Unlike the fruit of the Spirit, being baptized in the Holy Spirit does not measure spiritual maturity. Just as we are saved by believing, confessing, and receiving, we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit by asking and believing we have what we say. Receiving from the Lord is grounded in faith and not in our "righteous works" or "holy high horse" status, wealth, knowledge, intellect, hermeneutics, or Biblical theology. Being baptized in the Holy Spirit equips us to do the works that Jesus did and greater.
The world around us cries out for tangible evidence that God is real, alive, and cares for His creation. This cry is rarely satisfied with debate, intellect, talk, sermons, religion, traditions, or theology. Jesus prayed that the kingdom and will of God would come on earth as it is in heaven. The kingdom came with demonstration in power. After being baptized in the Holy Spirit, Jesus demonstrated the kingdom of God by healing all who were sick and oppressed by the devil. Jesus held a controversial countenance of love as He stared down the barrel of religion. The traditions of men make the power of God null and void. The spirit of religion killed Jesus and attempts, to this day, to create an atmosphere of unbelief. Anti-Christ isn't just anti-Jesus. Christ was not Jesus' last name. Christ means "the anointed one." The anointing only comes by the Holy Spirit. Anti-Christ is anti-Holy Spirit and anti-Holy Spirit power.
The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. The only way to fully preach the gospel is to operate in the power of the Holy Spirit with signs and wonders confirming the Word that is preached. The only gospel that Jesus preached was the kingdom of God. It wasn't the gospel of prosperity, healing, grace or even salvation. All of those are great and important for living an effective Christian life. They are under the umbrella of the the gospel of the kingdom. This is the only gospel that will usher in the coming of our Lord and it is only fully preached with signs, wonders, and miracles from our Lord working in and through His people that are fulfilling the responsibility given by receiving the fullness of power in the Holy Spirit!
Our salvation is not determined by being baptized in the Holy Spirit, but it could hold the key to someone else receiving Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit, besides sealing our salvation when we are saved, empowers us to be a witness when we are baptized (or filled) with the Holy Spirit. A witness is someone who can afford evidence. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the evidence at our disposal testifies of Jesus and His radical love.
The Holy Spirit shows Himself by enabling certain gifts. These gifts are useless without love. Imagine a train, the power of God in us, running smoothly on tracks, the love of God in us. If we're running with no tracks, we're going nowhere. Desiring spiritual gifts is not a selfish desire. We are told to earnestly desire (or zealously lust after) spiritual gifts because they are for the sole purpose of serving others and showing them the fierce love of our Lord.
The name of Jesus will bend reality to break every wall of defense a person has built so He can show His unconditional love for them. Spiritual gifts will never harm a person, will never contradict the Word of God, and will always reflect the heart, will, and kingdom of God. Jesus could do nothing without first seeing His Father commission the act. Jesus' life commissions us to do what he did and greater. This includes healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, walking on water, prophesying to strangers, and making disciples.
As Jesus was united with His Father by being filled with the Holy Spirit, we too, as the Body of Christ, can only be united together by the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.
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