The Abiding Comforter (Rewritten)

[Jesus said:] “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you." — John 14:15-17 NRSV. 

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Many people who read the New Testament struggle to find the sharp, instantaneous spiritual transition that modern advocates of Christian perfection insist should follow conversion. And honestly, that confusion makes sense. It usually comes from failing to recognize that several biblical ideas are actually pointing to the same spiritual reality: the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the fullness of the Spirit, the anointing that teaches and remains, and the promised abiding Comforter (παράκλητος). 

When Jesus promised the Comforter, He was not talking about someone whose sole job was emotional consolation. The Greek word παράκλητος (paraklētos) carries a much broader meaning. It can just as accurately be translated helper, advocate, teacher, guide, or counselor.

For the purposes of this essay, we will use the older term "Comforter." But, remember: It carries with it a wealth of meaning.

More Love, More Power

Another element of power inwrought by the Holy Spirit is love. We have all heard the phrase made classic in Christian literature by Dr. Chalmers' title to one of his sermons "The Expulsive Power of a New Affection."

A man's spiritual foes are chiefly of his own natural heart. He needs a power to bind these enemies and cast them out before he can have perfect peace. This power is love, not merely the natural affection for kindred and friends, but that supernatural affection "shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit," causing our whole being to move God-ward and man-ward, because man wears the image of God.