Jonathan Edwards on Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
At regeneration, which precedes and causes faith
The Spirit of God is given to the true saints to dwell in them, as his proper lasting abode; and to influence their hearts, as a principle of new nature, or as a divine supernatural spring of life and action.
THE POSITION
The Spirit does not merely act upon the saints; he is communicated to them and united to their faculties as a new principle of nature, and every gracious act — faith among them — is an exercise of that principle. Natural men may be influenced by the Spirit but do not have him dwelling in them "in any degree," so the indwelling is what constitutes a saint rather than a reward for having become one. The new spiritual sense given in regeneration is the same thing described from the side of perception.
16 Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
9 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
New England pastor, revival theologian and philosopher of the First Great Awakening, dismissed from his Northampton pulpit in 1750 over who may come to the Lord's Table. This entry rests on Freedom of the Will (1754), Original Sin (1758), Religious Affections (1746), An Humble Inquiry (1749), Distinguishing Marks (1741), Some Thoughts on the Revival (1742), An Humble Attempt (1747) and A History of the Work of Redemption, read in the Hickman edition.
Cite this page
"Jonathan Edwards on Indwelling of the Holy Spirit", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/edwards/indwelling (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/edwards/indwelling).