Michael S. Heiser on Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
At the moment of saving faith
"When someone believes in Christ, the Holy Spirit comes and indwells them." — Naked Bible 160. And: "the Holy Spirit indwells us to mark us and marking us is how I take the sealing language... I don't take it in terms of having some irreversible status on you."
THE POSITION
The Spirit indwells at the moment of belief, and that indwelling is identical with the baptism of the Spirit that places a person into the body of Christ. Sealing means marking and sanctifying, not conferring an irreversible status — the Spirit can be grieved and quenched, and his presence does not make apostasy impossible.
13 And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.
2 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Old Testament and Semitic languages scholar (PhD, Wisconsin, 2004), Scholar-in-Residence at Faithlife/Logos, and host of the Naked Bible Podcast. Argued that the Hebrew Bible assumes a real divine council of lesser elohim under Yahweh, and held that this reading defends rather than threatens the deity of Christ.
Cite this page
"Michael S. Heiser on Indwelling of the Holy Spirit", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/heiser/indwelling (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/heiser/indwelling).