Introduction

“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” John 16:7-11

In John 16:7-15, we read about the coming of the Spirit. Jesus says to His disciples in John 16:7, that ‘it is to your advantage, that He foes. His departure was necessary in order that the Holy Spirit might come.

Jesus now goes on to explain the benefits they will enjoy on His departure, John 16:7. If He were to stay here, the Spirit would not be sent, but Jesus Himself sent the Spirit which enabled them to do greater works, gave greater knowledge and drew them all closer together in their Spirit, John 14:12-28. It also allowed Jesus to prepare a place for them, John 14:3.

The Holy Spirit will convict the world of guilt in three ways.

1. Regarding sin.

2. Regarding righteousness.

3. Regarding judgement.

The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to ‘convince the world’, John 16:8. This is the word, ‘elegcho,’ which is also used in Luke 3:19. It means to, ‘reprove’, John 3:20, ‘expose’, John 5:11, He will be used to prove the world wrong.

1. Sin.

As the word spreads under the guidance of the apostles and later the believers. The Spirit assists people to realise the depth of sin in their lives, 1 John 1:8-10. The result of the realisation is repentance and acceptance of the whole truth, as seen in Acts 2, when men called out ‘brothers what shall we do?’ Acts 2:37.

When the Holy Spirit convicts people of their sinfulness, Romans 3:10 / Romans 3:23, the sinner must do their part in displaying godly sorrow, 2 Corinthians 7:10, where they don’t want to hurt God anymore by sinning against Him.

Notice the particular sin which Jesus is speaking about in John 16:8. It’s the sin of not believing who He is, John 3:16-19. If Jesus is the Son of God, then the greatest sin in the world is to reject Him, Mark 16:16.

2. Righteousness.

If the Holy Spirit didn’t convict people of sin, then people can’t be convicted of righteousness.

The world has its own standards about what is right and wrong, but the problem is we have our own personal standards. We all have different standards of what is right or wrong, but God has one standard, and that standard is what we all should be striving for.

The word, ‘world’, John 16:8, represents the Jews who were about to put Jesus to death. They believed He ought to die, that He was an evildoer and that killing Him and His followers was the right thing to do, we know the opposite was true.

The righteousness that was the Christ’s, was thoroughly stamped on the world the day that Jesus was resurrected, Romans 3:21-23. This victory of the one the world labelled unrighteous would convict the world with respect to true righteousness.

The return of Jesus to the Father was the ultimate proof that He is the perfect pattern or standard of righteousness. When people look at Jesus, they see what God’s standard of holiness is.

And when we accept that no one has lived up to the standard that Jesus set, Romans 3:21-23, the Holy Spirit convicts us that we all have fallen short of His standard.

The Holy Spirit says that all the good things that we do, are just like filthy rags to God, Isaiah 64:6. In other words, the work of the Spirit convicts us that our righteousness is totally insufficient in God’s eyes, 1 John 1:9.

The Holy Spirit helps us turn away from our sins and turn towards God so that we can learn to live right. But we really need to stop measuring our own goodness against other people’s goodness. The Holy Spirit can only convict us of our shortcomings when we start measuring our own goodness with God’s goodness.

3. Judgement.

The world judged the Son guilty and condemned, by doing this the world became guilty of condemning the Father, which is the same as condemning itself. Thus, by staying with the advice given by the devil, stands convicted.

And so, the Holy Spirit is going to remind the world that because they condemned the only righteous man who has ever lived, they were going to be judged too.

He will convince the world of divine judgement, by showing that the ruler of this world stands condemned. Who is the ruler of this world? It’s the devil himself, 2 Corinthians 4:4, and he is used here because he is the ultimate example of evil, the ultimate example of someone rejecting the Father.

He will convince them of divine judgement, by showing that the Prince of this world stands condemned. In the preaching of the Word, the Holy Spirit is counsel for the prosecution! Acts 2:37 / Acts 5:33 / Acts 7:54 / Ephesians 5:17.

The Holy Spirit will convict the world that the devil has already been judged but everyone else who rejects Jesus as their Saviour will be judged too, Matthew 7:21-23.

The Holy Spirit, through His Word, is the One who judges our thoughts and attitude, not me, Hebrews 4:12-13. He wants us to feel convicted because He knows that on judgment day, we too, like the rest of the world will have to give an account of ourself.

He wants to convict us of your sinfulness and unrighteousness like He convicted Isaiah, Isaiah 6:5. He wants to convict you of your sinfulness and unrighteousness like He convicted Peter, Luke 5:8. We’ve got to see ourself as we really are, we’ve got to measure ourself against God’s standards, not our own.

We have no power to convict anyone of anything, and so we must learn to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to do the convicting, 1 Corinthians 2:4.

Only the power of the Holy Spirit working in human hearts can bring about conviction of guilt in regard to sin, righteousness, and judgment.