The Proper Touchstone
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things."
JOHN 14:26
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The Proper Touchstone
Our whole quarrel with all these factions revolves about their claim that they have the Holy Spirit and that therefore they should be believed. It is our lot to be constantly locked in combat with the devil and false spirits. But if we view this verse and others aright, we can judge properly and refute everything that opposes it. Let them advance whatever doctrine they will; I know well what my Lord Christ says and what I must believe. If someone comes with a doctrine allegedly taught and revealed by the Holy Spirit, I cling to this Word and apply it to his doctrine as the proper touchstone. If I see that it agrees with the words of Christ, I consider it true and good. But if it deviates from them and presents something else, I declare: "You are not the Holy Spirit; you are the devil! For the true Spirit comes in the name of no one else than Christ, and He teaches nothing but what Christ said."
From Sermons on the Gospel of John, Chapters 14-16,(Luther's Works 24:176-77)
JOHN 14:26
+
The Proper Touchstone
Our whole quarrel with all these factions revolves about their claim that they have the Holy Spirit and that therefore they should be believed. It is our lot to be constantly locked in combat with the devil and false spirits. But if we view this verse and others aright, we can judge properly and refute everything that opposes it. Let them advance whatever doctrine they will; I know well what my Lord Christ says and what I must believe. If someone comes with a doctrine allegedly taught and revealed by the Holy Spirit, I cling to this Word and apply it to his doctrine as the proper touchstone. If I see that it agrees with the words of Christ, I consider it true and good. But if it deviates from them and presents something else, I declare: "You are not the Holy Spirit; you are the devil! For the true Spirit comes in the name of no one else than Christ, and He teaches nothing but what Christ said."
From Sermons on the Gospel of John, Chapters 14-16,(Luther's Works 24:176-77)
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