The Convicting Work of the Holy Spirit
John16:7-11
As we come to our Bible text today in John 16 Jesus makes a claim that would have startled the disciples (John 16:7): “Nevertheless 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 depart, I will send Him to you.” The disciples that night have been struggling to come to grips with what Jesus has been telling them about His leaving them. To make matters worse, not only is Jesus leaving them but Jesus has told them that the world will hate them, persecute them and kill them. How will they make it without Jesus being physically present with them?
We often think, “Oh, how wonderful it would have been to have been on earth with Jesus.” That’s true, but Jesus says that we have it better because we have the Helper, the Holy Spirit, with us and in us.
Jesus has taught much about the coming and ministry of the Holy Spirit. In John 7:37-38, Jesus when promised that rivers of living water would flow from the heart of those who believe in Him, John (John 7:39) explained, “But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” The life-giving water of the Holy Spirit would only be given to believers after Jesus died, rose again and returned to His Father.
In John 14 we saw that Jesus also told the disciples (John 14:16-17), “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
This third person of the triune God lives within believers to comfort us, encourage us, teach us and empower us to bear witness for Christ. As we saw in John 15:26-27, He is the Spirit of truth who testifies of Jesus Christ, but He does it by bearing witness through us who have been with Christ.
Here in John 16:7-11, again we see that Christ sends the Spirit to us and when He comes, He will convict the world through our witness. Listen to our text, John 16:7-11:
7 “Nevertheless 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 depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”
In our text, we first need to understand what Jesus means by the word “convict”; then He breaks the witness of the Holy Spirit through us into three parts.
The Holy Spirit convicts the world.
The word convict here (ἐλέγχω, elénchō) means to bring to light, expose error or find fault with. In the New Testament it is translated variously as “reprove, rebuke, convince, convict,” usually with the suggestion of putting the convicted person to shame. It is the proving of error, of wrong or of fault. It is not a final condemnation but an instructive conviction. It’s what the prosecutor in a trial will do: bring forth evidence to prove guilt.
We saw that same word in John 3:20 when Jesus said, “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” Exposed, proved wrong, convicted.
Although the word is not used, we see an example of conviction when Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost concluding his sermon by saying (Acts 2:36), “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” And Luke records their response (Acts 2:37), “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”” Their hearts were pierced by the work of the Holy Spirit. Peter’s Spirit-inspired message exposed their sin of rejecting Christ and it convinced them that they were wrong.
It is the Holy Spirit’s job to do the convicting. Our part in this is simply to do what Peter did. Preach the truth of Jesus Christ. Expose people to the light. Our job is not to accuse or condemn people, but to seek to save people by bringing them to the knowledge of the truth.
Who does the Holy Spirit convict? The world. As we have seen here in John 15-16 the world means the world of sinners who are under the rule of the evil one. It refers to unbelievers. So here Jesus is talking about the conviction by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of unbelievers.
Now Jesus points out that the convicting work of the Holy Spirit takes place in three areas – sin, righteousness and judgment. John 16:8, “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” The first convicts a sinner of our basic problem, sin, not believing in God’s Son Jesus Christ. The second convicts us of the Savior’s bountiful provision, the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ to take us to heaven. The third convicts us about Satan’s broken power, that God has judged Him all that do not repent and believe.
A. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin.
The first thing that the Holy Spirit convicts of is sin. But not just any sin. Jesus identifies the root of all sins when He says (John 16:9), “of sin, because they do not believe in Me.”
Adrian Rodgers (sermon, When the Spirit Speaks) points out that we normally think of sin as something bad we have done. We think of breaking the Ten Commandments: lying, stealing, adultery, murder, coveting, taking the Lord’s name in vain. And sin is certainly transgressing God’s law. The Bible declares (Rom. 3:23), “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
But sin is more than just something we do, it is something we are. Ephesians 2:3 says we are “… by nature children of wrath.” We have inherited a sin nature from our first parents (Rom. 5:12, 19). We sin because we are sinners. All sin begins in our mind and in our heart. It’s serious and it’s deadly. You hated—God wrote down murder. You lusted—God wrote down adultery. You loved the things of this world—God wrote down idolatry.
But all these things are not the root of man’s problem. We are not just sinners because of what we are and what we have done. We are sinners because of what we have not done: giving glory to God.
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin in John 16:9 Jesus says, “… because they do not believe in Me.” It is striking that the world generally would not view unbelief in Jesus Christ as a sin at all. If you asked people on the streets to give you a list of what they thought were sins, you’d probably hear, “Murder, child abuse, lying, injustice, or adultery.” But I doubt if you’d hear, “Not believing in Jesus.” Yet Jesus names it as the sin that the Spirit will convict the world of.
Unbelief is the worst of all sins. It is the parent of all sins. The greatest sin is not believing. It is the sin from which all other sins come. Why did Adam and Eve sin in the garden? They did not believe God. Instead they believed the lie of the serpent. Why does a man tell a lie today? Unbelief. He can’t trust God to get him out of the mess that he’s in.
Unbelief is the sin that condemns us. Jesus said in John 3:18, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” This is the sin that sends people to hell. C.H. Spurgeon wrote:
“… the Holy Spirit makes a man see that not to believe in Christ is a crowning, damning sin, since he that believeth not hath made God a liar: and what can be more atrocious than that? He who believes not on Christ has rejected God’s mercy, and has done despite to the grandest display of God’s love; he hath despised God’s unspeakable gift, and trampled on the blood of Christ. In this he has dishonoured God on a very tender point; has insulted him concerning his only-begotten Son.”
Only the Holy Spirit can convict of the sin of unbelief. Secondly,
B. The Holy Spirit convicts of righteousness.
The Holy Spirit also brings about conviction of righteousness. John 16:10 states, “of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more.”
The religious leaders in Jerusalem were going to crucify Jesus the next day claiming that He was a sinner, an unrighteous blasphemer. It would appear to them and many others that they were right. He would be hated and rejected by the world. Jesus died like a criminal among criminals. But that would not be the end. Jesus would not stay dead. By the power of the Holy Spirit of God Jesus rose from the grave on the third day.
Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to be with the Father that would prove His righteousness. The world rejected Him. But the Father received Him. Jesus’ departure to be with the Father proves His righteous life and vicarious sacrifice for sin was worthy and accepted by God. The Holy Spirit will convict the world of righteousness because Jesus returns to heaven with the Father. Jesus could not have returned to sit at the right hand of the Holy God if there had been even the slightest taint of sin in Him. He is the only one who is able to enter into the presence of the Father on His own merit.
No one else can go to heaven in their own self-righteousness. My friend Rex Newkirk used to ask people, “How good do you have to be to go to heaven?” His answer was what the Bible teaches. You have to be “as good as God, or accounted so.” None of us is as good as God. We cannot get in on our own righteousness. In Romans 10:3 Paul describes the unbelief of the Jews writing, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.”
The world’s solution to sin is to try to establish their own righteousness. The world thinks a man is righteous if he does right. And most people today think that their good deeds will somehow outweigh their bad deeds. But the Bible declares that even our good deeds are worthless to make us right with God. Isaiah 64:6 says, “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.”
Now, think with me for a moment. If you could be accounted righteous before God by doing good deeds, by giving your money, by helping the poor, by being religious, being kind, if you could be counted righteous for doing that, why did Jesus die? Why did He suffer on that cross, if you could be saved by your own righteousness? Paul wrote in Galatians 2:21, “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” If you could be saved and go to heaven by your own righteousness, by keeping the Ten Commandments, then Christ died for nothing.
The Holy Spirit comes to convict the world of righteousness. Christ’s righteousness. That the only way to the Father, the only way to heaven is Christ’s righteousness. So unless you possess the righteousness of Jesus Christ, you will never see God.
But here is the good news. God imputes the righteousness of Jesus Christ to all who believe in Him. Paul writes (Romans 4:5), “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.” God puts the righteousness of Jesus Christ to your account when you believe on Him. Again in 2 Corinthians 5:21 Paull writes, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Our sin was put to Christ’s account and He paid the price for it on the cross. His righteousness is then put to our account when we believe in Him.
The Holy Spirit has come first: to convict the world of sin, man’s basic problem. Second: to convict the world of righteousness, the Savior’s bountiful provision. Third:
C. The Holy Spirit convicts of judgment.
The Holy Spirit would also bring conviction (John 16:11), “of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” Where sin and righteousness meet, judgment follows.
Satan is the ruler of this world and he was judged at the cross (John 12:31). The death of Jesus Christ was not a triumph for Satan, but the means of his own condemnation. When Jesus died on the cross and at the bidding of Satan men were doing most wicked thing that has ever been done, God was gaining the greatest victory. “When Jesus bowed His head and died, Satan’s kingdom was crushed, Satan’s back was broken, Satan became a condemned felon. Sentence has been passed upon him. Judgment is over. He rules a doomed domain. He sails a sinking ship. Satan is ruined. He is ruined. He’s devastated. The prince of this world is already judged.” (Adrian Rodgers). The sentence of the devil’s judgment will be carried out on the last day when he is thrown into the eternal lake of fire and brimstone as stated in Revelation 20:10.
But today, the Holy Spirit warns those who reject Christ that they will receive the same judgment as the devil. The fear of condemnation to hell is a powerful motivator for people to seek to get right with God. The denial of the existence of Hell and lack of fear of God that has become common in our society is a quenching of this aspect of the Spirit’s ministry to the great detriment of those taken in by the lies. If God is able to defeat Satan, to judge him, and throw him into the eternal fire of hell, what makes you think that you could somehow escape that judgment?
Listen, God prepared hell for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41). God didn’t make hell for you. But everyone who does not believe in Jesus Christ gets that same judgment as the devil. If you are not believing in Jesus Christ to save you from sin; if you are trusting in your own self-righteousness—you will be cast into that same eternal fire. That is what the Bible clearly teaches. But only the Holy Spirit of God can convict the world of that truth.
The Holy Spirit of God is come to convict the world of man’s basic problem–sin, of the Savior’s bountiful provision—Christ’s righteousness, of Satan’s broken power–judgment. He’s come to convict you of that as you hear the word of God.
But I want you to notice the order. He has come to convict us of sin, righteousness, and judgment. In a court of law when the crime is proven, then comes the judgment—the crime, the punishment.
But the gospel truth is different. God has put righteousness between sin and judgment. You see, God interposed the precious blood of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. His death and resurrection have provided the righteousness you need to escape the judgment that Satan receives and you deserve. Between my sin and the fires of hell stands the old rugged cross where Jesus paid it all.
Believe in Him and you will be saved. I have prayed today that God will help you to believe this. All I can do is preach the truth of the word of God about sin, righteousness and judgment. It is the Holy Spirit of God who must convince, convict, and draw you to Himself. Oh, how you need Jesus. Oh, how you need the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Don’t think that refusing Jesus is a small sin. Unbelief is the basic sin. Don’t let your self-righteousness keep you out of heaven. Only Christ’s righteousness will get you there. Don’t follow Satan to eternal judgment. Come to Christ today.
