As a postscript to the series on the Holy Spirit, I would like to include here a few quotes from teachers within churches of Christ that I found interesting, either because of what was said or who said it. These quotes are from men who are as infallible as myself (which is to say, not at all) and should always be judged against what the Bible says:
Alexander Campbell, The Christian System (1835), 18.8
“Christians are, therefore, clearly and unequivocally temples of the Holy Spirit; and they are quickened, animated, encouraged, and sanctified by the power and influence of the Spirit of God, working in them through the truth.”
Moses E. Lard, “Spiritual Influence as it relates to Christian,” in vol. 1 of Lard’s Quarterly (1864): 235
[Regarding 1 Cor 6:19], “First, we have the body, the human body, the body however not of men out of Christ, but of men in him, the body of Christians, and this body we have as a temple. Second, we have the Holy Spirit represented as being in this body, as dwelling in this temple. This much is absolutely certain. From these premises, therefore, it clearly appears that the New Testament, and that too in a part of it relating to Christians, actually and positively asserts that the Holy Spirit dwells in them.” (italics in original)
J.W. McGarvey and Philip Y. Pendleton, Thessalonians, Corinthians, Galatians, and Romans (1916): 359
[Regarding Romans 8:9–10], “If ye have not the Holy Spirit who proceeds from Christ, ye are not regenerate, ye are not his. And though Christ dwells in you (representatively by means of his Spirit), your body is doomed to a natural death (and hence is to be accounted as already dead) because of (Adam’s) sin; yet your spirit lives because it is justified and accounted righteous (by reason of Christ).”
Robertson L. Whiteside, Reflections (1956): 216
“In what sense does the Holy Spirit dwell in us? There does not seem to be any sense in which he can dwell in us and yet not dwell in us. My Spirit dwells in my body so long as I am alive, and yet I could not tell how it does so… Hence, the way to be filled with the Spirit is to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. And yet we know the word of Christ is not the Holy Spirit. What then? The word of Christ is food for the Christian, but the Spirit will not dwell in one whose soul is starved for the lack of spiritual food. Is that unreasonable? The food I eat is not my spirit, yet if I eat no food my spirit will leave my starved body. But does the Holy Spirit dwell in us independent of the word of Christ? Does your own spirit dwell in your body independent of what you eat?”
James D. Bales, The Holy Spirit and the Christian (1966): 3
“Our doctrine concerning the Holy Spirit and the Christian should be found in the Scriptures and not in the traditions of men or in a reaction to the extreme positions that some people may have taken. Because some people take certain unscriptural positions concerning the Spirit and the Christian, this does not justify us in denying the reality of the Spirit in our own lives. There are others who have reacted against these individuals until they have gone, or are tending to go, to the extreme against which the first reactionists reacted. We should not be reactionists but actionists who base our action upon the teaching of the Scriptures.”
I hope this series on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit has been helpful!
Studies in the Bible 