WERE OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS INDWELT WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT?
It is commonly believed that the old testament believers were not filled with the Holy Spirit in the same way as New Testament believers are. But the basis for that assumption is on very shaky ground.
In John 3;3 Jesus told Nicodemus:
“Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
And in verses 5-8:
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. [6] Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. [7] You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ [8] The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
In order to be saved then requires the rebirth that comes from being indwelt by the Holy Spirit. If Old Testament saints did not have the indwelling of the Spirit then we would have to conclude that none of them will be in the Kingdom of Heaven. But that flies in the face of what Job said in chapter 19 verse 25-27:
"I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!"
Job knew that he had a redeemer and he looked forward to that day when he would be with him.
SO WHY DO WE BELIEVE THEY WEREN'T FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT
Some of that 'doctrine' that comes from reading Psalm 51:11:
"Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me."
If the Holy Spirit could be taken away then there was no assurance of salvation.
We have to be careful about extrapolating a doctrine from a single passage of scripture, especially a song or a line of poetry. Just because the line asked God not to take his Spirit away doesn't mean that the Spirit would have ever left David.
Another passage that is used to support the idea that the Holy Spirit wasn't permanently in believers is 1 Samuel 16:14;
"Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him."
The problem here is that it doesn't say anywhere else that Saul had been filled with the Holy Spirit. In chapter 10:10 it says that the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him. That is different than being filled. It came upon him and enabled him to prophecy. The same as when Samson would have the spirit come upon him and he would perform his deeds of strength. Or even in the New Testament when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples in the upper room.
Having the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and having the Holy Spirit come upon you seem to be 2 different things.
* The indwelling is the rebirth.
* The Spirit coming upon someone is for a specific purpose.
And it it is possible for the Holy Spirit to come upon an individual to enable them to perform a specific task but not necessarily dwell in them to bring about the rebirth. That is the case with those Jesus refered to in Matthew 7:
Matthew 7:22-23 NIV
"Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
These individuals were operating in the power of the Holy Spirit but were not indwelt by the Holy Spirit. It is through the indwelling that we are known.
Notice Jesus's reference to Isaiah's prophecy in Luke 4:18;
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free."
Of course Jesus Christ is the embodiment of the Holy Spirit and yet it refers to thepirit of the Lord being upon him -- so that he might proclaim the gospel. In other words, to empower him to perform a task.
OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS WERE LIVING AS NEW COVENANT BELIEVERS
One of the major differences between the Old Covenant and the New is that the Old Covenant promises were for material blessings. The majority of the Israelites were not living by faith. They were living by law. While the prophets and other heroes of faith were also under the law they were also living by faith. They were looking forward to when the fullness of the New Covenant would become reality;
1 Peter 1:10-11
"Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow."
Peter clearly says that the Spirit of Christ was IN THEM.
Hebrews 11:13-16 NIV
"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."
It is true that under the Old Covenant there was no general outpouring of the Holy Spirit. But there were certain individuals even in the Old Testament who were born again and therefore had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And these individuals were living as New Covenant believers, by faith, just like we are except we live on the other side of history.
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is necessary for ALL believers and always has been. So the Old Testament believers would have to have been indwelt by the Holy Spirit or they weren't saved.
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