Building up believers and the New Testament church

This is That

"Baptized" vs. "Filled"

Some believers today are told that they are filled with the Holy Ghost but haven't been baptized with the Holy Ghost. Is there a difference between being filled with the Holy Ghost and being baptized in the Holy Ghost? Yes, there is a difference, but it's not what some think. Let us look again to God's Word.

Acts 1:5 tells us, "For John truly baptized with water: but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." Acts 2:4, "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." What happened in Acts 2:4 has to be the fulfillment of Acts 1:5. If it is not the fulfillment of the promise, then where do we find the fulfillment in God's Word? If it is the fulfillment of the promise, we can say we are "filled" when we are "baptized" with the Spirit.

To be filled with the Spirit, first, is to be baptized in the Spirit. After we are baptized, then to be filled is a place of allowing the Spirit to flow in and out through us, to do God's will in His ability. Acts 1:8, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

To be filled, then, is our experience when we are baptized in the Spirit, and as we stay in a position in which He can work through us, fulfilling God's work, we stay filled--or, as the term expresses, we are filled with the Spirit. God's command to us through the apostle Paul was to "be filled with the Spirit." This conveys to us the thought of staying filled, or staying always in the position where God's life can flow through us. But only as each believer moves in faith can he or she obey His commands. We must know God's plan and what He is doing; also, what to look for as the Scriptural evidence that the Holy Ghost has been received.