John 14 Part Two (15 - 17)

15 – 17 The Promise of the Holy Spirit (a)

Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.”

First, Jesus wishes his believers to keep his commandments. (These don’t seem limited to the ten commandments – which he asked his believers to keep).

Second, Jesus says he will “ask the Father” to send the Holy Spirit (my notes: only John calls the HS the “Spirit of Truth” . . . “advocate” is equivalent of a defense lawyer [Gk. Paraclete which means “Helper” or “Comforter”]. Humans can’t “receive or know” (truth) BUT we already have a “spark” of the holy spirit in us as Jesus says, “he abides in you, and he will be in you.”

Remember, the church didn’t accept the doctrine of the Trinity as “three in one” until the 4th century (That doesn’t mean it didn’t exist as such before then, though).