The Spirit of truth

One of the names that God uses to refer to his Holy Spirit is "Spirit of truth" (John 14:17). What does this description imply regarding how we understand God's truth ? 

There are two levels of understanding present in the words — and hence in the precious truths — of the Bible. A level understands what the words actually mean in any of the languages ​​in which they were written.

The knowledge of God

But the Bible says that there is a second level of understanding of the spiritual truths that the words inspired by God contain. Jesus taught that only those to whom God grants his Spirit can clearly understand his words at this level.

This truth is very well illustrated in the explanation that Jesus Christ gave to his disciples when they asked him the reason why He spoke to people in parables. “For it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven; but it is not given to them… That is why I speak to them in parables: because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand ”(Matthew 13: 11,13).

Often, the disciples did not understand the spiritual purpose of Jesus' words. But He did not leave them without understanding. Jesus said to them: “I still have many things to tell you, but now you cannot bear them. But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak on his own, but whatever he hears will speak, and will tell you things to come ”(John 16: 12-13).

Jesus knew that they were not going to understand the spiritual meaning yet. Why? Until now the Holy Spirit was only with the disciples, not within them (John 14:17). The disciples could not understand the depth of the meaning of Christ's words until the Spirit of truth was in them.

The disciples received the Holy Spirit that was promised to them on the day of Pentecost, after the death and resurrection of Christ (Acts 2: 4). After this, they had the ability to begin to understand all of God's spiritual truths (John 14:26).

Pablo explains further

In 1 Corinthians 2: 6-14 there is another passage that shows these two levels of understanding. Paul refers to "But we speak the wisdom of God in mystery, the hidden wisdom" (v. 7). Later he says that the wisdom of God is "that none of the princes of this age knew" (v. 8). The passage refers to the wisdom of "things that the eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, nor have risen in the heart of man, are those that God has prepared for those who love him" (v. 9). Then we read, "But God revealed them to us by the Spirit" (v. 10).

So there is a knowledge that people cannot know. But that same knowledge is revealed by God by his Spirit to those he calls.

In 1 Corinthians 2:11 Paul speaks of the "spirit of man." God gives each individual a portion of spirit that gives our brains the ability that we call mind, so that man can know "the things of man." This refers to human knowledge developed by human discovery and reasoning — philosophical, artistic, scientific knowledge, etc. — all fields of human knowledge.

Paul uses the function of the "spirit of man" to compare it with the function of the Spirit of God. Just as the "spirit of man" allows us to understand the "things of man," the Spirit of God enables us to understand the things of God — His spiritual truths. God gives us his Spirit "so that we may know what God has granted us" (v. 12).

As Paul explains: "But the natural man does not perceive the things that are of the Spirit of God, because for him they are madness, and he cannot understand them, because they must be spiritually discerned" (v. 14). No one without the Spirit of God can even begin to understand the spiritual truths of God.

Spiritual truth is a mystery to the world

There are many more scriptures that show that knowledge of God — His spiritual truths — is a mystery to the people of this world. But these mysteries are a mystery to those who do not have the Spirit of God. Paul wrote in Colossians 1:26: "the mystery that had been hidden for centuries and ages, but which has now been revealed to his saints" (the Bible refers to converted Christians as "saints").

In Ephesians 3: 3-6,9 we find the same understanding: “that by revelation the mystery was declared to me, as I have briefly written before, reading which you can understand what my knowledge is in the mystery of Christ, a mystery that in other generations was not made known to the children of men, as it is now revealed to their holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that the Gentiles are joint heirs and members of the same body, and partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel … And to clarify to all what is the dispensation of the mystery hidden from the centuries in God, who created all things ”.

But this spiritual knowledge is only given to the saints, just as Jesus revealed it to his disciples in Matthew 13: 2; 10-17, writing of which we quote a part at the beginning of this article. When the disciples asked, "Why do you speak to them [the multitudes referred to in verse 2] by parables?" Jesus replied: “For it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven; but to them it is not given ”(vv. 10-11).

Jesus did not intend for the crowds to understand the spiritual meaning of his words yet — but that does not mean that He does not love them or have a plan for everyone! Only his disciples were destined to understand at that time. Jesus said: “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear ”(v. 16).

After Jesus Christ returns and restores the government of God on Earth, the knowledge of God will fill the Earth as "the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11: 9). Then the spiritual knowledge of God will be available to everyone (Isaiah 2: 2-3). Only the few who are called in this age have access to the Spirit of God (Acts 2: 37-39).

At what point did God's truth become a mystery to the world?

Paul says that the "revelation of the mystery that has been hidden from everlasting time" (Romans 16:25). This leads us to the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve — the first human beings who were created by God.

One of the most amazing and least understood truths in the Bible is that God created humanity to give us the incredible opportunity to become sons and daughters of his own family (2 Corinthians 6: 17-18).

God would have given Adam and Eve and their children this amazing gift of becoming their own children if they had chosen to live according to the principles of their way of life, represented by the tree of life. God also commanded Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The Tree of Life

The tree of life represents access to the knowledge of the life of God and his purpose — the knowledge of salvation. This is the spiritual knowledge about what human beings must do to receive eternal life in the family of God.  

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil

This tree represents the way in which we human beings decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong. It is the way of the self — without listening to God or to His instructions. This is Satan's way — the way that he wanted Adam and Eve to choose. Satan the serpent tricked Eve into eating the fruit of this tree by making it attractive to her own desires (Genesis 3: 6).

God saw Eva's decision. God also knew of the probability that the descendants of Adam and Eve made the same decision under the same influence of Satan. Then God devised a plan to hide his spiritual knowledge of Adam and Eve and their descendants.

Humanity made the decision to reject God and his revealed knowledge. So God decided to close that knowledge so that people would not make a decision for life. (Our merciful God plans to give all people an opportunity to understand and change at the best time for them.

God removed Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and put a cherub to guard the access to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24). The only way someone can have access to the spiritual knowledge of life is if God chooses him to grant him access to the Spirit who guides them into all truth.

The rest of humanity will not have access to this knowledge at this time, because it is under the influence of the evil one (1 John 5:19). So, as Paul wrote, this spiritual knowledge "has been kept hidden from everlasting time" (Romans 16:25). "The mystery that had been hidden for centuries and ages" (Colossians 1:26).

After Adam and Eve's disobedience and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden, the spiritual knowledge of God became a hidden knowledge for humanity. Humans were going to decide for themselves what was good and what was bad. They would do what seemed right in their own eyes (Isaiah 5: 20-21). Through bitter experience, humanity would realize that the way of Satan only produces anguish and misery. On the other hand, God would give him access to his spiritual knowledge in due course.

During this time, spiritual knowledge is hidden for most of humanity until Jesus returns and ties Satan so that he can no longer deceive the nations (Revelation 20: 3). Human civilization has followed the path of Satan since the day that Adam and Eve decided to eat the forbidden fruit.

If God is calling you, the Spirit of God is with you and you will begin to understand the truths found in the Bible. To have the Spirit of God in us, we must understand how to become Christians — a son or daughter of God.