nd completed by
the Spirit of God." That the Christian is led, guided and strengthened
by the Spirit can not be denied by any Bible reader. To deny the fact
that the Spirit dwells in us is to deny the Bible. But it is asserted
with equal clearness in the Divine Word that _God dwells in us_. "And
what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? for we are a temple of
the living God; even as God said, I will _dwell in them_, and walk in
them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people" (2 Cor.
6:16). This not only says that God will dwell in us, but that he _walks
in us_. It is also clearly taught that _Christ dwells in us_. "That
Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that ye,
being rooted and grounded in love" (Eph. 3:17).

Now, if God, Christ and the Spirit dwell in us, is there any teaching
that the Spirit dwells in us in a different sense from that in which the
Father and the Son dwell in us? How, then, does the Father dwell in us?
By referring to Lev. 26:12, from which Paul quoted, we find that God
promised to be in communion with Israel, but there is nothing in the
passage to show his personal indwelling in any one person. How does
Christ dwell in us? The passage above quoted says, "Christ shall dwell
in your hearts by faith;" more correctly rendered, "the faith" or _the
gospel_. How does the Spirit dwell in us? In Gal. 3:2, Paul asks the
Galatians: "Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the
_hearing of the faith_?"--or the gospel. The above Scriptures clearly
teach that when the words, thoughts and Spirit of God are controlling in
our lives, _God dwells in us_; that when the gospel controls us, _Christ
dwells in us_; that when we receive the gospel by the hearing of faith,
_the Spirit dwells in us_.

Now, what reason has any man for declaring that the Spirit dwells in us
in any other way, unless he can point to an explicit declaration of
God's word defining and explaining that other way? This can not be done,
for there is no such passage. "But," says one, "I do not have to depend
upon the Word. I know it by my own consciousness." It is a principle as
old as metaphysics that consciousness does not take cognizance of
causes, but of effects. You may be conscious of an effect within you,
but you can not be conscious of the cause that produced the effect.
Suppose you are lying asleep on the ground; you are suddenly awakened by
a severe pain in your lower limb; consciousness