Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, 19singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.
Ephesians 5:18 NLT
In the legal field we call it being on opposite sides of the V. When a case is put into a lawsuit, the Court lists the two opposing parties of the dispute on opposites of the abbreviation for versus so the case reads Kramer v. Kramer or Bush v. Gore or Turner v. Hooch, though that last one is less well known.
The indication is that the two named individuals listed are clashing with one another and will litigate the issues presented until one or the other is pronounced the winner by a jury. Being on opposites sides of the case means that it is only possible that one side wins.
Have you ever noticed that Ephesians 5:18 is written kind of like that? How there is a marked opposition presented between the effects of wine on one’s life and the effects of the Spirit. On one side is wine and its effects on your life — too much will ruin your life and by implication of the contrast will prevent the Holy Spirit from filling you. On the other is the Holy Spirit, God himself who is willing to fill you every day to overflowing and share Himself with you but will not compete with drunkenness. You are under the influence of wine or the Spirit, never both. Only one side can win.
If I am a Christian seeking God above all things, do I want to have anything to do with something on the opposite of the v. as the Holy Spirit?
