=16, 17. My teaching is not mine, but his that sent me.= For _doctrine_ read _teaching_; for not merely the subject-matter taught, but the power with which it was presented, was divine. _My teaching is not mine_ is not a hyperbole. It is not merely equivalent to “not acquired by any labor on my part in learning” (_Bengel_), or “not an invention of my own” (_Geikie_). Neither in origin nor in aim was Christ’s teaching his own. Ever about his Father’s business, he was ever teaching his Father’s words and doing his Father’s works (ch. 5:19, 30). In a sense every true Christian teacher should be able to repeat this saying of Christ (chaps. 14:26; 16:13). It does not follow that the Christian teacher need not be a Christian student; but it does follow that he should be a student only of those things which enable him better to understand and interpret the Father’s will and nature. Only so far as schools of theological thought help him to do this are they truly Christian schools.--=If any one wills to do his will, he shall know concerning the teaching, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself.= An often misunderstood declaration. The promise is not that if any man does God’s will all theology shall be made clear to him, nor even that he shall be brought to a correct apprehension of the most important truths of the Christian system. The last clause qualifies the first; the declaration is that if any man purposes to do God’s will, _makes that his ultimate and supreme choice_ (1 Tim. 6:11-16), he shall know respecting Christianity _whether it is of divine or human origin_. The declaration is both a promise and the enunciation of a spiritual law. The purpose to do God’s will itself clarifies the spiritual sight, so that the soul recognizes the Spirit of God in the life, the character, and the teachings of his Son. The degree of advancement which one subsequently makes in comprehending the full significance of those teachings will depend partly upon the purity of his spiritual purposes, but partly upon other conditions. Not the mere outward obedience to God’s commandments, but a true spiritual purpose, is declared to be the condition of spiritual light; and to that purpose is attached, not a promise of _all_ light, but only of so much as will enable the soul to know the source from which it may obtain constantly increasing illumination. Nevertheless, the first step toward the solution of any theological difficulty whatever, is repentance of sin and practical obedience to the voice of God in the soul. Except a man be born again he cannot _see_ the kingdom of God. 18 He[269] that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that[270] seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. [269] ch. 8:50. [270] Prov. 25:27. 19 Did not Moses[271] give you the law, and _yet_ none[272] of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill[273] me?