This section of John’s gospel (John 14-17) gives us the clearest and most extensive information about the Holy Spirit in the Bible. We see the names of the Spirit, the goals of the Spirit and the personality of the Spirit.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
John 14:12-13
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
John 14:16-17
“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
John 14:25-26
“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”
John 15:26-27
“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment…”
John 16:7-8
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
John 16:13-14
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me… I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
John 17:20-23, 26
The Names of the Holy Spirit
- The Helper (parakletos; Comforter) – John 14:16, 25; 15:26; 16:7
- The Spirit of Truth – John 14:16; 15:26; 16:13
- The Holy Spirit – John 14:25
The Goals of the Holy Spirit
- To enable us to do the works Jesus did, and greater works (John 14:12)
- To glorify the Father by answering prayer in Jesus’ name (John 14:13)
- To be with us forever (John 14:16-17)
- To give us assurance of salvation (John 14:17; 1 John 5:6-8,13; Rom. 8:16)
- To teach us all we need to know, reminding us of Jesus’ instruction (John 14:26; 16:13)
- To exalt Jesus in the world (John 15:26)
- To empower us to testify about Jesus (John 15:27)
- To convict the world regarding sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:7-10)
- To help us understand prophecy, “things to come” (John 16:13-14)
- To unite us with God the Father and God the Son and thereby with one another (John 17:20-22)
- To convince the world of Jesus’ glory through the unity of the church (John 17:21,23)
- To fill us with the glory, love and goodness of God (John 17:22-23; Eph. 3:17-21; Eph. 5:18)
The Personality of the Holy Spirit
- Always referred to as “he” never “it.”
- Must be “received” and “known” (John 16:13-14)
- He teaches and reveals things to us personally, individually (John 14:25-26)
- He is sent by Jesus (John 14:12; 15:25; 16:7; 17:22)
- He proceeds from the Father (John 15:26)
- He takes what belongs to Jesus and shares it with us (John 16:14)
- He is the love of God the Father and God the Son, in our hearts (John 17:26)