Filling of the Holy Spirit: Edit history

Definition and Meaning

The filling of the Holy Spirit refers to the state in which a believer's thoughts, words, and actions are placed under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Many denominations generally regard the filling of the Spirit not as a once-for-all event but as something that may be sought repeatedly. Denominations differ, however, in their understanding of how it relates to baptism in the Holy Spirit and whether it is necessarily accompanied by particular signs.

Biblical and Historical Background

The principal supporting text is Ephesians 5:18: "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit." The Acts of the Apostles contains several scenes related to the filling of the Spirit.

• At Pentecost the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke with other tongues (Acts 2:4).
• Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke before the council (Acts 4:8).
• The same company, after praying, were filled again (Acts 4:31).

The filling of the Spirit became a central theme in the nineteenth-century Holiness movement and the early twentieth-century Pentecostal movement. In Korea, following the Pyongyang Great Revival of 1907, the experience of the Holy Spirit became a key concept for explaining revival.

Practice in Korean Churches

The expression seongnyeong chungman is commonly used in greetings ("Be filled with the Holy Spirit"), in representative prayer, and in sermons. At revival meetings and gatherings at prayer retreat centers, believers often seek the filling of the Spirit through tongseong gido (prayer offered aloud by many people together). When church officers are installed, the filling of the Spirit is sometimes cited as a qualification, with reference to Acts 6:3.

Relationship to Baptism in the Holy Spirit: Denominational Views

• Presbyterian and Reformed: Baptism in the Holy Spirit is regarded as something every believer receives once at regeneration (1 Corinthians 12:13). The filling of the Spirit is understood as the Spirit's governance, received repeatedly thereafter through the Word and prayer. As marks of this filling, these traditions emphasize the fruit of the Spirit and a life of obedience.
• Baptist: Many Baptists hold a view broadly similar to that of Presbyterians, regarding baptism in the Spirit as an event at conversion and the filling of the Spirit as a repeated experience.
• Holiness and Methodist: Following the Wesleyan theological tradition, these churches emphasize sanctification, the cleansing of the heart subsequent to regeneration (the new birth). Holiness churches have historically understood this sanctification in connection with baptism in the Spirit and the filling of the Spirit.
• Pentecostal and Full Gospel: Baptism in the Holy Spirit is regarded as an experience distinct from regeneration, with speaking in tongues as its initial evidence. The terms baptism in the Spirit and filling of the Spirit are often used synonymously.

Voices that caution against experience-centered understandings coexist with voices that stress experience as a way of moving beyond merely formal faith. This difference is also connected to the cessationism and continuationism debate.