John 15:26

But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me: and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

This is the third of the five so-called Paraclete passages in John, so named because the Greek word [@parakletos]; translated "Comforter," is found in the first four of these passages. See under John 14:16,17. There is no contradiction in the fact of Jesus' sending the Comforter and the Father's sending him (see under John 15:23). Critics who see a contradiction in these passages have simply missed the main point of this Gospel, namely, that Christ and the Father are one.

Spirit of truth ... is another designation of the Comforter and stresses the function of completing the apostles' memory of all that Jesus had told them, the same being, in turn, all that God had told Jesus (John 15:15). There is an intimate connection here with John 15:15, making it impossible to think of this reference to the Comforter as an interpolation. This reference is absolutely necessary to understanding (1) how it will be possible for the apostles to deliver the total message of Christ to the world (John 15:15), and (2) how they are to realize such fruits of the Spirit as "peace" (John 14:27), "love" (John 15:10), "joy" (John 15:11), etc. This repeated mention of certain fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) in the verses leading up to this passage makes it certain that further reference to the blessed Comforter had been in Jesus' mind throughout the chapter.

Because ye have been with me from the beginning ... This has reference to a primary requirement for the office of an apostle (Acts 1:21,22); and the introduction of this clause by the word "because" shows that these teachings about the Holy Spirit have reference to apostles, and not to all Christians. It is true, of course, that Christians receive an earnest of the Holy Spirit; but it is simply not true, nor do the Scriptures teach it, that the Holy Spirit will guide Christians into all truth. The proof of this is apparent in the fact that "all truth" is something that cannot be accurately associated with ANY Christian! Note also the fact that the guidance into all truth (in the apostles) by the Spirit was to be accomplished by bringing to their remembrance whatsoever Jesus had said unto them (John 14:26). How could the Holy Spirit help just any Christian to "remember what Jesus had said unto him," when, as a matter of fact, the Christian has never heard Jesus say anything at all? Thus, this final clause becomes a key to understanding the Paraclete passages.