John Calvin Commentary John 15:26

"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me:" — John 15:26 (ASV)

But when the Comforter is come. After explaining to the apostles that the Gospel should not be valued less by them, even though it has many adversaries, even within the Church itself, Christ now, in opposition to the wicked fury of those men, presents the testimony of the Spirit. If their consciences rest on this testimony, they will never be shaken.

It is as if He had said, “True, the world will rage against you; some will mock, and others will curse your doctrine. But none of their attacks will be so violent as to shake the firmness of your faith when the Holy Spirit has been given to you to establish you by His testimony.”

Indeed, when the world rages on all sides, our only protection is that the truth of God, sealed by the Holy Spirit on our hearts, despises and defies all that is in the world. For if our faith were subject to the opinions of men, it would be overwhelmed a hundred times a day.

Therefore, we should carefully observe how we are to remain firm among so many storms. It is because we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we may know the things which have been given to us by God (1 Corinthians 2:12).

This single witness powerfully drives away, scatters, and overturns all that the world raises up to obscure or crush the truth of God. All who are endowed with this Spirit are so far from being in danger of falling into despondency because of the world's hatred or contempt, that each of them will obtain a glorious victory over the whole world.

Yet we must be careful not to rely on the good opinion of men. For as long as faith wanders in this manner, or rather, as soon as it has gone out of the sanctuary of God, it will inevitably become entangled in miserable uncertainty. Therefore, it must be brought back to the inward and secret testimony of the Spirit, which believers know has been given to them from heaven.

The Spirit is said to testify of Christ because He retains and fixes our faith on Him alone, so that we do not seek any part of our salvation elsewhere. He also calls Him the Comforter, so that, relying on His protection, we may never be alarmed. For by this title Christ intended to fortify our faith, so that it does not yield to any temptations.

When He calls Him the Spirit of truth, we must apply this term to the matter at hand. For we must presuppose a contrast to this effect: when men do not have this Witness, they are carried about in various ways and have no firm resting-place. But wherever He speaks, He delivers the minds of men from all doubt and fear of being deceived.

When He says that He will send Him from the Father, and again, that He proceeds from the Father, He does so to increase the weight of His (the Spirit's) authority. For the testimony of the Spirit would not be sufficient against such powerful attacks and such numerous and fierce efforts, if we were not convinced that He proceeds from God.

So then, it is Christ who sends the Spirit, but it is from the heavenly glory, so that we may know that it is not a human gift, but a sure pledge of Divine grace. Hence it becomes clear how futile was the subtlety of the Greeks when they argued, based on these words, that the Spirit does not proceed from the Son. For here Christ, according to His custom, mentions the Father to raise our eyes to the contemplation of His Divinity.