The Spirit of Truth Whenever Jesus Christ is exalted the Third Person of the Trinity is at work. The Bible emphasizes different activities for each of the three members of the Godhead. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and He always points us in the direction of the way, and the truth, and the life. Jesus told His disciples, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you” (John 14:16-17). It is through the person and work of Jesus Christ that we know the truth and are set free (John 8:32). Jesus declared, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (14:6). A couple of verses later He said to Philip, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (v. 9). Moreover, the Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of truth.” He is the Spirit of Christ who is the truth. He exalts the truth and glorifies Christ. The Holy Spirit does not speak of Himself, but always of Jesus. Anything that detracts from the person and work of Jesus Christ is not the activity of the Holy Spirit. He will never preempt the place of Christ in our thinking. He will always exalt our Lord. He comes along side us to guide us into the truth about God the Father and the Son. The “Spirit of truth” opens our blind eyes so the unregenerate heart can see the truth. He unfogs the cloudy mind so that it can understand the truth. He prods the stubborn will so that it responds in full commitment to the truth. Can a person by searching find out God? The answer is no because he is dead in trespasses and sins, and blind spiritually. God takes the initiative. God has chosen to reveal Himself in the person of Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of truth accurately retained and revealed that true revelation from God in the God-breathed Scriptures. The Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth, guided over the preservation of His revelation in the Bible. Without such special self-revelation of God to men guided along by the Holy Spirit we would know absolutely nothing about God’s moral attributes. The Spirit of truth “breathed the breath of God” into His Book and made it the Book of truth (2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Holy Spirit of truth reveals the truth about God, man, sin, judgment, atonement, salvation, eternal life, etc. This special revelation is the work of the Spirit of truth. Without this special revelation we are helpless in knowing God. The Spirit of truth will reveal nothing but the truth about God. He never contradicts revealed truth in His Word, the Bible. After forty years of scholarly study of His Word I have yet to find a contradiction in the Bible. It contradicts human reason and that is the problem. It always proves God to be true and every man a liar. The supreme ministry of the Holy Spirit is to reveal the Father and the Son. He reveals God in all His glory as the only one living and true God. He reveals in His Word the great mystery of the Godhead, the three in One—the Father, the Son of God and the Holy Spirit who are the same in substance, equal in power and glory. He is the Agent of the Godhead who reveals what God is like in His saving grace. The Holy Spirit guides us in the realization that it is in Jesus Christ that God the Father is seen and known (John 1:18). The Holy Spirit glorifies the Son so that we may know the Father. He reveals to us the Father in the Son. The Spirit of truth reveals to every seeker of the truth the fact that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and everyone who believes on Him has eternal life (20:31). He prepares our minds to accept this truth. “When the Counselor comes . . . He will testify about Me” (15:26). “I have much more to say to you, more than you can bear. But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth” (16:12-13). The Spirit of truth teaches us about the Lord Jesus in the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus Christ by drawing sinners to Him for forgiveness. He causes us to be born again. The Holy Spirit works in the life of the Christian by reproducing Christ-likeness in us. He intercedes on our behalf within our hearts, as Christ intercedes on our behalf before the Father in heaven (Rom. 8:26, 33-34). The Spirit of truth leads and guides us into a deeper understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ so that we can be better witness of Him
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 11:37:58 +0000
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