DOES JESUS CONVICT US OF SINS?

Thursday 27 February

And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment John 16:8 (NKJV)

for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sakes. 1 Thessalonians 1:5 (NASB)

From time to time, I get absolutely flabbergasted when I hear the remarks of Christian leaders talking about the subject of conviction of sin(s). As always, we must let the Bible speak for itself devoid of assumptions or human presuppositions. The majority of the issue stems from two things: The misinterpretation of words and a sin consciousness. Let’s break these down for a moment and the answer will become obvious.

‘And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:’ John 16:8 (NKJV)

The word ‘convict’ is ‘elegcho’ in Greek. It does not mean to convict as in judge or condemn to be found guilty. That is what the meaning in English implies. A better word for us to understand the text instead of convict is convince.

John 16:8 is in relation to the Holy Spirit. Think of Jesus response toward the woman caught in the act of adultery. His accusers left and then He said ‘neither do I condemn you’. Now relate that back to the identity of the Holy Spirit. I hope you realise by now they are one and the same person in the New Testament.

So Jesus through the Spirit convinces the world of sin. Here is where the sin consciousness aspect comes into view. There is only one sin that He came to convince us of. The sin of not believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. That’s it. Some people talk about their fears of not confessing their sins because they think that an unconfessed sin will cost them their salvation. This is utter nonsense.

John 16:9 gives us even greater insight.

‘regarding sin, because they do not believe in Me;’ The singular term sin here reflects that there is only one sin that will keep you from eternal salvation. The sin of never receiving Christ. This is the sin that the Holy Spirit comes to convince you of and nothing more. To think otherwise is to create a confusion in the theology of grace.

How can God be declaring you ‘not guilty’ and then pointing out your ‘guilt’ at the same time. There are only two people that will act this way. You, through a sin conscious mindset and Satan which means his name means ‘accuser’ and who does He accuse? The brethren.

At the bedrock of this whole train of thought is what you believe the nature of God to be, rather than what His word declares Himself to be. Remember there are no inconsistencies in the character of God in scripture however thorough explanation is required to be able to understand the assumptions made by men in the Old Testament.

I love how Apostle John puts it:

‘This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.’

So with this brief look into the subject, let me ask the question again. Does Jesus convict us of sins? What’s you answer?

APPLICATION

Recognise the voice of condemnation has never been from God and always from Satan, the accuser of the brethren who the Bible says has been cast down.