The Promised Counselor.
The promise that God would want to be united with man sounds incredible when you consider the Holy nature of God. The fact remains that Jesus wants to be one with you reflect God’s infinite love for you. What is also incredible is that you can call on God the Father any time of the day or night and he will respond to your needs. Your father in heaven has committed to be at your side - twenty-fours a day - seven days a week the rest of your life. Promises like - call me any time of the day or night - are not made to complete strangers, but to people you know and love. God made two promises to complete strangers, one for those who repent and to those who refused to repent - a place reserved for the fallen angels. To those who accept him as Lord he is your King in the Kingdom of God and his father is your father. Both demand respect, love and obedience.
If there was ever a catch 22 to meet a conditional promise of God - here it is. Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey what I command. This promise brings to mind that there is more to this conditional promise than the gift itself. It comes as a result of obeying his teaching that contains several commands. If the command is taken to heart there must be a system of authority that you are committed to obey. On the day we accepted Jesus Christ as Lord we gave Jesus Christ the authority to govern our lives. Jesus said true worshipers
Your life outside the church demonstrates the love and respect you have for your Father in heaven by the obedience of his commands. Those who worship God devote their time and make a determined effort to fulfill God’s commands. Your oath of commitment was made on the day of your salvation promising to serve God the rest of your life. Keeping your word to God is a mater of making a determined effort to keeping your word to God.
God has a moral standard of honoring his word, therefore every promise he has given to man has been kept to this day. God makes a determined effort to keep his word and he expects anyone who promises him anything to keep his or her word. Your heavenly father expects his children to be as faithful to their word as he is.
Those who received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior were given the right to become the children of God. However, God expects his children to keep their personal commitment to serve him the rest of their lives. No matter the cost or what happens, God wants his children to make a determined effort to obey him. Accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior placed you into the family of God complete with the rights of children.
From a human perspective the Father and Son is a relationship that has been established in every culture around the world. God has chosen the father role in the spiritual family and he is the head of the divine household. Just as human parents have the expectation and demand their children obey them, so does God. Parents reward their children when they obey and punish when they do not and God disciplines his children in a similar manner. This system does not alienate the children from their parents, but helps the child to gain respect for the parent’s authority. Obeying the commands of our Lord and Savior is a demonstration of your love and shows where your loyalties lie.
Have you ever given a promise to someone you didn’t know? Doesn’t a promise represent something you are willing to do for them and become something of value that others can depend upon? God made his promises to those that would acknowledge him as Lord and accept his authority, but his promises are precious to his children that depend on him. Worldly men show contempt for God in their language and reject the Lord’s instruction. They live as they see fit and without their knowledge their father Satan rules their lives. They use their authority to create stress, unrest and chaos until they get their way. They seek the pleasures of this world.
The things of the spirit realm are nonsense to the people of the world. While they believe that God exists, they make no effort to seek or pursue him. Those in the world would rather boast about his or her possessions, elevate them self above others, and live in a self-made environment. While they are included in God’s promise, humbling themselves before their creator is not in their plans. The world has the practice of doing selfish things that God hates and their actions say I don’t want Jesus as my king. They will receive the reward that their deeds warrant in the near future.
Honoring your parents is an Old Testament promise that may not sound like a conditional promise, but long life is the benefit from obeying this commandment. God endowed the mother and father with the authority to raise their children to stand on their own and be able to live without parental supervision. Yet to those who believe in Jesus Christ and receive him was given the right to become children of God. Through adoption you become the children of God and in the process you are taken into God’s family. Christians call God their Father in their prayers but fail to give him the same respect as their human father that raised them.
Parents want the respect of their children and discipline their children to gain control of their children. It is in obeying the commands of Jesus Christ that shows your respect for your heavenly father’s authority. Your love, trust and respect towards God is a compelling reason that drives you to commit your life to serve the needs of the people around you. Actions speak louder than words and your actions demonstrate that you love and respect God more than you could ever say with words. Your behavior in life is a demonstration of where your loyalty lies and it is a form of worship that honors your father in heaven?
The promise of Jesus to ask for another counselor was conditional on whether you loved and obeyed Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was already counseling the disciples in his earthly ministry and was asking for another counselor to help him after his death and resurrection.
The word "helper" helps to clarify this point (other Bible versions use the word Helper or Advocate for the word counselor.) If you were to ask for another helper, you would expect at least one more person to help you accomplish the task at hand. If you were to ask for another advocate, you would expect one more person to defend your beliefs. Jesus said he would ask his father for another counselor and from Christ’s perspective this person would assist him as he advises God’s family to resist the evil one. The counselor takes on greater role to become a personal mentor and companion that encourages good deeds. He helps us to subdue the sinful nature, its passions and desires to have a life that pleases our heavenly father.
Christ asked the father for another counselor to come to his aid that would work beside him. As you should know, two people can work together do more work than one person can do. An additional counselor would strengthen Christ’s position when he addresses the needs of the child of God. Often we need something to remind us of the truth that in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. Colossians 2:9. The word another should tell you that you have more than one person of deity indwelling your body. The expressed purpose of the indwelling of the Child of God is to advise them how to avoid evil and live a life acceptable to God Let’s remember that Isaiah prophesied about the birth of the messiah.
Isaiah prophesied that Jesus Christ would be called Wonderful Counselor. Jesus was the first of two counselors sent for the purpose of guiding man into a holy life. In the passage above the word wonderful describes the Counselor with a distinct attribute. Counselor (yow'eets,) denotes one of honorable rank who is suited to stand near princes and kings as their adviser. Wonderful Counselor expresses the tremendous wisdom needed to guide and direct the Christian into a moral life. Let’s remember that the child of God is a king in training and needs the most qualified counselor and tutor available. Therefore, it is reasonable to consider that the second counselor would meet the same standard set forth by scripture.
The people, who study the word "another" is quick to point at two words in the Greek language have been rendered as "another." These words are "Allos" and "Hetros." Vines, compares the differences of "Allos" with "Hetros" with in the same paragraph and the meaning of "another" may become somewhat clouded. In John 14:16, John used the word "Allos" to define the idea of expressing a numerical difference and "of the same sort."
Trinitarians assume that the word "another" requires the need for the third person, which would conveniently confirm the trinity. However, to prove the third person involvement you must first show that two persons are in a group asking for the help of a third person. In this teaching Jesus is the only person asking for another counselor.
The aide Jesus asked for would have a like character and have the moral fortitude of Christ. When speaking of the same kind or general character let’s remember what Christ told Philip about the father, anyone who has seen me, has seen the Father. When you think about that thought, the father was of the same sort as Christ, because Christ was the mirror image of his father. Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words describes "another Comforter" as one another like Himself. When thinking about the phrase "anyone who has seen me, has seen the Father," you can see Jesus Christ pointing his finger at his father saying I am just like him.
John was the only New Testament writer the Holy Spirit inspired to use the word "paracletes." Paraclete was translated words such as Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Intercessor and Advocate. In John 2:1, "paraclete" was rendered into the word "advocate and Jesus Christ is the advocate - with the father.
A Paraclete is qualified person called to your side to give advice, which looks at what you have done and puts your mind at ease. This person relieves the worries and anxieties you have and guides your decisions. He is there to help you when you need him, and defends the decisions you made at his request. A Paraclete is also an intercessor or a qualified person who can stand between you and God and pray on your behalf. Today a Paraclete could be an attorney, financial advisor, doctor, mechanic, pastor, carpenter or any knowledgeable expert capable of giving advice. Your mother and father are personal advisors (Paraclete) to their children. Consider this you are God’s children and kings of the heavenly realm. Kings always in need of advice and who better to receive wisdom from than the man called Jesus that overcame the world. Jesus Christ and this counselor are your spiritual parents that raise you in the admonition of the Lord.
Jesus Christ is the only person that was asking the father for another helper and needs to be seen from the perspective of Jesus. On the other side of this petition for help is the father who will respond to the need of Jesus. The word "another" defined the request of Jesus to one more person of his kind. God the father was given a choice of who to send, but there may not have been another person of Christ’s caliber. God chose to send the partner Christ had before the beginning of the world.
These verses above contain the word - with - a preposition defined as being in the company of, alongside or next to. In comparison Paraclete is defined as called to one’s side. The combination of these two words reflects a relation God wanted to depict. The phrases - the word was with, - an advocate with, - and He was with God all speak of being next to or at one’s side. Still the closeness of Jesus to God is reflected in other ways. Each of these examples shows Jesus at the side of the father.
There is no sign or clue that the father ever left the side of Christ until he was crucified for our sins. God’s revealed that the Father and Son are working together as a team for your salvation. Whether it is Christ who works along side the Father or Jesus Christ is in the father and the father is in the Son, they come into your life and work as a unit. Their purpose is to help you make sound decisions and live upright before God. Ultimately, God desires to bond with his child and become a lifelong companion having a personal relationship with you. The counselor sent by God would help his disciples stand before their adversary and support their fight of faith. Jesus was telling his disciples that God had planned to fill their lives with joy and the promise to secure the hope of eternal life. Still there was another purpose for indwelling the saint.
God promise to be with us wherever we went and Jesus Christ promised to be with us until the end of the age. We also have the promise that no one can snatch us out of his hand. In joining with Jesus Christ and the father, God’s child has the almighty God living in his heart who is greater than he who is in the world. Paul wrote that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and that your body is the temple of the living God. God comes to live in you to unite with you to form a more perfect union and help you to become more productive for his kingdom. This is an act of a loving father who wants you to be successful in life and help you in every way so you may be found worthy of eternal life. God’s promise was poured his spirit into your life and doing so he became one with you.
We have arrived at an important juncture in the teaching on the Holy Spirit. This is a point where some teachers stop and make assumptions about a third person, which can not be proven. Instead, we need to pay strict attention to what Jesus is saying. Between the time that Jesus said he would ask for another counselor vs. 16 and when the counselor comes vs. 26, Jesus speaks of a specific person who will come and He will be someone you will know and live in you.
The chart below helps to understand what is being said. in the left column is John 14:16 –26 by the sentence. In the right column is a question that is answered by the sentence.
What was the promise? - 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever John 14:16
Who is coming? - 17 the Spirit of truth.
Why the world can not receive the Holy Spirit? - The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. John 14:17
Why you can know him? - But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
Who is coming? - 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Who will see me? - 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.
What should you expect? - 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
Is love and obedience a requirement to see Jesus? - 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
Why the world can not see you while we can? - 22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"
Who is coming? - 23 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
Why the world can not receive the Holy Spirit? - 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.
Who is coming? - 26 But the Counselor, 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. John 14:26
Let's remember what Jesus Said.
Jesus Christ answers a number of questions in the chart of John 14:16-26 above. Two of the basic questions are, Who is coming and why the world can not receive the Holy Spirit? Jesus is referring to the additional counselor that would be coming and you would know the person who lives in you. Jesus goes on to say,
Theoretically, before you met Jesus you were of the world and behaved as a child of Satan. Sinners obey Satan without ever seeing him or being aware of his presence. As a Father Satan only comes to you to further his own agenda and destroy the lives of those who want to be in charge of their lives. Once you sin against God, Satan abandons the sinner and lets the consequences of their sin punish and quench their hope for the future. While sinking in the depths of sin and depravity they find out that God loves them and paid the price for their sin. The price for their sin has been paid, but you must accept the gift of life.
Orphans are children that have lost parental care due to an unforeseen event and lack parental advice while growing up. When you gave your life to Jesus Christ your former father (Satan) abandoned you. At that time God adopted you and took you into his family. Jesus made a second promise saying that he would not leave his disciples as orphans. He would come to live in them. Two things happened when you made Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, you enter the Kingdom of God and you were adopted onto God’s family as his children.
Anyone who sincerely repeats the sinner’s prayer and acknowledges Jesus as Lord meets God’s condition for salvation. Jesus said that he would not leave his disciples as orphans and although he would die on the cross you will live because he lives. Jesus also said, on that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Christians don’t hear too much about how the Christian unites with God’s family. Although it is the most important asset the Christian has you don’t hear too much about Jesus in you. Without Jesus Christ in you, you will not have God’s Holy Spirit living in you.
Jesus said I will come to you and on that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. For the most part, Christians are not taught that God the Father comes with Christ, because Christ is united with God the Father. Jesus said,
Jesus also said I will come to you. This is not a bonus for accepting Jesus Christ as Lord, for no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:3. Remember Christ is talking about the second counselor that would be with us forever and we would know that counselor. Christ’s relationship with the Father was established before the creation and is expected to continue forever. At the same time Jesus is talking about establishing a permanent relationship with you.
Jesus goes on to say you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Jesus is talking about the way he and the Father are united while he is including you in the same relationship. Picture in your mind a glass of water and adding a drop of water to the glass. The question is what became of the drop of water added to the glass of water. Being able to remove the same drop of water becomes impossible because it has merged with the rest of the glass of water. This is what God wants you to understand that you being the drop of water have become a part of the whole glass of water.
Jesus said that - You will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. John 14:20 In this relationship you are adopted as God’s children and become part of his family. Everyone in this group is a family member, but Christ takes this process a step further.
Jesus prayed that everyone that accepts him as Lord would become one big happy family for a reason. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
In other words God wants a huge family, the more the better.
Those who obey God love him.
Three times Jesus brings up the condition of love and obedience for God to honor his promises. These are the same kind of promises that we as parents make to our own children to encourage the behavior they desire. Because your obedience to Christ’s commands is a demonstration of your love, the Father will love you and he and the Son will come and dwell in you.
Again Jesus said (verse 17), you will know the counselor, for he lives with you and will be in you. From that point on Jesus only spoke of the relationship that the children of God have with the Father. You will know the counselor because the counselor is the Father.
Peter quoted the above passage on the day of Pentecost to the crowds gathered that were investigating the commotion stirred on by the pomp and majesty of the Holy Spirit’s coming. Notice how God referred to the Spirit that was poured out on all people.
Peter understood the Holy Spirit much differently than the modern interpretation regarding the Trinity. His witness to the promise of God reveals the power of the Holy Spirit to reveal what Jesus said to Peter while Jesus was with him.
The Holy Spirit also revealed to Peter the following.
The Spirit Jesus poured out belonged to the Father and this is the reason Jesus only spoke of the relationship that the children of God have with their Father in Heaven while teaching on the Holy Spirit.
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