The spirit of truth

586 the spirit of truthOn the night Jesus was arrested, Jesus spoke to his disciples about leaving them but sending them a comforter to come to them. «It is good for you that I am going away. Because if I don't go away, the Comforter won't come to you. But when I go, I will send him to you »(John 16,7). "Comforter" is the translation of the Greek word "Parakletos". Originally, it was the term for a lawyer who advocated a cause or presented a case in court. This comforter is the promised Holy Spirit, who came into the world in a completely new way after Jesus' ascension, at Pentecost. “When he comes, he will open the eyes of the world to sin, and to righteousness, and to judgment; about sin: that they do not believe in me; about righteousness: that I go to the Father and you see me no more; about judgment: that the prince of this world is judged” (John 16,8-11). The wicked world is wrong about three things, Jesus said: sin, righteousness and judgment. But the Holy Spirit would expose these mistakes.

The first thing the godless world is wrong with is sin. The world believes that sinners must atone for their own sins by doing good works. There is no sin that Jesus has not forgiven. But if we don't believe that, we will continue to bear the burden of guilt. The Spirit says that sin is unbelief, which is shown by refusing to believe in Jesus.

The second thing the world is wrong about is justice. She believes that justice is human virtue and goodness. But the Holy Spirit says that righteousness is about Jesus being our righteousness, not our good works.

«But I am talking about righteousness before God, which comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. For there is no difference here: they are all sinners and lack the glory that they are supposed to have before God, and are justified without merit through his grace through the redemption that came about through Christ Jesus »(Romans 3,22-24). But now that the Son of God has lived a perfect, obedient life in our place as God and man, as one of us, human righteousness can only be presented as a gift from God through Jesus Christ.

The third thing the world is wrong about is judgment. The world says that judgment will doom us. But the Holy Spirit says that judgment means the fate of evil.

«What do we want to say about this now? If God is for us, who can be against us? Who did not spare his own son either, but gave him up for all of us - how should he not give us everything with him? " (Romans 8,31-32).

As Jesus said, the Holy Spirit exposes the lies of the world and guides us into all truth: Sin is rooted in unbelief, not in rules, commandments, or laws. Justice comes through Jesus, not from our own efforts and accomplishments. Judgment is a condemnation of evil, not of those for whom Jesus died and were raised with him. «He has made us able to be servants of the new covenant - a covenant that is no longer based on the written law, but on the work of God's Spirit. For the law brings death, but the Spirit of God gives life »(2. Corinthians 3,6).

In Jesus Christ and only in Jesus Christ you are reconciled with the Father and share the righteousness of Christ and the relationship of Christ to the Father. In Jesus you are the beloved child of the father. The gospel is indeed good news!

by Joseph Tkach