THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH

It is interesting that in our passage, the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth. He is elsewhere called the Spirit of grace, Heb. 10. 29, the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, Rom. 8. 2, the Spirit of sonship, Rom. 8.14, the Spirit of glory, 1 Peter 4.14, the Holy Spirit of promise, Eph. 1.13, and the Spirit of holiness, Rom. 1. 4. Each of these titles would provide us with a profitable meditation. But in the title ‘the Spirit of truth’, there are a number of thoughts we can consider.

He is called the Spirit of truth because He is the writer of the Scriptures of truth. Peter indicated the source of the Scriptures when he said, ‘the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved (borne along) by the Holy Ghost’, 2 Peter 1. 21. Additionally, He is the Spirit of truth, because He is the interpreter of the Scriptures. Paul said, concerning the things that God has prepared for them that love Him, that ‘God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God’, 1 Cor. 2. 10. He is the one who has inspired. He is the one who interprets, and He is the one who illuminates. The Lord said of Him, ‘when he ...is come, he will guide you into all truth’, John 16. 13. As He is the Spirit of truth, there will never be divine guidance that is inconsistent with the Scriptures. Further, He is the Spirit of truth because He testifies concerning Him who is the truth, John 15. 26. The Lord Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’, John 14.6. One of His great works is the presentation of Christ in all His excellence. The Lord Jesus said, ‘He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you’, John 16. 14.

Since He is the indweller of the local church, 1 Cor. 3. 16, all attitudes and activities must be in accordance with the word of truth. Indeed, the local church is ‘the pillar and ground of the truth’, 1 Tim. 3. 15. Since He, the Spirit of truth, indwells the believer, 1 Cor. 6.19-20, there cannot be anything in the life that borders on a lack of truthfulness, lest we grieve Him, Eph. 4. 25-32. Are we in awe of all His works and ways?