Have You

Experienced
the Empowering
Presence
of the Holy Spirit?

Bill Hyer

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 Have you experienced the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit? Do you know what it
is to personally enjoy the presence and fellowship of the Holy Spirit? Do you know what it is to
experience the power of the Holy Spirit in your life? Power for living is what Jesus promised to all
who believe in Him - power to be witnesses for Him, power to work for Him, power to walk with
Him and power to worship Him. Jesus said this power would come into our lives from the
empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.
The New Testament says that all Christians should be experiencing the empowering
presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives because the Christian life is life in the Spirit. According to
the New Testament, life in the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit was the kind of life the
early Christians experienced. It is what the New Testament regards as the normal Christian life.
Are you experiencing the same quality of life and power the New Testament says the early
Christians had? It is a quality of life that can only come from the empowering presence of the Holy
Spirit.

A New Dynamic Quality of Life

The Bible tells us that after Jesus was crucified for our sins and rose from the dead, He
appeared to His disciples for a period of 40 days before ascending into heaven to be seated at the
right hand of God the Father Almighty (Acts 1:3). During those days, He told them on a number of
occasions that they would soon experience the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in their
lives. On one occasion He told them, Behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon
you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49).
On another occasion He said to them, You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon
you (Acts 1:8).
The Greek word for power is dunamis. Our English word dynamic comes from this
Greek word meaning power. Jesus said to His disciples that a new dynamic power was going to
come into their lives. This was a new power that would bring a dynamic quality of life which they
had not previously known or experienced. Jesus said this dynamic quality of life was the
empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.
As the disciples listened to Jesus speak these words, they were not only waiting for the
experience that would transform their own lives, they were waiting on the threshold of the greatest
change in the history of the people of God. This change was the transition from the Old Testament
to the New Testament period of history, and with that transition came a change in the kind of life
the people of God would be able to experience.

The Old Testament Experience

Throughout the Old Testament period of history, there were true believers who trusted God
and were saved by grace through faith in the promises of God (Heb. 11:1-2). The New Testament
tells us that the foremost example of such a person was the Old Testament patriarch Abraham
(Rom. 4:1-3; Gal. 3:6.). God declared Abraham to be in a right relationship with Him, not because
of his works, but because of his faith alone (Gen. 15:7; Rom. 4:4-5). Abraham became the example
for everyone who would believe throughout all history, both Old Testament and New Testament
(Rom. 4:16, 23-24).
Because Abraham was right with God, the Lord gave Him the covenant sign of
circumcision. This was the outward sign of the inward spiritual reality of Abrahams relationship

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with God which was a circumcised heart (Rom. 4:11). Like Abraham, all true believers were to
have a circumcised heart (Deut. 10:16; Jer. 4:4; Ezek. 44:9). Paul said that such heart-circumcision
was by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 2:29). Jesus described this work in the heart as being born of the
Spirit. He told Nicodemus, the great Teacher of the Old Testament, that he should have known
that one could not be saved unless he was born of the Spirit (John 3:1-15). Throughout the Old
Testament period of history, there were true believers like Abraham who trusted God and were
saved because they were born of the Spirit (cf. Num. 27:18).
The Bible shows us that during the Old Testament period the Holy Spirit worked
powerfully in many ways among the people. One of the most forthright statements in the entire
Bible about the working of the Holy Spirit was given by Zechariah, Not by might nor by power,
but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts (4:6). The prophet Isaiah says that the Lord put His
Holy Spirit in the midst of them and the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest (see Isa. 63:10-14). In
the prayer at the dedication of the second temple, the prayer that summarized the history of the
Lords workings with His people Israel, the Levitical priests stated, You admonished them by
Your Spirit through Your prophets (Neh. 9:30). The Lord also spoke through the prophet Haggai
saying, As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding
in your midst (Hag. 2:5). The foremost way the presence of the Holy Spirit was manifested in the
midst of the people was in the Tabernacle and then in the Temples.
While the Holy Spirit worked powerfully in the midst of Gods people during the Old
Testament period of history, the people of God, as a whole, did not individually experience the
empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Only a few individuals were given this great
privilege and blessing. These were leaders like Moses, the seventy Elders (Num. 11:17) and Joshua
(Deut. 34:9), judges like Gideon (Jud. 6:34), Jephthah (Jud. 11:29) and Samson (Jud. 13:25; 14:6),
kings like David (I Sam. 16:13; Ps. 51:11), the prophets (Dan. 4:8, 9; Mic. 3:8; II Pet. 1:19-21),
and even the man responsible for the building of the Tabernacle, Bezalel (Ex. 31:3) (see also Luke
1:15, 41, 67; 2:25). In contrast to most in Israel during this time in history, only these few
individuals experienced the power, quality of life and gifts of the Spirit that came from the
empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.

The Promise of the Father

Even though the common experience for most of Gods people was the Spirit dwelling in
their midst, the Lord spoke through His prophets that there would come a time when, not a few,
but all of Gods people would be able to experience the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in
their lives. Moses spoke prophetically of this future time when he said, Would that all the Lords
people were prophets, that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them! (Numbers 11:29). The
prophet Isaiah also spoke of a future time when the Holy Spirit would be poured forth from on
high (Isa. 32:15; 44:3). The Lord spoke through the prophet Ezekiel saying, I will pour out My
Spirit on the house of Israel (Ezek. 39:29). Yet probably the greatest prophecy about this future
period was given through the prophet Joel. The Lord spoke through Joel saying, It will come
about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will
prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on the male
and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days (Joel 2:28-29). In this prophetic word,
the Lord said that the time would come when the Holy Spirit would be given, not just to a few, but
to all Gods people without distinction, to male and female, young and old, upper class and
servants - all could experience the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.

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 Jesus spoke of these Old Testament promises about the Holy Spirit as being the promise
of the Father. In His last words in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus said, Behold, I am sending forth the
promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power
from on high (Luke 24:49). Again, we are told in Acts 1:4, Gathering them together, He
commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised.
The promise of the Father in the Old Testament was that the time would come when all of
Gods people would be able to experience the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. This is the
historic difference in the quality and experience of spiritual life between the Old Testament and the
New Testament. This quality of life comes from the manifestation of the fullness of the
empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. While people in the Old Testament period
were saved by Gods grace through faith and had the word of God in the Scriptures, and while the
Holy Spirit dwelt in the midst of the people and did many great works, the people of God as a
whole did not have the quality of life and spiritual gifts characterized by the manifestation of the
fullness of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. That would come only after Jesus died for
our sins, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.

The Holy Spirit Given After Jesus Glorified

In his gospel, John wrote specifically about this transition from the Old Testament to the
New Testament that was brought about by the death, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus
and culminated with the Holy Spirit being given. In John 7:37-39 we read, Now on the last day,
the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 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.
Although the Holy Spirit was actively working in the Old Testament period of history, and
although the Holy Spirit had anointed Jesus in fullness as the Messiah (Isa. 11:2; Luke 4:18-19;
Acts 10:38), John spoke of the working of the Holy Spirit in absolute terms, literally that the
Spirit was not yet. This is the great difference between the experience of Gods people in the Old
Testament and the New Testament - it is as if the Holy Spirit was not yet, for He had not yet been
given. The reason He was not yet given, John said, is because Jesus was not yet glorified. When
Jesus spoke these words, He had not yet been glorified by dying for our sins, rising from the dead
and ascending to the Fathers right hand. It would be after this happened that He would pour forth
the Holy Spirit on the people of God as the Father had promised. The giving of the Holy Spirit was
to be the great confirmation that Jesus had risen from the dead and had been exalted to the Fathers
right hand. The giving of the Holy Spirit was the glorious culmination of the transition from the
Old Testament to the New Testament period in the history of Gods people.

The Day of Pentecost

This is the very thing that happened on the Day of Pentecost. Acts 2:1-4 says, When the
day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from
heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one
of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the
Spirit was giving them utterance. The empowering presence of the Holy Spirit was poured forth

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on the 120 believers who were gathered together on that day. They were completely transformed
because they personally experienced the promise of the Father - power from on high. The Holy
Spirit came upon them and manifested His presence in powerful ways causing thousands of people
to gather to find out what was happening.
At that time, Peter preached to the amazed crowd about what it meant. He began by saying,
This is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: And it shall be in the last days, God says,
that I will pour out of My Spirit on all mankind (Acts 2:16-17). The time that God had spoken
about in the prophets, the time when the Holy Spirit would be poured forth, had now begun. Peter
went on to say that the reason this had happened was because Jesus had been glorified. This
Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore, having been exalted to the
right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured
forth this which you both see and hear (Acts 2:32-33).
The pouring forth of the Holy Spirit was the great confirmation that Jesus had been raised
from the dead and exalted to the right hand of the Father. Because Jesus had been glorified, He
received the Holy Spirit, as the Father had promised, and gave the Holy Spirit to His disciples as
He had promised (see also John 14:16, 26; 15:26). The death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus
and the pouring forth of the Holy Spirit were the sequence of events that brought the great
transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament. The pouring forth of the Holy Spirit was
the climax of this transition. Now the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit was being given to
all who believed in Jesus. This is what Peter said as he concluded his sermon on that great day.
Peter said to them, Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you
and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to
Himself (Acts 2:38-39).

This Experience Is Described in Many Ways

When we read in the New Testament about the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit coming in
and upon people, we see that this experience is described in many different ways. The New
Testament does not use technical theological terminology but rather dynamic language with
descriptive phrases that explain what people experienced. The following are various terms, word
pictures and metaphors used to describe what happened when people personally experienced the
empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives:

baptized in the Holy Spirit

- Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33 - All the gospels tell us this descriptive phrase was
invented by John the Baptist. He was the last great prophet of the Old Testament period and spoke
of that which would be the foremost work of Jesus. He said, I baptized you with water; but He
will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
- Acts 1:5 - Jesus used this phrase to speak about what would happen to the disciples. Acts 1:4-5
says, Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what
the Father had promised, Which, He said, you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water,
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.
- Acts 11:16 - And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at
the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, John baptized with
water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 11:15-16). Peter used this same

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terminology in reference to what had happened to the disciples on the Day of Pentecost and was
applying it here to what the Gentiles experienced. There are two significant things to notice about
Peters testimony when he says the Lord used to say, John baptized with water, but you will be
baptized with the Holy Spirit. One is that, while these are Peters words, this is actually a quote
of the Lord Jesus using this terminology, besides the one quoted above in Acts 1:5. Second,
Peters words, used to say, mean that Jesus used this terminology to speak of this experience, not
once, but many times.

filled with the Holy Spirit

- 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
- Acts 9:17 - So 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.
- Eph. 5:18 - And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.

the Holy Spirit being poured forth or out

- Acts 2:17, 18 - And it shall be in the last days, God says, that I will pour forth of My Spirit on
all mankind I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit (Joel 2:28,29).
- Acts 2:33 - Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from
the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.
- Acts 10:45 - All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift
of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
- Rom. 5:5 - And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within
our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

the Holy Spirit coming upon

- Acts 1:8 - You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you

the Holy Spirit falling upon

- Acts 8:16 - (v. 14) Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the
word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might
receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them
- Acts 10:44 - While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who
were listening to the message.
- Acts 11:15 - And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at
the beginning.

clothed with power from on high

- Luke 24:49 - You are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.

receiving power
- Acts 1:8 - You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you

receiving the Holy Spirit

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- John 7:39 - But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive.
- Acts 2:38 - Peter said to them, Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
- Acts 8:15, 17 - (v. 14) Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the
word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might
receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized
in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were
receiving the Holy Spirit.
- Acts 10:47 - Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the
Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?
- Acts 19:2 - He (Paul) said to them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?
- Gal. 3:2 - Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

giving the Holy Spirit

- John 14:16 - I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you
forever.
- Acts 15:8 - And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as
He also did to us.

drinking living water

- John 4:10 - Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says
to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living
water.
- John 7:37 - Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and
drink

a well of water springing up

- John 4:14 - Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water
that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.

rivers of living water springing forth from within

- John 7:38 - 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.

These are all dynamic terms the Bible uses to describe the empowering presence of the
Spirit. Some describe the Holy Spirit as coming upon a person. Some describe the Spirit coming in
and filling up a person. Others describe the Spirit coming up from within a person and flowing out.
Some describe us in the Holy Spirit, as being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Others describe the
Holy Spirit in us, as being filled with the Holy Spirit. Not only this, there are other dynamic
terms used in the Bible to describe the manifest presence and power of the Holy Spirit such as
wind (John 3:8; Acts 2:2), fire (Acts 2:3), rain (Isa. 32:15) and river (Ezek. 47:1-12; Rev.
22:1-2).

This Experience of the Spirit is Given to Believers

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 God, being sovereign, can and does work in any way He is pleased. Isaiah spoke about the
sovereignty of God working through the Holy Spirit when he asked, Who has directed the Spirit
of the Lord? (Isa. 40:13). Jesus compared the working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of people to
be like the wind (John 3:8). The Bible shows us the Holy Spirit can work in peoples lives in
whatever way He is pleased, in the lives of both believers and unbelievers (see Num. 24:2; I Sam
19:20). While the experience of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit can be given to people
at any time in their spiritual life, the Bible shows us that this empowering experience is
characteristically given to those who have been born of the Spirit and are already believers in the
Lord Jesus Christ.
As we have seen, in the Old Testament period, there were a few individuals who were
believers and were filled with the Holy Spirit - people such as Moses, Joshua and David. While not
exactly the same, the experience of Jesus could be compared to this. Jesus was a believer Who
experienced the fullness of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit came
upon Him to anoint Him as the Christ, or Messiah, when He was baptized in water by John (Luke
3:22; 4:18).
Jesus said this experience was for those who believed in Him. In John 7:37-39 we read,
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 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. Jesus said it is those who believe in Him who are to come
to Him to receive the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. Johns commentary also shows that
this experience is for those who believe in Jesus when he states, But this He spoke of the Spirit,
whom those who believed in Him were to receive.
The book of Acts is a most important book for us in this matter because it is the one book
that writes a history of events in the early church and it is the one book of the New Testament that
describes people coming to experience the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. Whereas
Pauls letters were written for believers who had already experienced the Holy Spirit in their lives,
Acts speaks about people coming to have this experience. Throughout the book, there are
descriptive accounts and direct statements which describe this taking place and they show that this
experience was given to believers who had been born of the Spirit and come to faith in the Lord
Jesus. These include:

- Acts 1:5, 8 - As we have seen, these statements were spoken by Jesus to the Apostles whom
Jesus had chosen (Acts 1:2). All of these men were believers and born of the Spirit.

- Acts 1:13-15 - These verses show us that, not only the Apostles, but a group of about 120 were
gathered in prayer waiting for the Holy Spirit. Specifically identified in this group were members
of the family of Jesus who had been converted after Jesus had risen from the dead (John 7:5; I Cor.
15:7). All of these people were believers who came to experience the empowering presence of the
Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.
- Acts 2:38 - Peter, while preaching to the crowd who gathered on the Day of Pentecost, said to
them, Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your
sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Some understand these words to teach that
one simultaneously receives the Holy Spirit when baptized in water. Yet, the experience of the
120, other accounts in Acts (8:16; 10:47), and the experience of Gods people throughout church
history demonstrates that this is not the best way to interpret these words. In this passage, Peter is

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not making a definitive theological statement but giving an invitation to receive the Holy Spirit as
the 120 had just experienced. Faith in Jesus was demonstrated by water baptism. Peter makes the
simple statement that it is those who have come to faith in Jesus who can receive the Holy Spirit.

- Acts 8:4-17 - This account tells us that through the ministry of Philip many of the Samaritans
became believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Philip baptized them just as Peter had spoken of in Acts
2:38 and just as Philip went on to do with the Ethiopian Eunuch in the following account (Acts
8:38). Even though these many people were believers, they had not experienced the empowering
presence of the Holy Spirit. Acts 8:14-17 says, Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that
Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed
for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they
had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they began laying their hands on
them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.

- Acts 9:1-17 - This is the account of the greatest conversion in the New Testament, the conversion
of Saul who later became the Apostle Paul (Acts 13:9). On the road to Damascus, the risen Lord
Jesus Christ appeared to Saul. We know that with that encounter at that time, Saul was born of the
Spirit because he became a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. For the next three days Saul fasted
and prayed. The Lord answered his prayer (Acts 9:11) and even gave Saul a vision about what was
to happen (Acts 9:12). The Lord Jesus spoke to a man by the name of Ananias to go to Saul to
minister to him. Acts 9:17 says, So 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.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit is the same experience that the 120 had on the Day of Pentecost
(Acts 2:4) and which Jesus described as being baptized in the Spirit (Acts 1:5), and this took
place in Pauls life after he was a believer.

- Acts 11:15-17 - And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us
at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, John baptized
with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Therefore if God gave to them the same
gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in
Gods way? These are the words of Peter describing how the Holy Spirit fell upon the Gentiles at
the house of Cornelius the Centurion and they tell his testimony of his own experience of receiving
the gift of the Holy Spirit. Before looking at Peters testimony about his own experience, it is
important to observe that it is probable that the experience of the empowering presence of the Holy
Spirit came simultaneously with the conversion of these Gentiles and this shows that this
experience can take place in the lives of people when they are born-again and become believers.
Nevertheless, what Peter says about his own experience is that which is vital to show that this
experience is given to those who are already believers. In verse 17 he says, God gave to them the
same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Peters own testimony is
that it was after he was a believer that he received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Not only was this
Peters own testimony, but it was that of the other believers whom he was addressing, for he
speaks of the same gift as He gave to us.
It is most significant to observe how Peter described this experience. Since Peter and the
others were already believers, they would have been born of the Spirit and the Holy Spirit would
have already been living in them at the time of this experience. Nevertheless, Peter spoke of this

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experience in absolute terms as receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit (see also Acts 2:38). This is
the same way Luke described the experience of the Samaritan believers when he spoke in absolute
terms of them receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:17). The Apostle John also wrote of this
experience in absolute terms when commenting on Jesus words in John 7:37-38, But this He
spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive, for the Spirit was not yet
given (John 7:39). And Jesus Himself spoke in absolute terms of the Father giving the Holy
Spirit to those who were already His children when He said, 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? (Luke 11:13). What is most important to observe is that while, on the one
hand, the New Testament teaches that all believers have the Holy Spirit because they are born of
the Spirit, yet, on the other hand, the New Testament speaks of believers receiving the gift of the
Holy Spirit. This means that while the New Testament speaks in absolute terms of people
receiving the Holy Spirit, we should not interpret these words to mean that these people were not
believers at the time of this experience. Rather, the New Testament speaks of this experience in
absolute terms when it describes believers experiencing a fullness of the empowering presence of
the Holy Spirit which they had not known before. This is the fullness of the Holy Spirit that was
promised in the Old Testament and is given to believers in the New Testament period of history.

- Acts 19:1-6 - The Apostle Paul had come to the city of Ephesus where he met a group of twelve
disciples and asked them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? This question is
significant for two reasons. First, Paul asked this question because he realized something was
missing in the lives of these people - the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. Second, and
more importantly, Pauls question demonstrates that one could be a believer and still not have
experienced the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. His question literally was, Having
believed, if the Holy Spirit you received? Pauls interview ultimately went on to reveal that these
people were actually not believers in Jesus, so Paul led them to faith in the Lord Jesus. Verses 5
and 6 go on to say, When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And
when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking
with tongues and prophesying. They were first baptized, demonstrating they were believers, and
then, as Paul laid his hands on them, they received the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.

While there are other passages in the New Testament indicating that the gift of the Holy
Spirit was given to believers, Hebrews 6:1-2 is one of the most significant. Hebrews 6:2 lists the
laying on of hands as one of the elementary teachings or beginning words that believers
were taught when they came to faith in Christ. Since this was basic doctrine for all new believers,
this could not have been speaking about ordination to office (Acts 6:6; I Tim. 5:22), nor
commissioning to service (Acts 13:3), nor signs and wonders such as the sick being healed (Acts
5:12; 14:3). The only other thing the New Testament shows this practice could have been is
praying for people to receive the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. This passage
demonstrates that it was the common practice of the early church to pray for new believers to
receive the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

Receiving the Empowering Presence of the Holy Spirit is

An Actual Experience

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 While being born of the Spirit manifests in the fruit of saving faith, being filled with the
Holy Spirit manifests in the fullness of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. Just as being
born again is an actual experience, so also being filled with the Holy Spirit is an actual experience.
Jesus spoke of this when He said to the disciples, "You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not
many days from now (Acts 1:5). He spoke of an actual experience that would be manifested in
their lives, an experience they would know had taken place. And that is what happened - the Holy
Spirit came and filled them, and their lives were transformed by what they experienced.
When we read in the book of Acts the various accounts of people receiving the
empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, there is always some kind of actual experience which
manifests in their lives in such a way that other people recognize it. One of the qualifications for
the office of Deacon was that they had to be men full of the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:3). Both Stephen
and Barnabas were men specifically identified as being full of the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:5; 11:24).
When the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit, His empowering presence was manifested in such a
way that Simon said to Peter and John, Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on
whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. Simons evil heart coveted such spiritual
power because he saw it being manifested in the experience of the Samaritans. When the Holy
Spirit fell on the Gentiles while Peter was preaching in the home of Cornelius the Centurion, the
Scripture says, All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift
of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also (Acts 10:45). The Jewish believers
observed this event, as they saw the Gentiles actually experience the empowering presence of the
Holy Spirit. The same thing can be said about the Ephesians when Paul laid his hands on them,
some kind of actual experience happened in their lives that manifested the empowering presence of
the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:6).
The fact that receiving the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit is an actual experience
is evident from Pauls writings. Perhaps the most remarkable statement in this regard is in his letter
to the Galatians. In chapter three, Paul presents various arguments for the doctrine of justification
by grace through faith alone. The significant thing to observe about these arguments is that Paul
appeals first to the reality of their personal experience of the Holy Spirit and then afterwards goes
on to present doctrinal teaching from the Scriptures. He begins by asking, This is the only thing I
want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with
faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the
flesh? (Gal. 3:2-3). This was such a persuasive argument to Paul that he presented it as if it were
the only thing that needed to be said to prove his case. If the Galatians had not had an actual
experience of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, Pauls primary argument would have
been meaningless and failed. But because the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit was such a
reality in their personal experience, it was his first appeal. This reality of the empowering presence
of the Holy Spirit was the reason for the quality of life and power that the early Christians
experienced.

The Empowering Presence of the Holy Spirit is

An Ongoing Experience
Most of the accounts in Acts, as well as Pauls question to the Galatians quoted above,
focus on peoples initial experience of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit using dynamic
language with descriptive phrases such as being baptized in the Spirit, being filled with the
Spirit and receiving the Spirit. Yet it is also vital to emphasize that the New Testament does not

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view the experience of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit as being only an initial, one-
time event. The experience of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit is to be an on-going
reality that is consistently manifested and more fully developed in the lives of Gods people. This
is what Paul spoke of in Ephesians 5:18 when he wrote to those who were in Christ, to those who
had already been sealed with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13), that they were to be filled with the
Holy Spirit. The tense of the verb translated be filled is present. In Greek, the present tense does
not mean now or this moment but continuous, on-going action. Thus, the continuous, on-
going experience of Gods people is to be that which is characterized as a life filled with the Holy
Spirit - a life in which one is actually experiencing the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.
Since the Apostle commands Gods people to be filled with the Holy Spirit, it is evident that there
are Christians whose lives would be characterized as not being filled with the Holy Spirit. This
instruction by the Apostle is not only a promise to be claimed by faith, it is a commandment
directing Gods people about what we are to be actually experiencing in our lives. This tells us
what it is to be living the normal Christian life - it is life in the Spirit, life filled with the Spirit. Life
in the fullness of the Holy Spirit is the great difference in the quality of life of believers in the New
Testament period of history.

The Empowering Presence of the Holy Spirit is

Manifested in Different Ways
Just as the Bible describes this experience in many different ways, it also shows us that the
empowering presence of the Holy Spirit is manifested in many different ways. The primary
manifestation that Jesus focused on was that people would receive power to be witnesses for Him.
The programmatic statement of Acts is Jesus statement, You shall receive power when the Holy
Spirit comes upon you and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and even
to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). When the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, they
received power they had not previously known, and this power gave them boldness to proclaim the
gospel of the risen Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 4:8, 31, 33; 7:55; 8:29; 13:9).
Another way the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit is manifested is spiritual gifts.
One of the most common manifestations is the gift of tongues. In Acts 2:4 we read, And they
were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving
them utterance. Peter and the Jewish believers with him knew that the Gentiles had been baptized
in the Holy Spirit because they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God (Acts
10:46; 11:15-16). And Acts 19:6 says of the Ephesians, And when Paul had laid his hands upon
them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying.
Prophecy is another important manifestation. In fact, it is the primary manifestation of the
Holy Spirit that was spoken of by the prophet Joel. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter quoted Joel
saying, This is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: And it shall be in the last days,
God says, that I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind, and your sons and daughters shall
prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even on
My bondservants, both men and women, I will pour forth of My Spirit and they shall
prophesy (Acts 2:16-18).
While not as prominent in the book of Acts as other manifestations of the Spirit, worship is
another very important way the Holy Spirits empowering presence is manifested. Jesus had said
that the worship which the Father seeks is that which is in Spirit and in truth (John 4:23). Such
worship is characterized not simply by formal ritual but Spirit-filled presence and power (Phil. 3:3;

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II Tim. 3:5). As we read accounts of the Holy Spirit coming upon people, one of the manifestations
is praise and worship of God. On the Day of Pentecost, when the people from the many nations
heard the 120 speaking in the tongues in their own language, they said they heard them praising
God by speaking of the mighty deeds of God (Acts 2:11). When the Holy Spirit manifested His
presence in the Gentiles at the house of Cornelius they were exalting God (Acts 10:46). One of
the foremost characteristics of the early Christians was that they were praising God (Acts 2:47).
While the book of Acts focuses on power to be witnesses, speaks of various spiritual gifts,
and mentions worship, the foremost manifestation of the Holy Spirit in a persons life is simply
that which is summarized in the phrase which we have been using: empowering presence. The
manifest presence of the Holy Spirit is real and He gives power. His presence is actually
experienced in the reality of fellowship and communion (II Corinthians 13:14; Phil 2:1) and in a
life that is transformed by His power (II Corinthians 3:18). The greatest manifestation of the Holy
Spirits transforming power is the personal experience of the love of God which comes through the
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said in Romans 5:5, the love of God has been poured
out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Pauls prayer for the believers
in Ephesus was that God would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened
with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through
faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the
saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which
surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:16-19). This is
truly the Spirit-filled life that God wants all of us to be experiencing.

How Does One Receive

the Empowering Presence of the Holy Spirit?
As Peter said in reference to the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:39, the promise is for you. The
promise is that all of Gods people can receive the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. When
we read in the Bible, especially the book of Acts, the different accounts of people receiving the
empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, we see that people receive the Holy Spirit in different
ways.
Sometimes He comes directly upon people. This is how He came upon the Lord Jesus to
anoint Him as the Messiah (Luke 3:22), how He came upon the 120 on the Day of Pentecost (Acts
2:1-4), and how He came upon the Gentiles who were gathered at the house of Cornelius the
Centurion the day Peter was preaching to them (Acts 10:44). The Holy Spirit simply fell on these
people. Throughout church history, there have been testimonies of many Christians whose lives
were completely transformed by the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit when He simply
came upon them in power and transformed their lives. Such accounts show that the Holy Spirit
filled them on a variety of occasions while they were doing many different things such as praying
or receiving the Lords Supper.
More often, however, the Lord is pleased to give the empowering presence of the Holy
Spirit through people, especially through the laying on of hands. This is what took place with the
Samaritans when the Apostles Peter and John came from Jerusalem to pray for them. Acts 8:17
says, Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit (see
also 8:18-19). It is reasonable to infer that this had been the practice of the Apostles since the Day
of Pentecost so that when they came to the Samaritans they prayed for them just as they had
always been doing. Paul, who at the time was known as Saul, was filled with the Holy Spirit

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through the laying on of hands by Ananias (Acts 9:17). The group of disciples at Ephesus received
the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands by Paul (Acts 19:6). Pauls words to Timothy
indicate that Timothy received the gift of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit through Paul
laying his hands on him (II Tim. 1:6-7). In addition, Hebrews 6:2 lists the laying on of hands
which, as we have seen, was the common practice of the early church in praying for believers to
receive the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.
These things show us that God, being sovereign, gives the Holy Spirit as He is pleased, in
the way He is pleased, and at the time He is pleased. The Scriptures state this in various ways,
saying that it is the Father Who sends the Holy Spirit, the Father Who pours forth the Holy Spirit,
and it is Jesus Who gives the living water and baptizes in the Holy Spirit. It is most important that
we see that, ultimately, God gives the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit to His people when,
where and how He is pleased, and for this reason He is to receive all the glory for His gracious gift.
While God gives the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit when, where and how He is
pleased, there are, characteristically, important things that we are responsible to do so that we
might receive this gracious gift which He has promised. These include:

Come to Jesus

Once again, we read in John 7:37-39, Now on the last day, the great day of the feast,
Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "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. Jesus said that
the foremost requirement for receiving the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit was to come to
Him. This is because it is the Father Who sends the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus (John 14:26;
15:26), it is Jesus Who baptizes in the Holy Sprit and gives the living water (John 1:33; 4:10) and
it is the Holy Spirit Who comes to glorify Jesus (John 16:14). This shows that no matter what
kinds of spiritual experiences people may have, unless these people have truly come to the Lord
Jesus Christ, they have not received or experienced the Holy Spirit of God, but rather have
received a different spirit (see Rom. 8:15, II Cor. 11:4).
It is also important to notice that Jesus says the motivation for coming to Him is that one be
thirsty. One of the problems that too many believers have is that they are not thirsting or desiring
for more of the Lord. They are self-satisfied, complacent, and lukewarm. If we are thirsting for
more, we are to come to Jesus to receive.

Have a Heart that is Right before God

All of Gods gifts are given by His grace, and this is especially true of the gift of the Holy
Spirit. No one deserves to receive the Holy Spirit because of what he or she has done. While this is
true, we are responsible to have hearts that are right before God so that we may receive Gods
gracious gift for, after all, He is the Holy Spirit. Peter declared this in the sternest of words to the
worker of evil, Simon, who wanted to purchase the gift of the Holy Spirit. Peter rebuked Simon
saying, May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God
with money! You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before
God (Acts 8:20-21).
Our hearts are to be right before God. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter said, Repentfor
the forgiveness of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). This means,
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first, that we are to ask the Lord to forgive us of our sins. Second, we are to have hearts that have
turned and repented from known sins in our lives. The sin of Simon shows us one of the greatest
areas of sin from which we must turn involvement in the occult, witchcraft or any area of
interaction with demonic spirits (see I Cor. 10:19-22; II Cor. 6:14-18). The third thing this means
is that we must have the right motivation. Simons evil motivation was to experience and even
control the power he saw manifested. Peters severe words to Simon show that one should not
expect to receive the gift of God with a wrong motivation.

Give the Lord Jesus Control of Your Life

The right motivation for us to have in order to receive the empowering presence of the Holy
Spirit is to desire that the Lord Jesus be glorified in our lives. This means He should not simply be
confessed to be Lord, He should be our Lord. The foremost reason the Holy Spirit does not fill the
hearts and lives of Gods people is because they live in disobedience to Him. Such disobedience
grieves and quenches the Holy Spirit (Isa. 63:10; Eph. 4:30; I Thes. 5:19). The root cause of such
disobedience is that we are in control of our lives - we are on the throne of our hearts. The Holy
Spirit empowers us to do Gods will, and in order for this to be done, we must give Him control of
our lives. Peter said God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32).

Ask for the Gift of God

Jesus taught that we are to ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit. He spoke to His disciples
saying, So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find, knock, and the
door will be openedIf 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? (Luke 11:9,13).
And to the Samaritan woman at the well He said, If you knew the gift of God, and Who it is Who
says to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living
water (John 4:10). We are to ask for, to seek, to pray for the gift of the empowering presence of
the Holy Spirit.
The New Testament shows us that the Holy Spirit is given in answer to prayer. It was while
Jesus was praying that the Holy Spirit came upon Him to anoint Him (Luke 3:21). Jesus said, I
will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper, (John 14:16). It was also when the 120
were praying that the Holy Spirit was poured forth on them on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 1:14,
2:1).
When we ask the Lord to give us the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, He may be
pleased to pour forth of His Spirit upon us directly, as has happened with many people. More
often, however, the Lord is pleased to use people so that we might receive His presence through
the laying on of hands by those who have been filled with the Holy Spirit. Because of this, it is
good to ask others to pray for you so that you might receive the empowering presence of the Holy
Spirit through the laying on of hands as was the practice of the early church (Heb. 6:2).

Receive through Faith

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 We receive the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit through faith. Paul asked the
Galatians, Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? (Gal.
3:2). He said to them later that we receive the promise of the Spirit through faith (Gal. 3:14).
Just as all of Gods promises are received through faith, so the gift of the Promise of the Father is
received through faith. The Father promised the gift of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit
because it is His will for us to receive all that the Holy Spirit brings into our lives by the
manifestation of His presence and power. Because God has promised, we can have faith and
confidence that He will give to us His gracious gift. Not only has He promised, but God has
commanded us to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18). It is the Fathers will for us to
receive the gift He has promised to give us. We are responsible to believe His promise and receive
the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit through faith
The empowering presence of the Holy Spirit is what the Father promised. Power for living
is what Jesus promised to all who believe in Him - power to be witnesses for Him, power to work
for Him, power to walk with Him, and power to worship Him. Jesus said that power would come
into our lives from the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. The empowering presence of the
Holy Spirit is the greatest testimony and witness to the truth that Jesus has risen from the dead and
is exalted to the Fathers right hand. According to the New Testament, life in the empowering
presence of the Holy Spirit was the kind of life the early Christians experienced - a life identified
as being Spirit-filled. The New Testament says that all Christians should be experiencing the
empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. Are you experiencing this quality of life and power?
Have you experienced the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit?

QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS

Are there two levels to the Christian life?
Although we can see from the many accounts in the Bible that the experience of the
empowering presence of the Holy Spirit is given to believers, and the New Testament speaks of
those who are filled with the Holy Spirit, some object to this understanding of the work of the
Holy Spirit because they view it as teaching a kind of two-level Christianity which is not
Biblical. Does this understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives mean that one believer
can have more than another believer, that there are those who have it and those who dont have
it, or even that there are some Christians who are better than other Christians?
The Bible teaches that there is only one level of legal standing before God. All Christians
have equal status before God because all alike have been declared righteous by God through faith
alone in the Lord Jesus Christ. In terms of legal standing and status before God, there are not two
levels of Christianity - no Christian is better than any other Christian. All believers are equally
children of God and equal heirs with Jesus.

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 While this is true, it is also true that the Bible teaches that all Christians are not on the same
level in their spiritual maturity. There are some who are infants and others who are mature (I
Cor. 3:1; Heb. 5:13-14). The Bible specifically identifies three stages of maturity in I John 2:12-14:
children, young men and fathers in the Lord. While every Christian equally has life in Christ, there
are identifiable differences in maturity and experience. Such an affirmation does not bring the
objection that there is thus a two-level or even three-level Christianity being taught, or that
some have it and others dont.
The Bible teaches that although every Christian has positionally every blessing in Christ
(Eph. 1:3), not every Christian is living in and experiencing the full potential of life in Christ. It is
a simple fact that not all Christians are on the same level in their spiritual experience. Not only is
this true, it is also a fact that there are many Christians who live spiritually defeated lives. It is
obvious that there are some Christians who are living in the power of the Spirit, who have it, and
others who are not living in the power of the Spirit, who dont have it. The New Testament
commands Christians to be filled with the Holy Spirit and thereby teaches that some Christians
are not or never have been filled with the Spirit. It would not be proper to object to this on the basis
that this teaches a two-level Christianity. The book of Acts made such an identifiable distinction
when it characterized certain people as Spirit-filled (Acts 6:3, 5; 13:52). The quality of life that
was identified as being filled with the Spirit was a life filled with the presence and power of the
Holy Spirit, a life which some had and others did not have.
In Galatians 4:1-7, the Apostle Paul compared and contrasted the difference between the
experience of Gods people in the Old Testament and that of Gods people in the New Testament.
He used the current cultural institution of a child coming of age, the transition from being a minor
to the legal status of an adult. Often this passage has been misunderstood, because in our
terminology a child and a son are of the same category, but in the culture of Pauls day these
terms identified different categories. In that culture, a minor was called a child and an adult was
called a son, and the transition from being a child to a son was called the adoption as a son
(Gal. 4:5). Paul observed that the child was of equal status in regard to his relationship to his
father and therefore was an heir with equal rights as an adult (Gal. 4:1). Nevertheless, until the
child came to maturity at the time of the adoption as a son, he could not personally experience
the same rights and privileges as an adult. Paul was using this analogy to express the difference
between the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Gods people in the Old Testament and
the New Testament. Paul said that the normal Christian life is for all Christians to experience the
empowering presence of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 4:6). Today, however, the sad reality is that while all
Christians have the same equal rights as heirs with Christ, their personal experience is more like
that of the Old Testament believers than New Testament believers. They have the word of God, but
not the power of God. This is not a problem of two-level Christianity, but rather that many
Christians are not living at the level that is their right as believers living in the New Testament
period of history.
One way to compare this is the difference between a bud and the flower. Every bud has
within it the full potential of blossoming into a flower. In the same way, every Christian, being
born of the Spirit, has the life of the Holy Spirit in him. But not every Christian has opened up to
and experienced the fullness of the Spirit in his or her life. We affirm that there is equally life in
the bud and the flower, and that the bud has the full potential within it to become a flower.
Nevertheless, there is an identifiable difference between the bud and the flower in the
manifestation of that life.

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 While the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit is equally promised to all Christians, not
all Christians are experiencing this quality of life. One way to describe this is that while every
Christian has the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit does not have every Christian. Because of this, they
are not living at the spiritual level of life and power that the New Testament identifies the normal
Christian life. It is important to affirm, however, that the real issue in this matter is not a theoretical
debate about an equal-level or two-level Christian life. The real concern is whether or not we
are living the quality of life characterized as being filled with the Spirit, whether we have
experienced and are living in the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.

Does God love those who have been filled with the Spirit more than
those who have not?
Though this question is frequently asked, it is actually a question that should never be
asked. All Christians should know that God loves all His children with a perfect love. Because it is
perfect, Gods love cannot increase for any person and His love cannot change. Jesus Himself said
that God loves all of His people just as He loves Jesus (John 17:23).
God does not love us because of anything we do or could ever do but because He is love. It
is also clear that, although God may give people different experiences, such experiences do not
mean that He loves one person more than another. Paul testified to the fact that he had many
amazing experiences from the Lord (II Cor. 12:1), but such experiences did not mean that God
loved him more than Peter, or John, or anyone else. While human beings have the tendency to
think that God might love a certain person more because He uses him in a greater way, such
thinking is completely erroneous. God loves all His children with a perfect love.

Does I Corinthians 12:13 Speak About the Baptism in the Spirit?

In I Cor. 12:13 Paul wrote, For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether
Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free... Some believe that because Paul in this passage used the
words baptized and Spirit, Paul is speaking about the same experience John and Jesus spoke of
as being baptized in the Holy Spirit. In this passage, Paul is, in fact, speaking about every born-
again Christian because every born-again Christian is a member of the body of Christ. Because
Paul uses the words baptized and Spirit, it is then concluded that that every born-again
believer has been baptized in the Spirit and the experience of being born of the Spirit is the same as
the experience John and Jesus spoke about as being baptized in the Holy Spirit.
There are, however, important differences between how Paul used the words, baptized
and Spirit, and how John and Jesus spoke of being baptized in the Holy Spirit. The context of I
Corinthians 12 is about the work of the Spirit in the body of Christ, specifically how there is a
unity in the one Spirit but a diversity of gifts given by the same Spirit. There is one body but there
are different members who have different gifts. In this context, Paul uses various phrases, such as
through the Spirit (v.8) and by the Spirit (v.9), to describe the one Spirit giving different gifts.
This same terminology is then used in verse 13 to speak of the work of the one Spirit in

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baptizing all the different Christians into the one body. He says, For by the one Spirit we
were all baptized into the one body. The One doing the baptizing is the Spirit, and that into which
the people are baptized is the one body.
This is different from how John and Jesus used the words baptize and Spirit. First, the
One doing the baptizing is not the Holy Spirit but Jesus. Second, whereas Paul speaks of the
Holy Spirit baptizing people into the body, John and Jesus speak of Jesus baptizing people into
the Holy Spirit. Thus, while the same words Spirit and baptize are used, John and Jesus are
not speaking about the same thing as Paul.

Isnt It True that We Must Not Rely on Experience But on Scripture

Alone?
Sometimes people present the argument against the testimonies of those whose lives have been
transformed by the experience of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit saying, We must
not rely on experience but on the Scriptures alone. With the assertion of this statement, these
people seek to invalidate the experiences of those whose testimonies do not support their
understanding of Scripture, and it is assumed that their interpretation is what the Scriptures teach.
It must be affirmed, first of all, that this statement, as it stands, is absolutely true because it
is based on the truth that the Scriptures alone are the supreme and final authority for what we are to
believe (faith) and how we are to live (practice). Our experiences, in the final analysis, are always
to be discerned and judged by the Scriptures. At the same time, we must be cautious in making an
invalid or wrongful assertion of this truth because there are important considerations and problems
that arise when we seek to understand what the Scriptures actually teach.
One consideration, which is perhaps the most significant problem, is that people who use
this statement as an argument may do so on the basis of a false dichotomy between objective
doctrine and subjective experience. While we rightly distinguish between doctrine and experience,
these two things are not to be set in opposition to each other. Such a view could result in the claim
that our experience is irrelevant and doctrine has no relationship to our experience.
One of the fundamental truths of the Bible is that doctrine is always demonstrated by
experience - a tree is known by its fruits. Doctrine and experience are never separated in the Bible.
This is because truth is always confirmed by the real world of experience. The whole of science is
based on this principle. A scientist may have a theory about something he believes is true, but the
only way his theory can be proven to be true is by the experience of real life experimentation. If
experimentation, which is experience in the real world God created, does not validate his theory,
he will not say, We must not rely on experience.
When we look at the Scriptures, we see that all through the Bible experience confirmed
what the Scriptures taught. Peters words on the Day of Pentecost were This is what was spoken
of through the prophet Joel (Acts 2:16) and Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of
God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this
which you both see and hear (Acts 2:33). Peters testimony was that the experience of the Holy
Spirit proved the truth that prophecy had been fulfilled and that Jesus had risen from the dead.
When he used experience to confirm the truth of what was taught, Peter was following the example
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Throughout His ministry, Jesus confirmed His teaching and ministry by
the real world of personal experience - by what was seen and heard. When the Scribes objected
that Jesus blasphemed because He declared the sins of the paralytic to be forgiven, Jesus responded
first by saying, But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive

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sins, and then He healed the paralytic (Matthew 9:2-8). When John the Baptist doubted that Jesus
was in fact the Coming one whom he had testified Jesus to be, Jesus responded, Go and report
to John what you hear and see and then He summarized the works of His ministry quoting the
Scriptures which prophesied His coming (Matthew 11:2-5). The Scribes knew the Scriptures and
believed on the basis of their interpretation that what Jesus was doing was in error. John the Baptist
knew the Scriptures but had difficulty with Jesus and almost stumbled (Matthew 11:6) because
Jesus was not acting in accordance with his interpretation of what should be happening. Jesus
confirmed the truth of what the Scriptures taught by the real life experiences that were taking place
in the lives of the people to whom He ministered. Jesus practice was that experience confirmed
what the Scriptures actually taught. The greatest example of this was His resurrection. His
disciples were slow of heart to believe in all that that the prophets had spoken (Luke 24:25), but
He presented Himself alive to them by many convincing proofs (Acts 1:3) such as having them
touch Him and eating with them (Luke 24:36-42).
A second important consideration is that experience often causes people to change their
views and doctrine. This, again, is what happens in science. Frequently, the experience of scientists
will cause them to change their views about what they believed and bring them to a more accurate
understanding of the area they are studying. This is what happened in the Bible. The Bible shows
us that, in the lives of many people, it was their experience that actually brought them to a more
accurate understanding of what the Scriptures taught. The greatest testimony in the New Testament
is that of the Apostle Paul who completely changed his doctrine and life by his experience of
seeing the risen Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 9). It was Peters experience of a vision that led him to do
that which was contrary to what he had believed and practiced his whole life. This experience
changed his doctrine about his relationship with Gentiles and led to the Gospel being preached to
the Gentiles (Acts 10). Certainly these men did not assert the idea, I cannot rely on experience but
on the truth of Scripture that I believe. Their experience changed their doctrine and gave them a
more accurate understanding of what the Scriptures had been teaching.
The proposition that We must not rely on experience but on Scripture alone may be
compared to the Biblical truth that we are declared to be righteous, or justified, by grace through
faith alone and not by works. This is the foundational truth of the Gospel. While this is true, the
truth is also that while we are justified by faith alone, it is not a faith that is alone. While we are
saved by faith alone and not by our works, saving faith is a faith that works. This truth is similar to
the statement, We must not rely on experience but on Scripture alone, for while we rely on
Scripture alone, it is a reliance that is not alone, it is a reliance that has experience. To adapt the
words of James about faith and works to this subject, it could be said, You show me your doctrine
without experience and I will show you my doctrine by my experience (James 2:18).
The truth of Scripture is always confirmed by experience. While there are those who do not
believe that the Scriptures teach there is an actual experience of the empowering presence of the
Holy Spirit, the above material has set forth an exposition of Scripture that believes there is such
an experience, and the testimonies of millions throughout the world bear witness to what the
Scriptures teach. Their personal experiences demonstrate what the Scriptures teach. The question
now is: Have you experienced the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit?

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