Principles connected with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit

1. The fact of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is given in 1 Corinthians 6:19,20; Romans 8:9; Galatians 3:2.

2. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit must be distinguished from the filling of the Spirit. It is one thing for all believers to be indwelt, it is something else to be filled. Only when we are filled with the Spirit are we accomplishing anything in the angelic conflict. We are never commanded to be indwelt but in Ephesians 5:18 we are commanded to be filled with the Spirit. In Galatians 5:16 we are commanded to walk in the Spirit.

3. It must be clearly understood in spite of the fact that we have this passage quoted in Leviticus 26:12, which is Millennial, that the Holy Spirit did not indwell all believers until the Church Age — John 7:37-39. This anticipates the intensified stage of the angelic conflict. There was no need for every believer to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. Had the need existed then every believer would have been indwelt, but it was no necessary. The purpose of the indwelling of the Spirit is to glorify Christ, as per 1 Corinthians 6:19; John 7:39.

4. The indwelling of the Spirit must be distinguished from the indwelling of Christ. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is functional; the indwelling of Christ is strictly for the matter of fellowship — Revelation 3:20.

The doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit

1. The reason for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. (It never happened before. God the Holy Spirit empowered believers in other dispensations prior to the Church Age. We call that indument, empowering. But now the Holy Spirit actually indwells every believer) The universal indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Church Age is characteristic of this age only. It is necessary because of the strategic victory of the Lord Jesus Christ — His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and session. The strategic victory is followed by the intensification of the angelic conflict.

Two things happen simultaneously. In heaven and in the angelic realm the session of Christ seated at the right hand of the Father causes intensification, the angelic conflict is intensified. Simultaneously the Age of Israel is interrupted; we now have the Church Age. When the Rapture of the Church occurs the intensification is over. The angelic conflict intensifies in the heavenlies as well as on the earth. That is not true in the Tribulation. The intensification of the angelic conflict and the Church Age started at the same time. The Age of Israel is actually interrupted to be continued again after the Rapture. The intensification of the angelic conflict causes the insertion of another dispensation — the Church Age. Up to this time no one in all of history was ever at the point of regeneration indwelt by God the Holy Spirit. But in the Church Age we have something new. On the day of Pentecost for the first time we have the baptism of the Holy Spirit whereby the believer enters into union with Jesus Christ. This causes the person to be born into the royal family. Abraham was born again, Moses was born again. Isaiah, Jeremiah, David, these people were all born again. But they are different from the royalty we have here, none of them were taken by the Holy Spirit and entered into union with Christ. We call this the baptism of the Holy Spirit and it is this that makes each one of us royalty. We are royalty as of the moment we are born again. It is the baptism of the Spirit that is the distinctive feature of the Church Age. It is the baptism of the Holy Spirit that puts us in union with Jesus Christ and makes us a part of the royal family. Jesus Christ is royalty in His deity, royalty in His humanity — descended from the line of David. Jesus Christ is royalty without being born again, He didn’t have to be born again. He was born physically into royalty and that’s it. What is the badge of royalty? Royalty always has a badge. A coat of arms has often been one of the badges of royalty, carrying some kind of a sceptre, the right to carry a certain type of sword, etc. We have a badge of royalty forever — the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit makes us royalty; the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the badge of royalty, the sign of nobility.

Why suddenly is every believer indwelt by the Holy Spirit? Not only is it a sign of royalty but it is related to the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus Christ has a double royalty, that is why He is called King of kings. The first time we have King it refers to His deity; He is sovereignty and deity. “Of kings” refers to the fact that he is in His humanity a king. And there must be a relationship to the royal family. Jesus Christ on earth was indwelt by the Holy Spirit and John 7:37-39 says that the Spirit was not yet given to believers because Christ was not yet glorified. Therefore we begin to glorify Jesus Christ at the point of salvation because we are indwelt by God the Holy Spirit. No matter how we may fail in the materialistic realm or in the humanistic realm or in any way we are still royalty and the badge of royalty can never be removed.

2. The documentation for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit: Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19,20; Galatians 3:2; 4:6; John 7:37-39; 14:16,17. We also have the anointing of the Spirit which merely indicates the indwelling of the Spirit relating Him to royalty. Anointing of the Spirit is synonymous with the indwelling of the Spirit in Acts 4:27; 10:38; 2 Corinthians 1:21; 1 John 2:20, 27.

3. The distinction between salvation and the post-salvation ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit. There is a difference between His ministry at salvation and His post-salvation ministry.

God the Holy Spirit does five things for every believer at the point of salvation: baptism [how we enter the royal family], regeneration [how we enter the family of God], sealing [the security of our royalty], indwelling [the sign of our royalty], the provision of a spiritual gift. The first gift to royalty is a spiritual gift.

In the post-salvation ministry of the Holy is Spirit we have His inner control in order that we might assimilate doctrine and fulfill the purpose for remaining on the earth. What is that purpose? The blessings of the supergrace life, to reach the tactical objective of supergrace and to enjoy the blessings of it. Both carnality and reversionism result in the loss of the filling of the Spirit but never the indwelling of the Spirit. When a believer is out of fellowship he is said to be grieving the Spirit — Ephesians 4:30. That is equivalent to sinning. He is said to be quenching the Spirit — 1 Thessalonians 5:19. That is equivalent to producing human good.

4. Other nomenclature for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In 1 John 2:20, “unction.” In 1 John 2:27, “anointing.” These both refer to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit but they emphasise the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as a sign of being a member of the royal family. Just as royalty wear the overt accouterments of nobility, so we wear inner accouterments of nobility. The believer in the Church Age is in the palace by means of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the sign of royalty.

5. The prophecy of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ the King of kings, as a prophet, declared it in John 7:37-39; 14:16,17.

6. The distinction between the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the indwelling of Jesus Christ. The most obvious fact is that Jesus Christ is the second member of the Trinity and the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. As members of the Trinity they are coequal and co-eternal but they are different persons. They have the same essence but they are different in person. Christ indwells the believer for the purpose of fellowship on the road to supergrace. The Holy Spirit indwells the believer as a sign of royalty, a sign that we are members of the royal family of God. This means that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is permanent. We are royalty forever. However, the indwelling of Christ is not permanent. We can lose the indwelling of Christ by reversionism for the purpose of the indwelling of Christ is for fellowship on the road to supergrace. If we are on the road to reversionism then the Lord Jesus Christ removes Himself from us and instead knocks on the door of the soul as a warning that we are on the wrong road. And when we start to get back on the right road we open the door and let Him in, as per Revelation 3:20.

7. The primary functional objective of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling is the function of GAP — John 14:26; 16:12-15; 1 Corinthians 2:9-16; 1 John 2:27. The universal priesthood of the believer demands the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit for the achievement of the objective of the supergrace life.

8. It is also the objective of the indwelling Holy Spirit to suppress, to control, and to neutralise the function of the old sin nature — Galatians 5:17.

9. Illustrations of the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. One is taken from the Word of God — Elijah in the cave of 1 Kings 19:9-18; the second is taken from the picture of oil as anointing of the Holy Spirit. So oil becomes an illustration of the functions and ministries of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

a) For example, oil lubricates. Friction ruins machines. One of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is to remove friction among believers so that we function as a team as well as a royal family.

b) Oil heals. This was true in the ancient world where there was an extensive use of oil in healing. The ministry of God the Holy Spirit heals the sorrows, the sufferings, the pressures that come our way.

c) Oil was used as a system for lighting, just as the Holy Spirit illuminates the Word under the function of GAP.

d) Oil also propels. We learn this from diesel engines both on land and on sea. This illustrates the walking in the Spirit, moving toward our tactical objective.

e) Oil invigorates. For this reason athletes in the ancient world were anointed with oil before they entered their contest. The ministry of God the Holy Spirit invigorates the life of the believer.

f) Oil warms. Oil was used for heating fuel. The ministry of God the Holy Spirit warms the categories of love through His ministry indwelling.

g) Oil adorns. Oil has been used since time immemorial for grooming. The Holy Spirit produces the grooming of the soul through His indwelling.

5. The purpose of the indwelling of the Spirit is provision of power to execute phase two — Acts 1:8.

6. The indwelling of the Spirit is also described by the word ‘anointing’ in Acts 4:27; 10:38; 2 Corinthians 1:21; 1 John 2:20.

The doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit

1. The reason for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. (It never happened before. God the Holy Spirit empowered believers in other dispensations prior to the Church Age. We call that indument, empowering. But now the Holy Spirit actually indwells every believer) The universal indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Church Age is characteristic of this age only. It is necessary because of the strategic victory of the Lord Jesus Christ — His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and session. The strategic victory is followed by the intensification of the angelic conflict.

Two things happen simultaneously. In heaven and in the angelic realm the session of Christ seated at the right hand of the Father causes intensification, the angelic conflict is intensified. Simultaneously the Age of Israel is interrupted; we now have the Church Age. When the Rapture of the Church occurs the intensification is over. The angelic conflict intensifies in the heavenlies as well as on the earth. That is not true in the Tribulation. The intensification of the angelic conflict and the Church Age started at the same time. The Age of Israel is actually interrupted to be continued again after the Rapture. The intensification of the angelic conflict causes the insertion of another dispensation — the Church Age. Up to this time no one in all of history was ever at the point of regeneration indwelt by God the Holy Spirit. But in the Church Age we have something new. On the day of Pentecost for the first time we have the baptism of the Holy Spirit whereby the believer enters into union with Jesus Christ. This causes the person to be born into the royal family. Abraham was born again, Moses was born again. Isaiah, Jeremiah, David, these people were all born again. But they are different from the royalty we have here, none of them were taken by the Holy Spirit and entered into union with Christ. We call this the baptism of the Holy Spirit and it is this that makes each one of us royalty. We are royalty as of the moment we are born again. It is the baptism of the Spirit that is the distinctive feature of the Church Age. It is the baptism of the Holy Spirit that puts us in union with Jesus Christ and makes us a part of the royal family. Jesus Christ is royalty in His deity, royalty in His humanity — descended from the line of David. Jesus Christ is royalty without being born again, He didn’t have to be born again. He was born physically into royalty and that’s it. What is the badge of royalty? Royalty always has a badge. A coat of arms has often been one of the badges of royalty, carrying some kind of a sceptre, the right to carry a certain type of sword, etc. We have a badge of royalty forever — the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit makes us royalty; the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the badge of royalty, the sign of nobility.

Why suddenly is every believer indwelt by the Holy Spirit? Not only is it a sign of royalty but it is related to the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus Christ has a double royalty, that is why He is called King of kings. The first time we have King it refers to His deity; He is sovereignty and deity. “Of kings” refers to the fact that he is in His humanity a king. And there must be a relationship to the royal family. Jesus Christ on earth was indwelt by the Holy Spirit and John 7:37-39 says that the Spirit was not yet given to believers because Christ was not yet glorified. Therefore we begin to glorify Jesus Christ at the point of salvation because we are indwelt by God the Holy Spirit. No matter how we may fail in the materialistic realm or in the humanistic realm or in any way we are still royalty and the badge of royalty can never be removed.

2. The documentation for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit: Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19,20; Galatians 3:2; 4:6; John 7:37-39; 14:16,17. We also have the anointing of the Spirit which merely indicates the indwelling of the Spirit relating Him to royalty. Anointing of the Spirit is synonymous with the indwelling of the Spirit in Acts 4:27; 10:38; 2 Corinthians 1:21; 1 John 2:20, 27.

3. The distinction between salvation and the post-salvation ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit. There is a difference between His ministry at salvation and His post-salvation ministry.

God the Holy Spirit does five things for every believer at the point of salvation: baptism [how we enter the royal family], regeneration [how we enter the family of God], sealing [the security of our royalty], indwelling [the sign of our royalty], the provision of a spiritual gift. The first gift to royalty is a spiritual gift.

In the post-salvation ministry of the Holy is Spirit we have His inner control in order that we might assimilate doctrine and fulfill the purpose for remaining on the earth. What is that purpose? The blessings of the supergrace life, to reach the tactical objective of supergrace and to enjoy the blessings of it. Both carnality and reversionism result in the loss of the filling of the Spirit but never the indwelling of the Spirit. When a believer is out of fellowship he is said to be grieving the Spirit — Ephesians 4:30. That is equivalent to sinning. He is said to be quenching the Spirit — 1 Thessalonians 5:19. That is equivalent to producing human good.

4. Other nomenclature for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In 1 John 2:20, “unction.” In 1 John 2:27, “anointing.” These both refer to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit but they emphasise the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as a sign of being a member of the royal family. Just as royalty wear the overt accouterments of nobility, so we wear inner accouterments of nobility. The believer in the Church Age is in the palace by means of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the sign of royalty.

5. The prophecy of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ the King of kings, as a prophet, declared it in John 7:37-39; 14:16,17.

6. The distinction between the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the indwelling of Jesus Christ. The most obvious fact is that Jesus Christ is the second member of the Trinity and the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. As members of the Trinity they are coequal and co-eternal but they are different persons. They have the same essence but they are different in person. Christ indwells the believer for the purpose of fellowship on the road to supergrace. The Holy Spirit indwells the believer as a sign of royalty, a sign that we are members of the royal family of God. This means that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is permanent. We are royalty forever. However, the indwelling of Christ is not permanent. We can lose the indwelling of Christ by reversionism for the purpose of the indwelling of Christ is for fellowship on the road to supergrace. If we are on the road to reversionism then the Lord Jesus Christ removes Himself from us and instead knocks on the door of the soul as a warning that we are on the wrong road. And when we start to get back on the right road we open the door and let Him in, as per Revelation 3:20.

7. The primary functional objective of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling is the function of GAP — John 14:26; 16:12-15; 1 Corinthians 2:9-16; 1 John 2:27. The universal priesthood of the believer demands the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit for the achievement of the objective of the supergrace life.

8. It is also the objective of the indwelling Holy Spirit to suppress, to control, and to neutralise the function of the old sin nature — Galatians 5:17.

9. Illustrations of the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. One is taken from the Word of God — Elijah in the cave of 1 Kings 19:9-18; the second is taken from the picture of oil as anointing of the Holy Spirit. So oil becomes an illustration of the functions and ministries of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

a) For example, oil lubricates. Friction ruins machines. One of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is to remove friction among believers so that we function as a team as well as a royal family.

b) Oil heals. This was true in the ancient world where there was an extensive use of oil in healing. The ministry of God the Holy Spirit heals the sorrows, the sufferings, the pressures that come our way.

c) Oil was used as a system for lighting, just as the Holy Spirit illuminates the Word under the function of GAP.

d) Oil also propels. We learn this from diesel engines both on land and on sea. This illustrates the walking in the Spirit, moving toward our tactical objective.

e) Oil invigorates. For this reason athletes in the ancient world were anointed with oil before they entered their contest. The ministry of God the Holy Spirit invigorates the life of the believer.

f) Oil warms. Oil was used for heating fuel. The ministry of God the Holy Spirit warms the categories of love through His ministry indwelling.

g) Oil adorns. Oil has been used since time immemorial for grooming. The Holy Spirit produces the grooming of the soul through His indwelling.