23: Common Ways the Holy Spirit Manifests Himself in All Believers – Filling (Part One)

When you fill a glass with water you are expelling the air that was in there. When the Holy Spirit fills you, He is expelling what is unholy within you. There are two ways in which the Holy Spirit fills a believer, in a temporary way and in a permanent way. The temporary way is for specific moments of service. The permanent way is a product of consistent yielding to the Spirit, or spiritual maturation. The New Testament authors use two different words for each kind of filling, pimplēmi (pim·play·me) and pleróō (play·rah·oh). There are only two New Testament authors who speak of the filling of the Spirit, Luke and Paul.

Passages using pimplēmi: In each of these uses the person or persons are temporarily empowered by the Holy Spirit to prophesy, make a defense, give witness with boldness, or perform a miracle.

^{Luke 1:15} for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.

^{Luke 1:41} When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

^{Luke 1:67} His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

^{Acts 2:4} All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

^{Acts 4:8} Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people!

^{Acts 4:31} After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

^{Acts 9:17} Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

^{Acts 13:9} Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said,

Passages using pleróō: In each of these uses the person or persons so filled were displaying the character and holiness of the Holy Spirit with consistency, often in parallel with other traits like faith or wisdom. Many English translations translate “full of” instead of “filled with”.

^{Luke 4:1} Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

^{Acts 6:3} Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them

^{Acs 6:5} This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.

^{Acts 7:55} But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

^{Acts 11:24} He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

^{Acts 13:52} And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

^{Ephesians 5:18} Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,

We might ask ourselves, “Have I ever been filled with the Holy Spirit,” or “Am I full of the Holy Spirit”?