Bible Musings: The Holy Spirit

I'm not sure if this is something I want to make a habit of, but I'm going to blog a Bible study. But before I do, I should point out that I'm just some chick with a couple of mediocre A-Levels who is doing her best to get to know God. Personally, I don't believe booksmarts is the best way to do that. Christianity is not a religion, it's a relationship, and you can't get that from reading a book. Don't get me wrong: I do love my Bible, but the fact is that I met God before I'd read one word of it for myself. I have since read it all - although most bits only once, which isn't enough, so I won't pretend to have all the answers.

I'm quoting from the New International Version of the Bible because it's widely accepted as accurate and comprehensible, and the one we use for in-depth study at church. I've linked to the whole chapters rather than individual verses because out of context the verses can be misinterpreted, and if anyone is following my train of thought I'd like them to see the bigger picture.

Just to make it even more challenging, a friend was asking me recently what I made of these verses:

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. (John 16:13-14)

So. The Holy Spirit then. These verses are just a small part of what Jesus said about the Spirit, who would come to us - Jesus' followers, both those present at the time and those here today - after Jesus returned to the Father. The Spirit is characterised here by truth; elsewhere he (I'll use 'he' because I'm not an ultra-feminist; that's another discussion though) is called the Counsellor, (or Friend, Comforter, etc depending on the translation) essentially referring to his task of bringing people closer to God and His truth.

Jesus goes on to say 'All that belongs to the Father is mine', highlighting the close relationship between Father, Son and Spirit.

The Holy Spirit has clearly been active since the beginning of time:

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Genesis 1:2)

But he has only been active in a more personal way since Acts chapter 2, which describes the event Jesus speaks of in the verses above, the Holy Spirit coming to be with (to comfort) Christ's early followers. I wish I could explain or describe how the Spirit is with me, but the fact is that God is (and should be, by definition) beyond my understanding or ability to properly explain.

The personal closeness with the Spirit, though, is described by Jesus elsewhere:

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever (John 14:16, emphasis mine)

So the Spirit has always been here, but until after Christ, was not accessible to everyone.

Now, on to the sticky bits....

He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and will tell you what is yet to come.

The Spirit will speak what he hears (from either Father or Son, but as we know they are together, it doesn't matter which). Because of the intimate, personal nature of the Spirit's relationship with Christians, he (the Spirit) was able to speak truths directly to individuals. All of this - i.e. most of the New Testament - was 'yet to come' at the time Christ said these words. In John 16:12, Jesus had said that he had much more to tell his disciples, and in the verse above he is reassuring them that through the Spirit, he would tell them the rest later.

And speaking of telling the rest later, I've gone very long already. Serious congratulations if you made it this far! I may pick up on some other points from the original conversation later, but for now that is my reading of the verses in question. Always happy to be educated by more experienced Christians though, so if that's you feel free to comment :)