The Holy Spirit convinces us about sin, righteousness and judgement. How often do we choose to act on this?

 

Today’s verse is from the Gospel of John 16:8. The passage is given from the three versions of the Bible.

When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: (version NIV)

And when He comes, He will convict and convince the world and bring demonstration to it about sin and about righteousness (uprightness of heart and right standing with God) and about judgment: (version AMPC)

And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: (version KJV)

The verse above is the conversation of Jesus with his disciples. As you guessed it rightly, He’s speaking about the Holy Spirit. Jesus says that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will convince you about sin, righteousness and judgement. 

The Holy Spirit is with us, dwelling within us. Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem after his crucifixion, so that they could be blessed with the Holy Spirit. So it happened during Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came and rested upon the disciples and other fellow worshippers.  This ongoing dwelling of the Holy Spirit upon all believers  is a uniqueness of the Holy Spirit’s presence in the New Testament. Whereas in the Old Testament, it was only a temporary presence upon selected individuals. Thus, we need to value this special grace of the Holy Spirit’s presence available to us as believers in the New Testament. Value the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and make decisions based on this. 

The Holy Spirit convicts and convinces us of:

1. Sin due to lack of faith that Jesus is the lamb who came to take the sins of the world.
2. Accept that  Righteousness comes only through faith in Jesus Christ the son of God who was crucified.
3. Judgement at the end of time, before the father God.

Often we consider ourselves to believe that Jesus is the lamb who came to take the sins of the world. Yet on introspection, many of us discover that, often our words, thoughts and actions do not align with that belief. 

Not that we don’t have moments of this faith and certainty. When we obey His words, His will and follow the commandments, our love and faith in Him is evident.

But we are often surprised at how often, on a typical day, we sin, by disobeying the word of God, clearly mentioned in the Bible. Similarly, so in matters of righteousness and judgement. 

If we remember that our righteousness is through Jesus Christ, after we truly repent for our sins, should our sin continue to weigh us down.

If we accept that there will be judgement at the end of time, is it worthwhile to keep grudges, keep nurturing petty fights?

Sincerely, desire that our daily life is resplendent by being responsive to the nudges of the Holy Spirit. Let us treasure our walk with the Holy Spirit, the comforter and counsellor sent to each one of us by Jesus and Father God.