Guiding you into All Truth

"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come." John 16:13

Years ago, I was having a conversation with a relative who was struggling with their faith. During our talk they asked me an interesting question; "Do you believe the Pope is the Anti-Christ?" I wasn't quite sure where this question originated from, but I simply responded, "No, I don't believe he is." However, this question points to a deeper truth about the Lord. When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, and by that I mean when a person is born again of the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit begins to lead and guide us. In that process we begin to question everything we have believed from as long back as we can begin. I believe this is some of what Jesus was referring to when He said that the Holy Spirit will "guide you into all truth." He did not just say biblical truth, He said all truth. I can speak from personal experience about this because as I started to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I began to question everything I had believed about the Bible, politics, science and life in general. And it leads to questions like I was asked by my relative. If you think about it, when a person is "born again," they are a "baby" in many ways. While they are not a physical child, they are a spiritual child. And what is one of the main things a child does? They question everything. Sometimes, to an adults chagrin, a child will incessantly ask, "Why?" It can get to the point where you run out of answers. But, this is how they learn and, if we are honest, where adults realize just how much we don't know. I believe this is because many of us have never really questioned why we believe what we believe. We just grew up and accepted what we were taught as true. After all, how often do we really question our parents, our professors, our mentors, our church leaders, the authors of the books we read, the hosts of the programs we watch and listen to, the actors of the movies and programs we watch, the news anchors on television, our favorite entertainers, etc? We don't. Basically, if someones proclaims an opinion that lines up with how we were taught to believe then we accept it as true and vice versa; if someone has a viewpoint contrary to ours we automatically belief it is wrong. Although, when our beliefs are challenged, we often get angry rather than try to give a reason for why we believe. Or, we offer up some anecdotal story as if one experience makes something universally true. Thus, we end up in our own little bubbles, surrounded by people who primarily think and believe like we do and this gives us confidence that what we believe is true because everybody else is like us. It also makes us afraid to listen to contrary ideas and beliefs. And therein lies the dilemma.

The dilemma is seen in a little paid attention to verse in John 3 regarding Nicodemus. When Nicodemus came to Jesus we read, "He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God (John 3:2)."" Nicodemus "came to Jesus at night." Why would he come to Jesus at night? Although Nicodemus was not born again, being confronted by the testimony of God in the flesh, Jesus, had most likely stirred up questions he needed answered. But, for fear of being outed by the other Jewish leaders and the community, he came at night. You see, if it became public knowledge that a teacher like Nicodemus had perhaps believed in Jesus he could lose everything. I have heard that Nicodemus did, in fact, become a Christian and because of it lost everything. When you start to question what you believe the consequences are more than many choose to endure. Could you imagine the consequences if my relative had asked a Catholic leader if the Pope was the Anti-Christ? When Jesus healed the man born blind, the Pharisees questioned the man's parents. After responding to the Pharisees we read, "His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue (John 9:22)." Although their son could see for the first time in his life, the motivation of the parents was fear of being kicked out of the synagogue. One can only imagine what kind of fear motivated Nicodemus to come to Jesus at night, being a member of the Jewish ruling council. I have never been kicked out of any church for my beliefs, but I do know what it like to be ridiculed by fellow Christians and to have my beliefs distorted in order for someone to avoid having a reasonable conversation with me. I also know what it is like to not want to be around friends and family for fear of being that one person who doesn't think like they do. But, the bottom line is this? If you are a Christian or if you are an unbeliever being drawn to God by the truth, are you going to let fear stand between you and the truth of God? Is whatever life you've carved out for yourself more important than standing with the Lord? This is a question we all must face, including myself. Do I stand with Him now in faith or stand before Him later in judgment? The battle we face is a spiritual one between the truth of God and the lie of Satan. My prayer is that you believe the truth regardless of where it leads you or what you lose in the process. Be blessed.