2.12 The Holy Spirit came to convict the world

The Holy Spirit came to convict the world of three things – of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. Most Christians have a misconception that He came to convict believers of sin. Let us see what Jesus said:

(John 16:8-11, NKJV)
And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

1) He will convict the world of sin when they do not believe in Jesus. Rejecting Jesus is the only sin problem in the world today. All other sins have been nailed to the cross. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit convicted the multitude during Peter’s preaching and about 3,000 people received Jesus.

2) When we received Jesus, He took our sins and we received His righteousness. Jesus has gone to be seated at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest and Intercessor – to uphold our righteousness (Rom 8:33-34). 2 Cor 5:21 says that we are the righteousness of God in Christ. The Holy Spirit’s role is to convict us that we are a new creation – created in true righteousness and holiness (Eph 4:24).

3) The conviction of judgment is about Satan being judged. It has nothing to do with judgment of believers.

Today, Christians need to see themselves in their new identity in Christ. The Holy Spirit is here to convict you of your righteousness.