishness in order to honor God on earth and render Him perfect service.
Being filled requires being emptied of self so that Jesus fills the soul. Clinging to Jesus as the only hope and helper, losing sight of self, and giving up talking of self, flattering self, pitying self, and extolling self opens the way for Him to come in and work without self being exalted. Then words are of Jesus, of His love and of His power, testimony is fresh and not stale or spiritless, prayer is in the Spirit, and the soul is free in Christ. In this way more than forgiveness of sins is given, for sin is taken away and the empty place is filled with divine light and joy in God, as God's grace educates and molds fierce passions and defects of character until the person has a new motive power in the likeness of God.
The promised influence of the Spirit can accompany living witnesses as they use their abilities in sanctified unity to build Christ's kingdom and make salvation known. The character of that work is for laborers with God to exercise mental powers with purpose to make those within their influence wise and better, to uplift and strengthen the weak, and to make straight paths for the feet lest the lame be turned aside. Careless inaction and neglected abilities deprive the world of that influence.
Fruit in Life Together
Being filled belongs to waking to light as one who was darkness but is now light in the Lord. It is walking circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. It is understanding what the will of the Lord is.
The Spirit-filled life has no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but reproves them. It puts away corrupt and worthless talk from the lips, with no place for foolish talking. It is expressed in speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in the heart to the Lord. It gives thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, and submits to one another in the fear of God. A pure heart filled with love and devotion in songs of praise and thanksgiving thus glorifies God and strengthens and comforts fellow believers, and is far more acceptable to God than foolish talking.
In the face of harsh or faultfinding words, the Spirit-filled response is to turn to the Lord in song rather than answering in anger, giving thanks to God and submitting to one another in reverence for God. This same instruction is the only way husband and wife can glorify God in their united life, and gives lessons for the guidance of every married man and every married woman. In marriage it means wives submit to their own husbands as to the Lord, as the church is subject to Christ. Husbands love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, holy and without blemish. This calls for searching the heart as with a lighted candle, putting away self-conceit, and for a husband to show his wife special favor and be faithful.
The verse forbids being drunk with wine because wine brings excess, calling for refusal of every course that wastes vitality, weakens strength, or clouds the mind in order to glorify God in body and spirit which are His, and it commands instead to be filled with the Spirit who alone gives true healing and lasting peace rather than the fleeting excitement of stimulants. The warning reaches wine, intoxicating liquor, tobacco, and cider, which can intoxicate like stronger drinks, destroy sound judgment, enslave to sensual passion, and hinder growth in grace, and it forbids selfish indulgence in eating and drinking, even in moderation that cultivates appetite for stimulants and leads toward drunkenness. The command to be filled is also a promise that when the whole heart is surrendered the Spirit will be given to dwell within, even as He was given without measure to Jesus, and being filled means giving Him perfect control over soul, body, and spirit to keep the body in health and the heart pure for perfect service to God. Being filled requires being emptied of self, ceasing to talk of self, flatter self, pity self, and exalt self, so that Jesus fills the soul, takes away sin, molds fierce passions and defects of character, and gives a new motive power in the likeness of God with fresh testimony and prayer in the Spirit. The Spirit-filled life wakes to light and walks wisely redeeming the time, having no fellowship with works of darkness but reproving them, speaking in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thanksgiving and mutual submission, turning to song rather than anger when provoked, and in marriage showing wives submitting as the church to Christ and husbands loving as Christ loved the church.
Meaning of the Contrast
Ephesians 5:18 forbids becoming drunk with wine because wine brings excess, and this means refusing every course that expends vitality, decreases strength, or beclouds the intellect. Such a course sins against God and fails to glorify Him in body and spirit, which are His by purchase through the sufferings and death of the Son of God. To be filled with the Spirit instead is to be set against that excess and brought under a sanctifying control that keeps life sober, clear-minded, and devoted to God.
The warning covers wine, intoxicating liquor, tobacco, and cider, which are wholly unnecessary to Christian growth. Even wine and cider can intoxicate just as stronger drinks do, destroying sound judgment and bringing a person under the control of sensual passions. Drinking intoxicating liquor places a person wholly under the control of the evil power that devised stimulants to deface and destroy the moral image of God in man. A religious person who loves and uses these stimulants does not grow in grace, and virtue is not cherished. The prohibition also forbids selfish indulgence in eating and drinking. It applies even to moderate drinking, which can gradually cultivate a taste for stimulants, undermine resolution and reason, and lead toward drunkenness and the sacrifice of principle.
True healing and refreshment for body and soul come from being filled with the Spirit, not from the excitement or oblivion of stimulants or from indulging lower appetites and passions. Selfish pleasure gives only temporary hilarity, which fades and leaves discontent and despondency. The Spirit points instead to lasting peace and rest in Christ.
Promise of Being Filled
The command to be filled with the Spirit is also a promise that its fulfillment is certain. When the whole heart is surrendered for His indwelling, the Spirit is given to dwell within. As the Spirit was given to Jesus without measure, God delights to give abundantly to those who seek Him, and those who seek the Lord with all their heart will be filled.
Being filled means giving the Spirit perfect control over all actions and feeling His sanctifying influence on the heart. It is coming under divine control, with soul, body, and spirit devoted to doing God's will, trusting God and using sanctified words by the Spirit's help. So filled, the body is preserved holy and the spirit pure and unstained amid surrounding corruption and defilement, and the body is kept in the very best condition of health without selfishness in order to honor God on earth and render Him perfect service.
Being filled requires being emptied of self so that Jesus fills the soul. Clinging to Jesus as the only hope and helper, losing sight of self, and giving up talking of self, flattering self, pitying self, and extolling self opens the way for Him to come in and work without self being exalted. Then words are of Jesus, of His love and of His power, testimony is fresh and not stale or spiritless, prayer is in the Spirit, and the soul is free in Christ. In this way more than forgiveness of sins is given, for sin is taken away and the empty place is filled with divine light and joy in God, as God's grace educates and molds fierce passions and defects of character until the person has a new motive power in the likeness of God.
The promised influence of the Spirit can accompany living witnesses as they use their abilities in sanctified unity to build Christ's kingdom and make salvation known. The character of that work is for laborers with God to exercise mental powers with purpose to make those within their influence wise and better, to uplift and strengthen the weak, and to make straight paths for the feet lest the lame be turned aside. Careless inaction and neglected abilities deprive the world of that influence.
Fruit in Life Together
Being filled belongs to waking to light as one who was darkness but is now light in the Lord. It is walking circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. It is understanding what the will of the Lord is.
The Spirit-filled life has no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but reproves them. It puts away corrupt and worthless talk from the lips, with no place for foolish talking. It is expressed in speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in the heart to the Lord. It gives thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, and submits to one another in the fear of God. A pure heart filled with love and devotion in songs of praise and thanksgiving thus glorifies God and strengthens and comforts fellow believers, and is far more acceptable to God than foolish talking.
In the face of harsh or faultfinding words, the Spirit-filled response is to turn to the Lord in song rather than answering in anger, giving thanks to God and submitting to one another in reverence for God. This same instruction is the only way husband and wife can glorify God in their united life, and gives lessons for the guidance of every married man and every married woman. In marriage it means wives submit to their own husbands as to the Lord, as the church is subject to Christ. Husbands love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, holy and without blemish. This calls for searching the heart as with a lighted candle, putting away self-conceit, and for a husband to show his wife special favor and be faithful.