Brief Thoughts on the Holy Spirit
THE PERSONAL INDWELLING OF THE SPIRIT
The ancient classical creeds spoke of the Communion of Saints. It is true that this doctrine was not affirmed in the earliest creeds; this might mean a lot or nothing much. It would be an awful mistake to think that Christians who lived before the creeds did not believe truths that did not appear in the creeds or that the creeds determined what was truth. In the final analysis the question is: Does the Biblical witness support an affirmation?
In any case, we are persuaded that the Communion of Saints is best understood to mean that all who are embraced in the redeeming work of God in and through Christ even now share the blessings of grace available to them and that they do it together, as one grand all-encompassing Community. This is true whether they live here or there, whether they are the living or the dead.
The real enemy of monotheism is not an abstract doctrine of multiple gods. It is the denial that all humans are the one God’s creation and are loved by Him. We deny that by our cruel practice and our divisive arrogance and snobbery – whether religious, social or racial – that is what divides God (or Christ – see 1 Corinthians 1:13 and context with Romans 3:29-30). The main enemy of the unity of the entire redeemed Body in Christ is not an abstract doctrine that division is defensible. The subtlest and the most dangerous enemy is a rampant individualism that devours the West and destroys community – religious or otherwise. We are so anxious to see that we are individually catered to that we read almost everything in the New Testament from that perspective and we need to put the brake on it.
The Spirit indwells each Christian, but there is no such thing as an independent and free-standing unit called a Christian. To think we are Christians independent of all other members of the Body of Christ is foolishness. We are many parts or members but we are that only because we are part of the Body, the Church. Without that connection to the Head and to one another, we are not part of the Body at all. Fingers and eyes and feet do not exist independently. They cannot.
The Spirit of God indwells the temple, the Body of Christ and as a consequence He indwells each member. He does not indwell each individual member independent of others; He indwells each member because He indwells all others. The human spirit (however we define it) does not dwell independently in a toe, an ear or an arm; it dwells in the entire “us.” The Spirit does not dwell (to continue the metaphor) in an eye, a mouth or an ear as independent parts of the Body. He indwells the Body, as a totality, a one-community reality. Therefore and in this way He relates to each one of us personally. No Christian has the Spirit of God indwelling within independent of all brothers and sisters in Christ. In other words, you do not have the Spirit indwelling you independent of me. He is in us all or He is in none of us. Since He is in the entire Body, therefore He is in and relates to each one of us without exception.
We misread the New Testament, if we read the personal and use it – even unintentionally – to support this ugly individualism that destroys the world. The answer to the totalitarian or fascist spirit is not rampant individualism which at its worst is little more than prudent and controlled anarchy. This is truth and is of critical importance to Christians. We do not live without each other because we cannot and because we cannot live without each other we live in a mutual sharing in the Holy Spirit which is the Spirit of Christ. The gift of the Spirit is to the Body of Christ and those who are members of that one Body share in that one Spirit as one Body and not as if they were all bodies, independent of each other.
This is the Communion of Saints.
