It's sounds to me like you are wanting to describe a mutual indwelling, John -- kind of like what Jesus prayed for: "that they all may be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you; that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me." Is that what you are thinking about?
Bill
Hey, Bill
I didn't answer the question. Perhaps this is what I am describing. I just know that when I spoke of the exchange of the bad for the good as a benefit of community. Not a good conclusion, I think. Some of what I accepted into my life from my brother were not the best of qualities, to be sure -- but I was actually borrowing from him (Charlie Frayer) to amend my character. If we do this as a practice of community, and I think we do, perhaps it shows a capacity that is a part of who we are by the design of the Creator. A capacity for this mutual indwelling.
I listened to a sermon on one of the local stations. The preacher was making some pretty common but wild claims about the indwelling of the Spirit. This indwelling (something I believe is different from the filling of the Spirit) may be what Luther described as the repletive presense of Christ. I don't remember much of the discussion, but this was a part of one of my Church History notes. How does any of this bear on a discussion of the indwelling of the Spirit.
John
