The Filling of the Holy Spirit

The filling of the Holy Spirit is the power by which we live the spiritual life. It is a grace gift from God. Without it, we can do nothing. This is why understanding how we obtain and retain His filling is crucial to our Christian life. There are four commands in scripture that explain our relationship with the Holy Spirit.

  1. Ephesians 5:18 commands us to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

  2. Galatians 5:16 commands us to walk in the Spirit.

  3. Ephesians 4:30 commands us not to grieve the Holy Spirit.

  4. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 commands us to not quench the Holy Spirit.

Notice that each of these verses are commands, not suggestions or encouragement. They are commands because they are the only way to live the spiritual life. Please read those passages and their chapter for context to better understand the rest of this message, for those passages reveal God’s protocol for living the Christian life.

Being in fellowship with God the Father is the door to the power of the Holy Spirit. For when we are in fellowship with the Father, we are in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. And the key to fellowship is having no unconfessed sins in our life. This key to fellowship pertains to post salvation sinning. Yes, God has judged all sin and we have been forgiven of our sin, but when we sin after salvation, we don’t lose our salvation, we lose our fellowship.

To illustrate this principle, allow me to give you an example from a story my husband tells of life on the farm when our children lived at home.

Our boys were responsible to feed the sheep, along with other animals they raised in 4-H. He tells the story of the sheep in particular to prove this point. You see, when sheep’s wool gets wet it gives off a very pungent, offensive smell, and if you were to brush against their wool, you will smell pungent too.

One rainy, Sunday morning on the way to church, the car began to fill with this pungent oder and my husband realized one of the boys had brushed against the wool of the sheep. It didn’t take long to figure out which one, and he had to removed - immediately. My husband turned the car around and made his son change his clothes to remove the smell before his son could return and ride in the car with everyone else.

This is a close example of what sin is to God. It is a pungent smell that needs immediate removal. And in that removal is loss of fellowship.

Until our son changed his clothes, he was not allowed in the car, nor was he allowed to come close to anyone in the family because the smell was so offensive. Did he get removed from the family? NO. Was he no longer his son? NO. But until he dealt with the smell, he could not return to his father’s presence.

When we offend God, we fall out of fellowship until we deal with our sin, because in His perfect righteousness, God cannot have fellowship with sin. (Habakkuk 1:13)

For our son, the answer to regaining fellowship was to change his clothes.

For the Christian, the answer is found in 1 John 1:9…

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Once we confess our known sins, God cleanses us from ALL unrighteousness, and we are then back in fellowship. Notice the verse does not say to feel sorry for our sins, or lament. the Greek word used in the original text is homologeo, which means to site or name.

So, in our four commands above, we are to ~

  1. Be filled with the Spirit - have no unconfessed sins.

  2. Walk in the Spirit - continually be in fellowship with the Spirit vs fellowship with the flesh by sin.

  3. Not grieve the Holy Spirit - because of unconfessed sins in our life.

  4. Not quench the Holy Spirit - because of perpetual sinning for an extended time.

So, we see that being filled with the Holy Spirit happens when we have no unconfessed sin, and when we are filled, we operate from the power of the Holy Spirit, not from our flesh.

And this is where the battle begins!

Satan does not want us in fellowship with God - ever. Because when we are OUT of fellowship, we are powerless, without God’s protection, and fall prey to Satan’s schemes. We are in effect, neutralized as believers in our witness, our spiritual growth, and our impact to be God’s salt & light.

Satan’s greatest weapons is to knock us out of fellowship ever so slightly that we often don’t realize we have sinned. This is why it’s important to keep short accounts with God and take time each day to confess any known sins, so that the ones we missed will also be forgiven.

Let’s not give Satan a foothold (Ephesians 4:27). There is no in between. We are either walking in the Spirit of Truth or walking in the flesh.

If you are not already doing so, my prayer for you is that you make time every day to pray, and make sure you start your prayer with confession so that you will be filled with the Spirit and God will hear your prayers. See what scripture says…

  • Proverbs 15:29 - The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

  • John 9:31 - We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does His will.

  • 1 Peter 3:12 - For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer.

Take Care, and God Bless,

Gloria Fennimore