The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
A. THE FACT OF THE INDWELLING OF THE SPIRIT IS INDISPUTABLE.
B. THE NATURE OF THAT INDWELLING IS HOTLY CONTESTED.
C. WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
A. GIVEN WHEN WE OBEY (Acts 5:32).
B. THE SPIRIT DWELLS IN THE CHURCH (1 Cor. 3:16).
C. THE SPIRIT DWELLS IN CHRISTIANS (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
D. IT IS A NECESSARY MEASURE OF GENUINE DISCIPLESHIP (Rom. 8:9).
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
A. CALVINIST VIEW.
1. Mysterious in Nature – can’t be explained.
2. To empower and enlighten, to instill an unsought faith.
Antithesis of Possession – Direct Operation
3. God’s power is in the Gospel – the Sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:16; Rom. 1:16).
4. God’s power is manifest in the Spirit’s work.
B. THE LITERAL, OR PERSONAL VIEW.
1. An explanation is most often avoided by statements like, “You know, literal, I
mean he’s actually in us.”
2. I know what literal means – One inside the Other … like a tapeworm, in there.
3. What is he in?
a. Our bodies? (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
b. Our hearts? (Gal. 4:6).
c. The difference demands figurative language!
4. Literal Location? (Psa. 139:7-10). He is Omnipresent – in the vilest sinner!
5. It is said of God (1 John 4:12-15). God in us – we in Him.
And of Jesus (Eph. 3:16-17; Rom. 8:10). Christ in us – we in Him (Gal. 4:19).
Mutual Indwelling! Also demands figurative language.
And nobody disputes this!
C. WHEN PRESSED FOR MEANINGS è MYSTERY, WE CAN’T UNDERSTAND.
1. Mystery, musterion, “hidden, not revealed.” Not incomprehensible!
2. The real mystery: Why argue so vehemently for something when we don’t have
a clear picture of what it is?
3. Deut. 29:29. Revealed Things Belong To Us!
4. Is there something in the Scriptures that tell us the answer?
A. PASSAGES TO NOTE: Rom. 8:9, 11; 1 Cor. 6:19; 2 Tim. 1:14; Eph. 5:18;
John 14:16-17 . The Holy Spirit is in us.
B. NOTE ALSO: Eph. 6:18; Rev. 1:10; 1 Cor. 12:3, 13. We are in the Spirit.
C. LITERALLY, HOW CAN THE SPIRIT BE IN US & US IN THE SPIRIT?
WHO IS IN WHOM?
D. 2 PASSAGES THAT HELP:
1. John 14:10.
a. God is in Jesus and Jesus in the Father.
c. Describes their Working Fellowship.
2. John 17:20-21.
a. We are to be one “even AS thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee …”
b. How are we to be one? (Eph. 4:1-16).
E. EXPRESSES UNITY (1 John 3:24). NOTHING MORE THAN 1:3-7. See 2:3-6
F. FELLOWSHIP WITH JESUS IN HIS DEATH (Rom. 6:3-4).
A. INDWELLING RECEIVED UPON OBEYING THE WORD
(Acts 5:32; Gal. 3:2).
B. OUR POINT OF CONTACT WITH THE SPIRIT IS THE REVEALED WORD.
THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF THE WORD THE SPIRIT DWELLS IN US.
1. Parallel passages (Eph. 5:18-19; Col. 3:16).
2. The Bible itself is not the Spirit, but the means by which the Spirit
operates on us (Rom. 8:12-17; Rev. 2:17; John 6:63).
3. We know we are saved when we obey (1 John 2:3-5; 3:24).
a. Rom. 8:16, The Spirit bears witness "with," not "to," our spirit.
b. Eph. 1:13-14; 2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5, "Sealed" with the "earnest" of the
Spirit. God's pledge. What is God's pledge to us?
(Heb. 6:13-20; 2 Tim. 2:11-13 – Heb. 2:3-4).
4. The "fruit of the Spirit" is seen in our conforming our character to the
teaching of the word (Gal. 5:22-26).
A. I CLAIM THE PERSONAL INDWELLING OF THE SPIRIT.
1. I am a Christian.
2. I have obeyed the Word.
B. THE EXPRESSION PERSONAL INDWELLING IS A FIGURE OF SPEECH
DENOTING THE FELLOWSHIP THAT I HAVE WITH HIM, AS I ALSO HAVE IT
WITH THE FATHER AND THE SON.
