Friday, April 28, 2023

Sang-Won (Aaron) Son on the Spirit, not the Person of Christ Himself, Dwelling in the Believer (cf. D&C 130:3)

  

If believers are in Christ, how can Christ be in believers at the same time? Does Paul really speak of mutual indwelling of Christ and believers? It has been already pointed out that Paul speaks of Christ’s indwelling in believers only six times, most of which can be understood differently, and that Paul seldom speaks of the believer’s existence in the Spirit but often of the indwelling of the Spirit in believers. From these facts, one may safely conclude either (1) that it is the Spirit rather than Christ himself who dwells in believers or (2) that Christ’s indwelling takes place through the Spirit. (Sang-Won (Aaron) Son, Corporate Elements in Pauline Anthropology: A Study of Selected Terms, Idioms, and Concepts in the Light of Paul’s Usage and Background [Rome: Pontificio Instituto Biblico, 2001], 28)