them. The omnipresent and infinite God is said to dwell wherever he specially and permanently mani- fests his presence. Thus he is said to dwell in heaven, Ps. 123, 1; to dwell among the children of Israel, Numb. 35, 34; in Zion, Ps. 9, 115; with him that is of an humble and contrite spirit, Is. 57,11; and in his people, 2 Cor. 6, 16. Sometimes it is God who is said to dwell in the hearts of his people, sometimes the Spirit of God, sometimes, as in Rom. 8, 9, it is the Spirit of Christ; and sometimes, as Rom. 8, 10, and in the passage before us, it is Christ himself. These varying modes of expression find their solution in the doctrine of the Trinity. In virtue of the unity of the divine substance, he that had seen the Son, hath seen the Father also; he that hath the Son hath the Father; where the Spirit of God is, there God is; and where the Spirit of Christ is, there Christ is. The passage in Rom. 8, 9. 10 is specially instructive. The apostle there says, “The Spirit of God dwelleth in you. Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his; and if Christ be in you, ὅσο." From this it is plain that Christ’s being in us, means that we have his Spirit ; and to have his Spirit means that the Spirit of God dwells in us. When, therefore, the apostle speaks of Christ dwelling in our hearts, he refers to the in- dwelling of the Holy Ghost, for Christ dwells in his people by his Spirit. They thus become partakers of his life, so that it is Christ that liveth in them, Gal. 2, 20. This is the true and abiding source of spiritual strength and of all other manifestations of the divine life.
CHAP. II. VER. i 185
Christ is said to dwell in ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις, the hearts of his people. The two common figurative senses of the word heart in Scripture, are, the feelings as distin- guished from the understanding, and the whole soul, including the intellect and affections. It is in this lat- ter sense the Scriptures speak of an understanding heart, 1 Kings 3, 9. 12. Prov. 8, 5; and of the thoughts, devices and counsels of the heart. Judges 5,15. Prov. 19, 21; 20,5. According to the Bible religion is not a form of feeling to the exclusion of the intellect, nor a form of knowledge to the exclusion of the feelings. Christ dwells in the heart, in the compre- hensive sense of the word. He is the source of spirit- ual life to the whole soul; of spiritual knowledge as well as of spiritual affections.
By fuith, διὰ τῆς πίστεως, by means of faith. There are two essential conditions of this indwelling of Christ; a rational nature, and, so far as adults are concerned, faith. The former is necessarily presup- posed in all communion with God. But it is not with every rational nature that God enters into fellowship. The indwelling of Christ includes more than the com- munion of spirit with spirit. It implies congeniality. This faith produces or involves; because it includes spiritual apprehension—the perception of the truth and excellence of “the things of the Spirit;” and because it works by love; it manifests itself in the exercise of complacency, desire and delight. The most beautiful object might be in the apartment of a blind man, and he not be sensible of its presence ; or if by any means