Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in John

I was reading in John 14 and came across this text again.

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

I was struck by a couple of things. First, Jesus said that the Father was going to give another Comforter. This would imply that there was already a Comforter present. I would propose that it was Jesus Himself because of the evidence of the text. The word another is the word that means a distinction of individuals rather than the other word for another which means another of a different kind. (There is not a good way to make that sentence less confusing.) Then there is the distinction of time. Jesus said that the Comforter that was coming would stay with them forever as opposed to a short period of time. In the greater context of John 14 Jesus was encouraging His disciples because He was going away. Jesus was the Comforter that was present with the disciples and the Comforter that was coming was another one of the same kind that would stay with the disciples of Christ forever.

The second thing that caught my attention is that Jesus calls Himself the Spirit of truth. At the end of verse 17 He says that the Spirit of truth dwelleth with you. How can that be a reference to the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit did not come until after Christ’s death, burial, resurrection and assention. This would tell me that Jesus calls Himself the Spirit of truth that is dwelling with the disciples. This truth presents the next truth that if Jesus is the one that was with the disciples as the Spirit of truth, He is also the one that will be in the disciples in the future. Is this getting confusing yet? I hope so because there is a connection being made that makes the distinction between Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit difficult to make.

Ok, I will get to the point. I believe that this passage is clearly teaching from the words of Jesus that He (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit are one. Jesus is the Comforter. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter. Jesus is the Spirit of truth that was with the disciples at that time. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth that would continue to be with them forever. Jesus would dwell in them and the Holy Spirit would dwell in them.

So what! Here’s what. Jesus says at the beginning of this paragraph that if you love Him you will keep His commandments, but He is not here with us now. Or is He? Through the presence of the Holy Spirit in believers, Jesus is with us. This means that disobedience to the conviction of the Holy Spirit of truth through the written truth (Bible) is disobedience to the ever present Jesus Christ. The corollary is, obedience to the Spirit of truth through the written truth is a demonstration of love for the ever present Jesus Christ. God help us all to love the ever present Jesus Christ by being obedient to the Spirit of truth as He speaks through the Word of truth!