It is my humble conviction, yet accurate I believe, that many, perhaps most, evangelical believers do not understand and have not appropriated the full ministry of the Holy Spirit. The result has been spiritually devastating as I have observed in Southern Baptist churches for more than fifty years. I would think the spiritual effect would be equally as disastrous in other evangelical churches, perhaps even more, since most of them are not “People of the Book” to the extent of Southern Baptists.
I believe the most enlightening word on the Holy Spirit is found in John 16:7-11. Jesus had just shocked His disciples by telling them that He must soon be leaving. When He did, great sorrow filled their hearts, for they did not feel that they could live without the personal presence of Jesus. Then Jesus seeks to comfort them by making an astounding statement, “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away, for unless I do go away, the Holy Spirit will not come to you, but if I go, I will send Him unto you, and when He is come He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16: 7-9).
Now how could it be to their ADVANTAGE (sumpherei – to bring together) for Jesus to leave them? After all they had been living with Him for three and a half years, eaten with Him, slept in the same room, heard His great teachings, saw Him heal the sick, raise the dead, and comfort them on every side. But now Jesus is about to ascend into heaven, and His very first act would be to send the Holy Spirit into the hearts of the disciples (Acts 2:33). This was the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1) and on that wonderful day the Holy Spirit “poured out” His person and power into the lives of the disciples. Jesus had dwelt with the disciples for three and one half years, but now He has taken up His abode in each of their hearts in the Person of the Holy Spirit, enabling them to “do the works He had done,” (John 14:12) and expanding those works far beyond the scope Jesus had been able to do in His one body on this earth. The effect of this phenomenon was seen immediately. After the “outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, three thousand souls were saved and baptized and incorporated into the church in one day (Acts 2:4142). Thus the church grew from a membership of 120, the number of followers Jesus had made, to over 3000 in one day. And this was but the beginning of a mighty move of the Holy Spirit through the disciples that would one day go to the ends of the earth. In fact James Kennedy asserts that if the church had continued its growth and conquest at the rate it did for 300 years following Pentecost that the entire world would have been converted by AD 500.
Having noted the difference that Pentecost made, I invite you to consider with me the three indispensable ministries of the Holy Spirit. Historically, on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit performed three great ministries:
- First, He began to indwell the body of every believer.
- Simultaneously, He baptized each believer into the body of Christ.
- He filled every believer.
These ministries which began at Pentecost historically can be personal in the life of every true Christian today. Let us examine them one by one:
- The first INDISPENSABLE MINISTRY of the Holy Spirit is His INDWELLING every believer. The moment you surrendered your heart to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit entered into your heart. He is the One who brings the new birth, the One who makes one “the new creation” in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). God’s Word emphatically declares, “If any person has not the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him” (Romans 8:9b;Galatians 19:3; Galatians 4:4-7).
- Now there is a second INDISPENSABLE MINISTRY of the Holy Spirit. Not only does He indwell us, but He INCORPORATES us into the living body of Christ at the same time He enters into us (1 Cor. 12:13). This act of incorporating or uniting us to the body of Christ is the BAPTISM of the Holy Spirit. Through the new birth, the Holy Spirit enters into us to indwell us forever; through the baptism, we entered or are united to Him forever. This unity with Him means that when He died, the believer died, and when He arose the believer arose, and His victory over sin, both its penalty and power, is ours. Paul describes the wonderful baptism of the Holy Spirit in Romans 6 – also its effects. He uses the symbol of immersion baptism to illustrate the reality, but the reality itself can only be accomplished by the mighty power of the Holy Spirit. Listen to the apostle’s mighty words in Romans 6:1-6, 11-12.
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him that the body of Christ might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.”
Baptists, while strongly endorsing the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, have generally ignored or even been afraid of the term “baptism of the Holy Spirit.” They have tended to associate the “baptism” with religious fanaticism, such as speaking in tongues, being slain in the Spirit, handling rattlesnakes, etc, and failing to take seriously the Word of God in Romans 6. There is not a drop of water in Romans 6, except as a symbol. Many Baptists read Romans 6 as the proof text for immersion baptism, thus recognizing the symbol but failing to understand or appreciate the reality (spiritual baptism) to which the symbol witnesses. How sad to bypass a doctrine which explains the only way of our victory over sin. Dr. Kenneth Wuest, well known Greek scholar, says the word baptize means, “‘the introduction or placing of a person or thing into a new environment or into union with something else so as to alter its condition or its relationship to its previous environment or condition.’” And that is its usage in Romans 6. It refers to the act of God introducing a believing sinner into vital union with Jesus Christ, in order that that believer might have the power of his sinful nature broken and the divine nature implanted through his identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, thus altering the condition and relationship of that sinner with regard to his previous state and environment, bringing him into a new environment, the kingdom of God.’”[1]
- Finally, there is a third INDISPENSABLE MINISTRY of the Holy Spirit in the believer – the INFILLING. The Holy Spirit indwells the believer after regeneration, also baptizes him into Christ’s body, and then desires to FILL the believer if he will surrender to Jesus (Ephesians 5:18). But some would ask, “Why does one need to be filled with the Holy Spirit if he has already received Him in the new birth and is indwelt by Him?” Simply because the indwelling and infilling, while closely related, are not the same. In His indwelling, the Holy Spirit is present, but He may not be President, that is, He does not control one’s life. To put it another way, you may have the Holy Spirit but the Holy Spirit may not have you. So God clearly commands every Christian to be filled. This command, given in Ephesians 5:18, was first given to people who had been born again (Ephesians 2:1-2) saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9) sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13) and had become the “dwelling place of the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22). Still God through Paul clearly commands “Be not drunk with alcoholic beverages…but be filled (controlled) or be being filled literally by the Holy Spirit.”
Still, some may be asking, “Why do I need to be filled?” so I will answer four relevant questions to further clarify the filling:
Is the “infilling” of the Holy Spirit a “second work” of grace?
- Biblically and theologically speaking, the answer is “No.” To call the “infilling” a second work of grace would separate the new birth of the Holy Spirit from the infilling, when in fact the Holy Spirit who imparts the new birth is the same Holy Spirit who infills the believer. Therefore, I would prefer to say that the “infilling” is the last part of the first blessing (the new birth). Certainly no one can be “filled” until after He possesses the indwelling of the Holy Spirit or new birth.
- On the other hand, the experience of what I would call “the Wonderful Spirit Filled Life” is so exhilarating, liberating, and joy producing that one might think it is a “second blessing.”
So in conclusion, I would say that the “Infilling”, biblically and theologically speaking, is but a continuation of a work begun in regeneration, but experientially, the experience is so profound that it seems like a “second” work of grace. Just be sure you are not discouraged by the right terminology and be sure you are born again and filled with the wonderful Holy Spirit.
- Why should ever Christian be filled? Three good reasons:
- Our obedience demands it. God says, “Be ye being filled” – Ephesians 5:18. This is not a suggestion, but an imperative command. Also a command to every Christian, and a command to be filled continually. To fail to be filled is plain disobedience to the plain command of the Lord Adrian Rogers declared, “It is a greater sin not to be filled with the Holy Spirit than to get drunk with alcohol.”
- Our holy obligations require the infilling. In the context of our text, Ephesians 5:18, great obligations are placed upon each believer which can only be met through the infilling.
- Our worshipping life requires it – Ephesians 5:19.
- Our wedded life requires it – Ephesians 5:21, 25.
- Our work life requires it – Ephesians 5:5.
- Our warfare life requires it – Ephesians 6:12.
- Our witnessing life requires it – Ephesians 6:19.
- What are the requirements to be filled?
- You must be indwelt or born again.
- You must desire to be filled – Matthew 5:6.
- You must denounce all known sin. The Holy Spirit will not fill a dirty body. You must empty yourself of all known sin (Proverbs 28:13).
- You must dethrone self – You must take your control off of your life and turn the controls over to Jesus.
- You must enthrone Jesus – the Holy Spirit has come to glorify Jesus ( John 16:14). If you prayed “O Holy Spirit, fill me so I will understand the Bible, He would not do so. Or to build a great church, or be a great teacher, or even to be holy, He would say, “I am not the least bit interested.” But if you said, “Holy Spirit, fill me so I can glorify Jesus,” He would reply, “That is why I came, and yes I will gladly fill you.”
- What are the results of the infilling?
- Power – Acts 1:8.
- Purity – Galatians 5:11.
- Praise – Ephesians 5:19.
- Prayer – Acts 4:31.
- Hope – Romans 15:13.
- Love – Romans 5:5.
- Productivity – John 14:12.
Illus.: Billy Graham on one occasion attended a Baptist church and was told by the pastor that the church had just removed three deacons from office. Billy asked why, and the pastor said they had been indulging in alcohol. Billy replied, “Well, it is certainly biblical to remove such deacons.” Then he asked, “Do you remove deacons who are not filled?” The pastor replied, “We have never done that.” Billy then said, “Then you are very unscriptural – the same verse which commands us not be drunk with alcohol commands us to be filled.”
I can summarize all I have been saying by sharing the last word that I ever heard Adrian Rogers speak. He said, “Just imagine a man buys his first car.” He is so proud of it that he invites his neighbors over and proceeds to show off the car – the lacquer, the tires, upholstery, radio and exclaims, “What a wonderful car he says.” But the owner does not even know the car has an engine and so he pushes it everywhere he goes. He soon finds out that the car was meant to be a blessing, but had become a burden. Then Adrian said, “You would say, ‘Brother Rogers, no one is so foolish, and so stupid as to push a car around like that.’” He replied, “Yes, there are many, many Baptists who spend their lives trying to live the Christian life by their own power, not knowing that the moment they were saved God placed a dynamo in their lives to give them power to live and meet the obligations of the Christian life.”
Are you filled with the Spirit? If so, come down and ask God to fill you again. Are you born again but not filled? If not, come and surrender today to the Holy Spirit and leave here filled, filled, filled. Have you ever been born of the Spirit? If not, come and surrender your life to Jesus and then be filled.
[1] Dr. Kenneth Wuest, Romans, in the Greek New Testament, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Moody Bible Institute, 1956, pp. 96-97.