Ephesians 5:18-20 “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, (19) speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, (20) giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
So what about the passage of scripture quoted above, where the apostle Paul admonishes the saints to be filled with the Spirit? Many use this passage to encourage the saints to seek for multiple “fillings” of the Holy Spirit. But that is not what the apostle Paul is saying at all, for he does not tell the saints to seek to be filled with the Spirit, but rather just to continue being filled with the Spirit. In other words, those who have been baptized with the Spirit are already filled, and all they need to do is to rekindle the flame of the Holy Spirit that is already within them. The apostle Paul tells us in this passage how to remain filled with the Spirit, for he tells us to do so by speaking to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord. In fact the saints should always carry the anointing on them and have the fire of the Holy Spirit burning within them. This they can do themselves, and they do not need to go to someone else to “fill” them with some supernatural power. Many saints continually experience the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon and within them, and I can attest to that truth, for the tangible anointing of the Holy Spirit never leaves me for which I am ever thankful to the Lord.
Michael E.B. Maher
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