Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
By Timothy Glover
The fact of the indwelling of the Spirit is not disputed. Romans 8:9-11 reads clearly that he does dwell in the Christian. Other passages (1 Cor. 6:19, 2 Tim. 1:13-14) teach the same thing. Although, the Roman passage equates the Spirit's indwelling with the Spirit of Christ and the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead, the fact that Paul uses the terms "Spirit of God", "Spirit of Christ", and "his Spirit" synonymously and then uses the phrase "if Christ is in you" (v. 10), points to the same indwelling. Thus, God the Father dwells in us (1 John 4:12-16), Jesus, the Son, dwells in us (Rom. 8:9-10; Col.1:27, Gal.2:20), and the Holy Spirit dwells in us. We see the unity and oneness of the Godhead. At least 8 times, the Holy Spirit is referred to as the "Spirit of God." He is also referred to as "the Holy Spirit of God", "the Spirit of the Living God", "his Spirit," etc.
Once again, the fact of the indwelling in the saint, just as his role in converting the sinner, is not denied. The "manner" is the issue.
Now, we must understand that he dwells in the Christian not; the non-Christian. So many people want to attribute the dwelling of deity upon the sinner toward his or her conversion. But, as we have already seen, this is no where taught in the Scriptures. Gal.4:6 says that "because we are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Paul tells the Corinthians in 6:19 that the human body is a "temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you" (cf. John 14:17). The body that we live in is distinct from the person ("you"). Paul also calls our body our house in 2 Cor. 5. While "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50), YOU can. The Spirit dwells in YOU, within the heart of every child of God. If he personally dwells in the body, this would amount to incarnation. However, since he indwells the Christian, and since the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, then the body is the vessel used to carry out the will of the two who have become united.
"The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God" (Rom 8:16). This is the meaning of being sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance (Eph. 1:13-14). Christians bear the mark of sonship. When God gives us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, he fulfills his promise to dwell in us and walk in us (2 Cor. 6:16). Paul tells us we are "built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit" (Eph. 2:22).
Is there a difference in the Christian receiving the word and receiving the Spirit? Acts 2 answers this. The people who received the word were baptized. The Spirit convicted them of sin through the word. But, they received the Spirit after they were baptized. We are told in the fifth chapter of Acts and verse 32 that the Holy Spirit is given to those who obey him. Seeing that baptism stands between receiving the word and receiving the Spirit, it follows that one does not receive the Spirit when receiving the word.
Ephesians 1:13 reads, "in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, - in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." Once again, we see the order is hearing the word, believing the word, and third, sealed with the Holy Spirit.
It is often argued that the Holy Spirit dwells in the Christian the same as Christ dwells in the Christian - representatively through the words of Christ and his apostles (Eph. 3:17). Seeing that this passage teaches that Christ dwells in us by faith, this becomes the prerequisite of God strengthening us with power through his Spirit (v. 16). Some are compelled to say that Christ himself does not dwell in us but he does so only representatively through the word. I would rather accept the statement that Christ does dwell in the Christian, that deity makes their abode with and in us (John 14:17). Faith is that which gives Christ access to enter and dwell within. It provides a suitable habitation of Christ. Faith is the prerequisite, and continued faith is the means by which Deity (Christ, the Father, and the Spirit) comes into our hearts and takes up their abode in us.
The implication of having some miraculous power because of the indwelling is not warranted in Scripture as there are various degrees or measures of the Holy Spirit. The miraculous measure required the "laying on of the hands of the apostles" (Acts 8). Even after the Samaritans had accepted Christ, becoming obedient to his word, they did not receive any miraculous measure until Peter and John came to lay their hands on them.
The indwelling is a blessing of sonship. Christians are the creation of God (a new creature). Having been born into the spiritual family, we become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).
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