John Calvin Commentary John 14:17

"[even] the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive; for it beholdeth him not, neither knoweth him: ye know him; for he abideth with you, and shall be in you." — John 14:17 (ASV)

The Spirit of truth. Christ bestows on the Spirit another title, namely, that He is the Master or Teacher of truth. It follows, therefore, that until we have been inwardly instructed by Him, the understandings of all of us are seized with vanity and falsehood.

Whom the world cannot receive. This contrast shows the distinctive excellence of that grace which God bestows on none but His elect, for He means that it is no ordinary gift that the world is deprived of. In this sense, too, Isaiah says, “For, the darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the people, but the Lord shall arise on thee, O Jerusalem!” For the mercy of God towards the Church deserves even higher praise when He exalts the Church, by a distinguished privilege, above the whole world.

And yet Christ exhorts the disciples not to be puffed up, as the world is accustomed to be, by carnal views, and thus drive away from themselves the grace of the Spirit. All that Scripture tells us about the Holy Spirit is regarded by worldly people as a dream, because, trusting in their own reason, they despise heavenly illumination.

Now, though this pride abounds everywhere, extinguishing—as far as it lies in our power—the light of the Holy Spirit, yet, conscious of our own poverty, we should know that whatever belongs to sound understanding proceeds from no other source. Yet Christ’s words show that nothing relating to the Holy Spirit can be learned by human reason, but that He is known only by the experience of faith.

The world, He says, cannot receive the Spirit, because it knoweth him not; but you know him, because he dwelleth with you. It is the Spirit alone, therefore, who, by dwelling in us, makes Himself known to us; for otherwise, He is unknown and incomprehensible.