THE DIVINE TEACHER

“I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray. But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.”
1 John 2:26-27 NLT

How significant is John’s reassurance in these days of escalating deception!  Jesus warned that His immanent coming would be marked by an unprecedented increase in deception.

Satan’s character, the hallmark of his nature, is to deceive. Jesus called him a liar and the father (source) of all lies. Somehow, he knows that his days are numbered. His desire is to take down as many humans as he can with him. His most effective weapon is deception, lies, twisting the truth in every way possible.

People are vulnerable through ignorance and gullible by choice. The flesh, their old, sinful nature, is always available and ready to be tickled and titivated. Satan knows how to lure them away from the truth by offering many promises without the small print!

For those who are in Christ, His representative, the Holy Spirit indwells us. He is committed to leading us into all truth. Since He is the Spirit of truth and since His Word is truth, He highlights the truth for us in His Word.

However, He cannot remind us of truth that is not already in our minds. Our safeguard against the perils of deception is to soak our minds God’s Word for the Holy Spirit to use to enlighten us and keep us on track with the Father.

John assures us that the Spirit and His work is not fake. We can trust Him to keep us out of harm’s way by teaching us whatever we need to know that is in line with The Father’s character and will.. Human teachers can easily mislead us but never the Holy Spirit. He will always be faithful to the Scriptures.

This does not mean that all human teachers are deceivers. It does mean that we always need to test what they teach by the standard of God’s Word and trust the Holy Spirit to help us understand and hold to the truth.