26 ¶ But when the Comforter is come, whom I will
send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from
the Father, he shall testify of me: 27
And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the
beginning.
The Comforter is the Holy Ghost, as already stated in 14:26.
The Holy Ghost has not been sent yet to indwell the believer, but Christ
promises to send Him from the Father. The word even links the Comforter as identical with the Spirit of truth. The Comforter proceeds from the Father. Jesus
notes that the Holy Ghost will testify of Jesus, as will His disciples.
The Holy Ghost, the Comforter, is one of the three parts of
God.
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost:
2Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the
love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.
1John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in
heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
The Bible uses two words in the New Testament translated
from one word pneuma for Spirit and
Ghost. Holy Ghost refers to the name, the identity, of the part of God being
talked about while Holy Spirit or Spirit of God or Spirit of Christ for the
function. As a result the Holy Ghost is referred to as a he while the Spirit is referred to as an it. Only those Bible scholars afflicted by the modern era that
began with the so-called Enlightenment where man began to worship his reasoning
ability as his god are unable to discern a difference in usage. They will just
throw their hands up because they aren’t willing to investigate and consider
and say impatiently, “they’re both the same,” much as they do mistakenly with
the kingdom of heaven in Matthew and
the kingdom of God in Matthew and
elsewhere. There is a difference. Different words, different applications, and
slightly different meanings.
Luke 4:1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and
was led by the Spirit into the
wilderness,
John 7:39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him
should receive: for the Holy Ghost
was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with
other tongues, as the Spirit gave
them utterance.
Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any
man have not the Spirit of Christ,
he is none of his…16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of
God:…26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth
our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for
us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
1Corinthians 12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no
man speaking by the Spirit of God
calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by
the Holy Ghost.
You will not find the Holy Ghost mentioned as such in the
Old Testament. He is coming on the disciples soon. As the Holy Ghost teaches the disciples about
Christ, Jesus’ followers are to bear witness, to bear record, to speak of Him,
and to be a witness for Him in the world.
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the
Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of
the earth.
In fact, the calling is very specific as to the result
Christ wanted. He wants His followers to teach the world about Him.
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost:
We are to do that as the Holy Ghost teaches us, confirming
in our spirit with His Spirit by the words of God in His Bible.
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,
whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring
all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is
truth.
I think it is clear that you cannot understand the Bible or
the Gospel of Jesus Christ without the work of the Holy Ghost. The Bible is not
understood by logic or argument but, the grace that brings salvation has
appeared to all men…
Titus 2:11 ¶ For the grace of God that bringeth salvation
hath appeared to all men,
…and we are taught
what God’s will is for our lives as we are to teach it to others.
11 ¶ For the grace of God that bringeth salvation
hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us
that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of
good works. 15 These things speak, and
exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
The Bible is fundamental in this command and useful for
everything God wants.
2Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness: 17 That the man of God
may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
We see written in the Scriptures God in His three parts in
heaven and God working through His Spirit on earth through the blood of Jesus
Christ whose triumph in the believer is signified by the water of baptism as an
expression of faith.
1John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in
heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in
earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
This Bible, called the King
James Bible, King James Version, KJV, or KJB in modern marketing parlance,
used to be called the common version in
early America and was the standard in Bible translation for nearly three
hundred years in the Protestant world.(23) The common English-speaking Protestant
thought of this Bible as God’s very word in print, or, as the head of the
American translating committee for the American version of the English Revised Version, the American Standard Version, said in his
book entitled A Companion to the Greek Testament
and the English Version that part of the objection to the new translations
and translating methods was that, “…to the great mass of English readers King
James’ Version is virtually the inspired Word of God.” (24) It took a lot of
marketing and a push by preachers in conservative pulpits who had been trained
in seminaries corrupted by Enlightenment thinking and theology to change that.
When a return to the Bible whose veneration Philip Schaff
lamented began in earnest in 1964 with Peter Ruckman’s book Bible Babel a significant minority of
Baptists began to see things the old way.
Even though they might not understand or know what the Enlightenment
was, what German theology or Higher Criticism entailed, or even had even heard
of the Catholic Counter-Reformation they began to rely on the old Book.
Unfortunately, even today in some of those churches you’ll have people sitting
in the pews criticizing a translated word or verse in the King James Bible simply because a favorite preacher said it must be
wrong, that maybe it should have been oil
lamp instead of candlestick or Holy Spirit where it said Holy Ghost. These criticisms are made
even though translating words from Greek or Hebrew is a very subjective process
and much results from the opinion of the translator.*(25) In addition, there is even today a great deal
of uncertainty with regard to translating from the Greek. **(26) And
so it goes.
(23) James Beller, America
in Crimson Red: The Baptist History of America (Arnold, MO: Prairie Fire
Press, 2004) 336.
(24) Philip Schaff, A
Companion to the Greek Testament and the English Version (New York: Harper
and Brothers, 1883), 413.
(25) Tom Griffith in the
translator’s introduction to Plato: ‘The
Republic,’ G.R.F. Ferrai, editor
& Tom Griffith, translator (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press,
2000), vii.
*The translation process and
disagreements with his editor was “a laborious task which involved reading the
whole text against the Greek, flagging the hundreds (literally) of passages
where he did not agree with what I had written, explaining in precise detail
why he disagreed (bless him), suggesting an alternative in each and every
instance.”
(26) Bernard A.
Taylor, John A. L. Lee, Peter R. Burton &Richard E. Whitaker, Biblical Greek Language and Lexicography:
Essays in Honor of Frederick W. Danker (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans
Publishing, 2004), Kindle Edition.
**“The fact is that opinions will very often differ over the
precise wording of lexical definitions even - or perhaps, especially - after
careful consideration of a proposed definition.”
“…there is the fact that even the latest lexicons derive
their material from their predecessors, and a great deal of it has been passed
on uncritically over the course of centuries.”
“…we cannot know for certain that what we find in front of
us when we look up a word is sound.”
“…all the existing lexical entries in all our dictionaries
are now obsolete and await reassessment in the light of the full evidence,or at
least checking to see if there is further evidence to be added.”
“Lexicons are regarded by their users as authoritative, and
they put their trust in them. Lexicons are reference books presenting a
compressed, seemingly final statement of fact, with an almost legal weight. The
mere fact that something is printed in a book gives it authority, as far as
most people are concerned. And understandably: if one does not know the meaning
of a word, one is predisposed to trust the only means of rescue from ignorance.
Yet this trust is misplaced.”
Note: So, don’t play the Greek and Hebrew game with me when
insisting that my faith in God’s preservation of His word through the KJV is in error. I’m not buying what you’re
selling. You, like an evolutionist who believes that life occurred by random
chance, can prove nothing but that, as everyone has a nose, you have an opinion.
Your opinion is proof of nothing but that you have one.
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