The Indwelling of Christ
The indwelling or incarnation of Jesus Christ in the believer was a fundamental doctrine in the early Christian church.
Jesus said to His disciples:
John 14:20: “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”
John 15:4: “Abide (dwell, live) in Me, and I (will dwell, will live) in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide (dwell) in Me.”
John 17:21: “. . . that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You. . .”
John 17:23: “I (Christ) in them and You (Father) in Me. . .”
John 17:26: “. . . that the love with which You (Father) loved Me may be in them, and I (Christ) in them.”
The Apostle John said:
1 John 3:9: “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed (the offspring of God, the divine sperm) abides (dwells) in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”
The Apostle Paul wrote:
1 Corinthians 6:15 & 17: “15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? . . . 17 But the one who joins himself to (with) the Lord is one spirit with Him.
Romans 8:9-11: “9 . . . But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,* he does not belong to Him (he is not a Christian at all). 10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.”
Galatians 2:20 states: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. . .”
2 Corinthians 13:5: “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you – unless indeed you fail the test?”
The early Christian theologian and scholar, Origen (185-254 AD), wrote:
“Do you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me? And again, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. Seeing then that He was in Paul, who will doubt that He was in a similar manner in Peter and in John and in each one of the saints. . . ”
By having Christ dwell in us and become one with us, we become perfectly united as one with God the Father.
Jesus said of His disciples:
John 17:21 & 23: “21 that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us. . . 23 I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one (perfectly united as one). . .”
In this way, Jesus acts as our Mediator. It is only through Christ that we gain access to the Father, thereby becoming one with Him.
John 14:6: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through (by) Me.”
1 Timothy 2:5 states: “For there is one God, and there is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 2:18 states: “For through Him (Christ) we both have access in one Spirit* to the Father.”
Ephesians 3:11-12 states: “11 This was according to the eternal purpose which He has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In whom we have boldness and confidence of access through our faith in Him (Christ).”
Early Christian theology draws a direct link with water baptism and Christ dwelling in the believer. By being baptized into Christ, a new convert became one in Christ, clothed with Christ, and part of His body (the church). All baptisms recorded in the New Testament were done in the name of the “Lord Jesus Christ.” (See 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Galatians 3:27-28, Romans 6:3-4, & Colossians 2:12, also Acts 2:37-38, 8:14-17, 9:17-18, 10:44-48, 19:1-7) (See also Baptism/ Born Again Topic)
The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
The indwelling or incarnation of the Holy Spirit in the believer was also a fundamental doctrine of the early church.
Jesus said:
John 14:16-17: “16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides (dwells, lives)* with you and will be in you.”
The Apostle John said:
1 John 4:4: “4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He (the Holy Spirit) who is in you than he who is in the world.”
James wrote:
James 4:5: “Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: ‘He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us.”‘
The Apostle Paul wrote:
Romans 8:9-11: “9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. . . . 11 But 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.”
1 Corinthians 3:16: “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
1 Corinthians 6:19: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?”
2 Timothy 1:14: “Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.”
The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in the believer. A Christian’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Counselor or Spirit of Truth proceeded from the Father and was sent to us by Christ, as a witness bearer to Himself.
Jesus said:
John 15:26: “But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me.”
God the Father sent the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name to be our Helper, Advocate, and Comforter. The Holy Spirit also teaches us and brings to our remembrance all of the things that Jesus said.
Jesus said:
John 14:26: “But the Helper (the Comforter, the Advocate), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”
Having been raised from the dead, Jesus received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, which He poured out on all of those who received the word and were baptized at the festival of Pentecost. On that day about three thousand souls were saved and added to the church.
The Apostle Peter said:
Acts 2:32-33: “32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He (Christ) has poured out this (the Holy Spirit) which you see and hear.”
Acts 2:38: “. . . ‘Repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 2:41: “So those who received His word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”
The Holy Spirit was sent by God the Father and poured out on early believers, through Jesus Christ and in His name.
Titus 3:5-6: “5 He saved us, not by deeds done in righteousness, but in virtue of His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration (water Baptism), and renewal of Holy Spirit (baptism of Holy Spirit), 6 which He (God) poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.”
Acts 2:32-33: “32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He (Christ) has poured out this (the Holy Spirit) which you see and hear.”
John 14:26: “But the Helper (the Comforter, the Advocate), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”
Summary
Jesus Christ received the promise of the Holy Spirit from God the Father. The Holy Spirit was poured out on early believers, through Jesus Christ and in His name. The above verses debunk the common teaching that Christ dwells in the believer, through the Holy Spirit. To the contrary, the Holy Spirit dwells in the believer through Jesus Christ and in His name. No where in scripture does it ever state that Jesus dwelt in the believer, through the medium of the Holy Spirit. After receiving the Holy Spirit from His Father, Christ poured out the Spirit on all those who believed in Him and were baptized.
Jesus Christ is our Mediator, not the Holy Spirit. In the early church, the indwelling of Christ in the believer was signified by water baptism. All baptisms were performed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through baptism, all converts became one with Christ and part of His body, the church. Water baptism and the baptism in Holy Spirit were distinct, and in many of the NT conversion accounts, occurred separately from one another. (See Baptism/ Born Again Topic)
The outpouring of the the Holy Spirit on early believers was often miraculously manifested, by their speaking in tongues and prophesying. Early converts also received the Holy Spirit, by the laying on of hands during their conversion. (See Acts 8:14-17, Acts 9:17-17, Acts 19:6, Acts 2:33, & Acts 10:45)
*It is only through Christ our Mediator, not the Holy Spirit, that we have access to the Father. Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 See also scriptural passages which testify that Christ rose in the Spirit and became a life giving Spirit: 1 Peter 3:18, 1 Corinthians 6:17, 1 Corinthians 15:35-50, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, 2 Corinthians 5:15-16, Philippians 1:19, Philippians 3:20-21, & 1 Timothy 3:16.
*Print in red features various renderings from other translations, the original languages, or for clarification purposes.