Can We Be Filled With The Spirit?

SAYING WHAT WE MEAN...
We tend to think and assume that communicating with one another is
relately easy and straight forward. As Christians we are especially
concerned that we do not mislead people or give them the wrong impression.
We do not want to make claims that are untrue or lead other into
unjustifiable expectations.We try, in fact, to say only what we mean.

One of the problems, however, is that we use words with insufficient
regard to either or both that word's actual meaning or the somewhat
different meanings people tend to attach to it in practice.

... AND MEANING WHAT WE SAY
If a retailer sold you a new bottle of mineral water, you would
expect it to be full and not, say, only three-quarters full. You would
expect it to be filled more or less to the stopper. In general, if we are
sold something for which the claim "full" is made, we expect "full"
to mean filled to its capacity.

SPIRIT FILLED CHRISTIANS ?
Likewise, as Christians, when we speak of being "filled with the Spirit"
we mean that an individual is so filled by the Holy Spirit that there
is no room for anything else. Especially there is no room for self. When we encounter
people who claim to be "Spirit filled", that is what we always observe,
is it not? Is it? Or not?

Well, perhaps not always. Perhaps... sometimes not. Perhaps... Well, of
course, perhaps we don't really mean "filled" in a completely literal
sense.

What! What of the literal interpretation of the Bible? If it says
"filled" does it not mean filled as to capacity? Surely that is the
intended meaning and that is what WE mean when we use such a phrase.

We certainly do mean that. But is it true? Now, whether it IS true is
quite different to whether it SHOULD be true -- and whether it should
be true is something which depends on certain conditions which we do not
usually state. Moreover, we do not state them because generally we are
not aware of them. We are not aware of them because we have not thought
the whole thing through. We have not thought the whole thing through,
frequently because we have accepted what other people have told us.

Go back to our parable of the full bottle. Suppose the manufacturer is
selling a product which, in some way, is subject to evaporation, even
when the seal has not been broken. Initially, the bottle was indeed full,
right up to the stopper. But now it is less than full, perhaps
significantly less than full.

Can this be applied to Christians "filled by the Spirit"?

CAN CHRISTIANS LEAK?
The vast majority of those who claim to be "Spirit filled Christian" would
agree that such a filling comes as a result of what is referred to as
being "baptised in the Spirit", which is a very real, crucially important experience, and one
that is missed (often through ignorance) by probably the great majority
of Christians.

Some Christians have even gone so far as to claim, or at least tacitly
to assume,that baptism in the Spirit is THE condition for being saved.
This is not so. (See the book on our web site [address given below] "Salvation:
Faith, Works Or Baptism In The Spirit" for a deeper discussion of this).
But the life-changing significance of baptism in the Spirit cannot be
rejected nor doubted in the face of the extensive evidence which comes
from people's lives.

Moreover, it would be difficult to maintain that this experience is not
associated with being "filled" by the Spirit -- and that can often be taken
in its literal sense. Lives are completely changed,(previously worldly)
values are wholly inverted. I know that because it was my own experience.

Yet I have to admit that I am not a Christian who is "spirit-filled" to
the same degree as in those first few weeks, even months immediately
following the event. Certainly, there are parts of my life which have
progressed and which are fundamentally different to what they used to be.
But there are also aspects of my life which are not determined by the Spirit
in the same, virtually automatic way that was so in those early days.

This must mean that I have "leaked" over this period. But if, in some
respects I have "progressed", in some sense I am now overfull! How can
that be? Only if the phrase "filled by the Spirit" is untrue. Or if it is
a kind of metaphor for something which is much more complicated than a
once-for-all bottle kind of "filling" can allow for. Otherwise we find
ourselves in the unsustainable position of saying that, after baptism in the
Spirit people can neither grow nor subsequently find that in some respects
they have slipped (without in any way having denied the Lord or their
conversion). A little reflection on one's own life will show that either
position is untenable.

Perhaps we cannot, or even should not try to change the phrase "filled by
the Spirit". But we certainly must not lead others into thinking that the
change which this experience brings is either undepreciable or leaves
one with no further progress to make. That initial movement of the Spirit
is one of profound change, but it also leaves us with the desire to be lead
further and deeper into the likeness of God.

Article Source: http://www.christiannotepad.com

AUTHOR: Anthony Keith Whitehead WEB SITE: www.christianword.co.uk This article is copyright but may be reproduced providing that all this information is included Over twenty-three years in Christian healing teaching writing ministries. Wide range of secular employments before being called by the Lord into full time independent ministry in 1987. With his wife Iris he has ministered both in the UK and USA. Has written several books on healing meditation and various aspects of spirituality. Formal qualifications include: B.A. M.Phil. Cambridge University Certificate in Religious Studies. Post Grad Cert. in Education.