Understanding John 16: Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

John 16.15 February 1st, 2015 Milk Welcome. In John 16. Let’s pray. Hear the Word set to music. Sit in silent reflection then come back and pick it up at verse seven.

PRAY

Okay we left off with Jesus telling the eleven that He was going to send the Holy Spirit who would testify of Him and that they were also going to testify of Him too. Jesus continues in His last training words to the apostles and says (in verses 4-5):

4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, “Whither goest thou?”

The Importance of Jesus' Departure

While I’ve been with you there was no need to give you all these details but now that I am going it’s important you are fortified by them. “I am going away,” He says, “to Him that sent me,” and then He adds: “But none of you have asked me, where are you going?”

For quite a while now, going all the way back to chapter 13, Jesus has been talking about leaving them and their response has been grieving. He is trying to help them to respond in another way – a better way. And instead of grieving He wanted to supply them with information to offset such a response.

So He sort of prods them and says, “I am going away but none of you have asked me where.” All you done is grieve over the fact that I am leaving.” Or, as He says in verse 6:

6 But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.

The Coming of the Comforter

And so at this point He reveals to them a truth He has yet to teach them . . . and it’s an important one. (verse 7):

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth (HE says) It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Now, this passage has caused a lot of consternation and discussion as most people have concluded from it that Jesus had to leave BEFORE the Holy Spirit could come to the earth. And this thinking has led to a lot of ideas that say things like: Jesus could NOT be on the same planet at the SAME time AS the Holy Spirit. OR Jesus became the Holy Spirit when He ascended and so He HAD to leave before He could come back. HOGWASH.

How can I say hogwash? (And what IS hogwash anyway? I use all these agrarian terms and I don’t even know what they mean? Hogwash? Is it a particular cleanser for the bovine? Which isn’t even a hog is it?)

First of all, God is one and wherever God is manifesting Himself around the globe He remains one. Not two or three but one. Jesus can be here at the same time as the Holy Spirit. That is not what He is saying.

Secondly, after Jesus rises from the grave He will return and speak with the apostles. And we read about one of His visits to them in John chapter 20 and this is what it says:

John 20:21-22 “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.”

We won’t go into why or what Jesus actually did here but according to what we read it seems He gave them the Holy Spirit by simply breathing on them – breaking the notion to pieces that He could not be on earth at the same time as the Holy Spirit or that He was the Holy Spirit.

The Purpose of Jesus' Departure

But perhaps the biggest defense against this idea is a reasonable understanding of what the Lord says here in verse 7. First, what did He mean? In the context of the passage Jesus has been telling these men of his coming persecution, His passion, His deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God.. This is all He is saying – “in order for the Holy Spirit to come and do its work in the hearts of humanity, He would have to first do His work – which included Him going away (or dying on the cross and resurrecting) which work would clear away sinMissing the mark of faith and love—no punishment, just lost growth or peace..

The Work of the Holy Spirit in Jesus' Ministry

by His blood and open the human heart (by faith) and make it possible for the Holy Spirit to indwell fallen human beings. Jesus puts it this way –

“It is expedient for you that I go away” (die, go to the Father) for if I go not away (If I don’t die) the Comforter will not come unto you (He can’t come to you and guide and comfort you UNLESS I die); but if I depart, (die, go away) I will send him unto you.”

Get it? Trinitarians use these words to suggest the three special arrangements the Father made with the Son and the Holy Spirit before the foundations of the world – that the Father would send the Son, that the Son, taking on a body of flesh would die on the cross, and that the Holy Spirit would draw all men to the Son’s salvivic work for the world. It’s a tidy little story and appeals to our need for order and understanding and it may even be correct.

But I simply see it as Jesus wiping away sin by and through His death and therefore making the way for the breath of God to carry on His work in the hearts of Man. However you want to see it – there’s no dogma. Why? We don’t know. And equally devout believers in Jesus stand on both sides of the fence. But we toss none out of the synagogue for differing views, right?

The Role of the Holy Spirit

Jesus then gives perhaps the best definition of the work the Holy Spirit will do among human beings in verses 8-11 and on face value it is not easy to comprehend – but . . . its great stuff. Ready?

8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:”

Right here we have what the Holy Spirit will do when Jesus sends Him from the Father.

He will Reprove the World of Sin He will Reprove the World of Righteousness and He will Reprove the World of Judgment.

The greek word the King James uses for reprove is EL INK KHO and it means “to admonish, to convict, to tell or reveal a fault, to rebuke.” The word for world here is not one of the two that describes a local geography like “Ge” but is kosmos so we know that this Spirit of God – this Holy Spirit – will come into the entire kosmos (which really includes all of heaven and earth) and will

reprove (rebuke, reveal, admonish) the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” I like the way Young’s Literal Translation puts it, saying:

“And having come, the Holy Spirit will convict the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment."

9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

Understanding Conviction

Let’s talk about each of these points and begin by asking:

What does Jesus mean when He says that the Holy Spirit “will convict the world of sin BECAUSE they believe NOT in me?”

A lot of Bible commentators and teachers will use this passage to prove that the Holy Spirit convicts us of the sins we commit. While this may be true contextually speaking Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will specifically “convict the world of sin BECAUSE they do not believe in Him.”

Why do we suppose Jesus said this and listed it first among the things the Holy Spirit would do?

Remember that Jesus has told the apostles that “they” hated Him without a cause back in chapter 15. So here he seems to speak of those who were guilty of this crime and He says that one of the first things the Holy Spirit would do would be to convict the world of Sin because they believe not in Him.

Jesus first mission was to the House of Israel and what better way to bring its members to Christ than to convict the members that they have killed the Christ. It was to this very condemnation that Peter turned to in the Book of Acts to convict the Jews – that they had put the Messiah to death.

So there is the primary application and meaning of this line. The Holy Spirit would could to convict the world of sin “because THEY did not believe in Him.”

The Role of the Holy Spirit

In other words because the House of Israel did NOT believe that He was who He was the Holy Spirit would convict the rest of the world of sin. I think this speaks volumes as Paul informs us that it was due to the Nation of Israel rejecting Christ that the Gospel went out to the rest of the world. And yet another more traditional and obvious way to interpret this passage is to say that the primary mission of the Holy Spirit is to cause people to reflect upon their sin because by not believing on Him He was crucified, and most of the world knows that the claim is He was crucified for the sins of the world.

The Holy Spirit, then, testifies of this to the world, and convicts it of the sins we commit which put Him on that cross. But the final and perhaps most important application of this passage is this – in my opinion. Note that Jesus says that the Holy Spirit is coming to “convict the world of sin BECAUSE they” (we might say, because it, the members of the world) “does not believe in Him.”

Conviction of Sin and Faithlessness

Reading this passage with this emphasis it seems (and I would agree with this) is that the sin the world is guilty of now is the sin of NOT believing in Him – of faithlessness. And it was this motivating crime that brought most of the first and earliest Jews to conversion – the fact that they did NOT believe in Christ . . . and put Him to death. Remember what Peter said on the day of Pentecost to them?

22-23

“Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.”

Those words let three thousand to repent. After performing a miracle, and having a bunch of Jews looking on at it, Peter said in Acts chapter 3:13-15

13-15

“The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.”

Note that it is not the presence of sin that Peter (or Paul for that matter later in chapter 23) use to bring the Jews to repent but it is the fact that they killed the solution to the presence of sin!

Jesus here says that the Holy Spirit is sent to convince people of their sin which would ultimately get the world to believe in Him. In the fact of this we might have to wonder about the effectiveness of preaching against specific sin as compared to preaching that it was our sin that put Him to death and that we need to receive and believe on Him to make His offering efficacious in our lives. If we really allow ourselves to think about it since He paid for all sin the sin of unbelief is all that truly remains. And the Holy Spirit was sent to convict us of this.

Conviction of Righteousness

Then Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will convince or convict the world of righteousness. In my estimation the only righteousness that ever came into this world was the righteousness of Christ, who was put to death. And so the Holy Spirit comes and convicts – especially these Jews – of His righteousness.

But Jesus doesn’t just say that the Holy Spirit would come merely to convince of righteousness but, he says . . . “Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more.” In my estimation when Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will convince the world of His righteousness BECAUSE He goes to the Father and they see Him no more He is saying that the amazing miracle of his resurrection and ascension to God would demonstrate his innocence. See, the fact that He will be raised up and ascend into heaven proves that He is righteous . . . and one of the Holy Spirits purposes it to convince

The Holy Spirit's Work in Convicting the World

The apostles constantly refer to the righteousness of Jesus, which the Holy Spirit would validate and continues to validate today. If the Holy Spirit is confirming the world of Sin, it only stands to reason that it would also convince that one righteous enough to pay for sin was the solution – all part of the Spirit's work in drawing us to Christ. The final work Jesus says the Holy Spirit would convince the world of is judgment. The way He puts it is . . . and “of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”

Now, admittedly this passage is not easy to interpret. But the Greek is perfect passive indicative, which means the victory has already occurred. This is why Jesus at this point before even going to the cross says, “because the prince of this world is judged.” You might remember that in John 12 Jesus said: “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” Jesus came to overcome the empire and rule of Satan, who earned His right to it by getting the whole place to fall into sin. On the cross not only was sin paid for and the world redeemed to God, Satan (and all of His power) was beaten and overcome.

The Defeat of Satan's Power

What did Satan have power over? The earth? No more. Sin. Nope. Death? Not any longer. In Christ, Jesus' death no longer has sting. Hebrews 2:14-15 says: “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”

2nd Timothy 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: The idea of the Holy Spirit convicting the world of judgment is that since Jesus came and judged and had victory over Satan, we can be sure that God is just in all matters, and judgment will occur in the end. Jesus says we can know this BECAUSE “the prince of this world is bound.” In other words the death of Christ was a judgment or a condemnation of Satan. And if He vanquished an enemy of this caliber who had for so long triumphed over the world, he will subdue all others in due time. All will be overcome by His work – and the Holy Spirit will come and convince the world of this – all will be judged and placed under the victorious power of Christ.

We discover an order in this list that Jesus presents don’t we? He says that the Holy Spirit will come and convict or convince or reveal “Sin” The righteousness of Christ And that Judgment is inevitable (since or because Satan has been bound). Is not this the very process or order we experience and witness in our own lives when we discovered Christ Jesus? We are convinced of sin? We are convinced of His righteousness? And we are convinced that God is just and He will have victory over all things in the end?

The Role of Satan's Binding

In these remarkable verses we have a condensed and striking view of the work of the Holy Spirit. These three things comprise the whole of his agency in the conversion of sinful men; and in the accomplishment of this work he still awakens, convinces, and renews – and has since Pentecost. Now, one final point before we move on. This verse says that “the Prince of this world has been judged.”

John 12 says “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” These passages lend to the idea that Satan has somehow been defeated and even has been removed from the picture? Add in the fact that Revelation says that once Jesus returns from heaven that Satan will be bound for a thousand years we have to wonder what all this means. Now, again, Revelation 20 says: “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.”

If Revelation has been fulfilled, the question remains, “Has Satan been bound? We have to really answer two questions here – has Satan been bound and if so what’s the thousand years mean? I would propose that a thousand in Hebrew represents “an indefinite amount." And so a thousand years represents to them “an indefinite period of time.”

The Concept of the Millennium and Satan's Binding

The term "millenniumA symbolic period of Christ’s reign—fulfilled by 70 A.D., not a future thousand-year timeline. More," often interpreted as a literal thousand years, may not imply a specific time frame. In contemporary terms, when indicating an indefinite or unlimited period, we might use "a kajillion," whereas the Jews used "a thousand." For instance, when God says in Psalm 50:10, "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills," it doesn't confine God's dominion to just a thousand hills, but extends it indefinitely.

Understanding Satan's Binding

If the millennium represents an indefinite time beginning around 70 AD, has Satan been bound since then? Observing the world's current state, many would argue that Satan is still active. Perhaps we misunderstand what scripture implies by binding Satan. Isaiah 25:8 prophesies, "He (Jesus) will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall he take away from all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it." In Eden, there was no sin, partly because there was no law (except one), no disease, and no death. Yet Satan was present, tempting Adam and Eve, but without power—until their fall.

Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection conquered death—both physical and spiritual. Consequently, Satan's power over death was bound. Since Christ's victory, Satan holds no power over humanity, as sin is abolished except for unbelief and lack of love. Christ triumphed over Satan, reducing him back to merely tempting. John 12:31 suggests Satan's power as "prince of this world" is lost: "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out." Paul reinforces this in Colossians 2:15: "And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it," while 2 Timothy 1:10 reveals, "our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."

The Role of Temptation

Despite Satan's diminished power, he continues to tempt. In Eden, Satan tempted Adam and Eve with the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, symbolizing self-will over God’s will, succumbing to temptation, and unbelief in God. The fruit was the essence of unbelief. Today, Satan continues this work: keeping unbelievers in darkness and chained to unbelief. His temptations aim to prevent salvation by fostering unbelief. In essence, Satan's ongoing work is to thwart faith and keep as many as possible from coming into the light of salvation.

The Role of Spiritual Warfare

as possible to experience continued separation from God here and after this life in hell and/or the lake of Fire. He also tempts believers, to render us ineffective, to re-direct us, get us off the path of faith, to darken the light around us with the ultimate aim is to stifle fruitfulness (fruits of love). I believe He also seeks to snatch believers and bring them into captivity to the flesh, hoping to drag some into the dark after this life. To give God as few true children as possible.

Will Satan in his efforts to either keep unbelievers in the dark or render believers unfruitful and ineffective, have victory? NEVER. He has already lost. And his powers over physical or spiritual death are bound by the permanent victory of Christ who will, in the end, have total and utter victory, reconciling all, in the end, over to Himself.

Insights from John 16:12-15

Alright, let’s hit verses 12-15 quickly before we wrap it up for today. At verse 12 Jesus says:

12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
13 Howbeit 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: and he will shew you things to come.
14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

Jesus' Teachings on the Holy Spirit

John 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. There were many things pertaining to the work of the Spirit that Jesus could have said but He tells them it's not the right time because they couldn’t bear to learn or hear them at that point. Perhaps they were still full of Jewish prejudices or needed the Holy Spirit to discern their place and purpose. Maybe these things included the abolishment of the Sabbath, tithes and the like. Whatever it was they were not prepared to hear them then. But they would be filled in.

13 Howbeit 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: and he will shew you things to come. In other words, the Spirit of truth would teach them everything they needed to know – what should go and what should stay and what should happen. Jesus says something more about the work and person of the Holy Spirit, adding: “for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." In other words, the Spirit speaks only what the spirit is told, declaring what he hears.

Now, there is no masculine article for the Spirit (or for the Father for that matter) in the Greek. The translators just added He to make the rest of the passage flow. If we read the passage without these masculine assignments we would not be so inclined to think of the Holy Spirit as a separate individual. In any case, Jesus says that He will “not speak of himself,” (another idea that lends to the notion that it is a person with an individual personality of which to speak, like Jesus), “but will only speak what “he” hears (from God). Jesus adds, “of things to come,” again referring in all probability to events that would happen once Jesus ascended into heaven.

Verse 14 is an important line:

14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

All this time Jesus has been doing everything to glorify the Father. But now at this point He says that the Holy Spirit’s job will be to glorify Him. That is major but is indicative of a few things. First, it shows the deity of Christ Jesus as the Holy Spirit sent from the Father glorifies Him. Secondly, it shows an inequality within the apparent three persons of the Trinity as the Son glorifies the Father, and the Holy Spirit glorifies the Son but there does not seem to be a scriptural precedence that suggests anything glorifies the Holy Spirit. When Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will “receive of mine,” it literally means that He will “take from me," meaning He will receive his instructions as Christ's ambassador to do His commandments.

Jesus and His Relationship with the Father

will and complete His work upon the earth. To show that this would be the case Jesus adds:

15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

This would not be possible if Christ was not equal with the Father, now that He was about to overcome the world.

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