A Word Study On “Filled With The Spirit”

As I pulled into the gas station, dressed in my old uniform of cut-off jeans, a bandana, and flip-flops, a guy approached me and asked, “Hey homie, where the smoke at?” I was clueless. After a quick call to my friend Cedric, I learned the guy was asking for marijuana. This encounter made me rethink my wardrobe choices, but it also highlighted how easily words and meanings can be misunderstood. This guy, looking to buy the devil’s lettuce, looked like me, probably grew up in the same neighborhood as me, we both spoke English, and we were about the same age. Nevertheless, I had no clue what he was saying.

Understanding Scripture’s Complexity

If understanding your neighbor can be this complicated, imagine the difficulty in understanding the phrases of scripture. Each of us imports our tradition’s interpretation into the text. We also carry with us our background and our experiences. However, the Biblical authors lived thousands of years ago, thousands of miles from here, they spoke different languages, and they came from different cultures. The way that they use words, and the way we use words are often very different.

The Importance of Word Studies

We can mitigate confusion by examining every New Testament use of a specific Greek word or phrase. We call this a “word study.” When there is a big theological debate about a specific word or phrase, you gotta whip out a good old-fashioned word study. Here you log every verse that records that word or phrase. Then you take notes about everything that happens in that passage in order to establish a pattern of use.

Discovering the Spirit’s Work

One of the areas I have found word studies to be particularly useful is in the study of the Holy Spirit’s work. I found that there are words and phrases in scripture that I used to use as synonyms that actually aren’t. See, back when I was a Pentecostal, I used to think that Baptism in the Spirit, Filled With The Spirit, and Full of the Spirit were all synonyms of the same word.

Then one day I am interviewing a lexicographer on my podcast. A Lexicogripher, if you dont know, is a guy who knows ancient languages so well, that it was his job to tell you what word meant what in scripture. This guy, Jack Deere, was a former DTS professor turned charismatic theologian who knew 19 languages. Anyway, Jack explained to me that my tradition was infecting my interpretation of scripture. He showed me, through a careful word study, that each of these words and phrases were used in a specific context by their respective authors.

In today’s blog I will walk you through a careful word study of being “filled with the Spirit”. If you are interested in reading about being “full of the Spirit” or being “baptized in the Spirit” I have linked those blogs here, But you can also listen to my unnecessarily thorough sermon on all three of these words Here.

How We Will Cunduct Our Word Study

If you have never done a word study before, let me walk you through the process using some free tools. First, you want to check out “blue letter bible”. This website has lots of free tools, including commentaries, various translations, Greek and Hebrew concordances, and much more! So let’s jump over there right now. There at the top of the page, I want you to type out “filled with the Spirit” in the search bar. If you are looking at the ESV, NASB, NIV, you will find that this phrase comes up 14 times in the Bible. However, “filled with the Spirit” only comes up 10 times in the Greek New Testament. Since Hebrew and Greek authors would have used this phrase differently, we will omit the Hebrew occurrences. That leaves us with the following verses: Luke 1:15; Luke 1:41; Luke 1:67; Acts 2:4; Acts 4:8; Acts 4:31; Acts 9:17; Acts 13:9; Acts 13:52 and Ephesians 5:18.

By looking at the English, you see that Luke is the exclusive user of the phrase “filled with the Spirit.” The only exception to this rule would be Paul in Ephesians 5:18. But on closer inspection, one will find that these Greek phrases are different. Paul uses “plēroō en pneuma,” which is three Greek words: g4137, g1722, and g4151. Where Luke uses a completely different phrase, “pimplēmi agios,” a use of two different Greek words: g4130, and g40. This means that Luke is the only New Testament author who uses the phrase “filled with the Spirit” or “pimplēmi agios.”

We cannot do a thorough word search on Paul’s use in Ephesians 5:18 because Paul only uses that phrase one time. So we will have to construct the meaning of Ephesians 5:18 with its immediate context, at a later time. So let us look at the remaining 9 instances of being “Filled with the Spirit”.

Examples from Scripture

Luke 1:13-17 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer, has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.

Back in my Pentecostal days, I used “Baptism in the Spirit” to mean speaking in tongues, and I thought being “filled with the Spirit” was a synonym for “speaking in tongues.” But here in Luke’s first use of this phrase, tongues are nowhere to be found. However, there does seem to be an interesting connection between John the Baptist being “filled with the Spirit” and his proclamation of Jesus as the Messiah. Curious ????

Luke 1:41-42 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

In our next account here, we see Johnnie B leading his mother to Jesus while he was still a fetus ????. You know you are the goat of evangelism if you are leading people to Jesus while you are still in the womb! But on second reflection, I see no mention of tongues. Once again, being “filled with the Spirit” seems to be connected to the proclamation of the good news that the Messiah has come.

Luke 1:67-79 And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,….76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

At first glance, this passage seems to break the pattern. Zechariah is not leading people to the Messiah. However, he is prophesying about John’s participation in that grand narrative. So, it does not break the strict usage that we have seen up to this point, but it does widen the usage slightly. However, let the reader pay close attention, there are no tongues mentioned here either.

If you hold a classical Pentecostal view, I may be getting under your skin a little. You may be thinking, “obviously there were no tongues prior to Pentecost.” I’m sure you are probably assuming that there will be a fundamental shift in the book of Acts. However, with the exception of our next verse, being “filled with the Spirit” never appears alongside tongues speech.

Acts 2:4;11;14 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance….11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”… 14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.

So here it is! I see them tongues! But let me ask you, don’t you also see Peter standing up with the 11 and giving Spirit-empowered testimony of Jesus as the Messiah? Acts 2 does not break the pattern we have seen up until this point; in fact, quite the contrary. Up until this point, single individuals were empowered to impact one other individual. But now this “filling with the Spirit” is being used to pull 3,000 souls into the proverbial nets of the kingdom.

Acts 4:7-8 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders,
Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Acts 4:7-8 and Acts 4:31 both record accounts where the Apostles preached the Word of God with boldness and power. Yet in both accounts, there are no tongues speech. What we see is supernatural empowered testimony of Jesus as the Messiah.

Acts 9:17-20 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

Is anyone seeing Paul “ba-Cka-ta-bo-show” here in Acts 9? I don’t. I see the Apostle being supernaturally graced to prove that Jesus was the Messiah from the moment of his conversion.

Acts 13:8-12 But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

I am almost done with all our examples, and I do not see tongues… Paul is supernaturally empowered to rebuke some wizard named Elymas. But here Paul is not quite testifying that Jesus is the Messiah…. Oh, wait, there in verse 12 this event caused the proconsul to believe because they were “astonished at the teaching of the Lord.” So on second thought, this verse checks out too.

Acts 13:48-52 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. 50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. 51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

The final example here in Acts 13 is a lot more of the same kind of thing we have seen so far. You have a group of believers spreading the Gospel throughout the whole region. And scripture describes these disciples as being “filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.”

So what have we learned so far? In the New Testament, particularly in Luke and Acts, being “filled with the Spirit” is not just a one-time event but an ongoing empowerment for believers. This filling equips us to boldly testify about Jesus, often in the face of opposition. From these examples, we can define being “filled with the Spirit” as a temporary empowerment to give supernatural testimony about Jesus, often in front of a hostile audience. This filling results in bold proclamation, miraculous signs, and the spread of the gospel.

Summary of Findings

Application for Today

Being filled with the Spirit is not about achieving a one-time spiritual high or merely speaking in tongues. It’s about being continually empowered by the Holy Spirit to witness for Jesus effectively. We see Peter being filled in Acts 2, then again in Acts 4:7-8, then again in Acts 4:29-30. Being filled with the Spirit should not be conceptualized as a cup being filled with water. Rather, being filled with the Spirit should be compared to a ship’s sails being filled with wind. It is a past, present, and future need. Ada needs a Spirit-filled church, and that does not mean a church that screams in tongues and causes everyone to think we are crazy! it means our city needs the church to stand up and pray like the Apostles did in Acts 4:29-30.

Acts 4:29-30 (ESV): “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

Let us continually pray, “Lord, fill me with Your Spirit,” and step out in faith, knowing that the same Spirit who empowered the early church empowers us today.

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