86 - The Spirit of Truth

There’s a great difference between being informed and conformed. Being informed means to receive knowledge. Our minds learn something we didn’t know. But to be conformed involves being changed from one thing into another. It’s what happens to a lump of clay when it’s pushed into a mold. It takes on an entirely different appearance; one that was determined by someone else. First the clay has to be moistened with water. Then it’s kneaded until it becomes soft and pliable, and finally it’s pressed into a mold and allowed to harden until it retains the image even after the mold is removed. God’s plan for each of us is not only to inform us, but to conform us until we become like Jesus. Listen, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined [to become] conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the first-born among many brethren…” (Ro 8:29).

That means, before God made the world He knew those who would become righteous by faith. That means He knew your name and mine long before we were born, and decided way back then what kind of person we would become. His desire was to form a great family made up of people whose character, and even glory, was like that of His only begotten Son. That means He predestined us to become morally pure, selfless, faithful, bold, and full of the Holy Spirit. Like that lump of clay, He intends to press each one of us into the mold of His Son. And you’ll notice that He doesn’t ask our opinion or seek our permission, though it’s true we can resist the process until it becomes very painful and takes a long time. But we can’t change the outcome; not if we’re His children, and frankly, who would want to? He won’t change the unique way He has designed us. He loves variety, and places it in everything He creates. But when it comes to our character and the direction of our lives there is only one mold: His beloved Son.

At that moment, somewhere in Jerusalem on Passover night, as Jesus was speaking to His disciples, that group of men did not look like a fearless band of missionaries about to carry the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth. Not one of them was bold enough to stir up all the persecution Jesus was warning them about. They looked like eleven frightened people wondering what was going to happen to them if Jesus really left them as He said He would. But Jesus was able to look beyond that moment. He saw the change that would take place in them after they were baptized with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. So He confidently assured them, “When the Helper (Paraklete) comes, whom I will send to you from beside the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who comes from beside the Father, that One will bear witness about Me…” (literal).

And then He added this, “… and you will also bear witness that you [have been] with Me from the beginning” (literal). He was so sure that they would boldly go out and tell the world about Him, that He knew that they would bring upon themselves the persecution He had been describing. Why could He be so sure? He knew the plan. The Father had predestined them to be conformed into His image. That’s why He would send “the Spirit of Truth.”