Definition
Indwelling (Lat. inhabitatio Spiritus Sancti) refers to the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer as a personal dwelling place. The term is common property of all five authors in the corpus but carries a distinct theological accent in each: as a transforming principle (Nee/Lee), as covenant administration (Warnock), as historical feast-day fulfillment (Jones), as God’s primary mode of speech (Noordzij), and as pneumatic habitation through the inspired Scripture (Bullinger). Common to all is that the indwelling surpasses external religious practice and implies a permanent, inward presence of the Spirit.
Usage in the Corpus
Stephen Jones
Jones understands the indwelling as the historical result of the Pentecostal outpouring: God previously dwelt externally (fire on Mount Sinai), but after Acts 2, internally. “The essential difference is that the fiery presence of God was no longer external on a mountain, but now internal within men. Moreover, God did not accept the Pentecost offering by fire in the temple. Instead, He accepted the disciples themselves and the offering on the altar of their hearts.” The believer thereby functions as the new temple (1Cor. 3:16). At the personal level, Pentecost means sanctification through the indwelling Spirit: “People must also experience Pentecost in their hearts in order to be sanctified by the Spirit.” But the present indwelling is only the earnest — the fullness awaits the Feast of Tabernacles. [Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, Chs. 1 and 10]
George Warnock
Warnock links the indwelling of the Spirit directly to the covenant administration of the glorified Christ. The Spirit administers the New Covenant from within: “He, the Mediator, is there in the heavens to administer this covenant, and this He does by coming forth in us by the Spirit of Truth. This Word must not return unto the Father void, or empty.” This is the inward inscription of the New Covenant (Jer. 31:33; Heb. 10:16): “It is only the New Covenant as He writes it upon the ‘fleshly tables of the heart.’ For this is the New Covenant, the indelible inscription of the mind and will and heart of God upon the mind and will and heart of His people.” Indwelling is thus not a static condition but a dynamic execution of the covenant promise. [Warnock, Evening and Morning, Ch. 5]
Watchman Nee & Witness Lee
For Nee/Lee the indwelling is the most fundamental category of the entire pneumatology — it forms the heart of God’s economy. The human spirit (the Holy of Holies in the tripartite composition body–soul–spirit) is the actual dwelling place of Christ and the Holy Spirit: “We are tripartite: our body corresponds to the outer court, our soul to the holy place, and our human spirit to the Holy of Holies, which is the actual dwelling place of Christ and God’s presence.” Gifts are ancillary to this indwelling: “Many gifted persons pay too much attention to their gifts and neglect, more or less, the indwelling Christ. The indwelling Christ is the hallmark of God’s economy, and all the gifts are for this purpose.” [Nee/Lee, The Economy of God, Chs. 3-4]
Cees and Anneke Noordzij
Noordzij formulates the indwelling as God’s primary mode of speech to the believer, prior to and above Bible study: “Now the Word comes to us as Spirit (2Cor. 3:17) to dwell in us and to speak within us (John 14:17, 26).” The priority order is explicit: “Christ must first take up residence in your heart through faith (Eph. 3:17). God’s primary way of speaking to people is not through Bible study, but first of all through apostles, prophets, pastors, and teachers in the true ekklesia. After that comes the stage in which God speaks directly through the Holy Spirit.” This distinguishes Noordzij from more biblicist pneumatologies in which Scripture is the primary medium. [Noordzij, The Word of God and Scripture]
E.W. Bullinger
Bullinger does not develop the indwelling as a separate locus but presupposes it as the pneumatological framework of his Scripture-theology. The same Holy Spirit who inspired the Bible (2Pet. 1:21) dwells in the believer and gives him the spiritual ear to understand Scripture: “The spiritual ear is the direct gift and endowment of God.” The Spirit functions as both the selective editor of the canon and the inward guide in reading it. [Bullinger, Number in Scripture, Pt. I, Chs. I-II]