Spir Dynamics 90-98 11/26/92; 12/5/77; Rom 8/24/78

DOCTRINE OF THE FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

A. Definition and Description.

1. The filling of the Spirit is the first power option in the Christian life (the second power option is doctrinal orientation to life) and the second problem solving device for the execution of the protocol plan of God.

2. Scripture.

a. 1 Thes 5:18-19 says, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for your benefit in Christ Jesus. Stop quenching the Spirit.” When you quench the Holy Spirit by the sin nature controlling the soul, by stress in the soul producing sin, by false doctrine in the soul, or by using defensive mechanisms instead of the problem solving devices, you have no divine power at your disposal. Therefore, the importance of the recovery of the power of the Holy Spirit.

b. The recovery of the power of the Holy Spirit is the subject of Eph 4:30, “Furthermore, stop grieving the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” These believers were commanded to stop grieving the Holy Spirit which they were doing. This was a wake up call to get back on track and start living their own spiritual life.

3. Spirituality or the filling of the Holy Spirit links salvation adjustment to the justice of God to maturity adjustment to the justice of God. To make it from salvation to maturity requires the filling of the Holy Spirit and the daily intake of Bible doctrine. We already have perfect righteousness judicially imputed at salvation.

4. The filling of the Holy Spirit is God the Holy Spirit controlling the soul of the believer. Descriptions of the filling of the Holy Spirit in Scripture.

a. Walking in the Spirit, Gal 5:16.

b. Walking in the light, 1 Jn 1:7.

c. Imitating Christ, Eph 5:1.

d. Epistles of Christ ministered by the Spirit, 2 Cor 3:3.

e. Partakers of the divine nature, 2 Pet 1:4.

f. Be filled with the Spirit, Eph 5:18.

5. The believer starts the Christian way of life with the Holy Spirit controlling the soul. We have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the filling of the Holy Spirit simultaneously at the point of salvation. As soon as we sin, the old sin nature controls the soul. When we rebound, the Holy Spirit again controls the soul. Carnality is loss of the filling of the Holy Spirit. Carnality is neglect of rebound, causing sin to multiply. Sin minus rebound equals carnality. The filling of the Holy Spirit is recovery through rebound adjustment to the justice of God, Prov 1:23; 1 Jn 1:9.

6. At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit indwells the body of the believer. Because the body is the headquarters of the old sin nature, the Holy Spirit sets up His headquarters in the body for counteraction. The battlefield is the soul. This counteraction is spearheaded by the filling of the Holy Spirit. We are always indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The filling of the Holy Spirit means God the Holy Spirit controls the soul. He does not control when we sin (grieve Him) or perform human good or evil (quench Him). When we rebound (1 Jn 1:9), the Holy Spirit controls our soul again.

a. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is documented in Rom 8:9; 1 Cor 3:16, 6:19-20; Gal 3:2, 4:6; Jn 7:37-39, 14:16-17.

b. “Anointing” or “unction” of the Spirit is found in 1 Jn 2:20,27. These terms are synonymous with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but not with the filling of the Holy Spirit, Acts 4:27, 10:38; 2 Cor 1:21.

c. The objective of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is to break the sovereignty of the old sin nature’s rule over human life experientially. The baptism of the Spirit breaks it positionally, Gal 5:17.

d. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the principle of victory over the old sin nature, while the filling of the Holy Spirit is the function of victory over the old sin nature.

e. While the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is permanent, the filling of the Holy Spirit fluctuates due to the trends of the old sin nature and the function of our volition toward those trends. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit involves the body of the believer; the filling of the Holy Spirit involves the soul of the believer.

7. Since the filling of the Holy Spirit is functional, it is the means of executing the objectives of the Christian way of life. Anything you do in the energy of the flesh is not the Christian way of life.

B. The filling of the Spirit is one of the seven ministries of God the Holy Spirit to us at the moment of salvation.

1. We do not earn and we cannot deserve the ministry of God the Holy Spirit to us. Eph 4:30, “Furthermore, stop grieving the Spirit, the God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

a. See the Doctrine of Sins Against the Holy Spirit.

b. See the Doctrine of the Deity of the Holy Spirit.

c. See the Doctrine of the Sealing Ministry of the Holy Spirit.

2. The Holy Spirit plays a far greater role in the Church Age than any other dispensation except the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union. The Church Age is the only dispensation in which every believer is a priest, an ambassador for Christ, and entered into union with Christ. The precedence for the Christian way of life comes from our Lord’s ministry on earth, not the Mosaic Law.

3. There are seven ministries of God the Holy Spirit to the Church Age believer at the moment of salvation.

a. Efficacious grace. God the Holy Spirit takes the faith alone in Christ alone of the spiritually dead unbeliever and makes it effective for salvation. The call of God to believe in Christ comes from God the Holy Spirit making the gospel clear to the unbeliever—common grace. The Holy Spirit put His seal on our efficacious grace, guaranteeing that our non- meritorious faith in Christ is effective for salvation. You are saved by grace through faith alone. Eph 1:13, “In whom also when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—in whom also when you had believed, you were sealed by means of the Holy Spirit with reference to the promise.” The sealing ministry of God the Holy Spirit is His signature guarantee of five different things.

(1) The guarantee of the ministry of efficacious grace.

(2) The guarantee that you have eternal life.

(3) The guarantee that you have eternal security in time.

(4) The guarantee of your very own portfolio of invisible assets.

(5) The guarantee that you will have a resurrection body forever.

b. Regeneration or being born again. Mankind emerges from the womb with biological life and spiritual death. At the moment of birth, God creates the immortal soul life and imputes to biological life. Jesus said to a religious Pharisee, “You must be born again.” The Holy Spirit creates a human spirit at the moment we believe in Christ. At that moment, God the Father imputes His very own eternal life to that human spirit. That is being born again. Human life puts us in a hopeless status—spiritual death; regeneration makes us spiritually alive. Regeneration is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit at salvation in creating a human spirit, which causes the believer to become instantly trichotomous—body, soul, and spirit, 1 Thes 5:23; Phile 25. The soul is the residence of human life; the human spirit is the residence of eternal life.

c. The baptism of the Spirit is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in taking every new believer and entering him into union with the person of Jesus Christ. We are in union with Christ forever. This is how the Holy Spirit makes Christ Lord. You cannot make Christ Lord. This is positional sanctification. At the same time as entering us into union with Christ, a new spiritual species is created. Race, culture, and gender are no longer an issue. This adds up to equal privilege and equal opportunity to execute the plan of God for the Church. In addition, we are royal family of God and have the eternal life of Christ. We have a double portion of eternal life. We are also the sons of God. We are joint-heirs with Christ. We share His election and His destiny. Acts 1:5; 1 Cor 12:13; Gal 3:26-28; Eph 4:4-5. The baptism of the Spirit is not an experience, not an emotion.

d. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor 3:16, 6:19-20; 2 Cor 6:16. The Holy Spirit dwells in the body of every believer as of the moment of faith in Christ for the purpose of making the body of the believer a temple of the Holy Spirit. Your body is made a temple of the Holy Spirit for the indwelling of Christ. Just as in the Age of Israel, Jesus Christ dwelt in the Tabernacle and later the Temple as the Shekinah Glory as a guarantee of blessing to Israel, so He now indwells the body of each believer as a guarantee of escrow blessings for time and eternity.

e. The filling of the Holy Spirit occurs at the moment of salvation by God the Holy Spirit entering us into our very own palace—the operational divine dynasphere. Our Lord was entered into the prototype divine dynasphere at the point of physical birth, since He was filled with the Spirit from birth. The divine dynasphere is a part of our portfolio of invisible assets. There are eight gates in the divine dynasphere:

(1) Gate one is the filling of the Holy Spirit.

(2) Gate two is basic Bible doctrine.

(3) Gate three is enforced and genuine humility, objectivity, and teachability. God makes war against the arrogant believer but He gives grace to the humble believer.

(4) Gate four is momentum from perception, inculcation, and metabolization of Bible doctrine circulating in the seven compartments of the right lobe of the soul.

(5) Gate five is spiritual self-esteem.

(6) Gate six is spiritual autonomy.

(7) Gate seven is momentum testing.

(8) Gate eight is spiritual maturity.

f. The distribution of spiritual gifts occurs at the moment of salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ was involved in the initial distribution of spiritual gifts at the beginning of the Church Age, Eph 4:7-8. But subsequently, God the Holy Spirit distributes all spiritual gifts. All of these gifts are necessary for the function of the team. These gifts only function under the filling of the Spirit plus the metabolization of doctrine.

g. The sealing ministry of the Holy Spirit, Eph 1:13-14; Eph 4:30. This is a guarantee of His ministry of efficacious grace, of eternal life, of eternal security, of our portfolio of invisible assets, and of a resurrection body.

C. The ministry of God the Holy Spirit to the Church Age believer is the same ministry that He had to our Lord Jesus Christ during the First Advent.

1. The first power option of our spiritual life is the same filling of the Spirit that occurred for the first time in history in our Lord Jesus Christ. The relationship of God the Holy Spirit to our Lord Jesus Christ in the incarnation set the precedence for Church Age believers. During the dispensation of the hypostatic union, our Lord’s humanity was sustained by the filling of the Holy Spirit. This was prophesied in the Old Testament.

a. Isa 11:2, “And the Spirit [God the Holy Spirit] of the Lord [God the Father] will rest on Him [Jesus Christ], The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and power, The Spirit of knowledge and occupation with the Lord [God the Father].”

b. Isa 42:1, “Behold, My servant, whom I sustain; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.” The fulfillment of this prophecy is declared in Jn 3:34, “For He [God the Holy Spirit] whom God [the Father] has sent speaks the doctrines from God; for He does not give the Spirit by measure.” Mt 12:28, “If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God [and I do], then the kingdom of God has come to you.”

c. During the First Advent, our Lord’s humanity was filled with the Spirit as a part of the doctrine of impeccability. Lk 4:14, “And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.” Our Lord prophesied in Jn 14:16-17, 26; 16:13-14 that the disciples would have the Holy Spirit to teach them when the Church Age began. In the context of Lk 4:17-21 our Lord read from Isa 61:1, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.” Then He declared, “This Scripture is fulfilled in your presence today.”

d. During His earthly ministry, our Lord offered the filling of the Holy Spirit to the disciples, knowing that they would need this power because of their key role at that time and in the future. None of them accepted the offer and asked for the Spirit. Lk 11:13, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” Ten days before the Church Age began, on the day of our Lord’s ascension, our Lord gave the Holy Spirit to the disciples without their asking. This established a precedent for the Church Age. Jn 20:22, “And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, `Receive the Holy Spirit.’”

2. At the moment of salvation through faith in Christ we have four principles involved in our relationship to the Holy Spirit.

a. Every believer is indwelt by God the Holy Spirit and cannot lose that indwelling presence of the Spirit all the days of his life on this earth. Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, in order to provide the indwelling presence of God the Son. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit indwells every believer during the Church Age.

b. Every believer is simultaneously filled with the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation and loses that filling the first time he sins.

c. However, the believer recovers the fellowship of the Spirit, the filling of the Spirit, through the rebound technique.

d. The filling of the Spirit is tantamount to residence inside your very own palace—the operational type divine dynasphere. Fellowship with the Holy Spirit is synonymous with the filling of the Spirit.

3. As the believer understands the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in two dispensations, his love for the Holy Spirit increases by quantum leaps. Our Lord constantly made choices for the function of the two power options in the function of His spiritual life. The two power options—the filling of the Spirit and metabolized doctrine—played a major role in our Lord’s earthly ministry.

a. Jn 1:14, “The Word became flesh and He tabernacled among us and we beheld His glory, as of the uniquely born One from the Father, full of grace [grace orientation] and truth [metabolized doctrine].”

b. Heb 9:14, “How much more then shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” The one offering that was greater than all the Levitical offerings was the offering of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. Our Lord offered Himself and remained filled with the Spirit while bearing the judgment for our sins. The filling of the Spirit gave Him the power not to resent any sin that was imputed to Him for judgment.

c. Our Lord on the Cross established a precedence or our life in the Church Age, as explained by Heb 12:2, “Be concentrating on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our doctrine, who because of His exhibited happiness, He endured the cross, disregarding the shame, then He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” You cannot separate loving Jesus Christ from loving God the Holy Spirit. We have a far greater power in the filling of the Holy Spirit, so that we do not have to react to injustice.

4. Our love for God the Holy Spirit begins when we metabolize the doctrine of the ministry of God the Holy Spirit at the point of our faith in Christ, when we begin to learn what God the Holy Spirit did for our Lord Jesus Christ, when we begin to learn how the first power option (the filling of the Spirit) that has been given to us is the same power option that sustained our Lord on the Cross. The ministry of the Holy Spirit for us at salvation adds to our love for Him. Your capacity to love God the Holy Spirit is directly related to your capacity to love God the Father and God the Son.

D. The Deity of the Holy Spirit.

1. The deity of the Holy Spirit is established in Trinity passages which reveal the coequality of the Spirit with God the Father and God the Son, 2 Cor 13:14.

2. In the Old Testament, God the Holy Spirit is called Jehovah, Isa 6:8-9 cf Acts 28:25; Jer 31:31-34 cf Heb 10:15.

3. Certain divine attributes are ascribed to the Holy Spirit which emphasize His deity.

a. Omniscience, 1 Cor 2:10-11.

b. Sovereignty, 1 Cor 12:11.

c. Omnipotence, Gen 1:2.

d. Lordship, 2 Cor 3:17.

e. Omnipresence, Ps 139:7.

E. Scriptures Related to Spirituality.

1. Positive side.

a. Eph 5:18, “Stop being intoxicated with wine by which is dissipation [a lifestyle of self-absorption to try and solve the problems of life], but keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit.”

(1) Dissipation refers to a disorderly lifestyle, an excessive lifestyle of dependence on the wrong things to solve the problems of life. Loss on control of oneself means loss of clear rationality with regard to the options of life, which is detrimental to your spiritual life. Hence, dissipation is loss of true self-orientation in life.

(2) This is an analogy by antithesis. The present passive imperative of the Greek verb PLEROO means to be filled, to be controlled. It means to fill up a deficiency. The filling of the Holy Spirit fills up our deficiency of power to execute the spiritual life.

(a) At the time of writing the present tense was a tendential present, which indicates an action that is mandated but is not actually taking place. For the rest of the Church Age believers it becomes a durative present tense, which is used for an action or state of being in the past continuing into the present; hence, present linear aktionsart.

(b) The passive voice indicates that the Church Age believer is acted upon by God the Holy Spirit inside the operational type divine dynasphere.

(3) The Greek preposition EN plus the instrumental of agency can be translated “keep on being controlled by means of the Spirit.”

(4) The believer is filled with the Holy Spirit when two synonymous conditions occur: the Holy Spirit controls the soul of the believer and the believer resides in his very own palace—the divine dynasphere. Spirituality is the filling of the Spirit.

b. 2 Cor 3:17ff, “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is [spiritual] freedom. But we all, with an unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory [the humanity of Christ under the filling of the Spirit] to glory [the Spirit filled life of the believer who executes the protocol plan of God], as it were from the Lord, the Spirit.”

(1) The Holy Spirit is God. He is deity. He is the Lord.

(2) The Holy Spirit provides spiritual freedom from the control of the sin nature when we are filled with the Spirit.

(3) We have an unveiled face when we are filled with the Spirit and learning the mystery doctrine of the Church Age. The Bible is a mirror in which we see ourselves as God sees us through the objectivity provided by the filling of the Spirit.

(4) The glory of the Lord is humanity of Christ in hypostatic union. We are being transformed into the same image as the humanity of Christ under the filling of the Spirit through seeing ourselves in the word of God through the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.

c. Eph 3:16, “that He may give you, on the basis of the riches of His glory [your portfolio of invisible assets and the unique assets of the Church Age], to become strong by means of power through His Spirit in your inner being.” This is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit metabolizing doctrine in your inner being, circulating that doctrine in the seven compartments of the stream of consciousness, and giving you the ability to make right decisions from a position of strength. We acquire strength through the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit inside the divine dynasphere. This is what our Lord prophesied for the Church Age in Jn 14:26, 16:12-14. This was Paul’s great teaching in 1 Cor 2:9-16.

d. Gal 5:16, “Keep on walking by means of the Spirit.”

(1) This does not mean spirituality by works, by legalism. The positive side clarifies the difference between the means and result in spirituality. In spirituality, the Holy Spirit is the grace provision, Acts 1:8. The means after salvation is rebound. The result is the filling of the Spirit and the function of the Christian way of life.

(2) Spirituality and spiritual growth are related but they are not the same thing. They are two aspects of the Christian life. Spirituality is an absolute based on the filling of the Spirit. Spiritual growth is a relative concept based on the amount of doctrine circulating in our stream of consciousness. As we advance in spiritual growth, much of the time we are spiritual and sometimes we are carnal.

(3) As an absolute, spirituality or the filling of the Spirit is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit to the believer’s soul providing not only the teaching of the Word but providing metabolized doctrine circulating in the seven compartments of the stream of consciousness.

e. Gal 5:1, 13-18, 22-25 is a dissertation on the importance of the filling of the Spirit as far as the execution of the spiritual life.

(1) Gal 5:1, “It is for [spiritual] freedom that Christ has set us free; therefore keep standing fast and do not become entangled again in the yoke of slavery [carnality].”

(2) Gal 5:13-18, “For you were called to freedom, brethren; do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh [sin nature], but through virtue-love serve one another. For the entire Law has been summed up in one doctrine, in the statement, `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another. Therefore, I command you, keep walking by means of the Spirit, and you will not carry out the lust patterns of the sin nature. For while the flesh [sin nature] desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit is totally opposed to the sin nature; for these two are constantly opposed to each other, so that you do not do the things you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.” The Christian way of life cannot be based on the Mosaic Law. The Mosaic Law was never designed to be a spiritual way of life. The best the Mosaic Law can do is make you very legalistic.

(3) Gal 5:22-25, “But the production of the Spirit is virtue-love, happiness, prosperity, patience, integrity, generosity, faithfulness, humility, self-discipline; against such there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us advance in our spiritual life by means of the Spirit.”

2. Negative side.

a. Eph 4:30, “Stop grieving the Holy Spirit, the God by whom you have been sealed for the day of redemption.” This is the retroactive progressive present active imperative of the Greek verb LUREO. Grieving the Spirit is carnality or life in cosmic one. This is a command to stop sinning and persisting in cosmic one without rebound. This command emphasizes the fact that spirituality and carnality are mutually exclusive. They are absolutes, 1 Jn 1:6-7; 1 Jn 2:10-11.

b. The command to not live in cosmic two is found in 1 Thes 5:19, “Do not quench the Spirit.”

3. The positive and negative commands emphasize imitation as the issue in the spiritual life. We either imitate God or people, Eph 5:1.

a. Believers filled with the Holy Spirit imitate God, Gal 5:22-23.

b. Carnal believers imitate unbelievers, 1 Cor 3:3; Gal 5:19-21; 1 Jn 1:6.

F. The filling of the Holy Spirit is related to spirituality, growth, and victory over the sovereignty of the old sin nature, 2 Pet 1:2-5. The metabolization of doctrine after the filling of the Holy Spirit supplies your integrity, and your integrity supplies knowledge for growth and passing momentum tests.

G. Since spirituality is the modus operandi of the royal priesthood, it is not subject to the Mosaic Law, Rom 8:2-4.

1. Rom 10:4, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” The Law demands perfect righteousness; believing in Christ provides for us this requirement of the Mosaic Law.

2. Gal 5:18, “If you are led by the Spirit you are not under the Law.”

H. The Results of the Filling of the Holy Spirit.

1. Christ is magnified in the inner life of the believer, 2 Cor 3:3; Eph 3:16-17; Phil 1:20-21.

2. The filling of the Holy Spirit is the basis for the perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine, Jn 14:26, 16:12-14; 1 Cor 2:9-16; 1 Jn 2:27.

3. The believer is guided by God only while filled with the Holy Spirit, Rom 8:14-16.

4. The true function of worship for the royal family, Jn 4:24; Phil 3:3.

5. Effectiveness in the believer’s production; e.g., in witnessing, Acts 1:8; in prayer, Eph 6:18.

6. The glorification of Christ in the human body, Jn 7:39 cf 16:14; 1 Cor 6:19-20.

7. Imitation of God, Eph 5:1; Gal 4:19 cf 5:22.

8. Partnership with the divine essence, 2 Pet 1:4. Our partnership with Christ as royal family only functions when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, Phil 2:1-2.

I. When is spirituality characterized by emotions or ecstatics?

1. In the Church Age, the believer represents the absent Christ, who is now at the right hand of the Father.

2. Therefore, the purpose of the filling of the Holy Spirit during the Church Age is related to the fact that Christ is absent.

3. Therefore, the character of the filling of the Holy Spirit during the Church Age is different than the character of the filling of the Holy Spirit during the Millennium when Christ is on the earth.

4. Hence, the function of the filling of the Holy Spirit during the Church Age is designed to provide the ability to learn doctrine and to apply doctrine as the fulfillment of the Christian way of life.

5. In this way, the Church Age believer fulfills his ambassadorship, representing Christ who is now at the right hand of the Father. We need special power to do this, and the divine power of the Holy Spirit is the basis on which we operate.

6. Emotion is not our energy. We all have emotion as part of our capacity for life, but emotion is not the filling of the Holy Spirit or the fuel for the Christian way of life. The filling of the Holy Spirit is never emotional in the Church Age.

7. There are two warnings against emotion and ecstatics to the royal family of God.

a. Rom 16:17-18, “Keep an eye out for those who are emotional and contrary to doctrine you’ve learned. They deceive the stupid by flattering speech.”

b. 2 Cor 6:11-12, “You are hindered from growth by your own emotions.”

8. Emotions are designed to respond to knowledge in the right lobe, but emotion is not a Church Age characteristic of the filling of the Holy Spirit. However, it is normal to emote over doctrine you learn.

9. Only in the Millennium when Christ is present on earth does emotion and ecstatics characterize the filling of the Holy Spirit. For in the Millennium, the filling of the Holy Spirit is designed to appreciate Christ, and therefore, emotions and ecstatics are legitimate, Joel 2:28-29.

10. Believers in the Millennium are said to be indwelt with the Holy Spirit, Ezek 36:27, 37:14; Jer 31:33.

11. Believers in the Millennium are also filled with the Holy Spirit, Isa 29:19, 32:15, 44:3; Ezek 39:29; Zech 12:10.

J. Pseudo-Spirituality.

1. The believer must be able to distinguish between personality and spirituality. Spirituality is not personality. Yet too often a sweet personality passes for being someone spiritual. Watch out for these types.

2. Spirituality by personality imitation consists of imitating someone who is sweet. People who do this are stupid. They imitate such superficial things as mannerisms, dress, the absence of cosmetics, neglect of grooming; pious speech such as “amen,” “praise God,” or “God willing;” or mannerisms such as poor posture or expressions of sincerity.

3. Spirituality by “yielding” is a concept that has arisen from the mistranslation of Rom 6:13. “Yielding” is meaningless. It assumes spirituality by dedicating your life, witnessing, or constant prayer. But production is the result of the filling of the Holy Spirit, never the means.

4. Self-crucifixion is alleged to be spirituality. But there is no such thing as experiential self-crucifixion. This is a false interpretation of Rom 6:1-13. This is nothing but extreme asceticism.

5. Spirituality by obeying taboos such as giving up cards, drinking, movies, dancing, smoking, mixed bathing, etc., has no substantiation in Scripture.

a. A taboo is something forbidden by tradition, social usage, or by some form of authority. A taboo is a prohibition set up by a religious group, but is not forbidden by the Word of God.

b. Hence, a taboo is a superimposition of legalism on the Word.

c. Taboos are the customs of legalists, such as “don’t have fun on Sundays.”

d. Anything an unbeliever can do is not the Christian way of life. To offend people because they are legalistic is to be just as wrong as the legalist. Evil is always offended by anything related to grace.

e. It is not our objective to superimpose our own idea of right and wrong on others. We have personal taboos, and others have their own. We are each to live our own life as unto the Lord without superimposing our personal standards on other believers. Live and let live.

f. When people are positive to doctrine, don’t get in their way with taboos. The exception to this is the right of parents to superimpose standards on their children.

g. The results of legalistic bullying.

(1) If someone can bully you into setting up a system of taboos for spirituality, you will become a legalist also.

(2) If you reject and react to taboos, often you take it out on doctrine and become a reversionist.

6. Spirituality by relativity says that a person is spiritual because his sins are more respectable than someone else’s .In a typical comparison, a subtle type of sinfulness is compared to a shocking type of sinfulness, resulting in a false rationalization. Included in this rationalization is the delusion that there are degrees of spirituality.

7. Spirituality by ecstatics is based on the fact the emotions are not under the authority of the mentality of the soul, which is called the emotional revolt of the soul. As a result, ecstatics and stimulation have no meaning, no foundation, no relationship to reality, and no relationship to spirituality; e.g., the tongues crowd, the holy-rollers. What is regarded as ecstatics is actually a stage of reversionism. This problem exists in believers accustomed to using their feelings for their criterion, and who do the same in their spiritual life.

8. Spirituality by ritualism alleges that spirituality is the consistent observance of certain rituals like baptism and communion.

9. Program spirituality says that becoming involved in church programs determines one’s spiritual status. This includes such things as giving, attendance, participation in prayer meetings, bringing visitors, and teaching Sunday school. Program churches are designed to carry weak pastors. This system caters to approbation and power lust.

K. Spirituality is the link between salvation and maturity adjustment to the justice of God.

1. Maturity adjustment to the justice of God is gained through postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation; i.e., the perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine inside the divine dynasphere.

2. This process depends upon the ministry of the Holy Spirit in making doctrine understandable to the believer.

3. This means the filling of the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary for the perception of Bible doctrine, Jn 14:26, 16:12-14; 1 Cor 2:9-16; 1 Jn 2:27.

4. Without Bible doctrine resident in the soul, there is no maturity adjustment to the justice of God.

5. Without the filling of the Holy Spirit for the teaching of Bible doctrine, there is no growth.

L. Oil is used for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. 1 Jn 2:20-21.

1. Oil is used as an analogy to the filling of the Holy Spirit. It lubricates. Friction wears out machines; oil eliminates friction.

a. By way of analogy, the filling of the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to assemble with other believers in a local church, where no two are in the same stage of spiritual growth.

b. Certain people will be obnoxious to you. However, the filling of the Holy Spirit protects you from getting your eyes on people, and He gives you understanding and toleration of others.

2. Oil in the ancient world was used for healing as a medicine.

a. By way of analogy, the filling of the Holy Spirit produces an understanding of others and a tenderness toward others as you realize they have problems also. Consequently, a breach is healed before there is any further difficulty.

b. The filling of the Holy Spirit also heals your bitterness, anxieties, and fear as you grow with doctrine.

3. Oil is used for light. This refers to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in illuminating the Word of God.

4. Oil propels or accelerates, as in diesel fuel. Therefore, the filling of the Holy Spirit is necessary for advance to maturity.

5. Oil invigorates; it provides energy for athletes (rub down). The filling of the Holy Spirit gives energy for the execution of the Christian way of life.

6. Oil warms. The ministry of the Spirit provides the function of the Christian way of life. We are different people when we are controlled by the Spirit.

7. Oil adorns; it is used for grooming. Likewise, the Holy Spirit produces in us a beauty, an animation, a thoughtfulness, and an energy which we would not otherwise have. The filling of the Holy Spirit produces in us everything worthwhile, thereby advancing us in the right direction with concentration, poise, and good manners.

M. The Importance of the Power of the Spirit, 1 Kg 19:1-18.

1. The filling of the Holy Spirit comes through rebound. After you rebound, Bible doctrine must be the number one priority in your life. Without that priority, you can lose your advance overnight.

2. Zech 4:6, “`Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord.”

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