The Three Convictions

And He (the Helper/Holy Spirit), 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)

This has been a passage that has greatly puzzled me for many years. Of course there has been no shortage of commentators and expostulates ready to express their views. But I also believe that God desires to share truth with each person individually so that it really connects with them in such a way that truth becomes firmly embedded in the deepest parts of their soul. I am not seeking to discount other sources that God may provide to assist in revealing truth to us. But I am very cognizant that the vast majority of people are all too willing to depend on others to do their thinking and processing for them. Sadly it seems that most believe it is alright to let others predigest their spiritual food so they can be spoon-fed once in awhile like little babies.

Well, that was not at all what I wanted to talk about here. What I am more interested in is how this passage is becoming more filled with light as over time better definitions of religious words have begun to affect my thinking. I now can see that much of my frustration and confusion in times past when I have read this passage was not from Jesus trying to be obscure, but because Satan has so successfully obscured Him from us by replacing the meanings of nearly all the words used by Jesus with counterfeit notions that are foreign to the heart of God.

In these verses I notice a number of key words that for many years were trigger points for me, creating fear not unlike that of the disciples who were suffering here from deep sadness and foreboding as Jesus kept mentioning the idea of leaving them. Jesus faces their feelings and confusion head-on in this discourse by telling them that it is really something to get excited about, not something to mourn. The problem is not that He is leaving but rather their misinterpretation and false assumptions about the reason for His departure.

But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 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. (John 16:5-7)

It seems so natural for many of us to assume the worst, to put a negative spin on just about everything, to readily move into feelings of foreboding and fear whenever the unexpected transpires. But Jesus, the perfect reflection of the Father who is love through and through, viewed reality from a radically different perspective and seeks to infuse us with that same way of viewing things. In fact as I look over the context of this passage, this whole chapter is an introduction to the more prevalent presence of the Holy Spirit that Jesus is eager to unleash on the whole world. The death and resurrection of Jesus is the pivotal point of history where Jesus accomplished a radical displacement of Satan as the recognized authority representing this world before the universe. Because of the new position of authority He is about to earn He can hardly wait to implement one of the first major changes in the way things will be done under the new administration.

Whenever a new political party takes power in a government here on earth, to bring people more into alignment with their values and priorities they move quickly to replace old systems and laws and policies with new ones that more accurately reflect their own ideals to move people in a different direction from that of the old regime. So too, when Jesus took over rulership of this planet after His resurrection, one of the first things He planned to do was to send His personal envoy to communicate with every individual personally all over the planet to convict them of the real truth about God and His deep desire to bring them back into harmony with His ways, His principles and to come to know His passion for them. This is the very essence of the gospel. And the Holy Spirit is the power behind it.

So in anticipation of this coming change of regime power on earth, Jesus alerts His disciples that this Helper (implying that they will need tremendous help in the work they will find themselves commissioned to do very soon) is going to do three very specific things in this world. He is going to bring conviction to each person about three major areas that need radical change in the thinking of humanity to redirect their attention and thinking from how Satan has governed this planet.

The Holy Spirit Helper, Jesus says, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.

Rather than belabor extensively the false assumed meanings of these words, I want to reinforce what I have been discovering over a number of years and apply these fresh revelations of proper definitions from the Word itself to open up a completely new perspective of what Jesus was saying here. I feel I should maybe take a whole article to unpack each of these items individually, but even then I know I would only scratch the surface. Yet it seems shallow to tackle all three of these in one short piece.

Far from having a negative connotation as I have thought for much of my life, these words are actually all enlightening and stirring for me now. Even the word convict is becoming a more welcome concept in my life, for if I do not feel regular moments of conviction from the Holy Spirit in my own conscience, I become concerned that I must be indulging in something that is preventing me from hearing the voice of the Spirit. That will inhibit my growth in maturity because I am being compromised by something that is hardening my heart.

Conviction used to be something that I assumed was similar to condemnation. In my experience the two were pretty much synonymous. But graciously God has been delivering me over time from that slavery of fear that has suffocated my spirit for much of my life and I now see that heaven's kind of conviction is something to welcome and even to be desired.

Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:17 NRSV) This has been one of the most enlightening and liberating verses of my whole life. To realize that conviction and condemnation actually come from two opposite sources has been a major key for dispelling the lies of Satan about God that have for so long kept me in darkness and fear of Him. Condemnation and shame are actually counterfeits of conviction and never come through the Spirit that works for Jesus.

I am coming to see that conviction is actually heaven's way to make us aware of what is real and true and good. It is really that simple. In relation to this, I learned that the Greek word for confession simply means to agree. That is the healthy response to God's convicting. From God's side, the Holy Spirit makes our minds and hearts aware of what is really true, which of course by contrast exposes our perceptions and beliefs that are false. If we are willing to embrace His version of reality and humble ourselves by laying aside our opinions in favor of God's perspective, then confession simply involves accepting God's version of reality to displace my own confused notions about what is true and right.

I have long tried to make sense out of why Jesus talked about these three specifics that the Holy Spirit would convict us about. But today as I read this again and applied updated definitions, suddenly the passage came alive with increased meaning, significance and light. Jesus explains why each of these are mentioned.

...concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me

One of the most important transitions in my thinking has been about the definition of sin itself. Without launching into a long explanation I will simply say that I now see much more clearly that our problem of sin revolves around the core issue of trust, not around legal issues with God.

But those who have doubts are condemned if they eat, because they do not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. (Romans 14:23 NRSV)

Since faith, belief and trust all come from the very same word in the Greek, this verse is telling us that anything outside of simple trust in God is sin. That has unlocked so many other things in my understanding and has allowed my heart to awaken with love for the first time. The Holy Spirit intends to reveal to each soul that what it needs most is to be restored into a trusting relationship with our Father. If we do not believe in Jesus, which means we don't accept the truth He declared, that God is no different in the slightest from the Son Jesus Christ, then we will remain trapped in sin and darkness that will always prevent us from trusting God.

...concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me

Righteousness is another one of those oversize words that totally baffled me for many years. It was always generally associated with behavior and thus locked into the external definition of sin – the opposite of righteousness – as an issue of bad behavior. But as my realization of what sin really is began to transform, so too my appreciation of what righteousness actually means began to expand.

Righteousness now, at least in my thinking, has come to embrace all that God is. Righteous is just the catch-all term for describing all the attributes and terms that accurately describe what God is like and how He acts toward others. God is right – all the time. But not because He demands that we believe that no matter how illogical His actions might be, but because all of the insinuations about Him we have received from the great accuser are in reality baseless and slanderous.

God is fair.

God is consistently good, caring, loving and compassionate.

God never resorts to using the techniques of His enemy to accomplish His desires.

God never changes and is not schizophrenic. He is good all the time in spite of what we often think.

God is continuously forgiving. It is not something He does when we ask Him to change His mind about us. It is a description of His very being. That became clear to me when I did an in-depth study on Matthew 18 where I found that offenses and sin are synonymous. I learned that forgiveness is the releasing of offenses and the waiving of all rights to collect on debts or to take revenge.

If God were ever found to be in a position of needing to let go of an offense against us, that would vindicate the enemy's charges that He takes offense to start with. For to hold onto an offense, even for a moment, is to engage in sin. God cannot sin and therefore never takes offense at anything. How could Jesus instruct us to let go of offenses while holding onto them Himself? That too was a breakthrough insight for me that has increased my respect and appreciation for the truth about His love.

All of the above characteristics that describe what God is like are included in the word righteousness. And it is the job of the Holy Spirit sent by God and directed by Jesus to convict every person of these truths about God so that we can begin to see that God really can be trusted and that all the lies about Him we have believed or heard are groundless and even destructive.

Some of the most potent expressions and images of trust for God can be found in the book of Revelation where we get a peek into the final conclusion of this dispute. There we find those who have come to really know the truth about God constantly offering up expressions of praise, gratitude and genuine worship. They are ever talking about God and Jesus as completely worthy. It finally dawned on me one day that this term worthy actually revolves around the issue of trust. We generally use the term trust-worthy when we speak of someone whom we have come to respect, who has earned our trust over time. That is the core issue at the center of the gospel, for the gospel means simply the truth that God is totally worthy of our trust and that He is all that we were designed to need and want.

"Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created." (Revelation 4:11)

And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?" And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it; and one of the elders said to me, "Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals." And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.

And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

...saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." (Revelation 5:2-6, 9, 12-13)

So, why did Jesus say that the Spirit would convict of righteousness because the world could no longer see Him? I am now starting to see that it is because without the perfect example and embodiment of righteousness in human form here on earth, God needed to provide another source from which we could receive a knowledge of what is righteous. Instead of a physical person providing the perfect example of what righteousness is, now the Holy Spirit is ever present to convict each person from inside their heart to sense what is righteous and what God is really like if they will only listen to that conviction and respond to it.

...concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged

This part of Jesus' teaching has now become most exciting for me. As I have become more and more aware of the reality and centrality of the truth about the change of authority over this world from Satan to Jesus that happened at the cross, I now realize better the implications of what Jesus is saying here.

The main reason that Jesus came to this earth besides to reveal the real truth about God's character to the universe, was to expose by contrast to His revelation the real truth about God's greatest accuser. This word judgment has been another major breakthrough for me in connection to what I have recently come to learn about the biblical definition of justice. Some time ago I began to learn that judgment has to do with exposing what is hidden, not about condemning or pronouncing arbitrary sentence on someone. And likewise, justice from heaven's perspective has nothing to do with arbitrary punishments or rewards for bad or good behaviors – as if God were the great Santa Clause of the universe. Rather, justice is simply the restoration by God of everything back to its intended function and design.

The word justice in the Bible actually comes from the very same original word as righteousness which comes as a great surprise to many including me. Justice and judgment are usually closely linked together in our minds, and they should be. But we must be extremely careful not to allow false assumptions about these words continue to infect our understanding and appreciation of what Jesus is saying to us. Judgment from heaven's perspective happens anytime the secret thoughts and intents of hearts are exposed through circumstances or events. And justice from heaven's standpoint is the restoration to wholeness, restoration of what has been broken, damaged or destroyed by Satan's kingdom, restoration to the extent that God is given permission to do by those needing it.

The Holy Spirit has been sent to expose the lies of Satan about God just as Jesus did. Jesus states explicitly here that the ruler of this world – the despotic, tyrannical ruler of darkness who is the epitome of evil, has been exposed by the light of the real truth about God as revealed in the life and death of Jesus Christ. As we allow His Spirit to enlighten our own minds and hearts with ever increasing revelations of truth about God's loving character, we too shall increasingly find the lies of the false ruler of this world exposed. And to our horror we will find that many of the enemy's lies exposed are deep inside ourselves. And even worse we realize that we have assumed many of those lies were foundational truths of our religious belief systems about God.

Are you praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit? Are you desirous of a greater awareness of the presence of Jesus in your life? That is all wonderful and I affirm you in that desire. I too am praying earnestly for much more of the Spirit of Jesus in my life.

But be aware that if God answers our prayers that we may well be shocked and confused by the results. For according to Jesus in this passage, if the Holy Spirit ramps up His work in our life, we may suddenly find ourselves under increasing conviction about things we have long assumed were correct doctrine and faith. We will likely be very challenged to question what we have long assumed was settled truth and may find ourselves wondering if this Spirit is really from God or is leading us in the wrong direction according to what we have believed is truth all our lives.

If we are unwilling to allow God to challenge our paradigms, our doctrines, our settle assumptions about what is truth and error, then we remain in serious danger of resisting the very Spirit we are praying for God to send to us. God may find it very difficult to answer our prayers for more of His Spirit as long as we are unwilling to let go of our cherished opinions about Him He wants to expose.

I have often felt a bit sad when I have read the words of Jesus that come right after these words about the Holy Spirit. I feel that because of the disciple's dullness of heart that the world has been short-changed ever since. Yet am I really any more open to listening and appreciating what Jesus wants to reveal today than they were?

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. (John 16:12-13)