Bill Johson Clarifying the Difference b/t the Indwelling Presence of the Spirit and the Outpouring of the Spirit

"Scripture teaches that every believer receives the Spirit as the seal and down payment of our full inheritance, which is God Himself. (Eph. 1:13-14; Rom. 8:11,15 ) We are heirs of God and have the wonderful privilege and joy of being His dwelling place. The indwelling presence of the Spirit comes about at our conversion, when the Spirit of resurrection brings our spirits to life, just as He breathed into Adam's nostrils in the garden and he became a living being. In the lives of Christ's disciples, we see this take place in John 20:22, when Jesus met with them, "breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'" But at His ascension, Jesus told these same people that the Holy Spirit was going to come upon them. The Holy Spirit was already in them, but He was going to come upon them with power in order to make them witnesses. As the word outpouring suggests, this promise is fulfilled as the Spirit of God comes upon His people like rain. In such seasons God permeates all we are and do with deluges of Himself. This heavenly invasion of God into our lives is God's first answer to the prayer Jesus taught us to pray: "Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). Paul taught us that the "kingdom of God is .....righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17). That is, the kingdom of God is in the Holy Spirit. When He is poured out on us, the King's domain becomes manifested in our lives. This kingdom first creates heaven on earth in the "earth" of our lives, which enables us to mature as co-laborers with heaven in order to bring transformation to the earth around us. Thus, the outpouring of the Spirit deals directly with God's destiny for humanity. The purpose for which Christ accomplished salvation for mankind was just this, to put us right with God so that He could rest upon us, creating a people who could co-labor with Him to bring heaven on earth."


Bill Johnson - "Face to Face with God. The Ultimate Quest to Experience His Presence."