In the previous post, we learned about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, so that we can grow a closer relationship with the Spirit. But Jesus has more to say about the important work of the Spirit. Here’s what Jesus teaches in John 16, verses 8-11,
“When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”
Here Jesus describes the role of the Spirit in the work of his mission. The Spirit will help the world see that they have done wrong. But while people have done wrong, there is a possibility of righteousness for those who believe in Jesus.
For certain, Jesus is speaking in broad strokes here. He is not describing precisely how the Spirit works. But know this, the Spirit is at work in the world for the purpose of helping people come to Christ.
Jesus continues talking about the role of the Holy Spirit in verses 12-16,
“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”
In these verses we see the communication that happens between the three persons who are the one God: Father, Son and Spirit, in totally equality and communication. Amazingly, Jesus says, the Spirit will guide us into the knowledge of this truth.
Years later the Apostle Paul would reflect on this when he would write in 1 Corinthians 2:12, “What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.”
What we see in these three passages in John 14, 15, and 16 is a very active God the Spirit who lives with and in followers of Jesus, communicating truth. The Spirit is our helper, comforter, advocate. He convicts us of sin, and he helps us to remember the commands of Jesus.
Think about the author of the article I mentioned in the first post in this five-part series. The author was a seminary professor who admitted that he had allowed his relationship with God to become cognitive, centered in his mind. He called that overly-cognitive faith self-destructive. He was focusing on God the Father and God the Son, which is only two-thirds of God. He was leaving out the Holy Spirit. We need all of God.
I wonder if you have grown up in a Christian tradition like that professor. Or maybe you are familiar with a Christian tradition that embraces the Holy Spirit. The reality is that there can be extremes either way. On one pole is the extreme of avoiding or being afraid of the Spirit, while on the other pole is an extreme focus on the Spirit, not relating enough with God the Father and God the Son. Jesus tells us something different in the passages we have been studying this week in John 14-16.
Jesus teaches that we can trust God the Father. We can trust God the Son. We can trust God the Spirit. We can trust God who is three in one. Evaluate your relationship with God. Is there one person of our Trinitarian God you are most comfortable with? Is there one you are less comfortable with? Explore that. Ask Father, Son and Spirit to help you relate to each of them equally, knowing that it is God the Spirit who lives in you. He is God making his home with you. Ask him for his help in following the words and ways of Jesus.
Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 