“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. And He, 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 16:7-11).
Shortly before His crucifixion, Jesus spoke to His apostles and promised to send the Holy Spirit to them, who would “convict [reprove, KJV] the world” (John 16:8). The New International Version translates this phrase by saying He would “prove the world to be in the wrong.” The Spirit would do this “concerning sin and righteousness and judgment,” and we will notice later why this was necessary.
This work of the Holy Spirit would have a direct impact on the apostles’ teaching, and it should on ours as well. In this article, we are going to consider HOW the Spirit would convict the world, how the apostles carried out their work related to this, and what we should do in this regard today.
The Role of the Holy Spirit
Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would “guide [the apostles] into all the truth” (John 16:13). This promise was given in order to help them carry out their role of teaching Jesus’ message (John 14:26) and telling of His works (John 15:26-27). They were chosen to be His “ambassadors” (2 Corinthians 5:20), acting as official spokesmen for Jesus as He rules over His kingdom. The Holy Spirit would enable them to do this work effectively and infallibly.
Jesus explained to these men that it was “to [their] advantage” to receive help from the Holy Spirit in this way (John 16:7). Besides delivering revelation from above, the Holy Spirit would also act as their comforter (John 14:16; 16:7), and through Him, they would “receive power,” enabling them to be Christ’s “witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
In fulfilling His role, the Spirit would “convict the world” (John 16:8). What does this mean? The Greek word means to convict someone of a fault and cause them to be put to shame. The same word is used in other passages, including Jesus’ instruction to go to your brother and “show him his fault” (Matthew 18:15), and descriptions about evil deeds being “exposed” (John 3:20; cf. Ephesians 5:11).
How the Holy Spirit Will Convict the World
In exposing the world and showing their fault, Jesus said the Holy Spirit would focus on three categories – sin, righteousness, and judgment.
- Concerning SIN – Sin is a transgression of God’s law. In his first epistle, John defined it as “lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). Jesus said they would be convicted “concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me” (John 16:9). Sin results when one does not fear the Lord. Paul explained this in his letter to the Romans, in which he “charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin” (Romans 3:9-10). The reason why they allowed themselves to get in this condition was because “there is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18). They needed to see their sin for what it was so they would recognize their need for a Savior. For those who were open to it, the message of the Spirit would help them come to this realization.
- Concerning RIGHTEOUSNESS – Righteousness is the state of being right or justified before God. As John explained in the same passage in which he defined sin as “lawlessness” (1 John 3:4), he declared that righteousness is something we practice (1 John 3:7). When Jesus gave the promise of the Spirit to His apostles, He was soon going to be leaving them. They would “no longer see [Him]” (John 16:10) or His perfect example. They needed a perfect standard of right and wrong, and the Holy Spirit would reveal this. Through the Scriptures He inspired, they would be perfectly “equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
- Concerning JUDGMENT – This judgment is the final judgment of this world. Satan is the ruler of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), and he “has been judged” (John 16:11), and his defeat was assured (John 12:31). We now look forward to the time when Jesus will return to judge the world (Acts 17:30-31). Paul warned, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). Because we are accountable to Him, we must prepare for this day, and the message of the Spirit would help the faithful be prepared.
An Example in Paul’s Preaching
When Paul taught Felix while imprisoned, he was trying to convict him just as the Holy Spirit was convicting the world.*
“But some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla, his wife who was a Jewess, and sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. But as he was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said, ‘Go away for the present, and when I find time I will summon you’” (Acts 24:24-25).
Notice that the apostle taught on the same things that Jesus said the Holy Spirit was going to reveal.
- Righteousness – This is a call to God’s perfect standard. Jesus commissioned His apostles to teach people “to observe all that I commanded you” (Matthew 28:20), and this is what they did everywhere they went. When Peter went to the household of Cornelius, he said, “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him” (Acts 10:34-35). We must do what is right and practice righteousness to be accepted by God. Paul attempted to impress this upon Felix.
- Self-control – This is the instruction to give up sin, a message that Felix needed to hear as he was with a woman he had no right to be married to.** Paul told the saints in Rome that “our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with” (Romans 6:6). He then told them to “consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11). Since the gospel was first preached on the day of Pentecost, it has included a call for people to repent in order to be saved (Acts 2:38).
- Judgment to come – This should provide the motivation for one to obey the gospel. Paul warned that Jesus would return one day “with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thessalonians 1:8). This is why “God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).
Our Teaching Today
In our efforts to teach, we must “speak as the oracles of God” (1 Peter 4:11, KJV), just as the apostles did. If we teach something different, we stand to be “accursed” (Galatians 1:8-9). But if we teach what we ought to teach, our message will include the same points as the apostles’ message and the Holy Spirit Himself.
- Sin – We must identify sin as sin. People cannot change if they do not know they are wrong. Paul made this point as he explained why he had to write such a difficult letter to the church in Corinth. He was trying to get them to see their sin and repent. “For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while—I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:8-10). If we really want to help people, we need to help them recognize their sin so they can turn away from it.
- Righteousness – We have to point to God’s perfect standard (“speak as the oracles of God”) and cite “book, chapter, and verse”*** so people can know that we are speaking God’s words and not the words of man.
- Judgment – We need to teach others to prepare for judgment. After explaining that we will all appear before the Lord in judgment, Paul wrote, “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men…” (2 Corinthians 5:11). Understanding the ability and willingness of God to destroy the wicked should motivate us to persuade people to turn from their sin and serve the Lord.
Conclusion
The message of the gospel is to turn from sin, practice righteousness, and prepare for judgment. The Holy Spirit would bring this teaching to the apostles, and they would take it into all the world. Today, we need to follow these things ourselves and teach others to do the same.
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* For more on what Paul taught Felix, see the article, Paul’s Message to Felix.
** Drusilla was identified as a “beautiful but infamous woman” (Jamieson, Fausset & Brown Commentary). The historian Josephus noted that she was “given in marriage to Azizus, king of the Emesenes, who had consented to be circumcised for the sake of the alliance. But this marriage was soon dissolved, after this manner: When Festus was procurator of Judea, he saw her, and being captivated with her beauty, persuaded her to desert her husband, transgress the laws of her country, and marry himself” (JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 20.7.1,2). Yet when Paul encountered this “infamous woman,” she was then the “wife” of Felix.
*** For more on this point, see the article, Why “Book, Chapter, and Verse” Preaching?
