Better than Any Human Teacher

Does complete and utter dependence upon the Spirit sound too challenging for you? It wasn’t too challenging for those who were in the churches founded by the Apostle John. He told believers they had no need of human teachers. It was enough for them to have the Holy Spirit teach them. John called the Holy Spirit the Anointing.

… you have an Anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth…

As for you, the Anointing you received from him [Jesus] remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his Anointing teaches you about all things and as that Anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as he [the Spirit] has taught you, remain in him [Jesus] (1 John 2:20, 27).

This is a passage you should read slowly to make sure that you understand to whom the pronouns him and he correspond.

Do you rely enough on the Spirit that you could do without your current pastor—or are you so dependent upon your pastor that you can’t even take a break from him? If that’s your circumstance, you have a problem. You have broken the First Commandment ‘You shall have no other gods before me’ so you should repent. Go back to cherishing the One who brings you lessons directly from God, the One who God sent in Jesus’ name to teach us all things. Return to the Holy Spirit.

… the Advocate, 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).

And, truly anyone who is born of the Holy Spirit starts their Christian experience by the Spirit. That’s why we encourage you by saying “Go back to the Spirit!”

After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? (Galatians 3:3).

… those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the coming age… (Hebrews 6:4-5)

Better than Jesus?

Jesus told his apostles that the Holy Spirit would be our new teacher and his substitute. Do you see the Holy Spirit in that light, or would you prefer to have Jesus right by your side? Do you wish you had Jesus with you instead of the Spirit? If you do, then it’s time to remember the words of Jesus:

But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away (John 16:7).

Whoa! Why would it be good for Jesus to go away? Aren’t we supposed to long for his Coming? Aren’t we supposed to pray for him to return?

Yes, Jesus’ return will be a wonderful event. Our Lord will usher in the Kingdom—and that’s essentially why we hope for his Return, that the Kingdom might be established on the Earth. But in the meantime, we’re stuck in the current age, the Time of the Gentiles. For us to deal with the age we live in, God has sent us someone, and it’s not Jesus.

God sent us his Spirit. The long-awaited Promise of the Father, the Spirit, came at Pentecost and will remain with us ‘for the Age’ (John 14:16), that is, for the duration of the time period we’re in. Having him with us is enough for now.

Jesus affirmed the greatness of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Even as he was concluding his exhortation above, he encouraged the apostles to look forward to the coming of the Spirit. Here’s how the verse ends:

Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you (John 16:7).

Did you catch that? The Lord Jesus told us that it was better for him to go. This is not a very common way to think, but if you think this way, you're thinking factually. It’s a fact that doesn’t offend Jesus, since he taught it himself: It is better for the Spirit to be with us now, and not better for Jesus to be with us.

We already learned from the apostle John that it’s better to have the Holy Spirit than a human teacher, but now we must grapple with that truth in light of our teacher Jesus’ absence—that is, the bodily absence of the man Jesus. Can you accept Jesus’ physical absence? He said that ‘it is for our good’ that he go away. His reason: So that he might send us someone else. By why is it better for you and me to be with someone else, not Jesus? Could it be that there’s someone who is better than Jesus?

We Are Better Off

The Holy Spirit is not better than Jesus, but the Spirit serves us more effectively than Jesus in this age. Yes, Jesus sent us someone who better serves us during this particular period in history. We are still in the flesh, and we have not yet been clothed with the divine nature. Until we get our new nature, God has made it possible for us to have someone inside us, someone who has the divine nature inside--the Holy Spirit.

Look at it this way: For now it’s better to have the Holy Spirit within us, than Jesus with us. If Jesus is with us bodily, he is limited in the number of believers he can speak to, teach, console, and empower. If he is with us spiritually, Jesus is unlimited.

Can you see now? How foolish we have been to think that it would be better to have Jesus with us now. We have dared to imagine that the apostles, who had Jesus with them in the flesh, experienced greater grace than ourselves. We were wrong. We are actually more blessed than they were.

Because you have seen me, have you now believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed (John 20:29; NASB).

How ungrateful of us to think that we’re not more blessed! We have not trusted God, whose great plan of redemption is being carried out right now through his Spirit. Jesus has done his part, now he has charged the Spirit with doing the Spirit's part. To prepare us for the Spirit's role, Jesus told us to wait for 'the Promise of his Father.'

‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the Gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit…’ you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you (Acts 1:4-5, 8).

Today's Church has not appreciated the work, ministry, or qualities of the Holy Spirit as we should. There will come a time when we will be clothed with the divine nature. We won’t need the Holy Spirit inside us from that point. We won’t need him to give us power because we’ll have been resurrected. We’ll have immortality, authority, and wisdom. We won’t need him to teach us, because we’ll know everything.

But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears… Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known (1 Corinthians 13:8-10, 12).

In conclusion, until the moment Jesus resurrects us, we need the Holy Spirit!