Baptistic Theologies, 2009

masteipiece, perfect in every respect, no room for improvement. But the artist makes one final improvement by ‘uniting himself to his creation, by his own means, giving its own life, its own wisdom, all power and essence so that from this instant, the creator CO and creation merges completely’. His book, What is Your Relationship to the Holy Spirit?, was originally written in 1913 and reprinted circa 1945. In the press release of the 1945 printing, N.J. Poysti recalls, from his childhood memories of Kargel, that ‘[Kargel] emphasized the necessity of being baptized in the Spirit’. 54 But, in actuality, the term ‘Baptism of/by the Holy Spirit’ was rarely used by Kargel in his writings. When Kargel used the term, it was limited to either the actual Day of Pentecost or to Jesus’ baptism. Kargel preferred to use the term of being filled with the Holy Spirit. He believed that being filled with the Holy Spirit is the only true baptism of the Holy Spirit. 55 These ideas precede, yet parallel, the thoughts of W. Graham Scroggie, a Keswick leader of the 1920s who believed that a person was baptised with the Holy Spirit when they were saved. Likewise, he believed that there were more biblical commands to be filled with the Holy Spirit rather than to be baptised by the Holy Spirit. 56 The idea of complete merger appears in Kargel’s thoughts about being filled with the Holy Spirit. To be filled with the Holy Spirit means that Christians ‘should be filled with Him to such a degree as a vessel into C'J which not another drop may enter, otherwise, the liquid would overflow’/ The Holy Spirit has filled the tabernacle and the temple in the Old Testament. ‘God does not speak: your body should be the temple of the Holy Spirit, but He states: it is the temple. And the temple of Holy Spirit r o should be filled with Him.’' Kargel makes a point to show that when God 49 Ibid., in What is your Relationship to the Holy Spirit, p. 135. 50 Ibid., p. 136. 51 Ibid. 52 Ibid., p. 137. 53 Ibid., p. 136. 54 N.J. Poysti, ‘We Publish A Very Important Book’, Gospel Call , Ag (1945), p. 24. 55 Kargel, Sobranie Cochinenij, in What is your Relationship to the Holy Spirit, p. 162. 56 Randall, Evangelical Experiences, p.32. 57 Kargel, Sobranie Cochinenij, in What is your Relationship to the Holy Spirit, p. 131. 58 Ibid., p. 131. 34 Baptistic Theologies moved into the temple, there is no room for anything else. When God spoke to Moses, the bush was fully filled with fire. 59 For Kargel, sanctification was being filled fully by the Holy Spirit, fully yielding to his desires and giving God full power over our lives. Salvation or sanctification cannot be accomplished by human will or strength The idea of a full filling also means that there is no room for human effort. Kargel sees human wisdom and the flesh as enemies of the Spirit; they are in constant battle. Kargel does not present the power of the Holy Spirit