01.02B. Some Misunderstandings Concerning Spirit-filling.

B. Some Misunderstandings Concerning Spirit-filling. In these last days Satan has caused more confusion about being “filled with the Spirit” than about any other biblical truth. We should expect this because counterfeiting, deceit and fraud are his areas of expertise. He has applied his schemes to this particular grace of God so often that many believers either hold badly distorted ideas about it or keep completely away from it. In order to better understand what Spirit-filling is, I will discuss a few of the misinterpretations-or what Spirit-filling is not.

1. Some brethren confuse Spirit-filling with Spirit-baptism, which they claim is manifested by speaking in tongues. Some insist that every believer should have the baptism of the Spirit accompanied with the same manifestation of speaking in tongues as happened on the Day of Pentecost, or as occurred in Cornelius’ house, or was experienced by the twelve disciples at Ephesus. If the gift of speaking with tongues does not occur, some advise holding a special meeting so that they can pray earnestly and attempt to force the Holy Spirit to supply the manifestation of speaking in tongues since many believe it is the only sign of Spirit-baptism. In this meeting they may incessantly pray for tongues until their voices are gone, their bodies exhausted, and perhaps their heads spin with dizziness, which often leads to self-hypnosis. Once they achieve the experience, it is a special symbol of being divinely blessed and often is sufficient to last for their whole lifetime. They fail to consider that Paul did not speak with tongues at his initial Spiritfilling (Acts 9:17), nor did the disciples at Antioch do so (Acts 13:52). When being filled with the Spirit, a person may experience either a strong explosive manifestation or one with no special signs whatsoever. The effect on the individual is at the discretion of the Holy Spirit who “distributes to each one individually just as He wills” (1 Corinthians 12:11). The Holy Spirit cannot be forced to fulfill one’s desire to speak in tongues. When Peter was tried by the Sanhedrin, he did not speak in tongues (Acts 4:8). When Peter and John were released from jail and returned to the other disciples, “when they had prayed, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit,” but they did not speak with tongues (Acts 4:31). When Paul received his initial Spirit-filling, he did not speak with tongues (Acts 9:17). Neither did Paul speak with tongues when he was filled with the Holy Spirit for the task of rebuking Elymas the magician (Acts 13:8-10).

Many who speak in tongues are generally unaware that what Christians experience today (other than at the time of salvation) is no longer Spirit-baptism, but Spirit-filling which may or may not be accompanied by outward manifestations. In short, the operation of the Holy Spirit in baptism and filling are two different actions. Although they occurred together at the establishment of the church (See Acts 1:5, “You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit,” and compare with Acts 2:4, “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit”), after the experience of the twelve disciples at Ephesus, they were separated into two operations: Spirit-baptism being a general event for all Christians at their new birth (1 Corinthians 12:13), and Spirit-filling being a separate special act repeatedly available for all Christians as needed (Ephesians 5:18). May all those who understand biblical theology and the progressive nature of God’s revelation say, “Amen!”

Therefore, what believers need to seek today for power to do God’s work is not baptism with the Holy Spirit but to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Neither should tonguespeaking be pursued but rather prophesying (“Desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy,” 1 Corinthians 14:1), which is uttering words inspired by the Spirit which communicate God’s message to the hearers for edification, exhortation and comfort. Furthermore, speaking in tongues is not a sure sign of being Spirit-filled.

2. Other brethren confuse Spirit-filling with sanctification. Some hold that all believers should receive Spirit-filling but confuse it with the Spirit’s work of sanctification. They claim the path to the blessing is the removal of all sin through cleansing their heart and crucifying their flesh. Then, they say, the Spirit will automatically fill them with all kinds of heavenly blessings, especially perfect love and complete holiness. They think that these blessings, and even their salvation, may be lost through various sins and disobedience. Such teaching, however, destroys the believer’s assurance of salvation, degrades the finished work of Christ, and devotes too much merit to personal struggles against sin. In fact, any doctrine that exalts good works as meriting God’s grace will lead to disappointment, even despair. The secret of spiritual victory is not self-struggle but appropriating by faith the victory wrought by Christ and then resting upon it.

King Jehoshaphat of Judah is an excellent example of how to secure such a victory. When the Moabites and Ammonites came to make war against him, Jehoshaphat called upon his faith and “appointed those who sang to the Lord and those who praised Him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for His lovingkindness is everlasting’” (2 Chronicles 20:21). As Israel began to sing and praise, Yahweh Himself started the battle, moving the Moabite and Ammonite armies to attack and destroy one another. When the Judean soldiers arrived on the scene all they saw were dead bodies and total devastation. The battle truly was the Lord’s.

Moreover, other Scriptures admonish, “In repentance and rest you shall be saved” (Isaiah 30:15), meaning that believers cannot aid themselves by trusting in either the power of the flesh or of the world. Only by the mighty power of the Holy One of Israel can deliverance be brought to those who turn to Him in purity, faith, and obedience; who stop relying upon their own activity and who start resting upon the grace of God. Elsewhere Scripture says, “for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh” (2 Corinthians 10:3), indicating that our work for God is not to be performed by the best human skills such as intellectual reason, powerful arguments, or persuasive speech but by the supernatural power of God. Again Scripture says, “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord of Hosts” (Zechariah 4:6), teaching that we can never accomplish the work God has given us to do by simply increasing our own strength, but by allowing God Himself to fill us with His Spirit for the purpose of doing His work through us.

3. Other well-known brethren have confused Spirit-filling with the fullness of the Spirit. These tend to hold that if a believer is willing to offer his body as a living sacrifice and allow the Spirit to fill him, the Spirit will automatically take complete possession of him. This has been taught to thousands who come to their conferences to be instructed concerning a deeper spiritual life. Scofield said “grieve not the Holy Spirit of God” and “quench not the Spirit” are negative conditions for the filling of the Spirit, and “yieldedness,” “faith,” and “prayer” are positive conditions. Yet when I read the Greek New Testament carefully, I found that these are all requirements for being full of the Holy Spirit and not for being filled with the Holy Spirit. “Fill” is an action, whereas “full” is a condition. The former is for the believer’s work and service, the latter is for his abundant spiritual life. So we need to be clear about this. The distinction between them may be seen in this comparison:

This comparison does not mean that the two are unrelated. Although their nature and end result are different, they still have a very close relationship. Stephen and Philip, two of the seven deacons chosen to care for widows in the early church, possessed the Spirit’s fullness which resulted in godly lives as well as powerful sermons. Both of these Spiritoperations work together for effective ministry, growth of the believer’s spiritual life, and for bringing glory to God. Rain is one of the many important elements for the growth of plants, yet plants do not grow on water alone. Air, sun, and soil are also important. In like manner, Spirit-filling is one of the conditions by which the Holy Spirit causes the believer’s entire being to be “full of the Holy Spirit,” resulting in a spiritual life full of godly virtues.

4. The truth of Spirit-filling lies between two extreme positions. One group of extremists takes the act of Spirit-filling as evidenced by speaking in tongues to be the climax of a believer’s spiritual life. They hold that when a believer has experienced Spirit-filling even once, he has reached the high point of God’s desire for him and he does not need to pursue any further the Spirit’s fullness in his life. Just prior to the Sino Japanese war when I was a pastor in Shanghai, I knew some believers who felt that they needed neither to pray with understanding nor to receive enlightenment from God’s Word to achieve a mature and abundant spiritual life. They regarded edification from God’s Word as unimportant and the careful study of His Word as a nuisance. They wanted to take a short cut to spiritual growth by emphasizing emotional stimuli while neglecting edification that would develop their spiritual life. When praying, their desire was to enter into an emotional twilight zone induced by clapping upraised hands in rhythm while yelling “Hallelujah” repeatedly, and unfortunately often fell into Satan’s trap of selfhypnosis and, thus becoming defenseless, some even allowed demons to influence them. For this reason the daily life of some tongue-speakers is no different than that of those who belong to the world, and according to my experience, in some cases may be even worse; although they claim that because they speak in tongues they have been filled with the Spirit. They often focus extensively on self with the result that their pride is often greater than that of a peacock. They imagine that they are God’s favorite children and condemn those who do not speak in tongues as of the world. Some women, failing to heed the scriptural command to respect their husbands, have belittled their spouses who do not speak in tongues, calling them sons of perdition. What a tragedy! The other extreme wants the fullness of the Spirit only for their personal spiritual benefit and neglects the filling with the Spirit that would help them reach His fullness in their lives. They do not realize why they are so weak in their service and have no fruit from their labor for God. Their actual spiritual life and their ideal spiritual life are not in harmony, for they live in imaginary castles that are suspended in thin air. In truth, the reality lies somewhere between these two extremes.6