"They went out from us, but they were not of us…But ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth." [1 Jn 2:19, 20-21]

Jesus promises all His believers a remarkable blessing while speaking about The Holy Spirit, whom He would send after His resurrection. He said (and still says today),

“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.” [Jn 16:13]

This is in accordance with what Paul wrote to the Corinthians,

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” [1 Cor 2:12]

Both of these passages speak to our relationship with The Holy Spirit, who is given to each believer at salvation. That The Spirit is a necessity is plain; for in Romans it says, “now if any man have not The Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” [Rom 8:9] And again, “because ye are sons, God hath sent forth The Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” [Gal 4:6] Therefore, seeing all believers have been “sealed,” having been “given the earnest of The Spirit in [their] hearts,” [2 Cor 1:22] then let us consider what Jesus promises The Holy Spirit will do in a believer’s life.

Jesus tells us The Spirit of Truth, that is, The Holy Spirit, “will guide you into all truth.” This is a promise; a necessity. The Spirit will guide us into all truth; The Holy Spirit will teach us more and more of Jesus Christ; for again, Jesus says, “I am The Good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.” [Jn 10:14] To know Jesus is a necessity of the Christian, and this knowledge is acquired through The Holy Spirit and Him alone. For Paul tells us that we have not the world’s spirit, but The Holy Spirit, through whom we have the ability to “know the things that are freely given to us of God.” But if we do not have Christ’s Spirit dwelling within us, thus being unsaved, we shall not understand the things of Jesus; for John writes of these antichrists, saying,

“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we The Spirit of Truth, and the spirit of error.” [1 Jn 4:4-6]

This same truth is revealed when Jesus speaks to the Pharisees, who could not understand Jesus’ words. He said to them,

“Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word…he that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” [Jn 8:43, 47]

Through these passages, we see the necessary evidence of a true Christian: understanding into God’s word. If we have that anointing of God, that is, The Holy Spirit, as all Christians must, then we shall, at least in part, understand God’s word. Our understanding may not be perfect, but we shall have understanding, and we shall be growing in such. If we do not and if we are not, then we have proved that we possess not the Spirit of God, who freely teaches and gives us such knowledge, but the spirit of the world: the same spirit that the Pharisees possessed and so Christ said to them, “ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” So then, if we profess to know Christ, to have His Spirit, then we shall hear His words and understand them, or at least be growing in understanding. If we do not possess this, being destitute of the knowledge of God, then we are unquestionably lost. For, “the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God;” and,

“The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” [1 Cor 2:11, 14] Further, Jesus tells us, “and this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” [Jn 17:3] Therefore, again, if we do not have the knowledge of God nor of the things of Him, we must conclude that we are lost. Or at the very least, that something is terribly wrong; for the scriptures teach us that if we are saved and possess God’s Spirit, we shall have understanding of Him and the things of Him.

To see past and future posts in this series of Testing Your Salvation, click here.