The outward aspect of power is always for the sake of the inward aspect of life. It is by the inward that God’s desire, God’s central aim is fulfilled. The outward aspect is the means of accomplishing the inward aspect. In 1 Corinthians 12:13 we have these two aspects mentioned in the proper order. We were “baptized” first, and we were made to “drink” second (ASV). After we have been baptized in the Spirit into one Body, we must drink of the Spirit that we may grow in life and be built up in the Body. To be baptized in the Holy Spirit is to be put into Him, just as to be baptized in water is to be put into it. But to drink of the Holy Spirit is to take Him into us just as to drink water is to take it into us. Baptism is outward and drinking is inward. The outward baptism is for the inward drinking.

The outward aspect of the Holy Spirit’s work is mostly included in the baptism in the Holy Spirit. There are five historical cases of the outpouring of the Spirit recorded in Acts. Only two are called the baptism in the Holy Spirit: the outpouring at the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 for the Jewish believers and the outpouring in the house of Cornelius in Acts 10 for the Gentile believers. Acts 1:5 and 11:15-17 verify this fact. In these two instances, Christ as the Head baptized the Jewish and Gentile parts of His Body in the Holy Spirit once and for all. By so doing, He has fully accomplished the baptism in the Holy Spirit upon His entire Body. With the other three cases-(1) the Samaritan believers in Acts 8:17, (2) Saul in Acts 9:17, and (3) the Ephesian believers in Acts 19:6-the Scriptures record the act of the laying on of hands through representative members of the Body. The significance of this act is that the baptism in the Holy Spirit already accomplished upon the Body by the Head was transmitted to the new members of the Body through identification with the Body. The laying on of hands is only a form, of which the real meaning or reality is that we must be rightly related to the Body that we may be in the right position to partake of the baptism in the Holy Spirit already accomplished upon the Body. Therefore, these three cases are not three separate baptisms in the Holy Spirit, but three experiences of the one baptism in the Holy Spirit which the Body of Christ has already received.

The baptism in the Holy Spirit is uniquely one and was accomplished upon the Body of Christ more than nineteen hundred years ago. But the experiences of the baptism in the Holy Spirit are numerous and continually shared by all the members of the Body of Christ who realize it in this way. We must therefore recognize the one baptism and seek the many experiences of it. Peter first received the baptism (Acts 1:5, 8; 2:4) and later experienced it again and again (4:8, 31).

We must also remember that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is not for life, but for power. It is not the infilling of the Holy Spirit, but the outward aspect of the work of the Holy Spirit. Many Christians and even many Christian teachers confuse the outward baptism in the Holy Spirit with the inward filling of the Holy Spirit. This is wrong. Two different Greek words are used in the New Testament for these two aspects. One is pleeroo for the inward filling; the other is pleetho for the outward filling. Pleeroo is used in Acts 13:52 and Ephesians 5:18. Pleerees, the adjective form of pleeroo, is found in Luke 4:1; Acts 6:3, 5; 7:55; and 11:24. These are all instances of the inward filling of the Holy Spirit. Pleetho is used in Luke 1:15, 41, 67; Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 9:17; and 13:9. All these instances are connected with the outward filling, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Both of these words are used in Acts 2:2-4. The mighty wind filled (pleeroo) the house, but the disciples were filled (pleetho) with the Holy Spirit. The house was filled inwardly, but the disciples were filled or clothed outwardly. Pleeroo is always used for the inward filling, and pleetho is always used for the outward filling. We should never confuse the inward and outward aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit. The inward is for life; the outward is for power.
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