1 John 2:20 says, “But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.” A believer has been born again through the work of the Holy Spirit. Does this anointing imply believers do not need anyone to teach them? How does this anointing teach a believer all things?
1 John 4:2 explains the “all things” means enabling a believer to believe and confess the truth about Jesus as the Son of God who came in the flesh to die for us. 1 John 4:4 shows that only through believing in the Lord Jesus can believers overcome sin and the world. This is because the Holy Spirit residing in them is greater than the devil in the world.
Who then is the Holy Spirit? His full deity is established in texts like Matthew 28:19, where believers are to be baptised in the Name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, pointing to their unity and co-equality in the Godhead.
What is the role of the Holy Spirit? 1 John 2:20 implies believers are initiated into life within the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit, sealed and marked by Him as belonging to God, bearing His Trinitarian Name.
1 John 5:6 says, “The Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the Truth.” Together with the God the Father, God the Spirit testifies to God the Son. John 16:13-14 says, “But when he—the Spirit of truth—comes, he will guide you into all the truth . . . He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and will proclaim it to you.” As the Spirit of Truth, He inspires the Scripture. His intent is to glorify Christ, pointing and leading us to Him.
How may we respond to the Holy Spirit? 1 John 4:27 is not a promised instant “hot line” to heaven, but a call to know Him through His word. The Holy Spirit’s gifts and power are not separated from His role and who He is as God. To seek His working is to hunger and rely on Him. To hunger and rely on Him is to study His word diligently. And His word must point us to Christ. He comes to testify of Christ. Hence let us honour and glorify Him by prayerfully looking to Him to help us find Christ in His word.