In 1 Corinthians
3:16-17, the Bible says, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple
of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which
temple you are." Also, in 1 Corinthians 6:19, the Scripture says, "Or do
you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in
you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?" In addition, the
Word says, "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed
the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit
of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead
because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if
the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who
raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
through His Spirit who dwells in you," (Romans 8:9-11). Finally, Paul
tells Timothy, "That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the
Holy Spirit who dwells in us," (2 Timothy 1:14).
The preceding passages
teach an indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Christian. The first
passage speaks collectively of the church, two others speak individually
of the Christian. Notice that the Romans 8 passage ties the indwelling
of the Spirit to our "mortal bodies." Based, on these passages if
someone asked the question, "Does the Holy Spirit dwell in the
Christian?", the answer could not be "no" for the Bible clearly teaches
otherwise. Also, note that the Holy Spirit does not inspire Paul to
elaborate on HOW the Spirit dwells in us.
A host of different
theories have been posed, debated, and bound as law in some cases by our
brethren through the years as to HOW the Spirit dwells in us. Some have
even said that they do not believe the Spirit dwells in us AT ALL, even
"representatively," or through the Word only.
The theories regarding
indwelling are interesting to study, consider, and evaluate. However,
since God has NOT stated specifically the HOW of Holy Spirit indwelling,
we should be careful not to speak where God has been silent. His silence
on the issue MUST mean that the "HOW" of indwelling is not important nor
relevant for us to know in terms of our being faithful to God.
In
Ephesians 3:16-17, Paul says, "that He would grant you, according to the
riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in
the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that
you, being rooted and grounded in love…" Here, the text is clear that
Christ dwells NOT in our bodies but in our hearts (the mind or
intellect) through faith. We are told, here, of not only the
indwelling of Christ, but where and how as well. This same sort of
specificity is not found regarding the HOW of Holy Spirit indwelling.
Brother Goebel Music
recently edited and published a book on the Indwelling of The Holy
Spirit in which scores of writers from our brotherhood address the
subject. Their conclusion is basically that we should follow the maxim
of "letting the Bible speak…" and accept that the Spirit DOES dwell
within the temple of God. Interestingly, their findings TO A PERSON
state that more evidence exists to cause one to lean toward a direct
indwelling of the Spirit as opposed to a "representative one."
Their conclusion makes
good hermeneutic sense. Saying more than this is an exercise engaged in
on uncertain ground. For sure, we must NOT make this issue a mater of
faith and fellowship, thus branding those who do not agree with our
position as heretics and false teachers.