Gal. 5:22 π 1 Jn. 1:9
After the manner of the Lord's dealing with His disciples, and borne out in the experience of many to-day, it is clear that there is a reception of the Holy Spirit answering to the experience of the Easter Day, as the initial stage of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in enduement of power, by an influx of the Spirit of God into the human spirit, which liberates the man for utterance and witness bearing. The reception of the Holy Spirit in its initial form requires certain conditions which the believer should be able to quickly and simply fulfill. The
1) putting away of every known sin in the life;
2) definite trust in the power of the Blood of Christ to cleanse from all unrighteousness ( 1 Jn. 1:9; top );
3) obedience right up to the edge of light through the Word of God;
4) full surrender to God as His entirely, with not one thing clung to and withheld from Him;
5) the act of faith in which the believer, fulfilling these conditions, takes the Gift of the Holy Spirit, as simply as he received the gift of eternal life through Christ.
Believers should understand that these simple conditions can be carried out by the action of the will alone, with no conscious feeling of any kind. Once the transaction is made, it should be held to persistently and steadily, without question or deviation from a fixed volition. In some cases the entry of the Holy Spirit into the renewed spirit in the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit ( Gal. 5:22; top ) very quickly follows the fulfillment of the conditions. But the believer should be on guard not to turn to any experience as the basis of continued faith, or it will quickly pass away. The transaction with God upon His Word stands good, whether manifested in spirit-consciousness of the Holy Spirit's presence or not. Once made, the transaction should be held to, experience or no experience, by the surrendered believer.
It is from this stage that the Spirit of God now works to discipline and lead the believer on into knowledge of the greater influx of His power which is the enduement for service, and for aggressive warfare against the principalities and powers of Satan.
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