Were Old Testament Believers Permanently Indwelt by the Holy Spirit?
I like what Mike Stallard did when he traced the ministry of the Holy Spirit throughout the OT beginning with the Pentateuch through the Post-exilic books. This is laying a biblical theology foundation upon which you can build a systematic theology. It also avoids starting with the NT doctrine and reading the NT into the OT. It seems that scholars who defend the permanent indwelling of OT believers by the Holy Spirit start with the NT doctrine of indwelling and argue backwards. This is the case with Robert McCabe in his well researched article entitled, “Were Old Testament Believers Indwelt by the Spirit,” Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal vol. 9 (2004): 215-264. He exegetes the following passage in the following order: John 7:37-39, John 14:16-17; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 2:14-15; Ezek. 36:25-27; 1 Cor. 2: 14-15; Rom. 8:9-11; Num. 27:18, and Psa. 143:10. The majority of passages used to defend the permanent indwelling of the OT believers by the Holy Spirit are from the NT. Leon Wood starts his
