The relevant verses, which were all spoken by the Lord Jesus, are in John’s Gospel as below:
14v15-17 “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but ye know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you.”
14v25-26 “These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
15v26 “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, he shall testify of me.”
16v7-8 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”
16v13-15 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”
Question 1. Who did Jesus mean by “you” when addressing the disciples regarding the Comforter?
Answer: In understanding the Bible you always have to look at the context to see who spoke the words and who they refer to. If you read John c13 to 17 you will see that then Christ was alone with His disciples. His actions and the truth taught to them were very personal. He washed their feet and gave all sorts of great revelations of truth including about the soon arrival of the “Comforter” and about ‘abiding’ (i.e. resting, remaining) in Christ and closed in c17 with the personal prayer to the Father about Himself and for them and future believers in Him. In the context the “you” must refer to those disciples. However that all believers in Christ as Saviour receive the Holy Spirit is seen in Romans 8v7 and Ephesians 1v15. Do sincerely read John c13 to 17 and ask God to show you the truth. You will see that Jesus Christ was intimately talking to His disciples.
Question 2. In 1 John 4:6, the terms “the spirit of truth” and “the spirit of error” are used for human beings. Does this imply that the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, is a human?
Answer: The context of this passage “of truth” means that it has its source in truth, which is God, and that is what the apostles taught. Then there is the “of error” which means, again, that it has its source in error, which this time is the world and these were the false teachers. Those who were really born of God, that is those whom the Jesus Christ described in John 3v3 as “born again”, would accept the teachings of God through the apostles and so display the “spirit of (or the attitude which is characterized by) truth”. Those that rejected God’s teaching through the apostles and had other ideas, displayed the spirit (or again the attitude which is characterized by) of error with its source from the world and the devil.
Question 3. Since Jesus was a Comforter, shouldn’t the foretold “another” Comforter also be a man? Wouldn’t Muhammad be a better fit because he also was a man, like Jesus?
Answer: What made Jesus Christ a fit sacrifice for sins? Was it simply because He had a physical body and was a man, or was it because He was, as the Bible teaches, the holy Son of God? As you know it was because He was, and is, the holy Son of God. The Holy Spirit is also God, like Jesus Christ, because of His Divine nature and not because He has a body. This is seen in the following verses:
– 2 Corinthians 3v17 states “Now the Lord is the Spirit …” There is a relationship between the Spirit and the Lord, and both are said to dwell in the believer (see Romans 8:9-11).
– Hebrews 9v14 “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
– 1 Corinthians 2v11 “For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God.” The Holy Spirit is called here the “Spirit of God” and additionally as only God can fully know the things of God then the Holy Spirit must be God.
Also, apart from physical characteristics, how much do Jesus Christ and Muhammad have in common?
– Matthew 18v21-22 says, “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Did Muhammad say anything like that?
– The Lord Jesus healed the ear of a person who had come, with others, to wrongly arrest Him. “And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.” (Luke 22v51) Did Muhammad do anything like that?
– When speaking to His earthly judge, Pilate, “Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence {meaning “here” so His kingdom’s power and authority were not of this world}.” (John 18v36). Did Muhammad say anything, or behave, like that?
– After Jesus Christ was falsely accused (John 18v29-30 but no crime was stated, etc) and wrongfully treated including a terrible whipping (Matthew 27v26 etc) He was crucified (Mark 15v24-25 etc). Luke 23v34 records, “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” When Muhammad was being badly treated is there any record that he said anything like that?
– The Lord Jesus said, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” (Matthew 5v44) Did Muhammad say that?
– Christ did many miracles that others recognized, both friends (John 3v2 “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.”) and enemies (John 11v47 Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man does many miracles.”) Did Muhammad do miracles?
– John c17 was Jesus Christ’s prayer to God the Father that revealed His intimate relationship with His Father. Is there any record of Muhammad ever speaking similar prayers to Allah?
– It was said about Jesus Christ at His birth “… and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1v21). Not that these people shall save themselves by following His teachings but that He would save them by His power. Was that ever said about Muhammad?
– “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.” (1Peter 3v18) “And ye know that he {Christ} was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.” (1John 3v5) Did Muhammad die for your sins so that he might bring you to God?
– Mark 16v6 states, “And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted {or amazed}: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.” Has Muhammad risen from the dead?
The answer to all the questions of this section is no. So when it comes to character and actions Christ is totally different from, and far better than, Muhammad.
Question 4. Concerning the Trinity how can there be one God and yet three separate people?
Answer: I trust that the illustrations that had been given about an egg (being one complete whole and yet having the three separate parts of a shell, yoke and white) and a triangle (being one complete triangle and yet having three distinct sides) are a help in describing the Trinity. Also if you take one part or side away then the egg and triangle are no longer an egg or a triangle. As also mentioned this truth is clearly revealed in Matthew 28v19, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name {singular} of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” The truth of the One God and three separate Persons is displayed in a number of places as the examples below:
– Matthew 3v16-17 (see also Luke 3v21-22) “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” So at Jesus Christ’s baptism the Father spoke and the Holy Spirit descended as a dove.
– John 15v26, “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, he shall testify of me.”
– Acts 5v31-32, “Him {Jesus v30} hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.”
– 2 Corinthians 13v14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion {meaning fellowship} of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.”
Question 5. Could the term “Holy” in John in today’s text have come from a later addition made quite deliberately?
Answer: I am informed that there are hundreds of Greek manuscripts of John that pre-date Islam, and all of the earliest and most important Greek texts with this passage have “Holy” in them.
Question 6. The Spirit was present on earth before Christ’s birth and people were filled with the Spirit (Elizabeth in Luke 1v41 and Zechariah in Luke 1v67), so, if the Holy Spirit were already present on Earth, even during Jesus time, then how could the Comforter be the Holy Spirit? Remember, Jesus said that He needed to depart before the Comforter could come.
Answer: The receiving of the Comforter by the disciples eclipsed the previous “filling” or “moving” that others before them had experienced. The Comforter would “guide you into all truth” but also “he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me” and “he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you” (16v13-15) and 14v17 shows “he … shall be in you” and Romans 8v9 shows that this would be permanent, “…Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” This was more than what previous believers had known. Also He would be the power for witnessing to Christ as Acts 1v8 says, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (See also 1 Corinthians 2v4). The disciples’ would experience greater help from the Holy Spirit as well as continuing to have Christ with them. Hebrews 13v5 “Let your conversation (meaning manner of life) be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” The Holy Spirit would also be the power for living: “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5v25) and “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6v18).
Question 7. If the Comforter is the Holy Spirit, then why did Jesus have to leave in order for Him to come? After all, the Holy Spirit was already present in men’s lives during Christ’s time, reference to John 16v7-8.
Answer: After the death and resurrection the Holy Spirit’s work was going to expand both as to breadth in the world and depth in believers’ lives. In John 20v22 Jesus Christ “… breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” A little later in Acts c1v8 the Lord Jesus said, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (italics mine.) This was seen in Acts c2v1-36. As it was not the Holy Spirit’s work to make God’s eternal salvation available by dying for sins and rising again, so it was not the work of the Lord Jesus to bring home its truth and make it effective in the lives of those that believed in Him. Also while the Holy Spirit does “reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (16v8) but God has provided a way of everlasting escape from sin’s consequences. This He made available through Jesus Christ, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree {a description of the cross}” (1 Peter 2v24).
SUMMARY
Several proofs, as follows, have been given that establish that the Comforter cannot be Muhammad:
- The use of various Bible verses.
- The context of the Bible verses.
- The comparison of Jesus Christ with Muhammad.
- Jesus Christ’s prediction of the Comforter coming to the disciples being fulfilled at Pentecost.
CONCLUSION
Therefore the only Person Who could fulfill every verse mentioned above, about the Comforter, is the Holy Spirit. He came during Pentecost (Acts c2), and continues to reveal Christ and that, “In whom (Christ) we have … the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1v7) and help Christians in their living.