By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo
John 14:24-26 “Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” – NIV
Jesus was teaching as instructed by the Father. He said every word He spoke was from the Father, and were not His own. As He physically went away, this teaching role would continue among the disciples, but through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would teach them everything they needed to know and also remind them of what Jesus had said. There would be no contradiction.
Everything the Spirit teaches is the truth, because He is the Spirit of truth. Being the Spirit behind the writing of the Scriptures, He will never contradict nor falsely distort the written Word. That’s the standard as to whether any teaching is from God or not, and which spirit is behind it. All falsehoods, including false christs, are propagated by counterfeit spirits which are to be discerned and accordingly rejected. Their aim is to divert people from truth to lies.
The Holy Spirit teaches through the scriptures rightly interpreted and applied by those He gifted to teach. We need to sit under such people, but with the Berean attitude of always checking whether what they say is from the scriptures or not (Acts 17:11) regardless whom we hear them from. This requires that one is personally engaged in study as they sit under others as well. So much goes on in the name of God, and yet not from Him!
1 John 4:1 “My dear friends, do not believe all who claim to have the Spirit, but test them to find out if the spirit they have comes from God. For many false prophets have gone out everywhere.” GNB
Shalom children of God.