In addition to receiving the Spirit of life, we must receive the Spirit of power. However, in order to properly handle the power that we receive by being clothed with the Spirit, we must have the adequate growth in life. A baby has life, but if you clothe him with very nice clothing, he may misuse his clothing because he does not have the adequate growth in life. Since he lacks maturity, he may spoil his new clothes. This is the case with many of the Lord’s children. Many have genuinely received the baptism in the Spirit and the power of the Spirit, but they do not know how to use it, and in many cases they misuse it. This is because although they have the life of God, they do not have the growth in life.
This was the condition of the believers in Corinth. The believers in Corinth had received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the gifts that accompany this baptism. Thus, in 1 Corinthians 1:7 the apostle Paul told them that they did not lack in any gift. They had all the gifts, including the gifts of speaking in tongues, prophesying, and healing. However, in 3:1 the apostle told them that they were infants in Christ, and in chapters 12 through 14 he instructed them regarding how to properly use the gifts. Because they did not have the adequate growth in life, they misused the gifts and damaged the church. Thus, Paul had to instruct them concerning the proper way to deal with the gifts.
In chapter 13 Paul told the Corinthians that the best way to deal with the gifts is love. Love is the most excellent way. What then is love? Love is something of life. Galatians 5 reveals that when we are mature in the life of the Spirit, we have love. The Spirit is the Spirit of life, and the first of the nine items of the fruit of the Spirit listed in verses 22 and 23 is love. After I initially received the Lord, I was genuinely saved, but I was still a babe. Thus, I could not tolerate anyone who was not like me. I was brought up among believers who emphasized the teachings in the Scriptures very much. I was exposed to the teachings of Pember, Panton, Darby, and Newton, and I heard numerous messages concerning the seventy weeks in Daniel, the tribulation and the rapture, and the prophecies related to Israel, the church, and the Gentiles. If anyone held different views than I did concerning these teachings, I could not tolerate him. I could not love anyone who was different from me. However, today although I am not yet fully mature, I am able to love all kinds of Christians. If you are unable to love others, this proves that you are not mature in life. If you are mature, you will simply love everyone. In addition, you will consider others when you exercise your gifts. You may have a certain gift, but you will ask yourself, “If I use my gift, will it benefit others?” If it will not, you will not use it. This is love, which is the issue of maturity in life. Love is the most excellent way for us to exercise our gifts.
In 1 Corinthians the Corinthian believers lacked the growth in life, so in 2 Corinthians Paul stressed the growth in life and did not mention the gifts. He told the Corinthians that although their outer man was decaying, their inner man was being renewed day by day (4:16). In doing so, he referred to the growth of their spiritual life. The fact that Paul did not mention the gifts in 2 Corinthians does not mean that there is no need for the gifts. There is still a need for the gifts, but there is also a need for something more—the growth in life, which enables us to use the gifts properly.
To be proper Christians we need three things—life, power, and the growth in life. With this light we can examine the present situation in Christianity today. On the one hand, some of the Lord’s children have the divine life and a measure of growth in life, but they do not have any power. They lack the equipment and the power of release. They do not know the gift of Pentecost and may even oppose this matter. In this regard they are not correct. To oppose this is absolutely wrong. On the other hand, some of the Lord’s children have received the power of the baptism in the Spirit and the gifts, but regrettably, they do not have the growth in life. They are still young in the divine life; hence, they do many unseemly things, things that are not decent, not good for the glory of God, and not good for the edification of others or even for themselves. They may even misuse the gifts to the extent that they damage themselves. Many who have experienced the baptism in the Spirit are unable to go on in the divine life. They simply remain as babes and are childish, not knowing how to grow in life. However, there are at least a few Christians who have the divine life, the baptism in the Spirit, and the growth in life. These are equipped and qualified to properly minister to others and to themselves. They have life, power, and growth. The clear revelation in the Word is that we need all three. We all should pray that the Lord’s children would be adjusted. Those who call themselves “fundamental” need power; they need the experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Those who have the experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit still need to grow in life. With life, power, and growth, all the dear children of the Lord will be a profit to the building up of the Body of Christ.
Some who call themselves fundamentalists oppose the experience of the baptism in the Spirit. Some even say that the baptism in the Spirit is something of the devil. This is not right. All God’s children should be for this, not against this. Thus, we need to pray much that the Lord would vindicate this matter and prove to these dear ones that this is something of Him. Of course, it is true that some believers who are still childish have misused the baptism in the Spirit and have gone to an extreme. In 1935 when I was in China, we realized that the baptism in the Spirit was something of the Lord, so we encouraged the saints to seek and to receive this experience. By doing this, we opened the door for this experience. However, when some of the brothers and sisters received this experience, they took it to an extreme and began to do many strange things. In one meeting a brother began to act like the donkey that had carried the Lord into Jerusalem. As he did so, some of the other brothers and sisters took off their sweaters and coats and laid them on the ground in front of the brother. Another sister began to prophesy when she received the baptism in the Spirit. She prophesied that a sister who had died of tuberculosis would come back to life. She told the other saints not to get a coffin because the sister who had died would rise up at twelve o’clock the next day. This prevented the family from taking any action. However, when the next day arrived, nothing happened. Eventually, one of the elders had to come and tell the family, “By the authority of the Lord, I tell you that you must bury this sister.” No one can deny that there is a need for some balance. This is why, along with the experience of the baptism in the Spirit, we also need the growth in life. Nevertheless, although some have taken the baptism in the Spirit to an extreme, this does not mean that it is of the devil. Rather, it is something of the Lord, and we need to seek it and experience it.
The Spirit today is both the Spirit of life and the Spirit of power. By receiving the Spirit of life through regeneration, we are born of God to be genuine sons of God, possessing His very life. Once we have received the Spirit of life, we are genuine children of God. However, in order to carry out the Lord’s work, we also need to receive the Spirit of power. By the Spirit of power we can work with the Lord for the accomplishment of His purpose. We need the Spirit of life in order to be sons, and we need the Spirit of power in order to do the Lord’s work. Then, in addition to life and power, we need the growth in life. If we have life, power, and growth, we will be proper, balanced Christians who can be used by the Lord for His Body.