Daily Bible Nugget #208, John 16:13

The Nugget:

John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

My Comment:

The Holy Spirit enables us to understand the Scriptures. But the Holy Spirit does not do our homework for us! To begin to understand the Scriptures better, we need to read them, hear them, and study them. One fairly recent poll found that 85% of the homes in the United States of America have a Bible in the home. It would be a wonderful thing if all those Bibles were being used at least every week, preferably every day. The Bible is spiritual food. We need physical food every day. We need spiritual food daily from the Bible (Psalm 1:1, 2; Acts 17:11). Yet, if the Holy Spirit really enables us to understand the Scriptures, why are there so many different opinions about what the Scriptures say? I don’t think that is the Holy Spirit’s fault. It is our fault for not doing a thorough study of the Bible. When there are two (or even more!) different opinions about what the Bible teaches, if the differing opinions are contradictory, they cannot all be right. I have claimed in my discussions and responses to questions and challenges on this site that when there are different interpretations of a Bible text or doctrine, it really is possible to iron out what the correct view or interpretation must be. To arrive at the correct answer to a question you must follow the rules of interpretation. I’ve posted my list of 23 rules of interpretation in the October 2010 archives on this site. To come up with the correct answer, you absolutely must dig deep enough into the Bible to consider all the evidence it provides on the subject. But we also must be open to the Holy Spirit’s teaching. He teaches us by means of His written word in the Bible. You absolutely cannot get at the right answer by studying Tradition! You cannot get at the right answer by studying the Church Fathers–the writings of Christians from the first centuries of the Christian Church. Their writings are valuable, but sometimes contradictory. Some of the Church Fathers are known to have been very poor interpreters of the Bible. I have been amazed in my study to see how much truth present in the New Testament appears to have been lost sight of or grossly misunderstood by even the earliest Christian writers. An example would be what was understood about John 3:5. At a fairly early period things were added by way of practice or belief that are surely not represented by anything directly taught in the New Testament. We really need to get back to the Bible and learn by proper study what it teaches.

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on pages 1200-1201 for John 16:13.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 1219 or in Logos 5 Bible software for John 16:13.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

John 16:13. when he. FS96G2, +Ge 2:18. FS163. Syllepsis; or, Change in Concord F/S 701. Grammatical Syllepsis, by which there is a change in the ideas rather than in actual words, so that the concord is logical rather than grammatical. For other instances of this figure see Jn 21:12. 2 Cor 5:19. Re 17:16. The use of ekeinos, the masculine personal pronoun, surely marks the personality of the Holy Spirit. The fact that Greek employs grammatical gender, unlike English, which employs natural gender, all the more emphatically points to the personality of the Holy Spirit, since in Greek “spirit” or pneuma is neuter, and most naturally would require “it.” John’s departure from grammatical gender to indicate natural gender emphasizes the personality of the Holy Spirit. See Jn 14:26. 15:26. 16:8, 13, 14, where this phenomenon occurs. Some MSS. and authorities (Tischendorf’s 8th edition of his Greek N.T.) read os, “who is the earnest of our inheritance” at Ep 1:14, in reference to the Holy Spirit of promise, ver. Ep 1:13. Compare Ro 8:16, 26, where “the Spirit itself” reflects grammatical gender, and does not deny the personality of the Holy Spirit. See Ro 8:27, “he maketh intercession.” Spirit. Gr. pneuma, +Mt 3:16. +Jn 7:39. *Jn 14:17. *Jn 15:26. Is 11:2. Ac 10:19. 11:12. 1 J 4:6. of truth. +*Jn 14:17. is come. *Jn 15:26. Ps 68:18. he will. FS159, +Ezk 36:23. In this passage (ver. Jn 16:12-15) the verbs “shall” and “will” are repeated eleven times in these four verses, in order to impress us with the importance of the promise and the absolute certainty of its performance (F/S 263). ver. Jn 16:7, 23. +Jn 14:26. guide you. *Jn 14:26. 2 Ch 32:22. Ne 9:19. +*Ps 23:3. 31:3. 48:14. 73:24. 139:24. 143:10. Is 58:11. Mt 15:14. Lk 6:39. **Ac 8:31n. +*Ac 15:28. 1 Cor 2:16. +**Ga 5:18. Re 7:17. T#1057. *Jn 14:26. +*Ps 32:8. Ac 8:31. *1 Cor 2:9-14. Ep 4:7-15. *1 J 2:20, 27. all truth. or, into all the truth, referring to ver. 12 (De Burgh, p. 282). Jn 1:17. **Jn 8:32. 14:6, 7, *Jn 14:26. Ps 25:5. 86:11. Mt 10:27. Ac 20:27, 32. Ep 3:5. 2 Tim 2:7. 1 J 2:27. 4:2. 5:6. Re 7:17. for. Jn 3:32. 7:16-18. 8:38. 12:49. not speak of himself. or, from himself. The Holy Spirit works to glorify Christ (ver. Jn 16:14), He does not draw attention to Himself. Just as any reading of Old Testament Scripture which fails to find Christ “in all the Scriptures” (Lk 24:27n, 44) is defective, so any work or ministry alleged to be that of the Holy Spirit, which in balance draws more attention to Him, or gives more emphasis to Him or His manifestations and gifts, than to Christ, is similarly defective. Regularly studying Scripture by means of well-chosen cross references will assist the student of the Bible to maintain the necessary and proper Biblical balance in all things (+*Jn 5:39. +*Is 8:20n. *Is 43:10n. Mk 7:9. +*Ac 17:11. **Ac 20:27, 32. Phil 1:9, 10. Col 1:10. +*2 Tim 1:7. **2 Tim 3:16, 17. +*2 P 1:20n). The study of Scripture in this manner will soon reveal to earnest students any imbalance or wrong perception of Biblical truth on their part, if they are willing to take the Bible as the sole authority for faith and practice (**Ps 119:18. +*Is 8:20n). This method of Bible study is “self correcting” (2 Tim 2:15. +*2 Tim 3:16), the surest corrective for the human tendency to fall into error or go off on tangents (Ga 1:6. Ep 4:14. Col 1:23. 2:7. 1 Tim 4:16). Note that neither Jesus nor the Holy Spirit presume to speak on their own, but speak as directed by God the Father. In this, therefore, they are both subordinate to the Father (Jn 6:38n), and the Holy Spirit is subordinate to the Son. +Jn 7:17. Ge 42:23. but. Jn 5:19. he will shew. or, tell. or, report. or, declare. ver. Jn 16:14, 15, 25. Jn 4:25. 5:15. 15:15. +*Jl 2:28. Ac 2:17, 18. 11:28. 14:27. 15:4. *Ac 20:23. *Ac 21:9-11. 27:24. 1 Cor 2:6-10. Ep 1:17, 18. 2 Th 2:1-3, 12. *1 Tim 4:1-3. *2 Tim 3:1-5. 1 P 1:12. 2 P 2:1, 14, 19-21. 1 J 1:5. Re 1:1, **Re 1:19. chapters 6-22. things to come. Is 41:22. Mt 11:3. Ga 5:5. Re 4:1. 19:10.