In the unseen, intangible, yet very real spiritual world intersecting with our material one, God works through His unique and set-apart Holy Spirit—the Ruach HaQodesh. As followers of Messiah, it is essential to learn about the Ruach for our understanding of how to live spiritually in the Master. We need the Ruach HaQodesh in order to latch us to the risen Yeshua, anchor us to our Creator, and make real in our hearts and minds the guarantee of our salvation.

One of the Ruach’s most important roles in our lives, as revealed by Yeshua Himself, is as the Spirit of Truth—the Ruach Ha’Emet. The Master says,

“I will ask the Father, and He will give to you another Advocate, so that He may be with you—to the age: the Ruach Ha’Emet… He remains with you, and will be in you…. [The] Advocate—the Ruach HaQodesh… will teach you all things, and remind you of all things that I said to you.” (Yochanan 14:16-17&26, mjlt)

Yeshua teaches us that the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of Truth, is our “Advocate” (some translations say “Helper,” “Comforter” or “Counselor”). The underlying Greek means “someone who is called to your side”—someone to give you aid, help or comfort, or, in this case, to stand with you as would a lawyer or advocate on your behalf. And the Master says that the Father gives us the Spirit of Truth to be “another Advocate” for us, implying that there is a first Advocate. That first Advocate is, of course, Yeshua, as is confirmed by 1 Yochanan 2:1, “But if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father: Yeshua the Messiah….” The Ruach, then, is another Advocate in addition to Yeshua.

The Master teaches us that the reason we need this other Advocate is so that someone can be with us—can be in us—and remain with us while Yeshua has “go[ne] on to prepare a place” for us in the Father’s house (Yochanan 14:2). Since Yeshua has ascended to the right hand of the Father, we now wait for His return. But while He is away, the Father has given us the Holy Spirit to stand in for Yeshua until He comes again. The Spirit of Truth, then, continues Yeshua’s work within us—in Yeshua’s Name, on Yeshua’s behalf—by standing with us and advocating for what is true. The Ruach does this by teaching us and reminding us in our hearts, minds and spirits of the testimony of Yeshua and the truth of His word.

Yeshua further reiterates this role of the Ruach HaQodesh in another passage, explaining how the Spirit of Truth will continue to speak Yeshua’s word and to guide us into all truth.

“I still have many things to say to you…. But when He comes—the Ruach Ha’Emet—He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak from Himself, but He will speak as many things as He will hear…. He will take of what is Mine and will tell it to you.” (Yochanan 16:12-14, mjlt)

So the Spirit of Truth—acting as an advocate for us on Yeshua’s behalf, and guiding us into all truth—has been given to us so that Yeshua can continue to teach and speak to us through His word. One of the most important functions of the Ruach, then, is to hold Yeshua’s place within us while He is away preparing our home with the Father. The Holy Spirit is, as Paul puts it, a “down-payment” on that everlasting residence.

“…having believed [in Messiah], you were sealed with the Ruach HaQodesh of the promise (who is a down-payment of our inheritance, towards the redemption of that acquired possession), to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14, mjlt)

The Ruach HaQodesh seals us with a promise: that in Yeshua, our eternal inheritance with Him awaits. One day, we will fully acquire that possession and receive our redemption. But until then, we have been given the Ruach as a down-payment so that we can start living in the Kingdom of God today.

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