The Spirit guides you

-

 


The Spirit guides believers into truth (John 16:13–15)

Although ‘truth’ refers to the intellectual knowledge of truths and moral guidance, the concept also refers to the fact that the Spirit will guide believers in seeking to live in a context of integrity and authenticity. 

Our lives are to be reliably supported and directed by the Spirit who is defined by covenant and faithfulness. The Spirit is not just determined to inform believers concerning that which they need to know for their benefit, but also that which best defines the context in which God exists; theirs is a life that is encapsulated by the realities that characterise God, one of the fundamental ones being ‘truth’ or integrity, reliability and honour. 

Believers are safe in the knowledge that the one leading them embodies consistency and constancy, dependability and devotion to them, and fidelity and fondness for them. The Spirit is true as well as truth. He leads believers to know and express integrity, and he is fundamentally and authentically genuine. As well as leading believers into truth (John 16:12), he is also the Spirit of truth (John 14:17).

There is no reason to believe this promise is relevant only to Jesus's disciples, especially since it is repeated in 1 John 2:20 and 27. Thus, the Ethiopian official is enabled by the Spirit, through Philip, to understand the true import of Isaiah 53. Even though he was reading the sacred text, he did not understand it; he needed help, and the Spirit provided it (Acts 8:31). 

Interestingly, the official uses the same verb to describe that he needs someone to ‘guide’ him (odēgeō) as Jesus does when describing the guidance offered by the Spirit (John 16:13). In Revelation 7:17, the word is also used of the Lamb who undertakes to guide believers. Now, the Spirit has taken it upon himself to be the personal tutor of all believers.

One of the roles of the Spirit is to underscore the person and clarify the message of Jesus to believers (John 16:14; Eph. 1:17; 3:5). The gospel, which is ludicrous to Gentiles and scandalous to the Jews (1 Cor. 1:23), has little to commend it as a viable message of hope. 

However, the Spirit supernaturally asserts its authenticity (1 Cor. 2:10–14). Similarly, John 14:25–26 identifies the Spirit as the one who will teach the disciples everything and remind them of all that Jesus had taught them.

The Spirit also facilitates a comprehensive knowledge and appreciation of God (John 16:15; Eph. 1:17), his power (Eph. 1:19) and his love (Eph. 3:16–19). 

Much discussion has taken place as to whether pneuma here refers to the Spirit or the human spirit—some internal aspect of a person. The majority opinion of conservative scholarship is that it refers to the Spirit (A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians [Word, 1990], p. 57; G. D. Fee, God’s Empowering Presence [Hendrickson, 1994], pp. 15–31).

Paul describes the Spirit enabling believers to be able to accurately and experientially know certain aspects of truth concerning God, particularly relating to their salvation. 

A fundamental aspect of the Spirit is to enable the believer to explore God; it is absorption with a discovery of God that gives the Christian life dynamism, and the Spirit is central in helping believers in the pursuit of that quest. 

Coincidentally, the Spirit also enables believers to have a greater awareness of their hope and their place as his inheritance (Eph. 1:18). 

Their certain hope, which is supported by the Spirit, is that they will be God’s inheritance. Such a destiny would be a forlorn dream if it were not for the Spirit, who forms reality out of doubt.



Popular posts from this blog

Speaking in tongues for today - Charles Stanley

-
Image
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. … But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. … And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. … Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way - 1 Corinthians 12:4, 7, 28, 30—31 The Lord Jesus Christ had come and gone. The church—newly birthed—was in a transition time. The new covenant was seen as a threat to the Jewish leaders; therefore, there was persecution for those who had chosen to follow Christ. The new religion, in its infant stages, had no Bible, few leaders, and absolutely no support from the government. Astounding that it survived, isn’t it?  How in the world did it survive with so little going for it? Power. Not just a force, but mighty, visible power. Th...
Read more

What is the glory (kabod) of God?

-
Image
2 CORINTHIANS 4:17 "This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison." Scripture places a high value on God 's glory, and it is not hard to figure out why. Since the inherent glory of the Lord is something that He will not share with others (Isa. 42:8), we know that His glory is something that He prizes highly; indeed, He prizes it more highly than anything else. We should, therefore, set the glory of God as the goal and overarching emphasis of our lives. Whatever we lose for the sake of making the Lord's glory known will be worth it when we see the dazzling light and beauty of; the divine glory (28:5; Rev. 21:23). Glory has to do with light and beauty, but those aspects do not sum up what the Bible means when it speaks of the glory of God. Interestingly, the Hebrew word kabod , which is translated into English as "glory," has the root meaning of "weight" or "heaviness....
Read more

The Holy Spirit causes us to cry out: Abba, Father

-
Image
Pentecostés. Óleo sobre lienzo, 275 × 127 cm. Madrid, Museo del Prado. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) To bring out the same truth in another way, Paul says God sent Jesus (as a Man) to live under the Law in order “to redeem those under law, that we [Jews and Gentiles ] might receive the full rights [adoption] of sons” ( Galatians 4:5).  By “full rights” or “adoption” he means entering into the privileges and responsibilities of sonship. He uses it also of the sonship of Israel (Romans 9:4). Galatians 4:1, 2 indicate that the son and heir of a wealthy family in Paul’s day would be treated as a slave until he became of age.  Then he would receive the adoption, that is, all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that belonged to an adult member of that family. Adoption was also used in the modern sense, so that Gentiles who were not sons of Abraham became true heirs, true sons of God , by faith.  Jesus died, not just to save us from the fires of hell, bu...
Read more