The Filling Ministry of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:1–21)

The filling of the Holy Spirit could rightly be considered the centre of his work in the world today—the hub to which his other ministries connect and by which his other ministries are rightly experienced.  The Spirit has regenerated, indwelled, and sealed every believer. But it is the filling of the Spirit that helps us understand and celebrate those realities. The Spirit teaches. But it is his filling that empowers our recognition and reception of that education. The Spirit unifies. But it is when we are filled that we are able to appreciate and preserve that oneness.  To say it another way, the filling work of the Holy Spirit does not cause his other ministries but it does highlight them, uncover them, and empower God’s people to experience them. And Christians need that for maturity. If the goal is growth in godliness, believers must have the Spirit’s power and we must experience the Spirit’s work.