In Ephesians 5:18 it’s written: “… be filled with the Spirit.” This is a simple and good advice. If you’re not filled with the Holy Spirit, then you won’t be able to stand against the spirit of the times. Then you’re attracted to the world, and Satan gets power over your life. Your spirit begins to taste of the world; it tastes of earthly things rather than the things from heaven. So how can you be filled with the Spirit?
The Spirit of Jesus is heavenly. So even when He was on the earth, He still belonged to heaven. He loved His Father and His Father’s will. It was the Father who led Him the whole way and judged sin in His flesh. (Romans 8:3.) It was the Father who gave Him light, who revealed things to Him. He came to the earth because of sin, to help us.
Jesus only did the Father’s will His whole life and He offered Himself in the power of the eternal Spirit. And that was the Spirit that He gave back to the disciples on the day of Pentecost. God really wanted to show people that this was the beginning of a new time. So the Spirit came with a sound from heaven, like a strong wind. Then those who were in Jerusalem saw that people were speaking in other languages, etc. God wanted to show that this was a new time, with new opportunities for people to share in the same life that Jesus had come to.
The Spirit is power
And that’s why Paul says, “Be filled with the Spirit.” Because when you get the power of this Spirit in you, then you’re able to live a heavenly life here on earth; instead of living a life of fighting and arguing and envy and jealousy. These are the things that normal, earthly people live in. Because their whole life is attracted to the earth. But you can get a new mind – a heavenly mind, with a new spirit! A spirit has to do with thoughts, so the Holy Spirit gives you new thoughts!
God’s Spirit is in Jesus’ commandments and in everything that He has said – in God’s Word. So when you obey Jesus’ commandments, then the Spirit comes to you! Then you get the power of the Spirit! Because it’s written that He gives His Spirit to those who obey Him. So if you obey Him, you will be filled with the Spirit! Then you get a great help in life.
It can feel like a huge fire when you are tempted to do sin. It takes a “heavenly fire” to stop that. And that “heavenly fire” is the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s the heavenly power that fights against everything that comes from our sinful human nature. The Holy Spirit burns and destroys everything that belongs to a sinful, earthly life so that it becomes just like ash.
The Spirit is life
But the Spirit also creates life! He creates life in your spirit. You get a connection with the living God! The Spirit brings you light. Light streams into your mind. Light and glory. All light comes from God. All darkness comes from the devil. With that light you become happy and satisfied. You can speak to one another with songs of praise, as it’s written in Ephesians 5:19. And there is laughter and joy in your heart. We who once lived in all kinds of different sins and were sinners right from the beginning, we now get a new life through the Spirit.
Then you become a work of God. God begins to build you up. He works in you, both to will and to do. (Philippians 2:13.) And the new life that comes out, that’s an eternal life. Eternal life! And the life and riches that you get in your spirit will stay with you forever. What a fantastic calling we have when we seek God. He wants to give us heavenly bodies. Then we’ll be able to rule together with Jesus Christ in eternity! (Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Corinthians 15:42-44,49.)