[UntoHim]

Originally Posted by Raptor

What does "through the indwelling of the..." actually mean? Can you explain how it works? Is it just a matter of one representing the other? How does a person dwell somewhere "through the dwelling of another"? How can Peter live in his house through the dwelling of Mark? Just because Mark represents Peter, can one say that Peter lives there?

Ok Raptor, thanks for the response. In order to address (actually readdress) your concerns, let's take a step back:

Originally Posted by Raptor

we know (or should know?) that while Jesus was alive on the earth, before His D and R, there is no way He could get inside people, right? He was a Man with a physical body and could not enter inside another man.

To which I responded:

Originally Posted by UntoHim

The first problem here is that you are begging the question. Jesus Christ never taught that "he could get inside of people". What he taught, and what he did in John 20:22, was to "breath on them" - Gk: ἐμφυσάω - and by this breathing on them they were to "Receive the Holy Spirit" - Gk: λαμβάνω ἅγιος πνεῦμα. And thus was the fulfillment of Jesus' prophetic words 6 chapters earlier: "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper...even the Spirit of truth...for he dwells with you and will be in you." (John 14:16,17) This is why the apostle Paul firstly taught those very same Corinthians (whom he taught that "Jesus Christ is in you") that "your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own" (1 Corinthians 6:19) It is more than just likely that the apostle meant for the Corinthians to interpret 2 Corinthians 13:5 through the lens of 1 Corinthians 6:19. Yes, Jesus Christ is in us, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
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I just wrote a lengthy response here and now I see that I have accidently deleted it! I'll try to summarize:
In my response here I was trying explain to you "how it works". I was trying to avoid being "mechanical" in my explanation. I was trying my best to "explain spiritual things with spiritual words" (1 Corinthians 2:13) Admittedly, I am seeing and interpreting "through the lens" of what has commonly been the accepted interpretations by many Christians of the historic, orthodox Church for about 20 centuries. From my vantage point, it seems that your are seeing and interpreting through the lens of the teachings of Witness Lee. This does not make you a heretic...it doesn't even mean that you are necessarily wrong - it does, however, make it somewhat frustrating in communicating. It seems as if we are speaking two different languages. We are using the same words and terms, however each word or term used by one of us may mean something quite different to the other person. Actually, I remember well the frustrations I encountered in speaking with other Christians while I was a devout member of the Local Church of Witness Lee. Maybe if we keep at it we can at least come to an agreement on the definitions of some of the key words and terms.
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