God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
When we consider the New Testament epistles, where believers are given prescriptive instruction for church life, we find that being filled with the Spirit is demonstrated not through ecstatic experiences but through the manifestation of spiritual fruit. In other words, Spirit-filled Christians exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, which Paul identifies as “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22–23). They are “led by the Spirit” (Rom. 8:14), meaning their behavior is directed not by their fleshly desires, but by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit.
Sin in the church, left unaddressed, hurts our evangelism, leaves the proud unchecked, confuses young believers, hardens the unrepentant, and, worst of all, brings shame on the name of Christ.
