The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
by
Hendrick Hanegraaff
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?" (1 Cor. 6:19)
One of the most frequently asked questions on the Bible Answer Man broadcast this past December was, "What is meant when we affirm that the Holy Spirit is in us? Does it mean the Holy Spirit is physically located inside of our physical bodies?"
One caller believed this is precisely what Scripture teaches. "First Corinthians 6:19 says the Holy Spirit is in me. That means He is inside my physical body. In means in." [Ed. note: The gal took the passage literally as she should.]
She then added, "The Holy Spirit is everywhere. Surely you must know about the omnipresence of the Holy Spirit. Everywhere means everywhere." [Ed. note: She made a mistake and Hendrick pounced on her. The HOLY SPIRIT is NOT everywhere. He does NOT dwell inside the wicked, animals, insects, birds, fish, plants, inanimate objects, etc. The Scriptures teach that YAHWEH Elohim are omnipresent (Psalm 139.7-10). They are present everywhere in the Cosmos and outside the Cosmos at the same time. We cannot explain how this is -- we simply accept this concept because that is what the Holy Word of YAHWEH teaches and because we know the HOLY SPIRIT, the Father and the Son literally dwell within all believers (John 7.38,39; 14.17,20,23; I Kor. 3.16; 6.19; I Tim. 1.14).
"Does everywhere include unbelievers?" I asked.
"No!" she replied emphatically. "He's everywhere except in unbelievers."
I explained to her that to ask where the Holy Spirit is is to confuse categories. When we speak of the Holy Spirit, we speak of who and what, not where in the physical sense. To ask spatial questions concerning a Being who is Spirit and does not have location in space is analogous to asking what the color blue tastes like. [Ed. note: Asking where the HOLY SPIRIT is is NOT confusing categories. The HOLY SPIRIT has location in space just as the Father does, who is refered to as spirit (John 4.24). The Father resides in Heaven (Matt. 6.9) as does the Son, who is seated at His right hand (Mark 16.19; Lk. 22.69; Heb. 1.3). Both have physical bodies (Dan. 7.9,13; Rev. 4.2,3,9,10; 5.1,6-8; 19.11-16) yet They can be present anywhere and everywhere in Their Cosmos and outside of it at the same time. They are transdimensional Beings. Their bodies reside in one place in the Cosmos, but Their spirits are omnipresent.]
First, it should be pointed out that Scripture teaches that the Holy Spirit is not a material or physical being. In the Gospel of John, Jesus clearly communicates that "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). Contrary to the assertions of contemporary teachers such as Benny Hinn, the Holy Spirit does not have arms and legs. To ascribe physical qualities to a purely spiritual being is illogical and contradictory. [Ed. note: YAHWEH Elohim ascribe physical qualities to the Father (Dan. 7.9,13; Rev. 4.2,3,9,10; 5.1,6-8).
If Hendrick is right YAHWEH Elohim are illogical and contradictory Beings. I prefer to believe YAHWEH Elohim. The HOLY SPIRIT is never described as having physical form, yet the Father and Son are. Even though They are both spirit Beings They both took on physical form.]
Furthermore, when Scripture speaks of the Holy Spirit being omnipresent or present everywhere (Ps. 139:1-10), it is not communicating that the Holy Spirit is physically distributed throughout the universe, but that the Holy Spirit is present (with all His fullness) in every part of creation; that is, the Holy Spirit exerts direct causal influence everywhere in space and time. Thus Scripture teaches God's creative and sustaining relationship to the cosmos rather than His physical location in the cosmos. [Ed. note: Hendrick is wrong and he contradicts himself. He tries to claim the HOLY SPIRIT is not "physically distributed throughout the universe" and then says the "holy Spirit is present (with all His fulness) in every part of creation." That is a clear contradiction. He failed to explain what the passage in Psalms means.]
To speak of God's "whereness" in terms of His physical location in the world rather than His relationship to the world has more in common with the panentheism of heretical process theology (currently popular in liberal circles) than with classical Christian theism. Panentheism holds that God is intrinsically "in" the world while classical theism holds that God properly exists outside of time and space, as One who "inhabiteth eternity" (Isa. 57:15, KJV). [Ed. note: When a believer says the HOLY SPIRIT lives inside his physical body he is not propagating pantheism out of ignorance. He is simply stating what Thee Infallible, Holy Word of YAHWEH Elohim says (John 14.17,23; Rom. 8.9,11; I Kor. 3.16,17; 6.19; 2 Kor. 6.16; 2 Tim. 1.14).
Hendrick needs to cite refrences when he claims that his doctrine is the doctrine of "classical Christian theism." Until he provides the evidence his claim is just that -- a claim.
The Bible makes it clear that YAHWEH Elohim inhabit the Cosmos They created (Ps. 9.11). We know from the Scriptures and from common sense that They also inhabit whatever it is that is outside Their Cosmos -- (Is. 57.15).
Nonetheless, nothing in time and space exists apart from God's nonspatial and nontemporal presence, for "in him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). [Ed. note: It is an assumption that YAHWEH Elohim do not live inside the Cosmos They created. They can dwell inside of it and outside of it at the same time.]
The danger of ascribing physical location to the Person of the Holy Spirit is that it logically implies that the Holy Spirit is by nature a material being. When 1 Corinthians 6:19 says the Holy Spirit is in you, it is describing a personal relationship rather than a physical location. Thus to say that the Holy Spirit is in you is not to point out where the Holy Spirit is physically located, but rather to point out that we have come into a special, intimate, personal relationship with Him through repentance. Similarly, when Jesus says, "the Father is in me, and I in the Father" (John 10:38), He is not speaking of physical location but intimacy of relationship. [Ed. note: Teaching what the Bible says -- that the HOLY SPIRIT lives inside the body of every believer -- does not imply He is a "material being." It implies that He is an interdimensional Being who can live inside of the material He created, including the physical bodies of believers. If a demon can dwell within a person's body -- the HOLY SPIRIT can do this also. It is absurd to say a demon can live inside a physical body yet the HOLY SPIRIT cannot. One would have to deny the clear teaching that demons can dwell inside the body of the lost and also animals (Matt. 8.28-34).]
Every passage that says the HOLY SPIRIT lives inside the body of a believer -- means exactly that. They are not allegorical of a "personal relationship" we have with the Father, Son and HOLY SPIRIT.
When YAHSHUA said the Father dwells in Him and He dwells in the Father (John 10.38; 14.20; 17.21) He meant that literally. We may find this difficult to understand, but that is what the Bible teaches. It should be noted that the Father and Son also live within the physical body of every believer (John 14.23; 2 John 2) along with the HOLY SPIRIT.]
In addition, it should be noted that the preposition in has a variety of meanings. When I say that I am "in hot water," I am using a figure of speech to describe my relationship to trouble, not to my daily shower. Likewise, when I say that my loved ones will always be "in my heart," I am using a figure of speech to describe a relationship of love. While having a loved one in your heart pales by comparison to having the Holy Spirit in you, in both cases a personal relationship rather than a physical location is being described. [Ed. note: Every rational person understands when someone uses a figure of speech as Hendrick used. The clear statements in the Bible that the HOLY SPIRIT lives in the body of believers and the Father and Son also do are not figures of speech. There is nothing in the language or context to imply that they are figures of speech. Hendrick and others who claim they are allegorical statements do so simply to support their doctrine. They have no basis for their claim and no support from the Yavan language.]
To deny that the Holy Spirit is spatially locatable within us is not to deny that He is actively locatable within us, working redemptively within the deepest part of our beings to conform us into the image of Christ. Far from detracting from our nearness to the Holy Spirit, the classical Christian view intensifies the intimacy of our special relationship to the Creator as well as the benefits of our redemption. [Ed. note: Denial that the HOLY SPIRIT literally lives inside the physical body of every believer is a denial of Scripture. For Hendrick to equate his denial of Scripture with a denial of the influence of the HOLY SPIRIT in our lives has nothing to do with the subject. You do not have to admit the truth that the HOLY SPIRIT lives inside of us to believe He can conform us to the image of YAHSHUA. That is obvious for that is what Hendrick has done.
His claim that his doctrine of the "indwelling" of the HOLY SPIRIT is the "classical Christian view" and that it intensifies the intimacy of our relationship with the Creator is a serious error. It is not the position that true Messianic Faithers hold to! It does not intensify the intimacy of our relationship to the Creators, but weakens it and can destroy it if one fully believes it. It is a doctrine which destroys one's faith rather than builds it up. It is a most pernicious false doctrine that is clearly a heresy!]
Finally, the great dedicatory prayer of King Solomon (1 Kings 8) reveals the futility of believing that the infinite Holy Spirit can be physically contained in any finite space, let alone the human body. Indeed, Solomon exclaimed, "But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!" (v. 27). Like Solomon, the apostle Paul affirmed that God "does not live in temples built by hands" (Acts 17:24). [Ed. note: The statement by Shelomoh is not a refutation of the doctrine of the literal indwelling of the HOLY SPIRIT, the Father and the Son. That is not what is meant. His statement means that the YAHWEH Elohim (Father, Son, HOLY SPIRIT) are far too infinite for the mere Earth or Cosmos to contain all of Them. Since They are infinite Beings nothing They can create could contain Their fulness. They can enter Their creation and dwell in any and every part of it, but the entire Cosmos is not large enough to hold all of Their fulness.
The statement by Shelomoh and Paulos that YAHWEH Elohim do not live inside Adamic made structures is a statement that They are infinite in Their fulness. It is a refutation of the belief by the lost that the "gods" were like men and lived in buildings like they do.
One must remember that throughout the Eternal Kingdom the Father and the Son will dwell inside the New Yerushalom -- a literal physical structure (Rev. 21.3,23; 22.1,3,5). Even though the Father and Son will have glorified, physical bodies They will dwell outside of the new Cosmos They will create (Rev. 21.1) at the same time. The Father, Son and HOLY SPIRIT will dwell inside of and outside of Their creation through all eternity. They always have and always will. This is what Thee Infallible, Holy Word of YAHWEH Elohim clearly teaches!
I must also say that Hendrick's article is an extremely poor defense of his doctrine. He should have doen an exegetical study on every passage dealing with this doctrine and explained how the various statements complimented each other. Instead he made an assumption and then picked a few verse to support it. That is what all cultists do.]
This article first appeared in the Spring 1997 issue of the Christian Research Journal.
CRI
P.O. Box 7000, Rancho Santa
Margarita, CA 92688
Phone (949) 858-6100
Fax (949) 858-6111