Ephesians 3:14-21
How Do We Get More of Holy Spirit?
Some believe we can get more of God’s Spirit over time. However, the Bible tells us that God has given every believer Holy Spirit in full. John 14:23. “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him.
What this means for us is there is no need for a second portion or second blessing from Holy Spirit. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus and we have everything we need for life and godliness 2 Peter 1:3-4 and Ephesians 1:3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places
Remember John 14:23 said ‘we’ That is to say the Father, Son and Holy Spirit indwells every believer John 17:23; Ephesians 1:14. Speaking about Jesus the Christ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory.
They have made their home within us. We have received every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. We have everything we need for life and godliness. So, to say we need more of God’s Spirit is to ignore all we already have in Him.
Of course, there are times we may feel like we need more of God but our feelings can deceive us. Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it?
When we do feel as though we want more of God, we can make the conscious decision to trust the reality of God’s indwelling presence within us. God’s presence is a fact, not a feeling. We learn to walk by the Spirit more and more over time but we do not obtain more of the Spirit. We have all we need.
What Then Does It Mean To Walk By The Spirit?
Walking by the Spirit Galatians 5:16 is simply trusting Jesus in us to produce the fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5:22-23…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;
Walking by the Spirit should not be confused with being ‘in’ the Spirit, which is a reference to our salvation.
All Christians are always in the Spirit Romans 8:9, You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. We are always in the spirit but we don’t always walk by the Spirit.
When a person believes in Jesus, we are planted in Holy Spirit. This is our new spiritual location. We cannot become more ‘in’ the Spirit over time just as we cannot receive more of God’s Spirit.
When we believe, we are made new and bonded to the Holy Spirit 1 Corinthians 6:17 …he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.
Titus 3:5 He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
Does this union with Holy Spirit mean we simply stand around and do nothing? No it doesn’t. It releases us to make choices that align with the heart of Holy Spirit who lives within us. In other words, we can now walk by the Spirit. And Paul’s logic in Galatians 5:25 is: ‘If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit’
We don’t have to be planted ‘in’ the Spirit again and again, or more and more. We believers are forever ‘in’ the Spirit. But instead we get to live daily from our union with Jesus and make decisions to express or evidence Him in our lives. When we do this, we are ‘walking by the Spirit.’
What Does It Mean to Be Filled With The Spirit?
Some believe that being ‘filled with the Spirit’ is about having a certain spiritual gift like tongues or prophecy. They imagine being ‘filled with the Spirit’ to mean getting more of God’s Spirit, a second blessing or an extra anointing.
Ephesians however, is clear that being ‘filled with the Spirit’ is simply knowing the love of Christ and being inspired by His great love. Ephesians 3:19 …to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 5:18 …do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery but be filled with the Spirit is the only N.T. passage that explicitly commands Christians to be ‘filled with the Spirit.’ The original Gk literally means ‘be being filled’ In other words, Paul is saying we already have the Spirit but now we can allow the Spirit to continuously inspire us.
How do we let the Spirit influence us?, in Ephesians 3:18-19 Here, Paul says believers can know the love of Christ and thereby be filled with all the ‘fullness of God.’ So, being ‘filled with the Spirit’ means to know the love of Christ after salvation.
This is why Paul compares being filled with the Spirit with being drunk on wine. Why do people look to too much wine? To relax them, freedom and give them rest.
What does the love of Christ do for us? It relaxes us, affirms our freedom in Him and gives us rest.
This is why the book of Acts cites people who were “filled with the Spirit” (inspired by God’s love) and then shared the Gospel in human languages (Acts 2:4), addressed rulers with boldness Acts 4:8, spoke the Word of God with confidence Acts 4:31, served food at tables Acts 6:3, preached to those persecuting them Acts 7:55, encouraged people with the Gospel Acts 11:24, challenged a deceiver Acts 13:52 and experienced joy despite persecution Acts 13:52
How Can We better follow Jesus
We often hear ‘we need to follow Jesus’ but this is not the most accurate way to portray our relationship with Him. The term ‘follow’ implies an external following of Jesus rather than an internal leading of Holy Spirit. For the believer, relating to Jesus is about living from our spiritual union with Him 1 Corinthians 6:17 and being led internally by His Spirit Galatians 5:18.
Jesus told His disciples to follow Him Mark 8:34. So, it might seem right to talk about following Jesus today, but relationship with Jesus is different for a new covenant believer. When Jesus expressed those words in Mark 8, He was literally standing in front of people and inviting them to follow Him during His earthly ministry. Today, we live on the other side of the cross under the new covenant of God’s grace not under law.
Under this new covenant, that Jesus inaugurated through His death Luke 22:20 …new covenant in my blood, Jesus leads us internally, instead of externally Ezekiel 36:26-27 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
The Lord is one with us in spirit So, while it’s true that we do still ‘follow’ Jesus, we are led internally as we enjoy a vine-branches union with Him all the time. John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
So, how can we ‘follow’ Jesus better? We can recognise His presence within us and learn what to expect from His Spirit. We then choose to express Him in our attitudes and actions.
This fruit-bearing is not going to occur by us thinking we must follow a religious teacher from 2,000 years ago. No, we ‘follow’ the risen Christ who indwells us, empowers, enables and leads us from within.
So go live in the fullness of life that Christ has purchased and secured for every believer