Sermon Tone Analysis

As we continue our series of studies of the Holy Spirit of God, we move to what would be considered by most the most controversial subject among brethren regarding the Holy Spirit: The Indwelling.

I will share with you my understanding of this important topic which has been molded and changed as I have studied it over the years.

I understand that some who hear this lesson may not agree with the view I will give in this lesson (there are many good, faithful brethren who disagree with me on this).

I do not believe if you disagree with me about the Indwelling that you are in danger of being lost, but I do believe that if you take the view I will oppose in this lesson that you will miss many of the blessings that we receive from the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

If you are one of those people, I would be more than willing to sit down with you and to hear any arguments that you may want to share that you think I have not considered regarding this issue.

WHAT IS NOT DEBATED:

One thing that is not debated when it comes to the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the fact that the Spirit dwells in us.

The issue that is debated is “how” He dwells in us.

Anyone who would deny that the Spirit dwells in us at all could only arrive at such a view by disregarding clear passages of scripture that teach otherwise.

Some examples include:

• à “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.

38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”

39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

• à “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, 22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

• à “14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.

These verses (amongst many others I could give) show the fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in us in some way.

The big question we must ask is “how”?

How is it that the Holy Spirit dwells in us as God’s people?

There are three possible views that I know of that try to answer this question:

1.

The Holy Spirit indwells the Christian SEPARATE and APART from the word.

Some believe that the Holy Spirit dwells in every Christian in a distinctly miraculous way, separate from the influence that comes through hearing and believing the Word.

This indwelling is alleged to be evidenced through manifestations of His presence through signs, gifts, and inspiration.

In this way enlightenment comes through the prompting of the Spirit.

This is given precedence over the revelation that comes from the Holy Scriptures.

There is NO credible evidence that the Holy Spirit is working in this manner today.

(I will attempt to respond to this view in a later lesson)

2. The Holy Spirit dwells in us ONLY through the word.

This position believes that it is through the Word of God that the Holy Spirit “figuratively” indwells the Christian.

This indwelling is said to be a “representative” indwelling in that it denies the premise that the Holy Spirit actually indwells the body of the believer.

As we fill our minds with the word of the Spirit, trust in His promises, enjoy the Spirit’s blessings, and obey the word, the Spirit “dwells” in us.

My question for those who hold this view is this, “Where is the passage of scripture that teaches this position?”

I do not know of one.

This is not to say that arguments are not given to try to prove this position (I will deal with a few of the arguments in a moment).

But there is just not a passage that says that teaches the premise; that the Holy Spirit dwells in us ONLY through the word I believe this position (although well intentioned) is guilty of something that I tried to encourage us at the beginning of these lessons not to do: to overreact to false teachings on the subject.

I believe that the belief that the Holy Spirit dwells in us ONLY through the word is an overreaction to the false belief that the Spirit dwells in us in some miraculous way, and I believe it can be proven that this position had its beginnings at times in which the first position was gaining strength.

Positions one and two seem to be the two extremes that one can take on the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

I believe the truth is in the middle.

3.

In conjunction WITH the word.

This view holds that it is through the Word of God (the gospel of Christ) that one is convicted of sin and converted to Christ.

However, it is the Spirit of God that is working in this process to save and transform the Christian (), which we saw in our prior lesson on the Spirit’s role in conversion.

One is saved by obeying the commands of God revealed in His Word ().

The Spirit gives new life to this person in the name of Christ.

And it is from the Word of God that we learn that the Spirit indwells our bodies beginning at conversion (; ).

Without the Word of God there would be no indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believer.

Without the revelation of Scripture we would not even know the Spirit dwells in us (cf.

… “or don’t you know”).

From my studies, I believe that this is the view which is supported in scripture about the Indwelling.

Let’s take some time for a moment to examine two of the main arguments of those who hold the belief that the Holy Spirit ONLY dwells in us through the word:

THE SPIRIT DOES WHAT THE WORD DOES

This argument attempts to show the parallels that we see in scripture regarding the Spirit and His word, and they argue from these parallels that since both the Spirit and the Word do these things, this means that the Spirit ONLY dwells in us as the Word of God dwells in us.

Some examples of passages they would use that show these parallels:

· The Spirit Instructs () and the Word instructs ();

· The Spirit teaches () and the Word teaches ();

· The Spirit convicts () and the Word convicts ();

· The Spirit gives new birth () and the Word gives new birth (; );

· The Spirit revives us () and the Word revives us ();

· The Spirit guides us () and the Word guides us ();

· The Spirit sanctifies us (; ) and the Word sanctifies us (; )

· The Spirit washes and comforts us () and the Word does also ( / )

This list could go on and on.

There are at least 15-20 things that we are told in scripture that the Spirit and the word of God both do.

I do not deny that this is what these passages show.

The question I ask is, “how is it that showing these parallel passages proves that the Spirit ONLY dwells in us through the Word?”

These lists only show that the Spirit and the word do some of the same things.

No one should disagree with this fact.

We should not be surprised that there are verses like this that show these parallels, especially considering what we saw in our last lesson on how the Spirit uses the word in bringing us to Christ.

This was seen in the last lesson with the illustration of the mechanic and his tools.

The mechanic is the one who is working.

The mechanic is the one who gets the credit, not the tools.

Those who hold this “word only” view are separating the mechanic from his tools, saying that the tools do all the work without the mechanic.

These parallels show that the Spirit uses the word of God as one of His main tools in bringing us to Christ and molding us to desire the will of God and be more holy in our lives.

But it doesn’t prove that the word is the ONLY way in which the Holy Spirit dwells in us.

Also, there is one point that can be made that show using these kind of charts does not prove that the Spirit ONLY dwells in us through the word.

If there is even one thing that is done by the Spirit that is not done by the word, the premise of these kinds of charts (that whatever the Holy Spirit does the word does, equating the Word and the Spirit) is void!

Remember the view is that the Spirit ONLY dwells in us through the Word.

We can give at least four passages that show us things that the Holy Spirit does that the word of God does not do:

1.

The Holy Spirit seals us ().

Scripture does not teach that the word does this.

This passage teaches that after you hear the gospel we are sealed with (not by) the Holy Spirit of promise.

2. The Spirit is our earnest/guarantee/down payment ()

3. The Spirit aids us in our prayers and makes intercession for us ().

This passage is in the context of teaching on the indwelling of the Spirit, which I will show shortly.

4. The Spirit (who dwells in us) yearns jealously ().

You cannot make sense of this passage from the “Word ONLY” view.

The word of God (which dwells in us) does not become jealous when we open up other books, when we sin, etc.

But scripture does teach that the Spirit (who indwells us) does become jealous, and also can be grieved, insulted, and blasphemed in other passages.

Where are the passages that teach that the word does these things?

I do not know of any!

The premise that the Spirit only does those things which the word does today is not true.

THE SPIRIT DWELLS IN US THE SAME WAY AS THE FATHER AND SON DO

The second main argument given by proponents of the word only view is that the Holy Spirit dwells in us the same way as the Father and Son do.

The argument goes as follows:

· Does Scripture Teach That The Father and Son Dwell In Us? YES

· Once We Find Out In Scripture How The Father And Son Indwell Us, Then We Will Know How The Spirit Indwells Us

· Does the Father LITERALLY Dwell In You? NO

· Does the Son LITERALLY Dwell In You? NO

· Then This Proves That The Spirit Does Not Literally Indwell The Believer

As you go down through this argument, it seems like a logical argument.

But there are two problems that I see with this argument:

1.

Where is the passage of scripture that teaches the premise?