Being Filled with the Spirit

Being Filled with the Spirit

Have you ever heard the expression 'being filled with the Spirit' and wondered what it means?

God offers each Christian, when they are baptised, the fullness of the Holy Spirit.  The Scripture mentions both Water Baptism and Spirit Baptism.  Water Baptism involves a change of heart and a public declaration by the disciple of his/her desire to be committed to Christ, to surrender his/her life to Christ and importantly to reject the power of evil/works of darkness in his/her life.

 God gives His Spirit to each person who accepts Him, and who allows the Spirit to live in him.  Although the Spirit is received at Baptism, the Spirit does not empower until the person makes a free decision to receive Him and to submit his/her life to Jesus.

When this occurs, a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit is received, whereby His power is released within him/her.  Then God pours out His Spirit in a way that is appropriate to the person i.e. the effects of this new outpouring or infilling may be dramatic or may impact of the person after time has passed. 

'Being filled with Holy Spirit' is an ongoing experience, which a disciple needs to ask for each day.  The benefits of constantly being filled with the Spirit are twofold- from within the disciple and through him/her.  It includes:

1.            Receiving the fruits of the Spirit within, which helps the disciple grow in holiness- i.e. to grow like Christ in character.

2.            Receiving new gifts of the Spirit to enable a new direction to be undertaken in his/her life.

3.            Receiving the gifts of the Spirit through the disciple in service to others, which empowers the disciple for his/her role within the Church and wider community, to enable new roles or works of service to be performed for the building up of God’s kingdom.

4.            Receiving a spirit of enthusiasm for the things of God. 

 In the Catholic Church, Infant Baptism is the norm as compared to adult Baptism.  When infant baptism occurs, the Godparent on behalf of the infant makes the commitment as described above.  The Renewal of Baptismal Promises occurs every Easter and is an opportunity for a ‘infilling of the Holy Spirit’ to occur for all Catholics- children and adults alike.

In the Catholic Church, an infilling of the Holy Spirit is usually received through the grace of the sacrament of Confirmation, which is only received once in the person’s lifetime.  However, a fresh outpouring of the Spirit may be received through prayer by the laying on of hands in, for example, a ‘Life in the Spirit Seminar’ organized by Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement. In the latter method, the disciple may receive a fresh outpouring and it may be ‘renewed’ many times.  In other words, receiving the Spirit is this way may be continual rather than received once. It is important to differentiate between the two methods since only Confirmation is a Sacrament.

As disciples we need to be filled with the Spirit to assist us to be faithful and to live the kind of life that is pleasing to God. God gave us the Holy Spirit to guide, love and support us in our pilgrim journey.  Let us come to know the Holy Spirit as our best friend and 'be filled with the Spirit'