Monday Devo
Scripture:
John 16
12 “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’
12 “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’
Commentary:
16:13 On the Spirit of truth, see note on 14:16–17. The Spirit’s ministry of guiding Jesus’ followers into all the truth is a promise especially directed toward these 11 disciples, and it finds particular fulfillment in the subsequent work of these disciples in personally writing or overseeing the writing of the books of the NT (see note on 14:26). The promise, like the other things that Jesus says in these chapters, also has a broader application to all believers as the Holy Spirit leads and guides them (see Rom. 8:14; Gal. 5:18). The activity of the Holy Spirit in declaring the things that are to come suggests that he knows the future, something that is true of God alone; this gives evidence of the full deity of the Holy Spirit. The word declare (Gk. anangellō) occurs over 40 times in the Septuagint translation of Isaiah, where declaring things to come is said to be the exclusive domain of God (Isa. 48:14) and where God challenges anyone to declare the things that are to come (Isa. 42:9; 44:7; 46:10; cf. 41:21–29, esp. vv. 22–23; 45:19).
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2057.
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2057.
Questions:
- As Christians, our lives are to be built on the Word of God. If we are to trust the Bible, we must first understand that God INSPIRED the WRITING of SCRIPTURE. Did God physically pen the words found in the Bible? Of course not. But He did inspire through His Spirit the ones that did. Jesus quoted from the Old Testament law, psalms and prophets, referring to them as God's Words. He gave authority to the Apostles and said that the Spirit would guide them in all truth and remind them of all the things they had seen. Peter and Paul refer to each other's writings as Scripture. So while God didn't physically write the words of Scripture, they are HIS words! When you read your Bible, are you giving what you read the weight of being the words of God Himself?
- Scripture is SUFFICIENT. This means that it is enough to tell us everything we need to know about God, His nature, His heart, His ways, the gospel, etc. When people tell you that you HAVE to read a certain book, we should beware! There is no knew knowledge or new revelation. All God wants us to know is right there in His book. This isn't to say Christians SHOULDN'T read Christian books, but we must be so careful not to give them more authority than Scripture. Everything must be submitted to and tested against the Word of God. Have you ever been guilty of treating Christian books as authoritative? How often are you testing things you hear or read against the truth of Scripture?
Pray:
- That you would develop a deep hunger for God's Word.
- That you would remember to test everything against the truth of Scripture.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
7. How can I trust that the Bible is still God’s Word today? I trust the Bible is still God’s Word today because Jesus rose from the dead, proving He was God and said His words would never pass away. Through the Holy Spirit, God inspired the writing of the Scripture, determined the canon of Scripture and protected the copying of Scripture so that we might know Him and worship Him to this day.
(Matthew 24:35; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Revelation 22:18-19)
(Matthew 24:35; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Revelation 22:18-19)
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