“A testimony of the divinity of Christ and of the saving power of his gospel is not bestowed automatically because of family relationship.
“… Though they were reared in the same household and came under the benign influence of Joseph and Mary, though they were aware of the teachings, ministry, and miracles of Jesus himself, yet these his close relatives had not so far accepted him as the Messiah. However, all of them, apparently, were converted later (Acts 1:14)” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1965–73], 1:437).
“Frequent special reference is made to the sons of Joseph and Mary as the ‘brethren’ of Jesus, though in fact they were his half-brothers. (Matt. 12:46; 13:55; John 2:12; Acts 1:14; 1 Cor. 9:5.) Though they were reared in the same household and came under the benign influence of Joseph and Mary, though they were aware of the teachings, ministry, and miracles of Jesus himself, yet these his close relatives had not so far accepted him as the Messiah. However, all of them, apparently, were converted later (Acts 1:14); one of them, identified by Paul as ‘James the Lord’s brother’ (Gal. 1:19), was to minister in the holy apostleship; and yet another, Judas, who calls himself, ‘Jude, the … brother of James’ (Jude 1), wrote the epistle of Jude” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1965–73], 1:437).
“We acquire a testimony of the principles of the gospel by obediently trying to live them. … A testimony of the efficacy of prayer comes through humble and sincere prayer. A testimony of tithing comes by paying tithing” (“Lord, I Believe; Help Thou Mine Unbelief,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2003, 22).
“Sometimes we try to do it backward. For example, we may take this approach: I will be happy to live the law of tithing, but first I need to know that it’s true. Maybe we even pray to gain a testimony of the law of tithing and hope the Lord will bless us with that testimony before we have ever filled out a tithing slip. It just doesn’t work that way. The Lord expects us to exercise faith. We have to consistently pay a full and honest tithe in order to gain a testimony of tithing. This same pattern applies to all the principles of the gospel, whether it is the law of chastity, the principle of modesty, the Word of Wisdom, or the law of the fast” (“Be Ye Converted,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2013, 77).
“In John 7:39, we read a parenthetical comment from John, explaining that the ‘living water’ the Savior mentioned in John 7:38 refers to the Holy Ghost, whose main mission is to testify of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The Savior’s imagery of ‘living water’ drew upon a long Israelite tradition that water represented important spiritual truths. In the arid climate of the ancient Near East, access to water was crucial for survival, and the scarcity of water made it both a valuable resource and a powerful symbol. The Lord saved Israel in Horeb when Moses miraculously brought forth water out of a rock (see Exodus 17; Numbers 20). The Old Testament prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel used water as a symbol of the Lord’s Spirit, provident care, and healing power (see Isaiah 41:17–18; 58:11; Jeremiah 2:13; Ezekiel 47:1–12).
“The Savior’s promise that those who believed in Him would at some future time have ‘living water’ within them reflected the fact that ‘the Holy Ghost was not yet given’ (John 7:39). ‘For some reason not fully explained in the scriptures, the Holy Ghost did not operate in the fulness among the Jews during the years of Jesus’ mortal sojourn (John 7:39; 16:7). Statements to the effect that the Holy Ghost did not come until after Jesus was resurrected must of necessity refer to that particular dispensation only, for it is abundantly clear that the Holy Ghost was operative in earlier dispensations. Furthermore, it has reference only to the gift of the Holy Ghost not being present, since the power of the Holy Ghost was operative during the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus; otherwise no one would have received a testimony of the truths that these men taught (Matt. 16:16–17; see also 1 Cor. 12:3)’ (Bible Dictionary, ‘Holy Ghost’)” (New Testament Student Manual [Church Educational System manual, 2014], 224).