Guide Us Into Truth- John 16:7-15

We have been examining the concept of the Holy Spirit as our heavenly advocate, as the one who reminds us of what is right and wrong and works to keep us on the right path. We have seen, in our previous post, the fact that the Spirit will teach us all things and remind us of everything Jesus said, and in this post we will examine John 16:7-15 to see Jesus explanation of how the Spirit will go about doing so. We begin, in verse 7, with Jesus telling His disciples that it is good for them that He is going away, for the parakletos will not come if Jesus does not go away. Jesus ministry to them on earth was about to end, and His ministry for them in heaven was about to begin, and His ministry to them on earth would soon be conducted by the Holy Spirit, one who was God like Jesus but would live in them rather than with them. The Spirit would be in them so that He might “convict the world” through them, that the presence of the Spirit in them would move them to work to bring others to the same faith they possessed (verses 8-11). In verse 12, Jesus returns to His explanation of the Spirit’s ministry to them, telling them that “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear”. He would say more to them after He was gone, and He would do so through the Spirit He would send to them. The Spirit in them would speak to them the words Jesus wanted them to hear, and they would record those words in Scripture through the inspiration of the Spirit. Jesus then refers to Him as the “Spirit of truth”, with truth here being in the genitive. The Spirit is truth, and all that He speaks to them is by definition true, the Spirit determines what is true and what is not. His ministry to believers would then consist of “guiding them into all truth”. A guide is one who shows us the way, who keeps us from getting lost, keeps us on the right path, and that path is one of truth. He does so here in two ways. First, by speaking to us what he hears, speaking to us through the Word of God He inspired, using it to guide us and keep us on the right path. The leading of the Spirit will never contradict the Word of God, and he will speak to us through the Word of God, using its truth to remind us of what is right and wrong and keep us on the right path. Second, by “taking from what is mine (Jesus’) and making it known to you”, by making God and His will for us as individuals known to us, by revealing our own individual path to us and working to keep us on it. The Spirit lives in us to guide us into “all” truth, serving as our counselor, teacher, convictor and revealer. He is in us to guide us into truth in “all” issues, He will show us what is right in all things, working continually to lead us into the will of God in all areas of our lives. This is why it is better for the disciples that Jesus go away, for the Spirit would be in them to guide them in all circumstances, an internal guide to lead them at all times and in all situations, able to lead them into truth in the “grey” areas which the external guidance of the law is not capable of dealing with. The Spirit is in us to guide us in all things, to help us to live as Jesus did, always doing the will of the Father, always about our Father’s business. He does so primarily through the truth of the Scriptures, but also by speaking to our hearts, leading us and guiding into the truth, into what is right and wrong in each and every situation we encounter, keeping us on the right path and directing us into God’s will and plan for each of us as individuals, as we grow to know Him and the truth of His word more fully and intimately in our lives.