The Holy Spirit Baptism, Fullness, & Filling
Posted by John Reuther on November 9, 2009
The baptism in the Spirit was the first Gospel promise that the anxious Israelites heard in the preaching of John the Baptist. “I baptized you in water, but He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit” (Mk. 1:8). This baptism occurred on the day of Pentecost, and is repeated in every conversion to Christ, when it can be said “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:5-6). The Spirit was poured out at Pentecost, and continues to be poured out in conversions. In the previous articles we sought to discover the order of the Spirit’s work at conversion and in the Christian life, noting that His initial work in us is manifested in illumination, regeneration, Spirit-baptism, and sealing.
The Special Relationship
There is a special relationship between the baptism of the Spirit, His initial work in us, and the filling and fullness of the Spirit. This relationship has prominence and Christians must reckon themselves as having been baptized in the Spirit, having been granted the fullness of the Spirit, and having a command to be continually filled with the Spirit. Having been baptized with the Spirit at conversion, and having received the fullness, we seek for continual filling so that we may enjoy and manifest the presence and the power of the Triune God through the Spirit. The relationship is illustrated in the following diagram.
Water Imagery
The most obvious reason for the special relationship between Spirit-baptism and filling and fullness is the water imagery associated with both. Paul made the connection in 1 Corinthians 12:13 when he said “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” Spirit-baptism into the body of Christ opens the fountain of drinking of the Spirit. This statement is important for several reasons, none the least of which is this connection between baptism and fullness. We have been plunged into the Spirit. This suggests a fullness which other passages affirm. We drink of one Spirit, we are filled, and we become full. We are transformed by the presence of God in our lives bestowed in Spirit-baptism. He washes away our sin and makes us new creatures purified by His inner working through the Spirit. This all-embracing presence grants us power. We move out into the world as witnesses for the Christ whom the Spirit discloses to us, we manifest the presence and power of God to a lost world, and we bless fellow-believers as instruments of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
Drink & Be Filled
Jesus was the first to hint at this special relationship in John 7:37-39 when He said “‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive, for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” These words, spoken to the crowd at the Feast of Tabernacles, reveal that we are filled with the Spirit by drinking of Christ. We will explore this dynamic in a future article. But notice how the command of Jesus to drink of Him and the promise of the Spirit flowing in our innermost beings as a river of living water corresponds with what Paul said in 1 Cor. 12:13 where our baptism in the Spirit issues in drinking of the Spirit. All of this means that the baptism in the Spirit grants us the fullness of the Spirit, a life of continual filling with the Spirit, and a growing fullness gained by these repeated fillings.
Emptiness
Remember how empty our lives were when we were still in our sins. Emptiness is the result of man’s fall into sin and a manifestation of his rebellion against God. Without Christ we are swimming in a sea of idolatry, and biblical terms for idolatry signify emptiness. Jeremiah cried out on behalf of the Lord and said “Thus says the Lord, what injustice did your fathers find in Me, that they went far from Me and walked after emptiness and became empty?” (Jer. 2:5). Paul unmasked worldly philosophy when he said “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ” (Col. 2:8). Rejoice, fellow Christian, that your life is no longer empty and your religion no longer vain! But now explore this fullness-filling-fullness dynamic with me.
Filling & Fullness
When we examine the Scriptures that speak of filling and fullness, we find that there is a fullness granted to us in Christ, and a fullness gained by filling. Let’s look first at the fullness that we have in Christ by his Spirit. “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace” (John 1:16). John is describing a definitive reception of the fullness of Christ. In the context, this fullness refers to the incarnation (Jn. 1:14). The fullness has come to us. But the context reveals that it also refers to the reception of Christ by faith – “as many as received Him” (Jn. 1:12). Two other passages speak of the fullness of Christ: “For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him” (Col. 1:19), and “For in Him dwells all the fullness of deity in bodily form” (Col. 2:9). This is the fullness to which John is referring in John 1:16, and the bedrock of our doctrinal understanding of what the fullness of the Spirit is.
Four passages in the Book of Acts speak of men being full of the Holy Spirit.
- “Select men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (Acts 6:3).
- “And they chose Stephen, a man full of the Spirit, and Philip…” (Acts 6:5).
- “Stephen, full of grace and power…” (Acts 6:8).
- Barnabas “a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith” (Acts 13:10).
Other passages in the Book of Acts speak of men being filled with the Holy Spirit.
- “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit was giving them utterance” (Acts 2:4).
- “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers and elders of the people’…” (Acts 4:8).
- “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 4:31).
- “But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him and said…” (Acts 13:9).
- “And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 13:52).
What is the relationship between these fullness and filling passages? The four passages that speak of men being full of the Holy Spirit emphasize that these men were mature in the Christian faith, gracious in character, faithful and consistent in Christian duty, and able to deal with the problems the church was facing so as to assume Christian diaconal leadership. They possessed a godly fullness that commended them as models of true Christian faith and life. The passages that speak of men being filled with the Holy Spirit refer to the power and presence of God given for effectiveness in particular preaching opportunities. In these cases the disciples were being motivated and guided to speak the words and the will of the Spirit of Christ in particular situations. The filling of the Spirit described in Acts 13:52 describes the church in Antioch at-large as being a church where the disciples were continually filled with joy, that is, filled with the Holy Spirit. This indicates the presence of continual filling on the part of the congregation. This is a beautiful picture, and one that church members today will naturally desire to see imported into their individual congregations.
Filling-Fullness Connection
Eph. 3:19 is the only passage that relates filling and fullness.[1] Every other passage either speaks of filling or fullness, but not both. Paul says “That you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” Here we see that filling leads to fullness. Eph. 1:23 says that Christ’s body is the fullness of Him who fills all in all. He is omnipresent, yet transcendent and immanent, i.e., indwelling the church. Eph. 2:19-22 says that we are being built up into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. The Spirit fills the house. Eph. 3:19 is the climax of this doctrine, revealing to us the purpose of continual filling with the Holy Spirit. Filling after filling as a habit of life, like John’s “Grace upon grace” (Jn. 1:16), matures our character, enhances our fruit and giftedness, and enriches our praying in the Spirit. This is the intended design of the fullness of Christ that we have already received as a grant in the Holy Spirit.
Command to Be Filled
Eph. 5:18 is the only passage that commands us to be filled with the Spirit. Unlike the baptism in the Spirit which is a matter promise bestowed, being filled with the Spirit is a matter of obedience. Is it possible that a Christian would not be filled with the Spirit? Of course; why else would He command us? The command is in the passive voice, but we are not passive, because it is a command. It is passive because filling is the result of drinking. The command to be filled is really a command to drink, a very active pursuit and a command to drink that brings us right back to John 7:37-39. We drink of Christ and we are filled with His Spirit. The purpose of the Spirit’s ministry is to take the things of Christ and reveal them to us (John 16:13-15). So when we know Christ and follow Christ and adore Him, we are progressively filled with His own Spirit. John Stott wrote:
“The fullness of the Spirit was the consequence of the baptism of the Spirit. The baptism is what Jesus did (pouring out the Spirit from heaven); the fullness is what they received. The baptism was a unique initiatory experience; the fullness was intended to be the continuing, the permanent result, the norm. As an initiatory event, the baptism is not repeatable and cannot be lost, but the filling can be repeated and in any case needs to be maintained. If it is not maintained, it is lost. The Holy Spirit is grieved by sin and ceases to fill the sinner. Repentance is then the only road to recovery.”[2]
Presence & Power
The baptism and fullness of the Spirit is the only way for us to have, enjoy, and manifest the presence and power of the living God in our lives. Here is the solution to man’s emptiness, and the fruit of it is the indwelling of God manifested by true image-bearing in the likeness of Christ. And if God is with us, as He was with Jesus (Acts 10:38), then the power of God and the Gospel will be ours as a living witness of the saving grace of God in us.
Prayer for the Spirit
What did Jesus mean when He said in Luke 11:13 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” He meant that we are to ask for the Holy Spirit in our prayers. This can only mean that we are to pray that we may be filled with the Holy Spirit each day and for each demanding moment so that our lives will be characterized by an expanding fullness. For the unbeliever, these words are the call to be saved, issuing in the command to repent and be baptized in the Holy Spirit.
We must pray for the Spirit not because we do not have Him, but because we already have received the fullness in His Spirit. But we long for the fullness to inflitrate and permeate us so that all of the Spirit’s ministries will be enjoyed and enhanced in our lives. The baptism and fullness of the Spirit is the way of the Spirit’s witness, the production of His fruit and service of gifts bestowed. It tempers us from grieving and/or quenching the Spirit. This is why the baptism and fullness of the Spirit is so prominent in the life of the Spirit. Practically it means that we must set our minds on the things of the Spirit (Rom. 8:6) each day, and throughout our days. We have been baptized with the Spirit. We have a fountain to drink from and a fullness to enjoy. ”Be filled with the Spirit!”
Pastor John Reuther
Covenant Baptist Church, Lumberton, NJ / Reformed Baptist Seminary
[1] Filling and fullness are joined in Rom. 15:14, though not as explicitly the filling and fullness of the Spirit as in Eph. 3:19. Paul said “I am convinced that you are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge….” The passage is certainly instructive when studying these two related terms. Here they are used somewhat synonymously. Filled has the same sense as full in this passage.
[2] John R. W. Stott, Baptism & Fullness: The Work of the Holy Spirit Today (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1964), 48.
2 Responses to “The Holy Spirit Baptism, Fullness, & Filling”
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March 26th, 2010 at 8:18 pm
Can you explain me this
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life
How can we thirst? How can we ask God to fill us each day if we already received the fullness of the spirit? Because according to this verse we drink once and then we never thirst again. And the spirit is now sprigning and not filling
March 27th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Hello – You raised a great question. The John 4:14 passage that you reference was our Lord’s “invitation,” if you will, to the woman at the well, to come to Him to drink. It is the offer of salvation which, among other images used in Scripture, is likened to thirsting, drinking, and being satisfied. It is also employed to speak of the reality of cleansing. All of these are drawn from the simple image of drinking and applied either more or less in different passages in the New Testament. I see John 4:14 as a general invitation that does not even hint at some of the finer distinctions that we see elsewhere, such as the one that I was dealing with in this article, namely, the relationship between filling and fullness. Chrsit baptizes us in/with His Spirit and fills us. This is represented as a fullness, on the one hand, which is granted to us by virtue of our being baptized in the Spirit. But fullness also comes as we are continually filled with the Spirit and transformed and matured throughout the course of our Christian experience. This is what I was trying to explain in the article: that “tension” or “balance” (as between the “already” and the “not-yet”) between possessing the Spirit in all His fullness, and yet praying for the Holy Spirit, and seeking the filling of the Holy Spirit. Relating this to the Beatitudes is helpful, for they also present tensions (see 5:3 – poverty and riches; 5:7 – merciful also), e.g., “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied” (Mt. 5:6). Do we ever stop hungering and thirsting for God? Of course not. But are we ever satisfied with God’s presence and His grace and His good gifts? Of course. It’s a tension of God’s provision for today, with our ongoing passion for tomorrow. I hope this helps. If not, please write back. John R.