The Spirit of Truth
John 15:26 - In the Old Testament, the Spirit gave prophets the power to speak God’s truth. Now the Holy Spirit fulfills that role in all believers so that we may speak His truth to the world!
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.”
John 15:26 NIV
The Holy Spirit seems to take third place in the Trinity — we refer to “The Father, and The Son, and the Holy Spirit”. Our prayers are primarily focused at God the Father and His Son Jesus, while the Holy Spirit is mentioned almost as an afterthought. In today’s verse, Jesus is imparting His final instruction to the disciples at the Last Supper, and here He mentions the Holy Spirit again (John 14:26 is the first mention).
Jesus, knowing full well what is about to take place, is providing the disciples with assurance and comfort during what will be a very frightening time. In John 14:18, Jesus promises “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you”, and the coming of the Holy Spirit fulfills that promise. The Holy Spirit continues to act as an Advocate to Christian believers in the continuation of the work of Jesus on earth.
Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of truth,” Who will guide believers into all truth. The Holy Spirit both reveals and affirms the truth of the teachings of Jesus, and provides discernment and understanding to believers so that they may live according to the will of God.
The word translated here as Advocate is the Koine Greek παράκλητος (paraklētos), defined on BlueLetterBible as “one who pleads another's cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant, an advocate” and more completely as “of the Holy Spirit destined to take the place of Christ with the apostles (after his ascension to the Father), to lead them to a deeper knowledge of the gospel truth, and give them divine strength needed to enable them to undergo trials and persecutions on behalf of the divine kingdom.”
The next phrase “whom I will send to you from the Father” seems innocuous enough, but it is the source of one of the many historic points of controversy between the western and eastern branches of Christianity. Remember Barb’s use of the “spaghetti chart” showing the various offshoots of the Christian church over time (found in this post as well as others in her Philippians study)? One of the disagreements early on was over this phrase.
How can a simple choice of words create a rift in the church? Here’s an explanation from Enduring Word:
i. Who proceeds from the Father: This line is one source of a historic controversy between the eastern and western branches of Christianity, debating if the Spirit proceeds from the Father alone or from the Father and the Son.
ii. “Although the coming of the Advocate is clearly stated to be dependent upon the initiative of the Son, He is only said to ‘proceed’ from the Father. Hence the long controversy between East and West over the filoque clause in the Nicene Creed.” (Tasker)
iii. “The western expansion of the clause, ‘who proceeds from the Father and the Son’ (filioque), could be justified by the fact that the Son as well as the Father is said to send the Spirit; the basic objection to it was that it was unwarranted for one part of the church to make such an alteration in the wording of the ecumenical creed without reference to the rest of the church.” (Bruce)
Controversy notwithstanding, what is Jesus saying in this verse? He is reiterating His earlier introduction to the Holy Spirit, Who will come at Pentecost, and Whose primary role is to bear witness to Jesus Christ. By the testimony of the Holy Spirit, the identity of Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of the world is affirmed.
This testimony is both internal and external. Internally, it confirms the truth of the Gospel in the hearts and minds of believers. Externally, it empowers the Church to proclaim the message of Christ to the world.
In the Old Testament, the Spirit gave prophets the power to speak God’s truth. Now the Holy Spirit fulfills that role in all believers so that we may speak His truth to the world!
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Today’s prayer comes from Prayerz.org:
Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for the promise of the Counselor, the Spirit of truth, whom you will send to us from yourself. I claim this promise today and ask that you would send the Holy Spirit to testify about your Son, Jesus Christ, to me and to all who seek to know him. May the Spirit guide us into all truth and reveal to us the deep things of God. I pray that we would be open and receptive to the Spirit’s leading and that we would be transformed by the power of his presence in our lives. Thank you for your faithfulness and for the gift of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name, I pray. AMEN.