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To make the point clear: A glass may be filled with a tap but no one would imagine
that afterwards the tap would be found in the glass. The tap fills the glass and here the
Holy Spirit can fill the believer. The tap fills the glass with water but with what does the
Holy Spirit fill the believer? The immediate context does not supply the answer but
earlier, Paul had prayed:
". . . . . that He would grant you . . . . . to know the love of Christ, which passeth
knowledge, that ye might be filled (pleroo) with all the fullness of God" (Eph. 3: 16-
19).
Here Paul prays that each individual may be filled with the fullness of God, i.e. each
individual filled to the maximum of his capacity for no human being could ever contain
all the fullness of God. Can believers achieve this filling themselves or do they need
assistance? Obviously they need help and the One Who provides it is the Spirit.
". . . . . that He would grant, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with
might by His Spirit in the inner man . . . . . that ye might be filled with all the fullness of
God" (Eph. 3: 16-19).
It is significant that this word pleroo, to fill, is found in three other prayers in the
epistles written after Acts 28: 28. Consider the following:
". . . . . this I pray, that . . . . . ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;
being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1: 9-11).
"For this cause we . . . . . pray that ye might be filled with the knowledge (or
acknowledgment) of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" (Col. 1: 9).
"Epaphras . . . . . labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and
complete (filled full) in all the will of God" (Col. 4: 12).
If any of us are to be filled to the fullness of our capacity with the fullness of God; if
any of us are to be fill with the fruits of righteousness; if any of us are to be filled with
the knowledge of His will and the acknowledgment of it, we cannot do it in our own
strength. We cannot fill ourselves but the Holy Spirit can and will. However the initial
desire and effort must come from us. Is there anything we can do? An answer may be
provided by comparing closely two passages of Scripture:
"Be filled with the Spirit speaking to
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you
yourselves in psalms and hymns and
richly in all wisdom;
teaching and
spiritual songs, singing and making
admonishing one another in psalms and
melody in your heart to the Lord; giving
hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
thanks always for all things unto God and
grace in your hearts to the Lord. And
the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus
whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all
Christ; submitting yourselves one to
in the name of our Lord Jesus, giving
another in the fear of God. Wives . . ."
thanks to God and the Father by Him.
(Eph. 5: 18-22).
Wives submit . . ." (Col. 3: 16-18).
The parallels here are so close that many have decided that "to be filled with the
Spirit" is synonymous with "let the word of Christ dwell in you richly". This may not be
strictly correct but the two expressions must be closely related and perhaps the first step a
believer must take in observing the command to "be filled with the Spirit" is to "let the
word of Christ dwell" in him richly. Here "the word of Christ" does not refer exclusively