Being filled with the Spirit is like drunken boxing

"Being filled with the Spirit" is like drunken boxing.

In Ephesians 5:18, Paul tells the Ephesians to "not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." In the previous 2 verses, Paul gives 2 additional "don't do this but do the opposite" instructions (not to live as unwise, but wise, not to be foolish, but to understand what the Lord's will is). Therefore, I think it is reasonable to assume that "getting drunk on [literal] wine" is the opposite of "being filled with the Spirit. It is not only an absense of something bad, it is the "good version" of it. Just like how the opposite of "using words to curse your enemies" is not only the absence of using words, but instead "using words to bless them".

Now, let's see what usually happens when someone gets intoxicated due to the physical act of drinking too much alcohol. (I am not speaking from experience since I've never been drunk.) Drunk people lose control of themselves. They have less inhibitions (both socially and physically). They can take physical pain better ("can take more hits"). Sometimes, they're more creative (I heard of a story once where a person aced a university exam because he got drunk, and I hear stories of freestyle rappers being able to freestyle better when they're drunk because they have better "flow").

Now what is "the flesh"? Biblically speaking, it means "without God" in the sense that God is not the center of purpose, nor is he relied on for power to achieve certain ends. Now this capacity for ourselves to be "under the influence/control of a substance foreign to ourselves" is in itself neutral (in my opinion). However,  the influence of alcohol, or any other foreign substance, if it makes one lose control of oneself so that one cannot submit to the will of God better, then there is a problem. Because ultimately, sin is the failure to submit to God's will. And due to the aforementioned effects of being drunk on alcohol, it is so much harder (if not impossible) to submit to God's will each moment when one is intoxicated.

However, there is a flipside to our human ability to be "under the influence/control of a substance foreign to ourselves". There is a way to "tap" into this neutral ability of ourselves in a way that not only doesn't inhibit us from submitting to God's will better, but actually helps us submit to God's will better than we can without it. That is "being under the dynamic and organic influence/control of the Holy Spirit". What are some of the "flipside" effects of this? We actually have "better" self-control under this "foreign substance" (Galatians 5:23). We have less inhibitions that stem from being timid and shy (2 Timothy 1:7) so we can "courage it up" to do the right thing even against social/cultural pressure. I personally (this comes from my own collective interpretation of Scripture) think that "being filled with the Spirit" makes us more creative with "flow" in a way that gives us ideas to fulfill God's will that we couldn't have come up with ourselves. In John 3:8 Jesus tells us that the Spirit is unpredictable in which direction He goes, like the wind. In another passage of Scripture it says that when we are questioned in front of authorities for our faith, the Spirit will tell us what to say. In Acts 23, Paul creatively "Jack Bauered" himself out of the situation, possibly due using creativity being filled with the Spirit.

Last but not least, being filled with the Spirit allows one to "take spiritual hits/attacks" better. In Proverbs 23:31-35 it talks about the effects of being drunk. In verse 35 it says:

"They hit me," you will say, "but I'm not hurt! They beat me, but I don't feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?"

In the Holy Spirit version of being "drunk" spiritually, it allows one to persevere fighting the good fight, and to "take beatings from the enemy" supernaturally without staying down, wailing in pain and tapping out. One can just get back up... sometimes miraculously, after years of training (I'm not speaking only from personal experience, but just from the stuff I read from the spiritual drunken masters of spiritual giants in church history).

Elder Jacob Knapp, a spiritual giant full of the Spirit in church history, himself said "It is really surprising what a small amount of sleep and food we can get along with, and how much we can endure, when we are filled with the Spirit. Machinery well oiled can be run day and night for years together with but little friction." There are many others (i.e. John Wesley) that have testified likewise from their personal experience of divine intoxication.

How does one practically learn how to be filled with the Spirit? Speaking from my very limited personal experience, I have to say that in a way I can tell you, but in a way, I can't. In a way, I can teach someone how to learn Mandarin, but in a way, I can't. There are simple basic things one can do (play the Game with Minutes [try to be aware of God's presence every minute without a legalistic attitude taking over]) as well as "pay attention and do experiments on one's consciousness like a metacognitive scientist". But explaining how to become "fluent" in those skills is like trying to explain to someone how to become "fluent" in Mandarin. There are certain prescribed exercises that one can do. But in the end, the mind has to inexplicably "figure it out" and "learn the language itself". Just like how I can model Chinese to you, but I can't learn it for you. I can model being "filled with the Spirit", but I can't learn it for you. The latter for both depend on the digestion, processing, and growth that transcends any exhaustive person-to-person verbal instructions or descriptions.

The effects are supernatural.

*Note: This analogy, like all analogies, has flaws in it. I recognize that there are some difference between "being filled with the Spirit" and "being influenced by alcohol to fight better in drunken boxing". If taken too far, the analogy crumbles. However, the heart of what I'm trying to communicate is that being under the influence of practically being filled with the Spirit, like a foreign substance that influences the physical body, allows us to achieve effects in spiritual warfare that we cannot achieve without the influence of this "extra-human substance" aka the Holy Spirit influencing our minds, hearts, bodies, and souls.

Everything before 5:00 of this clip illustrates Romans 7. 5:00 - 5:12 is John 3:7. 5:12 onwards is Romans 8.