But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. John 16:7-15
Some Christians mistakenly think that it is the Holy Spirit’s role to convict us of our sin. Actually I think that most Christians think this way!
I heard something that was preached on this and decided to study it out for myself. I found that what I heard from this teacher was actually true. When I say that the Spirit is convicting me of sin, I am accusing the Spirit of doing something that He cannot and will not do. Doing something opposite to what God the father and Jesus the Son is doing
That is a bold statement, but please bear with me.
I looked up the word conviction in a dictionary and it is interesting There are 3 definitions, 2 are close almost the same.
1 : a strong belief or opinion political convictions. 2 : the state of mind of a person who is sure that what he or she believes or says is true She spoke with conviction.
3 : the act of proving or finding guilty in a court: the state of being proven guilty, then Judgement is passed and punishment dealt out.
We say that the Spirit convicted me of sin of wrong thoughts or actions, How can this be? Because as a believer I have already been forgiven of ALL my sin. There is only one sin that the Spirit convicts of.
As John tells us the Spirit convicts the world of sin, because they do not believe in Jesus. If we believe in Jesus. Of righteousness because God proved the righteousness of Jesus by tacking Him back to heaven. Of Judgement because the world and the ruler of this world has been judged already. Conviction, realisation of what is right and judgement, condemnation.
The Spirit has already done it’s job to us. As Jesus proclaimed as He was dying, ‘It is finished.’
God says that He has, Removed our sin from us, as far as the east is from the west. Psalm 103:12
God does not even remember our sin. That is the marvellous, wonderful truth we have through Jesus’ sacrifice. One sacrifice for all sin, for all time. If you keep on being reminded of sin that you have committed in the past, it is not the Holy Spirit reminding you.
It is more likely that it is the enemy reminding us, to condemn us. To make us feel condemned and unworthy and down on ourselves. Telling us that God will not be happy with us. He will not want to hear from us, and because we keep failing God will not answer our prayers.
“I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.” Isaiah 43:25 NASB
And even in the new testament, the statement is repeated twice in the book of Hebrews. If God does not remember your sin, how is He going to be reminding you of it, convicting of your sin?
“for I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” Hebrews 8:12 NASB
And their sin and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. Hebrews 10:17-18 NASB
What Jesus tells us in John is about the Holy Spirit convicting the world of sin. You cannot as a born-again Christian apply this to yourself. You are not of the world.
Jesus goes on to explain what the sin is, and the conviction of the Holy Spirit is for. Concerning the sin, because they do not believe in Me. If you believe in Jesus, then the Spirit is not the one convicting you of not believing in Him.
And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. John 16:8-11
The only sin that the Holy Spirit convicts of is unbelief in Jesus. If you believe in Jesus the is no longer any conviction/condemnation, because,
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death Roman 8: 1-2
More tomorrow bless you
Charlie
FREEDOM IN CHRIST 