Day 34
Convicted
To Start
According to Martin Laird, silence sets us free from being objects of our own awareness. Enjoy a few minutes unconsidered (and thus unjudged) by your inner critic.
Later we’ll let the Spirit prepare us for a more gracious judgment to come.
Pray
Yahweh, convict me through Your Spirit. Use Your Spirit to reveal to me what sin is and what righteousness is. Remind me of the coming judgment, and by Your Spirit, prepare me for it.
But if I don’t need to be convicted, be my Counselor. Comfort me through your advocacy. Let the truth be my freedom and my hope.
Read
Read John 16:8-11 and then try to summarize it in your own words.
Consider the three “about”s and “because”s.
What’s the relationship between sin and belief?
What’s the relationship between righteousness and seeing Jesus?
What’s the relationship between our coming judgment and the judgment of the ruler of this world?
John 16:8-11 (CSB)
“8 When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: 9 About sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; 11 and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”
From JL
Today’s section of text reveals the Holy Spirit’s relationship with the world (in contrast to the Spirit’s relationship with the one who follows Jesus). It’s possible there are unconquered territories in your heart still, places where the world reigns. If so, consider the work of the Spirit we’ll describe below. If you are not in need of conviction in terms of sin, righteousness, or judgement, you may still be convicted by this revelation of the character of the Spirit. Understanding the Spirit as “against” the world (in order to possibly save the world) is an important layer in our comprehension of the character of God.
Here’s Biblical scholar F.F. Bruce writing about verses 8-11:
The Spirit is the ‘advocate’ or helper of those who believe in Jesus, their counsel for the defense. But in relation to unbelievers, to the godless world, he acts as counsel for the prosecution. In both respects he duplicates the work of Jesus: Jesus had been his disciples’ helper while he was with them, and at the same time his presence and witness in the world had served as an indictment of those who closed their minds to his message.
The Spirit’s prosecuting ministry is here expressed by the verb elenchō, meaning (according to the context) expose, refute, convince, or convict. His very presence will be a demonstration to the world which condemned Jesus that he was in the right and they were in the wrong.
Let’s consider the three areas in which the Spirit convicts the world:
First, the Spirit convicts the world about sin, because, according to Jesus, “they do not believe in me.” In his commentary on the gospel of John, Lesslie Newbigin writes:
The failure of the world to respond in faith to the coming of God in the humble person of Jesus is sin. From the beginning the Bible testifies that the root of sin is unbelief. It is man’s basic unwillingness to trust God for everything that is the source and substance of sin.
In other words, sin is unbelief; all sin finds its source in a lack of faith.
Second, the Spirit convicts the world about righteousness, because Jesus is going away and the world will no longer have a pattern or example. The Spirit will come to demonstrate the same righteousness Jesus did, one that does not align with the world’s view of right and wrong.
Third, the Spirit convicts the world about judgment, because “the ruler of this world has been judged.” Jesus’ victory over the evil one, accomplished through the cross and resurrection, is the moment of judgment for the ruler of this world (the devil, Satan, the evil one…). Once he has been judged, anyone who follows him should anticipate the same judgment. The Spirit will come and make that clear to people—Follow Jesus and you will be judged as Jesus has been judged. Follow the ruler of this world and be judged as he has been judged.
All of this is interesting to us as carriers of the Spirit of God. Are we convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement? Part of doing so is active—standing up for what’s right, preaching the truth; but there’s also a kind of passive element—letting the way we live our lives (under the direction of the Spirit) convict others of their unbelief and unrighteousness, causing them to reconsider their allegiance in light of the coming judgment. I think the ideal is a life full of both, telling the truth in the Spirit and living the truth in the Spirit.
In the Comments
Have you ever born witness to the Spirit’s convicting power?
When have you see Him “prosecuting” the world? What was the world’s reaction?
Catching up!
I have really valued this study. I am seeing connections to other scriptures that I have not seen before or have been convicted by. :)
What comes to mind immediately, is the concept that we all have a "house" that Jesus prepared for us to serve in. In this serving, we learn a new conviction of understanding what it means to turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile, and give more than a coat. I am convicted of having an attitude when I turn the other cheek, again, and again, in the "service" of the house Yahweh prepared for me. When the action of a hurt person, causes me to begrudge listening again, building up again, praying again, continuing the long walk through the difficulty of hardship again. I am learning that this is exactly what Jesus does for us each day. The Holy Spirit is helping me to see my hurt, irritation, impatience as lack of grace for the one who hurts. Jesus never did that. I continue to ponder these ideas, asking for forgiveness of the conviction, learning grace anew and maybe perspective of how to give grace like our Savior did..
Bullying or making fun of someone, especially of a mentally challenged person, is so evil. I saw this happen in high school. When a popular student showed kindness to the savant, others followed suit. The taunting ended.
Years later this special needs person found a place among Christian college students . They welcomed him and his interest in their sports with friendliness, laughing with him , not at him. He became quite popular on campus.
I believe the Holy Spirit prosecuted those who bullied through the kindness of that those who reached out.