A.W. Tozer wrote, "The Spirit-filled life is not a special, deluxe edition of Christianity. It is part and parcel of the total plan of God for His people" (A.W. Tozer, How to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit) 28. All Christians are commanded to "be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18). Believers are filled with the Holy Spirit, when we yield to the love and power of God (Acts 1:8; Ephesians 3:19).
On the Day of Pentecost believers were both baptized and filled with the Spirit (Acts 1:5; 2:4). They were baptized by the Spirit to become the body of Christ collectively. They were individually filled with the Spirit. Nowhere in Scripture are believers commanded to be baptized with the Spirit. Believers are commanded to be filled, and to keep on being filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).
Believers are filled with the Holy Spirit through prayer. "And when they had prayed ... they were all filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 4:31). The apostle Paul wrote his prayer for all believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:14-21). You are filled with the Holy Spirit through the power of God's love.
Believers are filled with the Holy Spirit by yielding to Jesus Christ as Lord through prayer and obedience. For that reason, A.W. Tozer could say, "The Spirit-filled life is not a special, deluxe edition of Christianity. It is part and parcel of the total plan of God for His people."
