“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”
My Notes
What Does Ephesians 5:18 Mean?
Paul draws a contrast between two forms of being filled: drunk with wine (excess, loss of control) versus filled with the Spirit (fullness of divine presence). The comparison is deliberate — both involve being under an influence. The question is which influence governs you.
"Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess" — the Greek (asotia) means dissipation, wastefulness, reckless living. Drunkenness leads to a loss of self that is destructive. The excess is the squandering of capacity.
"But be filled with the Spirit" — the alternative filling. The Spirit does not produce excess and waste. The Spirit produces worship (v.19), thanksgiving (v.20), and mutual submission (v.21). The fullness of the Spirit is as total as drunkenness — but the results are opposite.
The verb "be filled" (plerousthe) is present tense, passive, and imperative: keep being filled, let yourself be filled, be continuously filled. The filling is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing, sustained, repeated experience — a lifestyle of Spirit-saturation.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How does the wine/Spirit contrast describe two competing influences for control of your life?
- 2.What does 'be filled' as present tense and continuous mean for the Spirit-filled life?
- 3.How do the results of Spirit-filling (v.19-21) — worship, gratitude, submission — describe a transformed life?
- 4.What is currently filling the space that the Spirit should occupy?
Devotional
Be not drunk with wine. Do not let alcohol control you. Do not surrender your capacity to a substance that produces waste and reckless living. The drunkenness is not just a moral issue. It is a control issue — what are you handing yourself over to?
But be filled with the Spirit. The alternative is not emptiness. It is a different filling. Instead of wine filling you and producing excess, the Spirit fills you and produces worship. The control is transferred — from a substance that destroys to a presence that transforms.
Be filled. Present tense — keep being filled. Passive — let yourself be filled, receive the filling. Imperative — this is a command, not a suggestion. The filling of the Spirit is not optional Christianity. It is commanded, ongoing, and received.
The results of Spirit-filling follow immediately (v.19-21): speaking in psalms and hymns, singing and making melody in your heart, giving thanks always, submitting to one another. The Spirit-filled life is not just powerful. It is musical, grateful, and relational.
What are you filled with? Something is always occupying the space. The question is not whether you will be influenced. It is which influence will govern. Wine fills and produces waste. The Spirit fills and produces worship.
The command is continuous: be being filled. Not once. Perpetually. The Spirit-filled life is not a peak experience you look back on. It is a sustained saturation that produces a different kind of living — every day, ongoing, as commanded.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Giving thanks always for all things,.... For things temporal, for our beings, and the preservation of them, and for all…
And be not drunk with wine - A danger to which they were exposed and a vice to which those around them were much…
Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess - This is a farther allusion to the Bacchanalian mysteries; in them his…
These verses contain a caution against all manner of uncleanness, with proper remedies and arguments proposed: some…
drunk with wine Cp. for similar cautions, Pro 20:1; Pro 23:30-31; Luk 21:34; Rom 13:13; 1Co 5:11; 1Co 6:10; Gal 5:21;…
Cross References
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