John K. Smarth

One of the most significant rewards of believing in Jesus Christ’s finished work of atonement and accepting him as the savior and the only way to the Father: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6) is the new convert’s immediate induction into the New “Covenant Community” of believers. To believe in Christ and repent of one’s sins can only be facilitated by the Holy Spirit promised by Christ to His disciples before He ascended into heaven.

Before Jesus promised the coming of the Holy Spirit to indwell His disciples, God had maintained His presence among His people, especially in the Old Testament, “In the Tabernacle and the Temple.” [1] Unfortunately, God never indwell anyone permanently until after Christ ascended into heaven and the disciples received the Holy Spirit.

Luke may have referred to the advent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost as a “major eschatological event” [2] supported by prophetic writings by Jeremiah (31:33-34) and Ezekiel’s “I will put my spirit in you, and you will live” …. (37:14;23-24), but Christ’s promise was in fulfillment of those prophecies. Since the main purpose of the Holy Spirit was to fill the physical gap Jesus was about to leave among his disciples (Jn 14-16) he needed to indwell them to continue with his work in the world. Aware of how the world’s hatred towards him would be redirected at his disciples after his departure, maintaining his presence within them became paramount.

As such, the Holy Spirit was to bring to remembrance all that Christ had taught them (Jn 14:26), convict the world of sin, unrighteousness, and judgment (Jn 16:8-11), and guide the disciples into all truth and disclose what is to come (Jn 16:13). The Spirit was to act as an advocate, comforter, and counselor. He was to embolden them to proclaim the message of salvation, speak on their behalf during persecutions, and remind them of the presence of the Lord within them.

The role of the Holy Spirit that is not complicated to explain is “bringing to remembrance (to the disciples) of all what Christ had taught them” (Jn 14:26). This is so because we saw how Peter was able to announce to the Pentecost crowd the truth about Jesus being the promised Messiah, “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah” (Acts 2:36). The difficult role to interpret is the Holy Spirit is the “comforter, counselor, and advocate” (parakletos). The ESV’s translation of “Parakletos” as “Helper,” “Advocate” in the NIV, and “Counselor” in the KJV makes one wonder about the accurate translation of the Greek word.[3] However, Scripture has made it clear that the purpose of the Spirit in a believer is to help achieve Christ's mission in the world: proclaiming the gospel (Matthew 28:19-20).

---------------

1. Andreas J. Köstenberger. Encountering John: The Gospel in Historical, Literary, and Theological Perspective. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013.144.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid., 146.

Bibliography

Köstenberger, Andreas J. Encountering John: The Gospel in Historical, Literary, and Theological Perspective. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013.