"But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send ..." (John 14:25-26)

"All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:25-26)

Is 'the Advocate' the Holy Spirit?

Jesus details that the 'Advocate' is none other than the 'Holy Spirit.' Who is the Holy Spirit?

From Jesus, we find that the Holy Spirit is an extension of the Supreme Being, who can be with each of us ("whom the Father will send"). While people in the physical world can only be in one place at a time, the Supreme Being has the ability to expand Himself without limits.

The Supreme Being can expand Himself and be next to each of us at any time. This ability to expand Himself does not diminish Him. His expansions also have all of His unlimited powers and abilities as the Omnipresent and Supremely loving and merciful God and Best Friend of all of us.

What about "the Advocate?" The word "Advocate" is derived from the Greek word παράκλητος (paraklētos). This Greek word has been translated to "the Helper" and "the Counselor" among the different Bible translations.* This variation of descriptions indicates how puzzling Jesus' description can be. The word can mean someone who advocates for someone else - but in this instance, who would the expansion of the Supreme Being need to advocate to? There is no one superior to God.

Therefore, "Advocate" is not an appropriate translation. The more appropriate translation in the context Jesus is discussing - the Holy Spirit - is "Counselor." The Supreme Being can provide counseling to us at any time, should we reach out to Him and request His help.

Jesus is illustrating his role as God's messenger.

Why does Jesus 'send' the Holy Spirit?

The phrase "in my name" is derived from the key Greek word ὄνομα (onoma). This can mean "in my name" according to the lexicon, but it can also mean, "on my behalf" or "on my account" according to Thayer's lexicon.

For God to send His expansion the Holy Spirit "in my name" is confusing and not in the context of Jesus' statement. However, to say "on my behalf" gives this statement meaning.

It means that God is "sending" His Holy Spirit because of the connection between Jesus and his followers. In other words, there is a relationship between Jesus and God, and because of this relationship, God helps those who follow Jesus.

The word "send" is also a bit literal, because the Supreme Being is always next to each of us. The Greek word πέμπω (pempō) can certainly mean "send" but also "one thing to another" and "rhetorically personified" according to Thayer's lexicon.

What is being sent, in other words, is God's personal counseling in the form of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is suggesting that God will reveal Himself for those who follow Jesus' teachings.

What is the Holy Trinity?

Jesus' statement relates directly to what many have described as the "Holy Trinity."

The concept of "Holy Spirit" brings up a critical part of the Nicene Creed. This is the concept of the so-called "Holy Trinity" - the "Father, Son and the Holy Spirit" (originally translated to "Ghost" but in many translations* (such as NIV), has recently been changed to "Spirit.")

In the fourth and fifth centuries, the Emperors of Rome including Constantine and Theodosius - made a concerted effort to galvanize and control the populations of Europe and the Middle East. Part of their strategy was to organize and control Christianity. This was accomplished in part by combining with the worship of Mithra, the sun god.

This is why, for example, Christmas is celebrated on December 25. This was the date that Mithra's appearance was celebrated by the Romans long before Jesus' appearance. 

We also find that Easter was celebrated in the spring long before Jesus' crucifixion. The Romans also celebrated the idol goddess named Ēostre in the springtime. This celebration was also coordinated with Mithra's departure - and sacrifice This is also why the new Catholic sect was organized in Rome - because Mithra worship was centered in Rome. 

Indeed, the communion was understood to have been a Mithra ritual. Justin Martyr recorded this more than a century earlier:
"Which the wicked devils have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same things to be done. For, that bread and a cup of water are placed, with certain incantations, in the mystic rites of one who is being initiated, you either know or can learn."
The goal of the Roman emperor was to create a single religious cult controlled by Rome. This would allow the Roman emperor to effectively control the people of the Roman Empire, which soon became the Holy Roman Empire after Rome's military control over the region gave way to religious control.

The plan largely worked. Even though the Roman Empire eventually crumbled, the surrogate of the Empire, the Roman Catholic Church, continued its control over the religious part of the population.

This plan allowed the Roman surrogate institution to maintain a grip over the Middle East and Europe for over one thousand years by utilizing the Roman Catholic Church to control not only religious people, but also to dictate to the kings and queens of France, England and elsewhere.

For centuries after the Roman Empire collapsed, if a king or queen was not given approval by the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope, that king or queen would lose authority. It was only in later centuries after the Protestants and Lutherans were able to wrest this dictatorial control over these societies.

This control over much of the Christian world and the surrogacy of the Roman Catholic Church to the Roman government continues even to this day as the Vatican is considered an independent state from Italy, has its own bank, and controls its own land and vast wealth. It is by most definitions still an empire.

Prior to Constantine's organization of the church, the Christian world was made up of innumerable small communities and churches.

Constantine assembled a small group of the more politically-minded ecclesiastical leaders from around Europe and formed the first Council of Nicaea. He dictated that the group had to develop a single doctrine that would communicate a single interpretation to the whole of Europe and the Middle East under Rome's rule. 

The members of the First Council argued for some time as they struggled to develop a single creed. A power play then broke out between two main philosophical factions - one that leaned towards the concept of a personal God sending Jesus as a messenger - and another of God being a vague force with Jesus being God incarnated.

This latter philosophy won Constantine's favor, and the subsequent political power play drove out or forced the dissenting leaders to agree, and the Nicene Creed was written - and brutally enforced for over fifteen centuries.

This "Nicene Creed" stated that God was basically a vague entity made up of three parts, a Holy Spirit - a vague ghost-like being - the Father and the Son: And while Jesus was the "Son", he was also the Father incarnated, who "died for our sins."

Even today among all the various sects of modern Christianity, the Nicene Creed remains the foundation doctrine of their philosophies. This is despite the fact that many of the bishops (representatives) at the First Council of Nicaea disagreed with this doctrine.

Does the Nicene Creed ignore the Supreme Being?

Yes, the Supreme Being was left out of the equation in the Nicene Creed. The combination of three leaves no separate personality - the Supreme Being - from Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

The doctrine essentially created what could be called a polytheistic model - of there being essentially three gods, one of which - the Father - is more of a vague force.

This philosophy is diametrically opposed to Jesus' teachings. Jesus' most important instruction was to love God and to do God's will. He also prayed to God frequently and frequently referred to God personally as a separate individual:
"My teaching is not my own. It comes from Him who sent me." (John 7:16).
How can a person love a vague force? How can a vague force have a message and a will? How can a vague force send someone, and love someone?

While professing such a polytheistic combination, the Nicene Creed and the Roman Catholic Church formed based on it, effectively erased God's separate existence from their teachings. The doctrine gives license to a theory that Jesus is God incarnated.

Could Jesus be God incarnated?

The Nicene Creed dictated and overseen by the Roman government - effectively created an icon: Jesus Christ. And they identified him in a way that contradicted Jesus' very teachings. For example, Jesus said:
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work." (John 4:34)

"By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me." (John 5:30)

"For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me." (John 6:38)

"Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me." (John 6:57)

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" (Matt. 7:21-23)

"For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it." (John 12:49)

"So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say." (John 12:50)
These statements and so many others indicate clearly that Jesus is not God incarnated. If Jesus is God incarnated then he would not say these things. He would have said (from the above verses):

"My food is to do my will..."

"By myself I can do everything..."

"... only he who does my will..."

"For I have come down from heaven to do my will..."

"Just as I sent myself..."

"I speak of my own accord."

"So I am God."


These are the kinds of things that Jesus would have said if he were God incarnated. Why would God lie about Himself and pretend He was someone else?

Jesus never, ever said he was God. Why couldn't Jesus ever admit that he was God if he were truly God incarnated? Would he need to play word games in order to hint that he was God but not say it clearly? Why would Jesus not speak clearly about this fundamental issue?

That reality is that he did speak clearly, as the above verses and so many others indicate.

Why would God have to come to the earth to die for our sins?

Why would the Supreme Being ever have to come to the earth and "die" on the cross in order to save people from their sins? Does God have to be sacrificed, as if God is some kind of sacrificial lamb?

This is total fiction. God never has to follow the rules of sacrifice. The rules of sacrifice are facilities to help us come closer to God. God does not have to abide by those rules.

God can forgive us our sins with a simple thought. This is why Jesus instructed his students to ask God directly for forgiveness in the Lord's prayer: "Forgive us our sins...." (Luke 11:4)

If our sins could only be forgiven by God coming down to the earth and dying on the cross, then why would Jesus instruct his students to ask God to forgive their sins?

How are people forgiven their sins?

The Nicene Creed and the subsequent philosophy states that Jesus' crucifixion cleanses our sins - even automatically, as long as we accept it.

This fictional interpretation - which Jesus never taught - means that no one prior to Jesus' crucifixion could have been forgiven of their sins prior to Jesus. This is despite David writing in one of his Psalms:
Help us, O God our Savior, for the glory of Your Name; deliver us and forgive our sins for Your Name's sake. (Psalm 79:9)
This verse clearly indicates that God can forgive us our sins. It also states that God's Holy Names have the power to purify our consciousness.

Furthermore, we find that Jesus himself taught his own followers to ask God to forgive our sins in his Lord's Prayer:
" 'Our Father in heaven ... forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. (Matthew 6:12 NLT)
The entire concept of "sins" as spoken by the various teachers spoken of in the Bible has been misconstrued. To "sin" is to act with self-centered consciousness, as opposed to acting in a way that is pleasing to God.

This is confirmed by the meaning of the Greek word translated to sin according to the lexicon: "to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honor, to do or go wrong - to wander from the law of God..."

The "law of God" relates to what is pleasing to God. To do something that is not pleasing to God relates to only being focused on what is pleasing to us. This is sin: acting with self-centered consciousness.

This means that being "cleansed" of our sins means for our consciousness to become purified. Our consciousness becomes purified by focusing our lives and our love upon God rather than upon ourselves. This purifies our consciousness, and our activities become focused on pleasing God. This is the only purpose of purification.

To have our sins forgiven for a moment and then returning to a self-centered life has little value.

In fact, the whole ritual of "being forgiven by the blood of Jesus" as wine or grape juice is passed around is offensive if the focus is only self-centered. 

The torture and murder of Jesus' body was in itself an offensive act on the part of the Romans and the institutional temple priests who recommended it, and those who try to utilize Jesus' torture for their own benefit of being purified so they can continue a self-centered life without guilt is offensive to both Jesus and God.

Is the Supreme Being a Person?

Only a person can be loved.

The reality is, God is a Person, and Jesus taught his students to come to know and love this personal Supreme Being, God. Jesus is not God, but he is God's representative. 

Therefore, to understand Jesus' commitment to God as he allowed his body to be tortured for God's teachings does have the power to bring about a purification of our consciousness, should we realize how committed Jesus was to God - how much he loved the Supreme Being.

It is this relationship with God that Jesus' discussion above relates to. Jesus was telling his closest disciples that after having been teaching them directly ("All this I have spoken while still with you.") after his body will be murdered and he returns to the spiritual realm, God will continue to be with them, assuming they continue to follow his teachings. This is confirmed by his saying:
"But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."
While people can imagine that the Holy Spirit is some separate entity from the Supreme Being, this comes from those who are locked within the perceptions borne by the physical world and these temporary physical bodies.

The Greek word παράκλητος (paraklētos) refers to coming to one's aid or helping a person: "summoned, called to one's side, esp. called to one's aid" according to the lexicon.

The Greek word πνεῦμα (pneuma) means not just a "spirit" as a ghost or other entity, but rather, the essence of a person. We also translate this same word to "soul" as in "our soul" meaning our essence or vitality. And ἅγιος (hagios), translated to "Holy," relates to Godlike - or from God.

Because παράκλητος (paraklētos) refers the ability of God to help or aid someone, we can simply understand that Jesus was referring to God's ability to reach out to us and come to our assistance. 

We can relate to this ability for God to expand Himself in order for our mind to digest it. But in reality, the Supreme Being's ability to communicate and be with each of us where ever we go is part of His ultimate power and authority over the physical and spiritual worlds.

This power of God's is beyond the capacity of the human mind to conceive.

Is God our Eternal Companion?

As Jesus indicates, the Supreme Being is always with us. The reason we cannot see Him is that we do not want to see Him. We want to get away from Him. We want to ignore Him. So He has created a virtual physical world and these physical bodies for us to hide from Him and ignore Him for a while. This is why the body's physical eyes cannot see Him and the physical mind cannot perceive Him.

But if we follow Jesus' teachings by coming to love the Supreme Being and do God's will, we will be able to see Him again. He will be there to help us and guide us because He is always there for us.

Our ability to turn to God and rekindle our relationship with Him is known from the teachings of His representative, sent by God to also show us how it is done. This is why Jesus says "in my name" - because by our following Jesus' teachings, we learn to develop our relationship with Jesus' Beloved, God. Jesus is being a facilitator to that relationship.

So what Jesus is talking about with παράκλητος (paraklētos) and ἅγιος (hagios) πνεῦμα (pneuma), is God's expansive facility - His ability - to guide us and help us. This facility of the Supreme Being has the ability to, as Jesus confirms:
"teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."
This ability to teach and remind us of Jesus' teachings is a faculty. It is a power. It is also outside of our mind's ability to perceive it. It must, therefore, be accepted as spiritual and outside our scope of mental speculation. It must be accepted from the teachings of God's messenger.

As this has been explained, God's expansive faculty can be compared to the sun's ability to heat up the earth. The heat from the sun can travel to the earth and heat it up but this heat is still inseparable from the sun itself. The sun's heat is part of the sun.

In the same way, God's ability or faculty to guide us and teach us is inseparable from His Person. It is a characteristic of this same Person - the Supreme Being. This is the Person Jesus wants us to give our lives to and love with all our being:
“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matt. 22:37-38)


*Here is the translation of Jesus' statement from the Lost Gospels of Jesus:
"These things I have spoken to you while I remain with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit – whom the Creator will send in my name – He will teach you everything and remind you of everything I said to you.” (John 14:25-26)