The Spirit of Truth

by Whitney V. Myers

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Man Reading Bible - Photo 123RF - with John 16:13 Added

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"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you."  (John 16:13-14)

"The Holy Spirit is our Guide, not only to show us the way, but to go with us by continued aids and influences." -- Matthew Henry (Ref. 1)

This lesson is the fourth in the series, "About the Truth."  Today's lesson focuses on the role of the Holy Spirit as the "Spirit of Truth."

     Consider.

Jesus promised his disciples that the Spirit of truth would come.

     Jesus was speaking to his disciples on the evening before his death.  In the beginning of John 16:13, Jesus told them that the Spirit of truth would come.  God fulfilled the promise of sending the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, beginning at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).  Jesus' promise of sending the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, continues for believers to this day (Acts 2:37-39).

The Spirit of truth guides believers into all the truth.

     The Greek word in John 16:13 for guide is the verb, hodégeó.  Strong's Concordance tells us that hodégeó means to show the way -- to teach, guide, lead (Ref. 2). 

In Acts 8:25-40, we see an example of what it means to guide.  An angel of the Lord sent Philip to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza (Acts 8:26).  There Philip met the chariot of an Ethiopian eunuch who was returning from Jerusalem.  At the Spirit's direction, Philip joined the eunuch in the chariot (Acts 8:29).  The eunuch was reading Isaiah the prophet.  Philip asked him, "Do you understand what you are reading?" (Acts 8:30)  The eunuch replied, "Well, how could I unless someone guides me?" (Acts 8:31, italics added)  Philip explained the scripture to the eunuch and "preached Jesus to him" (Acts 8:35).  As the result, the Ethiopian eunuch believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (Acts 8:37), and Philip baptized him (Acts 8:38).

Note what Jesus said in John 16:13. "He (the Spirit of truth) will guide you into all the truth."  In his commentary, Charles John Ellicott (1819–1905) says that the words, "all the truth," mean that the Spirit of truth "will be their guide into the fulness [sic] of truth."  Ellicott adds, "The promise has special meaning for the disciples to whom it was spoken; but it holds good for every disciple who seeks to know the truth" (Ref. 3, Ref. 4).

The Spirit of truth speaks what he has heard from the Father and the Son.

     The Holy Spirit does not speak from himself.  The Holy Spirit fulfills his mission when he speaks truth directly from the Father and Son to the believer.  The King James Version translates the verse well.  "When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak" (John 16:13, italics added). 

The Spirit of truth glorifies the Son.

     Jesus said, "He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you" (John 16:14).  The Greek word for glorify in John 16:14 is doxazó, which means make glorious, honor, magnify (Ref. 5 below).  Doxazó is very similar to the Greek word doxa, which means to honor, praise, worship (Ref. 5).  When we sing the Doxology in a worship service we express our praise and worship of God (Ref. 6).  When the Holy Spirit guides us into truth, it is an act of worship that glorifies Jesus, the Son of God.

     Prayer.  Thank you, Lord, for sending the Spirit of truth to be with us and to guide us into all of your truth.   

Related Lessons
"God's Truth in the Old Testament" (Psalm 119:160)
"Jesus is the Truth" (John 14:6)
"Know the Truth (John 8:32)"
"Jesus - Witness to the Truth" (John 18:37)

References
1.  https://biblehub.com/commentaries/mhc/john/16.htm
2.  https://biblehub.com/greek/3594.htm
3.  https://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/16-13.htm
4.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ellicott
5.  James Strong, "The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible," Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995 - note, based on the King James Version of the Bible
6.  http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/d/o/x/doxology.htm