The Spirit Within and The Spirit Upon

Today we’re going to discuss the difference between the Spirit within us and the Spirit upon us.

The Spirit Within: Salvation

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Romans 8:9 (KJV)

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? I Corinthians 3:16 (KJV)

At our new birth, the Spirit of God comes to live in us. We are born-again and we are made new creatures in Christ. God becomes our Father and we become His children. We are born of the Spirit and made like Christ in our spirits by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. At the new birth, we encounter the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We receive the life of God, and the nature and character of God. The fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) is planted in our spirits and begins to grow and develop in us. At the new birth, we receive the Spirit of Christ to live in us, which is the Spirit within, but we are not yet baptized in the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit upon.

The Spirit Upon: Baptism in the Spirit

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8 (KJV)

Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. Acts 8:14-17 (KJV)

And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. Acts 19:6 (KJV)

The baptism in the Holy Spirit is an empowerment for service and to witness. It is a separate event from salvation and is not the equivalent to having the Spirit within. We must first have the Spirit within before we can receive the Spirit upon. In other words, we must be saved first in order to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we are empowered and the evidence is that we are able to speak in tongues (Acts 2:4). Tongues is a supernatural ability to talk to God. The Spirit upon brings an empowerment to preach with boldness, and we gain the ability to flow in the gifts of the Spirit with signs following to confirm what has been said (Mark 16:14-20, I Corinthians 12:7-11). It gives us power to show outwardly who we are made inwardly by the new birth. Inwardly we are new creations, and the Spirit upon gives us power to reflect that by resisting the flesh, sin, satan, his demons and worldly influences. At the baptism in the Holy Spirit, He takes us deeper in to know the Trinity and what has been provided for us. The Spirit upon enables us to receive revelation through the Scripture of the deeper things of God. The Word is opened up to us at the new birth and even more once we have received the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

In conclusion, when we are born again, we receive the Spirit within. This makes us who we are in Christ- children of God. When we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, we receive the Spirit upon, empowering us for service, to live the Christian life, and to do the works of Christ. It is clear in the Word that we need both the Spirit within and the Spirit upon.