In the last article I made some general points regarding the question, “Is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit literal or figurative?” As I mentioned, I am convinced the Bible teaches a literal indwelling of the Holy Spirit within Christians. While there are many passages that point to a literal indwelling, there are two to which I would like to give special attention: Romans 8:9–11 and 1 Corinthians 6:19–20. In this article we will focus on the former.
Romans 8:9–11 reads, “9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
In these verses Paul repeatedly says that the Holy Spirit “dwells in” the Christian. I think it is fair to say that the natural reading of the text points to a literal indwelling; that is, the Holy Spirit “in fact” dwells in the Christian. Paul makes his point both positively, “the Spirit of God dwells in you,” and negatively, “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” How many ways does Paul have to say that “the Spirit dwells in you” before we take him at his word? Also note that Paul makes no qualifications such as the Spirit dwells in us “through Scripture” or anything along those lines (in these or other verses). So, the repeated insistence that the Spirit dwells in the Christian combined with the lack of any qualification or clarification is a strong indicator that Paul wished to be understood as saying that the Spirit of God “in fact” (not figuratively) dwells within the Christian.
But consider especially verse 11. How does this passage make sense if Paul does not actually mean that the Spirit dwells in the Christian? If Paul actually meant that it is something like our belief in the truth or our holy living that “dwells in us” and will be the means through which God will give life to our mortal bodies, why does he not say so? Further, can we legitimately change Paul’s wording from “through his Spirit who dwells in you” to “the truth you believe” or “your holy living” or something of the sort? Would such a change even make sense in this context? I do not see how it could. And besides, whether or not it makes sense, it is not what Paul said.
In looking for a counterargument to my position, I checked The Mission and Medium of the Holy Spirit by Foy E. Wallace (who opposed the idea of a literal indwelling of the Spirit). Even though he has a section on Romans 8, comment on verse 11 is conspicuously absent. I cannot help but wonder if he failed to address verse 11 because it is so resistant to any reading that denies the literal indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Wallace quotes from R. L. Whiteside approvingly, so I checked Whiteside’s Romans commentary, assuming he would also argue against a literal indwelling. Instead, what I found was this: “But the Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit. He dwells in the Christian; that is plainly affirmed. And I dare not deny what Paul here affirms” (Commentary on Romans, R.L. Whiteside, 173). I could not have said it better myself. Let us affirm everything the Bible affirms and reject everything the Bible rejects. After all, the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, and who knows better than the Spirit whether or not He indwells the Christian.
Studies in the Bible 