About Doctrines
Filling of the Holy Spirit
We should be careful to distinguish between the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the filling of the Holy Spirit. While it is clear that many of the passages of Acts include the distribution of "sign" gifts (speaking in tongues, healing), not everyone receives such gifts. These gifts are more properly the result of the filling of the Spirit rather than the initial baptism into Christ's body. The Corinthian church was a "carnal church" (1 Cor 3:1-4). All of the church at Corinth received gifts, but not all received the same gift, nor did all receive the "sign" gifts (1 Cor 12:29-30). As indicated above, however, all were baptized by the Spirit (1 Cor 12:13). This is supported by the Ephesians passage also cited above. Luke speaks of the "filling of the Spirit" with regard to the boldness to be a Christian (Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 13:9). This is the same filling Paul speaks of in Ephesians 5:18: And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
