Key scripture and commentary. Listed in alphabetical order.
Ephesians 5:18
“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.“
The word dissipation here refers to reckless, wasteful, morally uncontrolled living- behavior that lacks restraint and leads to run. In the original Greek, the word is asotia, which carries the idea of debauchery, excessive indulgence in sinful pleasures, especially those involving sensuality, immorality, and lack of self-control.
Drunkenness leads to dissipation. Being filled with the Spirit- leads to self-control and godly living.
Paul is saying: Don’t let alcohol control you and lead you into reckless living. Instead let the Holy Spirit control and guide you. Be under the influence of (filled with) the Holy Spirit and not the distilled spirit.
Scripture consistently condemns all drunkenness (Proverbs 23:29-35; 31:4,5; Isaiah 5:11,12; 28:7,8; 1 Corinthians 5:11; 1 Peter 4:3).
Paul here is speaking especially about the drunken orgies commonly associated with many pagan worship ceremonies of that day. The are supposed to induce some ecstatic communion with the deities.
True communion with God is not induced by drunkenness, but by the Holy Spirit. Paul was not speaking of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling (Romans 8:9) or the baptism by Christ with the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13), because every Christian is indwelt and baptized with (in, by) the Spirit at the time of salvation.
Rather, he is giving a command for believers to live continually under the influence of the Holy Spirit by letting the Word control them, pursuing pure lives, confessing all known sin, dying to self, surrendering to God’s will and depending on His power in all things. Being filled with the Spirit is living in the conscious presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, letting His mind, through the Word, dominate everything that is thought and done. Being filled with the Spirit is the same as walking in the Spirit. Christ exemplified this way of life.
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