Indwelling of the Spirit

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1 Cor. 6:19 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”

In the Old Testament, people can be filled with the Spirit of God. The filling with the Spirit is a sovereign gift of God, like an anointing. For instance, John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb (Luk.1:15). In such a case, the person receives it without any prior conditions to be met. It is not something for which he works or prays; the Lord gives it as He pleases.

But although the Old Testament saints can be filled with the Spirit, they were not INDWELT by the Spirit. Indwelling started only to happen after our Lord Jesus was resurrected (John 7:39). Filling is different from Indwelling. Filling is when “you are in the Spirit of God” while indwelling is when “the Spirit of God is in you.” Filling is “the Spirit became your temple” while indwelling is “You became the temple of the Spirit.” In the Old Testament, the Spirit would come and go from the saints, (see Judges 15:14; 1 Chronicles 12:18; Psalm 51:11; Ezekiel 11:5). The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the action by which God takes up permanent residence in you.