Under the Influence

Paul wrote "be not drunk with wine" but rather "be filled with the Spirit" (Eph 5:18). In contrast to a person may be "under the influence" of alcohol, Paul encourages believers to be "under the direct influence" of the indwelling "Spirit of Christ" and "redeem the time" (v16). This we do as a matter of choice, to yield or not yield to His Spirit moving within us. The "Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" (Rom 8:2) within us is alive to express Christ's will and power in accord with His loving nature as He prompts us, constrains us and guides us from within our spirit.

We can be thankful that Christ is alive and being expressed by His Spirit, which is so close at hand... within our spirits. We need to willingly be fully under the influence of "His Spirit of life," depending upon Him to guide and move our souls as He wills in all our doings.

"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13)

We should not confuse our relationship with "the Spirit" with what occurred at Pentecost.

  • The Israelite believers at Pentecost "were all (supernaturally) filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:4), who obviously overwhelmed their souls with the Spirit influence.
  • By contrast, "Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles" never says the members of "the Body of Christ" are automatically already "filled with the Holy Spirit." That is, we in our souls, are not automatically filled with the Spirit... however, we are filled in soul whenever we are yielded to trust Him... and we will know this by the sense of genuine rest and peace in our then Christ-flooded soul.

It is surely clear from the record that the believing Corinthians and the Galatians that Paul wrote of were not permanently and fully filled with the Spirit's influence in their souls. Paul's letters to these churches contain a record of rebuke and correction, so obviously these believers were not "filled with the Spirit" as they were at Pentecost.

So we today are not all "filled with the Spirit" as a matter of automatic fact

  • Christ as the "Spirit of Christ" does indeed fully dwell within our human spirit making us "One Spirit" with Christ  (Rom 8:9-10, 1Cor 6:17).
  • But we, as an individual soul-self, must daily appropriate Him by faith, communing with Him and trusting Him in us as our new spontaneous life, and as "the Lord" to govern our soul's walk.

Here below Paul tells us how we may exercise ourselves to come under the influence of the Spirit within us.

"Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19 Speaking to yourselves (your soul-self) in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; (Ephesians 5:16-19)

"And be renewed in the spirit of your (soul's) mind; (Ephesians 4:23)

Today, the filling of our soul with the Spirit is now in accord with our desire to know Him, to yield to Him, and to walk with Him... then we enjoy the fullness of "Christ Who Is Our life" (Col 3:4a).

The Apostle Paul, by inspiration, sets these statements below before us, exhorting us to "be filled with the Spirit" and thereby enjoy... His righteousness life flowing through our soul, and be filled with His knowledge and "ALL the fulness of God":

  • "Be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18),
  • as he exhorts and prays for believers, that they may be "filled with the fruits of righteousness" (Phil. 1:11);
  • "filled with the knowledge of His will" (Col. 1:9);
  • "filled with all the fulness of God" (Eph. 3:19);
  • yet none of us today have been filled in soul with any of these.

None of us today is automatically filled in our soul with any of these attributes noted above, though they are latent in our spirit. Thus Paul tells Timothy to "stir up" that Gift that is within you. This requires our willingness to maintain our union with Him, the union of our soul with Him in our spirit.

He is the one who "satisfies the hungry soul.

9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. (Psalm 107:9)
7 ... to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. (Prov 27:7b)

Every believer have access to enjoy His fullness to satisfy their souls. Yet its of our heart's desire expressed to willingly choose to receive of, yield to, and walk in accord with the indwelling, "Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus" (Gal 5:16, 18, 25, Rom 8:2a).

So we as members of "the body of Christ" today must first recognize that today we do have "the Spirit of Christ" WITHIN US forever... every moment of everyday!

This is far different from them at Pentecost, Then the Spirit "endued (clothed)" (Luke 24:49) or only "came UPON" those "Ye men of Israel." The Israelite Messianic believers gathered in the upper room at Pentecost were all "filled with the Spirit," when the Spirit came upon them to "endue them with power" to offer "the gospel of the kingdom" on earth.  But at Pentecost, and with the OT saints, the Spirit's very presence was transient... thus David said "take not thy Holy Spirit from me" (Psalm 51:11). Note that in Acts Peter and the believers prayed and they were REfilled with the Holy Spirit, beginning again to "speak (again) with boldness" (Act 4:31). 

Our souls as expression today is meant to be an extension of Christ within our spirit, but this is not automatic. It is only according to our soul's willingness to yield and submit to the indwelling "Spirit of Christ" within us. So yes, we are complete "in Him" (Col 2:10-11) and by Him indwelling our human spirit (Col 1:27), but our soul's mind, emotion and will must be yielded to His moving within our spirits.

The believers of Paul's mystery "gospel of the grace of God" (Act 20:24) for this day of the "dispensation of the grace of God" (Eph 3:2) are literally and eternally "one Spirit" (1Cor 6:17).  

Christ is ever-present within us as our very life... "the Spirit of life" within their spirit... but this does not mean we are continually automatically under the influence of "the Spirit" in our souls.

Thus, Paul wrote;

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the Renewing of your Mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:1-2)

Moreover, while it is distinctly stated, again and again, that the Pentecostal believers were, or were to be, baptized with the Spirit, NOT once does Paul in his epistles teach that members of "the Body of Christ" are baptized with or in the Spirit.

Instead, Paul exhorts those of "the body of Christ" to appropriate God's grace "by faith" so that they may be filled with the Spirit so as to be guided and empowered by His indwelling "Spirit of life."