The Filling of the Holy Spirit

What is Existence Filled with the Holy Spirit?

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:four). Many Christians take different ideas about the fullness of the Holy Spirit. In the New Attestation, the fullness of the Holy Spirit was sometimes associated with cloven tongues of fire, shaking buildings, rushing winds, and people speaking in other languages or doing miracles. At other times, people were filled with the Holy Spirit and none of these things happened.

Co-ordinate to the Bible, there appear to be ii evidences that a person is indeed filled with the Spirit:

  1. Those who are filled with the Holy Spirit accept unique spiritual power in leading others to organized religion in Christ (Acts i:8).
  2. Those who are filled with the Holy Spirit accept a divine enablement to fulfill their social roles and responsibilities, particularly in family and working relationships (Eph. 5:eighteen-6:9).

Most Christians readily recognize their demand to exist filled with the Holy Spirit to become more constructive in evangelism and be all they should be in their family. The apostle Paul urged the Christians at Ephesus, "Exist filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18). Just the steps to being filled with the Holy Spirit were summarized by Jesus when He said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and potable. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his abdomen (heart) shall flow rivers of living water" (John vii:37-38).

The iv steps to being filled with the Holy Spirit are:

  1. want (thirst)
  2. repentance of all known sin in your life (come to me)
  3. receiving God's offer of the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him (drinkable)
  4. acting on the basis of faith in the Word of God (He who believes in me).

At Pentecost

What does it mean to be "filled with the Holy Ghost?" After the 120 believers had spent ten days praying, coming together in obedience to Christ'southward control (Luke 24:49), they received the baptism and the souvenir of the Holy Spirit promised past Christ (John 14:16-18; Acts one:viii). Following this baptism, they were "all filled." Paul, in Ephesians five: 18, says to exist filled with the Spirit. The word "filled" here, and in Acts ii:4, means "to be influenced past."

The RYRIE Study BIBLE notes concerning Ephesians 5:eighteen say: "…Paul has taught in this epistle that all believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit when they believe (Ephesians 1:13-fourteen; 4:30); but are non filled, since this depends on yieldedness to God'south will (5:17). 'Filling' describes an experience that can be repeated (Acts ii:4-8)."

Baptism past the Holy Spirit

Baptism past the Holy Spirit is non manifested by speaking in other tongues (languages). Paul said in I Corinthians 12:13 that all believers are baptized by the Holy Spirit, that each believer is given different "gifts" by the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:4-11), and that no single souvenir is for every believer (I Corinthians 12:29-30).

"Filling" has aught to do with the manifestation of "tongues." Being filled by the Holy Spirit is not getting more than of Him, but Him getting more of the believer! Many times the disciples "were filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts four:8, 31; vi:3; 7:55, 9:17, xi:24, 13:nine, 13:52), yet there was no mention of tongues (other languages) being spoken.

Losing The Filling of the Holy Spirit

Unlike the Holy Spirit'south ministries to the believer in regeneration, baptism, indwelling, and sealing, His filling can exist lost due to disobedience (sin). The filling of the Holy Spirit may (and should) be instantly regained by first knowing God'due south means of forgiveness and cleansing: the blood of Christ (I John 1:vii); and secondly, by knowing God'south method of forgiveness and cleansing: the confession of the Christian (I John i:9).

In summary, the "filling of the Holy Spirit" is not a feeling or an emotional experience, merely rather, the yielding (abandoning) of the believer's life to the Lord.

The following two tabs modify content beneath.

  • Bio
  • Latest Posts

Dr. Elmer Towns is a college and seminary professor, an author of popular and scholarly works (the editor of two encyclopedias), a popular seminar lecturer, and defended worker in Sunday schoolhouse, and has adult over twenty resource packets for leadership education.His personal didactics includes a B.S. from Northwestern Higher in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a Thousand.A. from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary also in Dallas, a MRE from Garrett Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, and a D.Min. from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.He is co-founder of Liberty Academy, with Jerry Falwell, in 1971, and was the just full-fourth dimension instructor in the first year of Freedom'southward beingness. Today, the University has over 11,400 students on campus with 39,000 in the Distance Learning Program (now Freedom University Online), and he is the Dean of the School of Organized religion.Dr. Towns has given theological lectures and taught intensive seminars at over 50 theological seminaries in America and abroad. He holds visiting professorship rank in five seminaries. He has written over 2,000 reference and/or pop articles and received six honorary doctoral degrees. Four doctoral dissertations have analyzed his contribution to religious instruction and evangelism.