September, 1941
TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
338
The Infilling of the Holy Spirit
il u
By RUTH PAXSON
[In the previous studies in this series. Miss Paxson has been showing that by accepting Christ as Saviour, a sinner passes from the realm of Satan, thl wotid, and the flesh, into the sphere of Christ, the Church, and the Spirit. Thus positionally sanctified in God’s sight by the blood of Christ and the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Christian is ready for the experience,of progressive sanc tification through the Holy Spirit’s working. The author has shown from the Word that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is an, initial experience which oc curs at the moment of the new birth, upon one’s acceptance of Christ. The infilling by the Holy Spirit, however, is a special experience, the Scriptural conditions for which are discussed in this present article .— E ditor .] “ Be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). I S THE FULLNESS of the Holy Spirit optional? May I choose whether I will be filled or not ? Look at what the Word of God says to those whom Christ has saved: “Be filled with the Spirit.” As I read that, it is a command. I ask you, parents, do you give your children the right to choose what command they will obey ? Our heavenly Father expects us to obey. Now there are certain commands we would be perfectly willing to obey, such as, “Thou shalt not kill.” I have no difficulty with that one. I never saw anybody I wanted to kill. Probably you have no difficulty with that command, either, but here stands this one: “Be filled with the Spirit.” “Oh, no, Lord, that will make too many demands upon me,” some one may be saying. “There is too much I will have to give up. I will have to be too holy. Oh, I d'on’t want that, Lord.” again. I believe He is going to hold you and me accountable for our ignorance. Oh, I long to make a special plea to pastors, to missionaries, to any Bible teachers, to any Sunday-school teach ers, to any workers among young peo ple—I plead with you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and for His sake, to give this teaching concerning the Holy Spirit to those who are under your care. Give it to a person as soon as he becomes a Christian! Paul was filled with the Spirit three days after he was reborn. Why do we think there must be a period, a long period, before a person is prepared for this infilling? Out of my experience, I am finding that the person who has been able to accept the Saviour by faith and knows that he has the forgiveness of sins by faith, and that he is justified by faith, is just as able to accept the wonder ful truth that he is sanctified by faith, that he may receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit by faith. And I find that a new convert does it more easily than does some one whose life has become so [Continued on Page 357] Sixth in a Series on wThe Holy Spirit in the Lite of the Believer 99 Just as the greatest sin of the sinner is the rejec- * tion of the Saviour, sp the greatest sin of the Chris tian is the refusal to be filled with the Spirit. For disobedience here is the reason that the Christian is unable to c e a s e from committing other «tins. “Is such fullness need ful for me?” some may be saying. “Can I not get along without it? ” You can. You can limp along. The lack of this wonderful experience of His infilling will not keep you out of heaven. There are many Christians who are content to know that their past is taken care of, their sins are forgiven and ho condemnation will be theirs. The arc satisfied with being sure that the are going to heaven, and that their future is secured. But remember that the Church, which is Christ’s Body, is the fullness of Him who filleth all in all (Eph. 1:22, 23). Are we going to be so insufferably selfish that we want everything from Christ that will cover the past and will secure the future, and yet in this brief time we have to live down here on earth we will refuse to Him a life utterly emptied so that He can fill it and use it? Blessings Lost Through Ignorance What are the causes of the lack of fullness in the Church and in the Chris tian ? For one thing, we are ignorant. In Christ we have the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in the Holy Spirit we have the One who makes that full ness ours—and we do not know it. “ Know ye not God says again and
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