Refilled with the Spirit?

.... In our previous posting we discussed the infilling of the Holy Spirit, which is an actual manifestation of the presence of God in our lives. The Bible describes this infilling as boundless and continuous, for He will never leave us nor forsake us (see John 14:16-18). Nevertheless, some modern Christians believe that the 'anointing' will eventually run dry. Chiefly, this teaching is based on a two-pronged approach, beginning with Ephesians 5:18:

.... "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit."

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.... The original Greek in this passage implies a continuous sense, which may be better rendered as: ‘be ye being filled with the Spirit’. Therefore, some Christians believe that a continuous re-filling is envisioned. But with a proper understanding of the infilling itself, there is no conflict at all:
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.... Think, for a moment, of the nozzle on a water fountain as it gushes forth. The nozzle is constantly filled, yet the water is overflowing as well. It never runs dry; it simply flows over. Now compare this to the description Jesus gave:

.... "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

(John 7:38)

.... Christians who believe we must be ‘re-filled’ based the other leg of their doctrine on a perceived repetition of the event. They will note, quite correctly, that the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4). But two chapters later, as the believers were gathered together again, the Bible reads that "the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness." (Acts 4:31). And again much later, on a third occasion, as Peter and some of the other brethren were gathered in the house of Cornelius:

.... "the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word."

(Acts 10:44)

.... The Apostle Peter was present for each of those instances, so let’s use him as a microcosm. Based on these passages it has been argued that Peter and those with him were filled with the Holy Spirit on the first occasion, then ‘re-filled’ on the second and third occasions. This, of course, assumes they had ‘run dry’ in between those instances, but is that really the case?

.... "whoever takes a drink of the water that I will give him shall never, no never, be thirsty anymore. But the water that I give him shall become a spring of water welling up (flowing, bubbling) contunually within him unto (into, for) eternal life."

.... "For God does not give His Spirit sparingly or by measure, but boundless is the gift God makes of His Spirit."

(John 4:13-14; 3:34 - Amplified)

.... Let us consider. On the Day of Pentecost, in the early morning, one hundred and twenty Christians became Spirit-filled, including Peter himself (Acts 1:15; 2:4). But later that day, 3,000 additional persons believed and were added to the church (Acts 2:41). Peter did promise them that they would be baptized in the Holy Spirit as well (Acts 2:39), and the Bible records their baptism in water -- but it does not say that they were baptized with the Holy Spirit at this time.
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.... Just as the apostles themselves had to wait until they were endued with power from on high (Acts 1:4-5), it is apparent that this new group of believers had to wait as well, until the events of Acts chapter 4 took place (the 'second occasion', that was referenced above). Since the church had begun with 120 spirit-filled believers and their numbers had grown to more than 3,000 by that time, it is evident that over 96% of the church members were still waited for this promise in their lives, which finally came to pass in Acts 4:31.

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.... We will continue this discussion in the ‘comments’ section.

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Daily Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 1