The Holy Spirit and the Apostles Together
When you buy a house, it is very important to inspect the foundation. Before my wife and I purchased a home for the first time, we enlisted the help of a building inspector to examine the foundation of the house were considering. We also asked for some feedback from friends who had building and construction expertise. We wanted to be sure that the house was built on a good foundation. We wanted to be sure that the elements of nature and everyday life would not put our house or family in danger.
Like a house, your relationship with God must be built on a strong foundation. You need a strong and reliable foundation to remain standing as you experience the challenges of life and the pressures of an evil world. In John 15:26-27 and 16:5-15, we find teaching from Jesus that helps us to “inspect” the foundation of our faith. Once we understand this foundation, then we are prepared to build on it the way that God intends. When we understand the foundation and build on it the way that God intends, then we are prepared to face the storms and challenges of life that come our way as we live for God in an unbelieving world. In summary, this foundation consists of the Holy Spirit completing the teaching ministry of Jesus through the apostles.
I would like to draw your attention to something that Paul says about us and about any other biblical church. “You are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Eph 2:19-22).
We are participants in a massive building project. We are members of the church that God is building in the world. This is a spiritual building that has a spiritual foundation. What is this foundation? The most important part of this foundation is Jesus Christ himself. He is the cornerstone, the centerpiece of the entire building. But the foundation also includes some other people called the apostles and prophets.
The apostles were men who spent considerable time with Jesus and were specifically sent out by him to spread his message and to represent him to the world. These men were the original twelve disciples, of which Matthias replaced Judas Iscariot (Mt 10:1-4; Mk 3:13-19; Lk 6:12-16; Acts 1:15-26). The Lord also included Paul in this group (Rom 16:7; 1 Cor 1:1; 9:1, 5; 12:28; 2 Cor 1:1; 11:13; Gal 1:1, 17, 19; Eph 1:1; Col 1:1; 1 Thess 2:6; cf. Rom 1:1). The prophets were an additional group of people who received revelation from God in the first century of the church, as Scripture was being given during the lifetime of the apostles.
But these men were not always spiritually mature. In John 16:5-7, Jesus corrected them for responding the wrong way to his departure. None of them were asking him the right question, which was, “Where are you going?” (John 16:5). Now Peter had asked a similar question before, asking where Jesus was going (John 13:36). Thomas did the same (John 14:5). But these were misguided questions which they asked because “sorrow had filled their heart” (John 16:6). They were deeply disappointed that he was going away.
These men were not concerned about the significance of what Jesus was about to do. Instead, they were asking questions to find a way to solve what they perceived to be a problem. They wanted to know how they could go where Jesus was going and how they could find him when he went away.
But he taught a different perspective. He wanted them to know that, by going away, he was not putting them at a disadvantage. He was giving them a strategic advantage instead (John 16:7). What would this advantage be? It would be the personal ministry of the Holy Spirit in his place. As the cornerstone of the church, he did not abandon the building project when he returned to heaven. He delegated the remaining foundation work to the apostles and prophets under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This foundation would weather the fiercest storms that the unbelieving world would hurl against it, and it continues to uphold the structure of the church today.
The teaching ministry of Jesus continued through a special partnership.
Jesus assured the disciples that by returning to heaven, he would not leave the world without a witness to the truth of God. He would send another person to be the same kind of witness that the world had experienced throughout his earthly ministry. This new person would be the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit would replace him. (John 15:26)
He described the Holy Spirit as a helper (John 15:26). This means that he would come alongside the disciples to help, encourage, and enable them to carry on the ministry of Jesus. He also described the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth. This means that he would not only be a reliable witness, but that he would be a witness who would communicate the truth of God, just as Jesus had done throughout his teaching ministry to the disciples. In this way, the Holy Spirit would do more than give them strength and courage to stand for the truth. He would give them words of truth as well.
Jesus also explained that the Holy Spirit would be a person. We know this because Jesus referred to him with a masculine personal pronoun. Since the word spirit follows a neuter gender form, proper grammar would use a corresponding neuter pronoun to refer to it. But Jesus used a masculine pronoun, saying “He [not ‘it’] will testify of me.” By speaking this way, he made it clear that the Holy Spirit would not be a neutral force, such as wind or energy from God; but he would be a person, just as Jesus Christ is a person.
Jesus also explained that the Holy Spirit would be divine. In other words, he would be God. The phrases “from the Father” and “who proceeds from the Father” indicate that the Holy Spirit shares the divine nature of God the Father, just as Jesus shares the same divine nature (John 15:26). At the same time, Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit is not the same person as the Father or the Son. He would come from the Father and the Son would send him, distinguishing both the Father and Son as separate persons. This verse is one of many evidences in Scripture for the triunity of God, revealing that God is one God and three persons. By presenting the Holy Spirit as another divine person who would help the disciples, Jesus assured them that there would be no difference for the disciples in having the Holy Spirit guide them instead of Jesus. Both were entirely and equally divine.
Unlike Jesus, the Holy Spirit would not provide a divine witness to the truth of God by himself. He would do so in partnership with the very disciples whom Jesus was attempting to comfort and mentor. Scripture calls these men the apostles of Jesus Christ.
The Spirit would enable the apostles to be his human representatives. (John 15:27)
As the apostles of Jesus, these were the men most closely associated with Christ from the beginning of his earthly ministry. Jesus said, “You have been with me from the beginning” (15:27; 16:4). By describing these men as the ones who had been “associated with him from the beginning,” he was focusing the content of what he is about to say on those original men, the twelve men he carefully selected and called from out of the larger group of people who followed him (Matt 10:1-4; Mark 3:13-19; Luke 6:12-16).
These men occupied a special place in the ministry of Jesus and in the beginning of the church. They enjoyed an especially close relationship with Jesus, received private instruction from him, and witnessed far more of his ministry and teaching than anyone else. On one occasion, Jesus said this about these men: “He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me” (Luke 10:16). As the apostles, these men would not merely pass along the teaching of Jesus, but they would represent his very person. This helps you to understand the meaning of this word, which is “one who is sent by another” and who serves as a “special messenger.”
In this sense, he is not speaking directly to me and you. He is speaking directly to the apostles, the men whom he was going to use to carry out his ministry to completion by finishing the foundation of the church. When Jesus would depart, the Holy Spirit would come to partner with these men to fulfill this mission.
We know, of course, that Judas Iscariot went on to betray Jesus, so a close follower of Jesus replaced him, named Matthias (Acts 1:21, 22). Furthermore, Jesus personally added Paul to this group shortly after Pentecost (Acts 9:3-20; 20:4; 26:15-18; 1 Tim. 1:12; 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:11) as an “apostle of Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 1:1; 2 Cor 1:1; 11:13; Gal 1:1; Eph 1:1; Col 1:1; 1 Thess 2:6; cf. Rom 1:1) and the “sent one of Jesus Christ” (Rom 16:7; 1 Cor 9:1, 5; 12:28; Gal 1:17, 19).
To be an apostle, a person needed to have seen the Lord and to have firsthand knowledge of his resurrection (John 15:27; Acts 1:21, 22; 1 Cor 9:1; Acts 22:14, 15). The church also expected them to have been called to that office by Christ personally (Luke 6:13; Gal 1:1).
The Holy Spirit would expose the error of the unbelieving world.
Throughout his earthly ministry, Jesus exposed the spiritual blindness of the world, including those people in the world whom we would consider most religious. But how would this ministry continue? By coming into the world, God – through Jesus – had shined the brightest spiritual light from God. Would this light diminish when Jesus went away?
Jesus described this ministry of the Spirit as “convincing the world” (16:8). This word to convince appears eighteen times in the New Testament (Matt 18:15; Luke 3:19; John 3:20; 8:46; 1 Cor 14:24; Eph 5:11, 13; 1 Tim 5:20; 2 Tim 4:2; Tit 1:9, 13; 2:15; Heb 12:5; Jas 2:9; Jude 15, 22; Rev 3:19). In these instances, you notice that they consistently refer to exposing a person’s wrongdoing, usually to persuade a person to repent.1
Consider the two previous occurrences of this word in the Gospel of John. He used this word to explain how “everyone [who practices] evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:20). Then he used it in a contrasting way when Jesus asked, “Which of you convicts Me of sin?” (John 8:46). From these references, we see that the light of truth from God through Jesus exposed the evil behavior of people in the world, yet no one in the world could expose anything evil in Jesus. But how does this relate to the three things that Jesus mentions in John 16:8-11: sin, righteousness, and judgment?
He would expose the sinful behavior of the world as wrong. (John 16:8-9)
The Holy Spirit – through the ministry of the apostles – would expose the sinful behavior of people in the world as wrong. This word sin refers to wrongdoing, or anything that is morally wrong before God. Here, however, Jesus emphasized a specific sin, the most serious one of all. He does this by mentioning a “sin” singular rather than “sins” plural. Then he identifies it as “they do not believe in me” (John 16:9). Refusing to repent of your sins and to believe on Jesus is the most serious sin. The personal presence and public ministry of Jesus had exposed this sin wherever he went in the world. But when he would depart from the world, the Holy Spirit would keep this light turned on through the apostles.
He would expose the righteousness of the world as wrong. (John 16:8, 10)
The Holy Spirit – through the ministry of the apostles – would expose the righteousness of the people in the world as wrong. To understand what this means, consider that John frequently quotes or alludes to the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. Knowing this, consider what Isaiah said about the failure of God’s people: “We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags” (Isa 64:6).
Throughout the ministry of Jesus, his teaching exposed the wrongness of the “righteousness” of the scribes and Pharisees. Paul also referred to this concept multiple times. Of the Jews, he wrote, “Being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, [they] have not submitted to the righteousness of God” (Rom 10:3). He referred to this again in his own testimony: “I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith” (Phil 3:8-9).
Wherever he went in the world, the personal presence and public ministry of Jesus exposed the wrongness of human righteousness. But when he would depart from the world, the Holy Spirit would keep this light turned on through the apostles. He would do this because Jesus would “go to his Father” (v. 10). This is an important point, because up until that point, the world had focused the bullseye of its persecution efforts on Jesus because hearing and seeing him exposed the wrongness of their self-righteousness. But when Jesus would return to heaven, the world would turn its persecution towards the Holy Spirit. Why did the disciples need to know this? Because how would the world persecute the Holy Spirit who is invisible? They would persecute the apostles instead.
He would expose the judgment of the world as wrong. (John 16:8, 11)
Third, he would expose the judgment of the world as wrong. How does the world judge? John previously recorded what Jesus said about this: “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24). The world makes judgments about the truth of Jesus based upon hearsay, visible appearance, false witnesses, manufactured and manipulated evidence, personal bias, and ever-changing social and cultural norms (whether they be conservative cultural norms like the Pharisees or liberal cultural norms like the Sadducees and the secular Romans). But just as with the earthly presence and ministry of Jesus, the Holy Spirit exposes this hypocritical approach.
John previously described an encounter Jesus had with the Pharisees in which they accused him of being born out of wedlock (John 8:41), of being a Jew only partially (John 8:48), and of being demon-possessed (John 8:48). They were wrong on all these charges, and Jesus accused them of being children of the devil, who himself was a murderer and a liar, twisting and shaping the truth into erroneous forms for his advantage (John 8:42-47). That’s why Jesus pointed out that “the ruler of this world has been judged” (John 16:11). The judgment of the world is like this. It is wrong and evil judgment, and the Holy Spirit through the ministry of the apostles would continue to expose this problem.
What would be the result of this “exposing” ministry of the Holy Spirit through the apostles? In some cases, people would repent of their sins, their self-righteousness, and their wrong judgment and believe on the truth of Jesus for salvation. This happened when Peter preached at Pentecost (Acts 2). In other cases, it would be intense persecution, as when Stephen preached and was martyred as a result (Acts 4).
The Holy Spirit would complete the teaching ministry of Jesus. (John 16:12-15)
Having explained the “exposing” ministry that the Holy Spirit would have to the world through the apostles, Jesus also explained the kind of “teaching” ministry that he would have to the church through apostles. Here again we find contextual clues that Jesus was speaking specifically to the original apostles. He explained that he had more things to say to them, but they were not able to comprehend or respond to this additional teaching yet.
When Jesus said these things, these men (who would become the apostles of the church) were struggling with how to understand his teaching about the cross and resurrection. Though he had taught them about his resurrection much earlier in his ministry, they didn’t understand him until after he rose from the dead (John 2:15-22; cf. 20:9). They exhibited a similar response when Jesus taught them about his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. John later wrote: “His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about him and that they had done these things to him” (John 12:16).
Because of their struggle to understand what he was teaching them, Jesus refrained from giving them more teaching. Instead, he delegated this additional teaching to the coming ministry of the Holy Spirit. This helps us to understand that the ministry of the Holy Spirit as portrayed in these verses pertained specifically to these men, because the Holy Spirit does not continue to teach us new things today which Jesus has not previously mentioned. The word guide here means to guide someone in the learning process through instruction and explanation. But how would this happen?
He would teach the same way that Jesus had taught the disciples.
He would teach the very same truth that God the Father had given to Jesus. Of the teaching ministry of the Spirit to the apostles, Jesus said, “He will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak; and he will tell you things to come. He will glorify me, for he will take of what is mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are mine. Therefore, I said that he will take of mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13-15). Consider how this resembles the way that Jesus described his own teaching ministry to the apostles:
- “Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone wills to do his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on my own authority.” (John 7:16-17)
- “I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.” (John 8:26)
- “I have not spoken on my own authority; but the Father who sent me gave me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that his command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak.” (John 12:49-50)
- “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.” (John 14:10)
As Jesus had taught exactly what the Father gave him to say, the Holy Spirit would reveal truth to the apostles the same way. The Holy Spirit would be the same kind of teacher as Jesus, with one difference.
He would “say things that Jesus had not yet said to them” (John 16:12).
This teaching ministry would include “things to come” (John 16:13). To understand what these “things to come” would be, you should consider what he says in John 16:14-15. Some people suggest that Jesus is referring here to the book of Revelation, foreshadowing that the Holy Spirit would give the apostles (esp. John) some prophecies about things that will happen at the end of time. I agree with this, but only in part. I am persuaded that these “things to come” include more than the book of Revelation. They include everything else that would come to pass as a result of the death, resurrection, and return of Jesus to heaven. This includes everything else from the beginning of the church age until the end of time.
At this point, it is important to highlight an important doctrine of Scripture. Through the apostles, in partnership with the ministry of the Holy Spirit, Christ continued and completed his work of revealing the truth of God to us as written Scripture. Through these men he finished the laying the foundation of the church.
Regarding this doctrine, the writer of Hebrew says, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son” (Heb 1:1-2). He portrays Old Testament revelation as “time past” and to the Jewish “fathers” and “by the prophets,” referring to Moses, David, Isaiah, and so on. Then he describes New Testament revelation as “these last days” and “to us” as believers in the church “by his Son.” When you compare this with John 16:13-15, you find that Jesus considered his earthly ministry and teaching to be in harmony with the teaching of the Holy Spirit to and through the apostles. So, the revelation “by his Son” consists of the truth about Jesus revealed by Jesus and by the Holy Spirit through the apostles.
Peter describes this process by saying, “No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (1 Pet 1:20-21). By guiding them in this way, God guaranteed that they taught doctrine which was free from error and mistake, whether in spoken word or written Scripture (John 14:26; 16:13; 1 Thess 2:13).
This ministry of providing revelation from God by the Holy Spirit closed as the generation of apostles ended. That is why Paul describes the church as “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone” (Eph 2:20). Then again, Paul said, “By revelation he made known to me the mystery … which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets” (Eph 3:3-5).
Conclusion
Based upon this study of John 15:26-27 and 16:5-15, how should believers respond today? I will share with you two appropriate responses from Scripture.
Remember the words of the apostles.
This is a recurring theme in the later epistles of the New Testament. The word remind means “to remember” or “to keep in mind” or “to bring back to your mind.” But what are you supposed to keep in mind? The words given to us by God by the Spirit through the apostles. Knowing the New Testament Scriptures is being taught by Jesus himself.
- To believers, Peter said, “I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. Moreover, I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease” (2 Pet 1:12-15).
- He also said, “Be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior” (2 Pet 3:2).
- Jude also said, “Beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 17).
- Then Paul told Timothy how a pastor should respond to the teaching of the apostles and all of Scripture: “Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:14-15).
Just as at the close of the apostolic era, we are facing the winds of many false doctrines and the voices of many false teachers. To respond to this, we should not look for new doctrines, apostles, and information from God. Instead, we should “remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles.” They told us what the Holy Spirit taught them to say. They told us the truth about Jesus. They told us everything we need to know about what would take place after Jesus returned to heaven, and they told us how to respond. Bring the words of the New Testament back to your mind and put them into action.
Earnestly contend for the faith.
Earlier in the same letter, Jude said, “Earnestly contend for this faith “delivered to the saints once and for all” (Jude 1:3). This means that we should give intense personal effort to upholding, practicing, and defending the body of doctrine which was given to all believers. Jude explained that this doctrine has been given once for all. This word means “given one time, never to be repeated or expanded at any point in the future.”
The word earnestly contend is a strong word which describes the kind of athletic events that occurred in Roman stadiums, such as gladiator sports, foot races, and wrestling matches. It refers to the kind of sporting events that required intense effort, self-denial, overcoming opponents, rigorous personal discipline, and a willingness to be killed.
There is a weakness in American Christianity today, and Christianity worldwide. It is a weakness regarding the Scripture. Contrary to popular belief, we do not need more ecstatic experiences, new revelations, and extraordinary miracles. We do not need any more prophecies or new insights from God. We have all that we need. It has been delivered to us once for all from God through the apostles. We do not need new revelation from the pope or the college of cardinals. We do not need revelation from self-proclaimed apostles and prophets.
We need a church of believers who give intense personal attention to remembering and agonizing for the Scriptures. We need believers who practice the habit of bringing Scripture to mind when they face the decisions and challenges of life. We need believers who give intense, personal effort to studying, teaching, and defending the doctrine of the apostles against error, just as Jesus did himself when he was ministering on this earth.
We are lazy with regard to the Scriptures. We expect the Holy Spirit to give us magical, mystical insights. But John 16 does not teach any such thing. It teaches us what Jesus would give us through the apostles by the Spirit. Therefore, we must commit ourselves to being diligent students of the Word. Family matters, marriage conflicts, financial problems, major life decisions, and so many other things would come into clear view if you and I would stop being passive recipients of very bad information, emotion and experience driven church services, heretical YouTube vloggers, and pop theology books with no serious doctrinal content.
What theological questions do you have? What problems do you face in life? What needs to you find around you? What major decisions are sitting in front of you? Are you ransacking the Scripture to learn what Jesus has to say about that? Are you depending on God with serious determination to put that truth into action? Friends, we consume a lot of information every day, but how much are we consuming the Word of God which has been given to us? A key reason why believers are so pathetically weak these days is because we are so lazy with the Scriptures. We rely far too much on spiritual experiences and far too little on what the Spirit has given to us in the Word of God. May we learn devote ourselves instead to study and apply the Word of God to our lives, as an athlete devotes himself to winning the prize. God has given you a firm and complete foundation in the teaching of Jesus by the Holy Spirit through the apostles. It’s your responsibility to remember what the Scripture says and to contend for it.
Thomas Overmiller serves as pastor for Faith Baptist Church in Corona, NY and blogs at Shepherd Thoughts. This article first appeared at Shepherd Thoughts, used here with permission.
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- D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991), 534. [↩]