How We Know The Holy Spirit Indwells Personally, And Not Only Representatively Through The Word
For sure God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit all dwell in the faithful Christian representatively through the word of God. That is by definition, in the same way my Dad lives through me to the extent I follow his upbringing of me. But how do we know for sure the Holy Spirit also dwells in faithful Christians personally? Consider my old friend Jim Deason’s debate chart on Holy Spirit baptism:
1. Holy Spirit baptism was a promise, not a command
2. Promises cannot be obeyed
3. To "be filled with the Spirit" (Eph 5:18) was a command
4. Therefore, to "be filled with the Spirit" in Eph 5:18 is not HS baptism
Do you agree with our brother Jim on the above argument he uses when debating the Pentecostals on HS baptism? Sound brethren have been using Jim’s argument for probably 125 years, and I for one think it is sound. I am thinking you also think it is sound, at least when it relates to HS Baptism.
Now consider Jim’s same argument on our “Personally Indwelling” issue: The indwelling thru the word is a “command to be obeyed.” We know that by comparing Eph 5:18b with Col 3:16a. They are parallel texts of course if you look at the context of both. Meaning “be filled with the Spirit” is instructing the same thing as “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.” So Eph 5:18b refers to the Spirit’s indwelling through the word and it is framed as a command. And that makes sense – letting the HS indwell us through the word is equivalent to listening to the Spirit’s revealed word and obeying it. That is something we are supposed to do. That is obeying a command.
But the following verses promise the Holy Ghost himself as a gift to be received:
Acts 5:32 the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him
Acts 2:38 ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost
Luke 11:13 give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him
John 7:39 the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive
Rom 5:5b the Holy Ghost which is given unto us
II Cor 1:22 who also has … given us the Spirit (NKJV)
II Cor 5:5 God … has given us the Spirit
I Thess 4:8 hath also given unto us his holy Spirit
I John 3:24 the Spirit which he hath given us
The above verses all promise the HG as a gift, therefore they cannot be talking about the Spirit’s indwelling through the word, because the indwelling through the word (like in Eph 5:18b) is a command to be obeyed. As our brother Deason said – “Promises cannot be obeyed.”
And can’t we see the difference in “received his word” which started before baptism according to Acts 2:41 and “received the gift of the HG” which occurred after (conditioned upon) baptism in Acts 2:38? The former is the indwelling through the word and is obeying a command, while the latter is the personal indwelling and is a promise to be received for obeying a command. The “a promise to be received can’t be the same as a command to be obeyed” argument was being made by gospel preachers in HS baptism debates many decades before Jim Deason was born. I think we all know inherently it is a sound argument – that you can’t obey a promise. The argument is either sound or it isn’t. We can’t say it is sometimes sound and sometimes not, depending upon which issue we are discussing. Therefore we have to say our argument against HS baptism for the last 125 years is unsound, or we have to say the Spirit’s indwelling only though the word theory is false. If you have a third option, I am all ears.
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