John 16:8-11 "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: (9) Of sin, because they believe not on me; (10) Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; (11) Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged."
"He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment." The first thought from here reminds me that the Holy
Spirit is the third Person of the Godhead. He is a Person, not an it.
Being a Person, He is capable of action. The Holy Spirit is very active in the
lives of every child of God. He is active in comforting, directing,
encouraging, instructing, and yes He is active in convicting us of sin in our
lives. We sometimes refer to this process as our conscience bothering us.
The reason our conscience does bother us is because the Holy Spirit is speaking
to our hearts concerning a matter.
As I looked at these verses this morning, I began to pray concerning their
meaning. Jesus has just been speaking of the world in matters such as,
"the world cannot receive." (John 14:17) He was speaking of the Holy
Spirit when He said those words. Jesus said in John 14:19, "the world
seeth me no more." In chapter 15, He spoke of the hatred of the
world and the fact they would try to persecute the disciples as they went
forward declaring the truth of Jesus Christ. So, if the world cannot
receive the things of Christ and they cannot see the truth of Jesus Christ and
they hate Him, why would Jesus say the Holy Spirit would reprove, or convince,
them of sin?
Paul stated in writing to the Corinthians, "Now we have received, not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the
things that are freely given to us of God." (1 Corinthians 2:12) He
then went even further in His statement concerning the difference between
the carnal (natural) man and those who are born of the Spirit of God.
"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:
for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14) Knowing there are no
contradictions in the Word of God, I again stop to ask the Lord to open an
understanding concerning His words in our text today.
The world had judged Jesus to be a sinner. In John 9:24, the Pharisees said to
the man who was born blind, "we know that this man is a sinner." In
another place, they accused Him of having a devil. "Then answered
the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and
hast a devil?" (John 8:48) Their judgment of Jesus was completely
wrong. "The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he
ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God." (John 19:7)
We know He did not "make himself" to be the Son of God. He IS
the Son of God; rather, He made Himself of no reputation. See Philippians
chapter 2.
As the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, He begins to show us just how wrong
the world is in their assessment of the Lord Jesus Christ. How do we know the
world was convicted to be guilty of all these lies? How do we know Jesus was
sinless? How do we know He is righteous? How do we know the proper judgment
concerning Him? The answer lies simply and completely in the
resurrection. If Jesus was guilty of any one of these accusations, there would
be DNA in the grave where He was laid. He is the sinless Son of God Who
died for our sins. He was laid in a borrowed tomb because He only needed it
temporarily. He arose after three days and nights and ascended back to the
Father! He now has made His abode in the hearts of His children by the
Holy Spirit of God. Yes, the ungodly world was convicted as guilty on all
counts. Jesus Christ has set us free! "If the Son therefore shall
make you free, ye shall be free indeed." (John 8:36)