The Spirit of Truth

Have you ever prayed “Please, God, make me good!” but little seems

to change? How is it possible that we can pray for God’s great trans-

forming power to work within us, but our lives seem to remain the

same? We know that God has unlimited supernatural resources that He

so eagerly and freely offers us. We really want to take advantage of it

all, and yet, our lives don’t seem to change in a way that matches what

God is offering.

Why? One reason is disturbingly simple: while the Spirit has unlim-

ited power to transform us, it is possible by our own choices to restrict

what God can do.

Read John 16:5–15. In this passage, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the

“Spirit of truth” (John 16:13, NIV). What does this imply that the

Holy Spirit does for us?

While the Holy Spirit can bring us the truth about our sinfulness,

He cannot make us repent. He also can show us the greatest truth

about God, but He cannot force us to believe or obey it. If God did

compel us in even the slightest way, we would lose our free will, and

Satan would accuse God of manipulating our minds and hearts and

would thus be able to accuse God of cheating in the great controversy.

When the great controversy broke out in heaven, our Father did not

compel Satan or any of the angels to believe that He was good and

just or compel them to repent. And in the Garden of Eden, when so

much was at stake again, God made the truth about the tree in the

middle of the garden very clear but did not prevent Eve and Adam

from exercising their free will to disobey. God will not act any dif-

ferently with us today. So, the Spirit presents the truth about God and

sin and then says, “In view of what I have shown you, what will you

do now?”

It is the same when we are in the crucible. Sometimes the crucible is

there precisely because we have not obeyed or repented of our sins. For

our Father to work in such cases, we must consciously choose to open

the doors of repentance and obedience in order for God’s power to enter

in and transform us.

What convictions has the “Spirit of truth” brought to you

recently? How well are you listening to His voice? And, most

important, what choices are you making with your free will?