Baptism of the Holy Spirit [Updated, Annotated]: How to Receive This Promised Gift

by Reuben A. Torrey

The baptism with the Holy Spirit is a work of the Holy Spirit that is separate and distinct from his regenerating work.

If a person has experienced the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, he is a saved person, but he is not equipped for service until he has received the baptism with the Holy Spirit in addition to this.

The baptism with the Holy Spirit is always connected with testimony and service.

The baptism with the Holy Spirit is not for the purpose of cleansing from sin, but for the purpose of empowering for service.

The baptism with the Holy Spirit is not for the purpose of cleansing from sin, but for the purpose of empowering for service.

It is not for us then to select some gift and look to the Holy Spirit to impart the self-chosen gift; it is not for us to select some field of service and then look to the Holy Spirit to impart to us power in that field which we, and not he, have chosen. Rather, it is for us to recognize the divinity and sovereignty of the Lord, and put ourselves unreservedly at his disposal. It is for him to select the gift that he will, and impart to us that gift, and it is for him to select for us the field that he will, and impart to us the power that will qualify us for the field he has chosen.

We must then surrender ourselves absolutely to the Holy Spirit to work as he will.

the baptism with the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God coming upon a believer, taking possession of their faculties, and imparting to them gifts not naturally their own, but which qualify them for the service to which God has called them.

Christ did not permit these men – who had received such a rare and unparalleled schooling for the work to which he had so definitely and clearly called them – to undertake this work without receiving the baptism with the Holy Spirit in addition to that preparation.

The baptism with the Holy Spirit is an absolutely necessary preparation for effective service for Christ along every line of service.

we must humble ourselves to make open confession of our sin, our renunciation of it, and our acceptance of Jesus Christ in God’s appointed way by baptism. The baptism with the Holy Spirit is not for the one who secretly takes his place as a sinner and believer in Christ, but for the one who does so openly.

it is when we bring ourselves, a whole burnt offering, to the Lord and lay ourselves thus upon the altar, that the fire comes and God thus accepts the gift. Here we touch upon the hindrance to the baptism with the Holy Spirit in many lives: there isn’t total surrender. The will is not laid down, and the heart does not cry, “Lord, where thou wilt, what thou wilt, as thou wilt.”[2]

It is not enough that the desire for the baptism with the Holy Spirit be intense; it must also have the right motive.

One of the subtlest and most dangerous snares into which Satan leads us is where we seek the Holy Spirit, this most solemn of all gifts, for our own ends.

When Christ has been accepted as Savior and Master and confessed as such, when sin has been put away, when there has been the definite and total surrender of the will, when there is real and holy desire, then comes the simple act of asking God for this definite blessing.

For each new service that is to be conducted, for each new soul that is to be dealt with, for each new service for Christ that is to be performed, for each new day and each new emergency of Christian life and service, we should definitely seek a new filling with the Holy Spirit.

There are seven things to guard against if we are to keep our spiritual power: the surrender of our separation, sin, self-indulgence, greed for money, pride, the neglect of prayer, and the neglect of the Word.

The person who would have God’s power must lead a life of self-denial.

There are many things that are not sinful in the ordinary understanding of the word sin, but which hinder spirituality and rob people of power.

The person who is puffed up with pride and self-esteem cannot be filled up with the Holy Spirit.

When electricity is given off from a charged object it must be recharged. So must we be recharged with the divine strength, and this is accomplished by coming into contact with God in prayer.