The Holy Spirit our teacher 

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

John 16:12-15 NIV

The Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of truth.” God’s Word is true and sure. He never changes and His Word never changes. He cannot lie or deceive. What He speaks comes to pass. All His paths are straight paths. The Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are in one accord. They speak the same things and they do the same things. They never contradict each other — they uplift and confirm each other. Jesus spoke the Father’s words and did the Father’s will and so does the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit exalts and glorifies Jesus. He reveals the character and nature of God to us and He confirms every word that Jesus spoke to us. When we act on God’s word and do what Jesus said to do, then the Holy Spirit acts to confirm the Word with signs and wonders following (Mark 16:20).

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.

As for you, the anointing you received from him 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 it has taught you, remain in him.  I John 2:20 & 27 NIV

The anointing of the Holy Spirit on us and in us teaches us all of the truth that is revealed in God’s Word. One definition of the anointing is that it is the presence and power of God manifested. The anointing is the tangible presence of God. These scriptures do not mean that no one can teach us anything and that we do not need pastors or teachers or other Christians to instruct us. It means that as we receive God’s Word — whether by reading it ourselves or by hearing it preached by others — the Holy Spirit will give us revelation of what it means to our lives. He will speak to us personally and show us the things that apply directly to us. Everything that the Holy Spirit reveals to us and teaches us will cause us to move closer to God and to become more like Him.

God’s word and His will are not hidden from us – they are revealed in His written word. We cannot understand the things of God -– no matter who tries to teach us — unless the Spirit of God opens the eyes of our understanding. Without the help of the Spirit, it is as if we have a veil over our eyes and we walk in darkness (1 John 2:11). The more of the Spirit we have, the more of God we come to know and understand. The natural mind does not understand the things of the Spirit. When we are born-again, we understand more of Him. When we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, we understand even more. The more we submit ourselves to God and the more we allow Him to work in our lives, the more we come to know Him. We are made in the image of God. He wants us to think like Him, talk like Him and act like Him!

But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.  1 Corinthians 2:9-16 NKJ