A study of Romans 7-8, I believe, leads to the inevitable conclusion that unless we have the Spirit of God, we will not be able to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel and pleasing to the Lord. In other words, we need God's Spirit to follow God's ways. A study of Ephesians 5 will lead to the same conclusion. Specifically, an examination of Ephesians 5:18-21 and its verb tenses show an interesting relationship between being filled with the Spirit and following God. Verses 19-21 call the church to a life of addressing one another in song, singing and making melody, giving thanks, and submitting to one another. Spiritually addressing, singing, thanksgiving, and submitting - all these describe the ideal communal Christian life. If you pay attention to grammar, you may notice that all these commands are participles. Meaning, essentially, that they are not independent verbs and commands. Rather, they "modify" or expand on another verb in the passage - they get their meaning from another main verb. What is that main verb? It is the verb that comes directly before these, and is found in verse 18, where Paul says; "And do not get drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit." The command is "be filled" - we are to be filled with the Spirit (by the way, notice it's a passive command!). So what does it look like to be filled with the Spirit? Addressing, singing, thanksgiving, and submitting. And inversely, how are we going to live this Christian life of addressing, singing, thanksgiving, and submitting? The only way to do this is to first be filled with the Spirit. It's the only way that life is enabled. If we want to follow the Lord as He calls us to, we must be filled with His empowering Spirit.