Friday
Friday
The Ministry of the Spirit of Truth
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 truth.
John 16:12–13
Central to the upper room discourse are two promises relating to the teaching ministry of the Spirit of truth. Firstly, the Spirit of truth “will remind you of everything I have said to you” (14:26). Although Christians with bad memories have sometimes claimed this promise, its primary reference was to the apostles. For three years Jesus had taught them. Now he is concerned that this rich patrimony of truth should be preserved. He had done the teaching; the Holy Spirit would do the reminding. The promise was fulfilled in the writing of the Gospels.
Secondly, the Spirit of truth “will guide you into all truth” (16:13 RSV) or “into all the truth.” I doubt if any biblical text has suffered so much misinterpretation as this one. The question at issue concerns the identity of the “you” in the promise, “He will guide you into all the truth.” Roman Catholics apply it to the pope and the college of bishops regarded as the apostles’ successors, the Orthodox to the church and its living tradition, liberal theologians to the climate of educated opinion, and Pentecostals to every Spirit-filled believer. But reformed and evangelical Christians insist that “you” must refer to the apostles gathered around Jesus in the upper room. The pronoun you occurs three times in John 16:12–13: “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 truth” (emphasis added). Of these, the first two yous definitely refer to the apostles. So the third must also, since we cannot change the identity of the “you” in the middle of the sentence. Thus Jesus regarded his teaching ministry as incomplete. He had much more that he wanted to teach the apostles, but they were incapable of receiving it all. So the Holy Spirit would complete what Jesus had left incomplete. He would lead the apostles into all the truth that he wanted them to know, a promise fulfilled in the writing of the Acts, the Letters, and the Revelation.
Thus the Holy Spirit had both a reminding and a supplementing ministry, both being fulfilled in the writing of the New Testament.
For further reading: John 15:26–27; 16:12–15