How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit?
About being filled with the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul wrote, “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:16-19). We become filled with the Holy Spirit “through faith” (Galatians 3:14).
Justification
The first step of preparation for being filled with the Holy Spirit anointing is to claim the gift of justification which is accepting Christ and receiving instant justification from all past confessed sins through His blood. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). At this time, a measure of the Holy Spirit is given to the believer which makes it possible for him to overcome sin.
Sanctification
The second step is called sanctification which is a daily submission to God through the study of the word, prayer and obedience. Paul writes, “But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13 also Acts 26:18).
When we ask in faith and claim the power to stop yielding to sin, God places His strength in our lives, and we can claim deliverance from any habit of sin. The Scriptures repeatedly confirm that the Holy Spirit cannot be given to those who are disobedient. “And we are his witnesses of these things and so also is the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him” (Acts 5:32). Therefore, we need to walk in obedience to God’s commands through His enabling power (Philippians 4:13).
When justification and sanctification unite to work in the life, the believer experiences the “blessing of Abraham” in the full sense (Genesis 12:1-3; Galatians 3:14), which is the covenant blessing of salvation through Jesus Christ in the New Testament (Galatians 3: 8, 9).
Witnessing
The third step involves an exercise of the same kind of faith to receive power in witnessing to others about the blessings of Justification, sanctification and the good news of the gospel. Prayer consists of actually claiming the promised power to make our words convicting and fruitful to fulfill God’s great commission (Matthew 28:19) of sharing the truth with the world (Acts 4:8, 31; 7:55; 13:9).
Jesus promised, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). By witnessing, Jesus would continue the work He began on earth, and even “greater works” than those would be done by the believers (John 14:12).
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
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