Can you imagine being in the first century on the day of Pentecost?  You probably have either seen or heard of Jesus of Nazareth, a man who performed great miracles–healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, even raising the dead.  You have either seen or know of His followers, the apostles, who have performed similar fantastic feats.  Then, on the day of Pentecost, these same apostles begin speaking in languages they had not learned and everyone there is able to be spoken to in their own native tongue.  These apostles stand up and preach that what everyone there is seeing is in fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy that the Spirit would be poured out (a metaphorical expression signifying the obvious influence of the Holy Spirit on others), resulting in prophecy, etc.  In what sense, then would you take it, when Peter says that you, too, will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit?  Would you or any other person think, given these circumstances, that Peter meant a non-miraculous, literal, personal indwelling?  I cannot see it.
 
The Spirit came in the first century to reveal the word and then confirm it (John 14:26; 16:13; Mark 16:15-18; John 20:30,31; Heb. 2:1-4).  That word, being inspired by the Spirit (II Tim. 3:6,17; II Pet. 1:19-21), is sufficient to guide us in all things pertaining to life and godliness (II Pet. 1:2-4).  We do not now need the Holy Spirit to guide us, except as He does it through His perfect Revelation (Eph. 6:17; Rom. 12:1,2; James 1:22-25).
 
Except for the apostles receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5-8), the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of hands of an apostle in the first century (Acts 8:16-18).  This is the context that must govern how we understand the Holy Spirit passages. 
 
Given the proclivity of spiritual gifts in the Corinthian church, where “every one” had a psalm and “every one” had a doctrine, a tongue, a revelation, and an interpretation (I Cor. 14:26), can you imagine that a brother in Corinth would think first of all about a non-miraculous, personal, literal indwelling when Paul said “your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which ye have of God” I Cor. 6:19)?  Would they not think of the power the Holy Spirit had given them?  I think so. My own, personal view is that the Holy Spirit has never literally or personally indwelt anyone.  The expression that the Holy Spirit is “in” the Christian is to be taken in the same sense that we are said to be in Christ (e.g., Rom. 8:9).
 
In Acts 5, the context is clearly miraculous.  Ananias and Saphira were miraculously struck down by God for their lie and great fear came upon as many as heard these things because of it (Acts 5:1-11).   “By the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people” (Acts 5:12) insomuch that the “people magnified them” (5:13) and “they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them” (Acts 5:15).    Hearing of these miraculous events, multitudes “out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem” brought “sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one” (Acts 5:16).  The apostles, being thrown into prison for working these things and preaching in the name of Jesus, were miraculously set free.  It is in answer to these persecutors the apostles say that we ought to obey God rather than men and “and we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him” (Acts 5:32).  I find it difficult to fathom that, as a proof that the Holy Spirit was a witness to Jesus being the resurrected Christ (Acts 5:30,31), the apostles would offer up a non-miraculous, personal, literal indwelling of the Holy Spirit when they could so easily point to all the miraculous activity the Holy Spirit had engaged in right before their eyes.  Would this non-miraculous, literal indwelling be more proof than all the profound miracles He had performed for them?  I cannot see it.  That is why I think Acts 5:32 points to the miraculous.
 
I could go on, but my view is simply that the Holy Spirit was given to reveal the Truth and confirm it.  That word is still true today and just as powerful now as then.  The Holy Spirit has never indwelt any human being literally, for then they would become God in the flesh, God incarnate, just as Christ was.  The character of all three persons of the Godhead indwell me as long as I follow their teaching, revealed by the Holy Spirit Himself to God’s ambassadors to men.
 
The references to the Holy Spirit being in a person are figures of speech, just as when Jesus said “drink the cup.”  We do not drink the literal cup, we drink it’s contents.  When the apostles were told that they would be baptized in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5) Jesus clarified what that meant when He said the apostles would “receive power” after that the Holy Ghost came upon them (Acts 1:8).  The Holy Spirit never literally indwelt anyone but He did give people power.
 
Today, the Holy Spirit does not give these gifts or powers (I Cor. 13:8-13), but we still have His word which is powerful (Rom. 1:16,17).  When we apply these teachings to our lives we are transformed because we now can know ourselves just as God knows us by looking into that mirror of God’s word (I Cor. 13:12). 
 
Eric L. Padgett