Explore more
Sign up   |   Login
 
 
 
Craig Adams
Craig Adams's blog
 4stars  |   2readers
View profile|View all posts| Follow this blog
Steele on ?Be Filled With the Spirit?
2 stars|2 comments|May 26, 2009|172 reads
 

It is sometimes said that Christ's new commandment, "Love one another," is the eleventh commandment. In the same way we have the twelfth in Paul's mandatory precept, "Be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. v. 18). There is an error quite widely spread in the Church, that the baptism or fulness of the Spirit is not universally obligatory, but rather that it is an elective experience, a privilege and not an imperative duty. We note that the passive voice, "be filled," implies that we cannot actively fill ourselves, but that the Spirit is present like the atmosphere and ready instantly to fill every vacuum. It is ours to create a vacuum by an unreserved self-surrender to Christ as both Saviour and Lord. This implies strong faith. In truth, faith is man's only capacity to receive God. He cannot enter us through the senses, for they report only material things; nor can the Spirit enter the soul through the reason, which apprehends only relations, not realities. Therefore faith is the only door by which the Spirit comes into the human spirit. Man, a spirit, is an image of God the Spirit. The creature is made for the occupancy of the Creator, and he finds his highest joy only when as a temple he is "the habitation of God through the Spirit."





Turning to our Greek Testament we note that the command "Be filled with the Spirit" is in the present tense, denoting not a mechanical fulness once for all, but a vital fulness, a constant appropriation and a perpetual reception, a ceaseless drinking and a ceaseless thirst. Hence the paradox of Charles Wesley:

"Insatiate to this spring I fly;
I drink, and yet am ever dry."

? Daniel Steele, The Gospel of the Comforter (1898) Chapter 31.

 
To add a comment to "Steele on ?Be Filled With the Spirit?"
     Already have a MyChurch account?
     Log in here
Ian Grant Spong
 Ian Grant Spong
April 06, 2008

Some also mistake spirit-filled for a tongues exerpience alone. That is only one of many experiences that evidence being filled with the Spirit as the following passages show:

Exodus 31:3 "And I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship

Exodus 35:31 "And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge and in all craftsmanship

Luke 1:15 "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine or liquor; and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, while yet in his mother's womb.

Luke 1:41-42 And it came about that when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  And she cried out with a loud voice, and said, "Blessed among women are you, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

Luke 1:67-68 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us…

Luke 4:1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness

Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

Acts 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers and elders of the people...

Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

Acts 6:3,5 "But select from among you, brethren, seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task… And the statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmeand Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch.

Acts 7:55 But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God

Acts 9:17-18 And Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he arose and was baptized;

Acts 11:24 for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord.

Acts 13:9-10 But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze upon him, and said, "You who are full of all deceit and fraud…

Acts 13:52 And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18-19 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord
David Binford
 David Binford
April 17, 2008
AMEN!  Be Baptized in the Holy Spirit and Fire!  If Jesus did, He told His disciples too, then I want and need it too.  It is also not just a one time experience...it is as ongoing as our relationship with Him.

Good Word!