The Convicting Work of the Spirit
John 16:5–15
SERMON • In John 16, Jesus teaches how the Holy Spirit lays a foundation in our souls that undergirds all further moral convictions: the Spirit convinces us of our sin, of Christ's perfect righteousness, and of divine judgment awaiting those who remain outside of Christ.
Introduction
Five or at most ten years ago, one might have said with accuracy that we were a nation lacking moral convictions. You may remember when "tolerance" was the order of the day. "Coexistence" was the secular mantra. "Live and let live" was touted as the moral high ground in a progressive society. Today, it would be much more accurate to say that we are increasingly a nation of staunch yet corrupt moral convictions.
We've all seen the acceleration of ideas, good and bad, through instant and incessant social media. Due to the sheer speed of information, the cultural convictions of yesterday are deemed outdated today, and the opinions of today will soon be pulled down tomorrow like so many monuments.
For all that, I'm grateful to say that biblical truth is both timeless and triumphant. Truth and its accompanying moral convictions will always win in the end. The people of God in every age can be a people whose moral compass points True North regardless of prevailing cultural winds, so long as we are reliant upon the unchanging Word of God.
As the hymn "A Mighty Fortress" so poetically puts it:
"The body they may kill: God's truth abideth still; his kingdom is forever!"
In fact, we might liken biblical truth to the law of gravity. You can protest it, seek to redefine it, and even criticize those who believe it, but anyone leaping into the abyss of moral subjectivism in defiance of absolute truth will find that eventually, like gravity, truth always wins in the end.
Josh McDowell, a notable Christian apologist, has said,
"Having convictions can be defined as being so thoroughly convinced that Christ and His Word are both objectively true and relationally meaningful that you act on your beliefs regardless of the consequences."
Similarly, our passage in John 16:5-15 establishes a three-fold foundation for all timeless moral convictions, a foundation laid by none other than God's truth-telling, Christ-magnifying Holy Spirit.
Context
John 16 is part of Jesus' Farewell Discourse, delivered to His disciples during and after the Last Supper. In this intimate and profound conversation, Jesus prepares them for his imminent crucifixion, resurrection, and departure and for the challenges his church in this present age will face.
Jesus comforts us with the promise of the Holy Spirit, who is sent to guide, empower, sustain, and convince us of the truthfulness of God's revelation in and through Jesus Christ.
In verses 1-7, Jesus prepares his disciples for his imminent departure. He knows his disciples will become overwhelmed with sorrow and discouragement. He knows they will be opposed by the world of unbelievers. But he wants them and us to know that his departure is actually to our advantage because only after he departs to the Father would he send the Spirit to perform the full range of New Covenant ministry.
Our passage ends in verses 12-15, where Jesus acknowledges that there are still many things He wants to teach His disciples, but they are not yet ready to understand them. In time, the Spirit will teach us what we need to know and guide us into all truth.
But the heart of our text is the middle verses of 8-11. These are the verses that explain exactly what we can expect when the Holy Spirit begins his work in the human soul of God's covenant people:
"And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."
For the rest of our time together, I want to unpack this three-fold foundation the Spirit lays, the foundation that acts as the bedrock undergirding all further moral convictions God's people are to build thereon.
I. The Holy Spirit Convicts the World of Sin
"And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin because they do not believe in me" (John 16:8-9).
In Koine Greek, the term "convict" that Jesus uses here means "to refute, confute; to bring to light; to expose" (Thayer's Greek Lexicon; Strongs NT: 1651, ἐλέγχω). Its noun form signifies "proof, internal persuasion" (1651: ἔλεγχος).
The Spirit is all about creating moral convictions in us. The first way he does this is by convicting a person of the profound evil of their sins, specifically, as Jesus says in verse 9, regarding the overarching sin of unbelief in and rebellion against Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
As Matthew Henry put it,
"The Spirit convinces of the fact of sin; of the fault of sin; of the folly of sin; of the filth of sin, that by it we become hateful to God; of the fountain of sin, the corrupt nature; and lastly, of the fruit of sin, that the end thereof is death. The Holy Spirit proves that all the world is guilty before God."
Conviction of Sin at Pentecost
In Jesus' time, the Jewish Feast of Pentecost was observed by religious Jews fifty days after the Feast of Passover, which was the feast in which Jesus was crucified as our once-and-for-all Pascal Lamb slain for our sins against God.
Acts chapter two tells that when Pentecost was being celebrated in Jerusalem after Jesus had ascended back to the Father, the disciples became filled with the Holy Spirit Christ had sent, and Peter stood up in a crowded place and with Spirit-empowered boldness, proclaimed:
"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it" (Acts 2:22-24).
Most of those who heard Peter mocked. But the Spirit convinced some of the hearers so that they had a different response. Acts 2:37 narrates, "Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?'"
The word "cut" denotes being "pricked violently, pierced, stung, smitten." They were pierced in the heart. The Spirit awakened some of the hearers to the horrific fact that less than two months prior, they'd killed the long-awaited Lord of Glory!
An Illustration of Conviction of Sin
I'm guessing most of you have thought about how you'd defend your home in case of an intruder. Imagine you woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of someone walking in your house. Your spouse is next to you in bed, and the children's monitors show that your kids are still asleep.
So, you intercept the intruder quietly and shoot or bludgeon him to death in the interest of protecting those you love. Now, imagine the horror of turning on the lights and discovering that you just murdered your own beloved brother, who had entered your home quietly so he wouldn't disturb you, using his own key as planned, but you'd mistakenly scheduled his stay on your calendar for the following weekend.
The sheer horror of that moment surely would pale in comparison to those in Acts 2, who all of a sudden came to realize they had murdered in malice and cold blood their Lord, the Messiah, the Great Prophet long before foretold by Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. That's the conviction with which the Spirit pierced their hearts because of the Savior they had so callously murdered.
I wonder: has your heart ever been pierced by the reality that your and my sins crucified the Lord of Glory? Are you pained by the reality that (by your many sins) your blood-stained hands swung the whip that filleted Jesus' body; your hands drove the nails into his sinless flesh; your mouth mocked and jeered his pain; your voice joined the crowds crying, "Away with this man! We have no King but Caesar! Crucify him, crucify him!"
"Oh," but you object, "Guilt is better explained as a common sociological phenomenon."
Sigmund Freud, for example, famously taught that guilt is primarily a psychological experience rooted in conflict between one's inner instincts and societal expectations. Society is to blame for your guilty conscience.
Atheist Richard Dawkins reasons that religion itself imposes unnecessary guilt on people through the very concept of sin: be rid of God and notions of sin and guilt will subside.
But Jesus of Nazareth, by contrast, informs us that sin is the root cause of rightful guilt. Sin resides within the fallen hearts of all humans and manifests itself in our sinful actions.
It is the merciful work of God's Spirit to expose the cancer of our sins before God and convict us that we must be saved from that which separates us from God!
Scripture declares, "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God" (Rom 3:11-12, 19).
And only when the Holy Spirit has brought conviction of sin in a man, woman, boy, or girl does he then bring about the second conviction of which Jesus spoke.
II. The Holy Spirit Convicts the World of Righteousness
"And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning ... righteousness because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer" (John 16:8, 10).
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of righteousness by revealing Christ as both the standard of righteousness and the only source of righteousness before a holy God. With Christ's departure, he no longer physically preaches and teaches about righteousness, which is why he said, "concerning ... righteousness because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer."
Jesus is no longer seen in bodily form today, but the Spirit gives sufficiently convincing testimony about Christ as the measure and provider of true righteousness.
John uses the term "righteous" or "righteousness" (Strongs NT: 1343, δικαιοσύνη) only three times in his gospel. The term is used twice in our text and once in the next chapter, where Jesus addresses God the Father in prayer as "righteous Father" (John 17:26).
The implication is that God himself is the measure of what is righteous, and no amount of human effort could ever approach such righteousness by our own merit or works. The standard of such righteousness is God himself.
The Thief on the Cross
The story of the thief on the cross is a striking and beautiful example of this aspect of the convicting work of the Spirit. As Jesus hung on the cross, one of the criminals crucified alongside him suddenly recognized something profound in both Jesus and in himself.
Initially, both thieves mocked and jeered Jesus, but one thief experienced a radical internal change and became convinced of Jesus' righteousness. He even rebukes the other criminal, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong" (Luke 23:40-41).
Acknowledging his own sin and Jesus' innocence, the thief turns to the Lord with an urgent plea:
"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" (Luke 23:42). In response, Jesus assures him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43).
The Spirit convinced the thief of sin and righteousness: He saw in Jesus the righteousness he lacked and the righteousness only Jesus could provide.
Martin Luther’s Conviction of Righteousness
Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk, theologian, and key figure in the Protestant Reformation, experienced this profound conviction of righteousness. Luther's salvation experience began with an intense personal struggle with guilt and a fear of divine punishment.
Despite his rigorous religious practices including fasting, confession, and penance Luther found no peace. He would describe this period of his life as one of deep spiritual despair, famously stating,
"I lost touch with Christ the Savior and Comforter, and made of him the jailer and hangman of my poor soul."
Luther's breakthrough came while studying the Book of Romans. He was struck by Romans 1:17,
"For in [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith.'"
Through the Spirit's convincing, Luther realized that righteousness is not something he could achieve through his own efforts but is a gift from God, received through faith in Jesus Christ. This new understanding brought him immense relief and joy, as he later reflected,
"I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates" (Luther, Preface to the Complete Edition of Luther's Latin Writings).
Luther's conviction about righteousness would lead him to challenge the Catholic Church's teachings on indulgences and personal merit, culminating in his Ninety-Five Theses or protests against the errant theology of his day and ours.
Once a person becomes convinced of their personal sin against God and of God's impossibly high standard of absolute righteousness, the Spirit brings yet one more foundational conviction: the conviction of coming judgment on those without Christ.
III. The Holy Spirit Convicts the World of Judgment
"And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning ... judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged" (John 16:8, 10).
The world in every age and Satan, the "ruler of this world," seek to convince us that divine judgment is a myth. But the internal testimony of the Spirit makes unmistakable the reality of future divine judgment and the ultimate demise of all who are of the Evil one.
Conviction of Judgment from Edward’s Famous Sermon
In 1741, Jonathan Edwards delivered a now-famous sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," in Enfield, Connecticut. His sermon vividly depicted the reality of hell and an impending judgment awaiting unrepentant sinners.
Edwards used graphic imagery to convey the precarious position of those outside of Christ, likening them to spiders held over a fiery pit by a thin thread that will be singed and snap any moment. Through that sermon, the Spirit stirred profound responses among the congregation. Listeners cried out to God, wept uncontrollably, and clung to the seats and pillars, overcome by the fear of sliding into hell itself.
Edwards had preached, for example,
"The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood."
Edward's sermon is often written off in history classes today as an example of religious oppression and fearmongering. But if Edward's depictions of God's coming judgment on unrepentant sinners had any shortcomings, it was in falling short of adequately describing the indescribable terror of damnation, of telling the untellable horror of eternal justice that awaits all those who reject Christ ruling over them.
The apostle Paul himself stood before the Roman governor, Felix, who could have executed Paul on the spot, in Acts 24:25, where Paul "reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment."
My friends, Scripture teaches that Judgment Day is on God's calendar, and every hour brings humankind step by step closer to its arrival. If Edward's sermon was true in 1741, it's even more relevant today, as we in 2024 are 282 years closer to the day God has appointed to Judge the world according to his righteousness.
Conclusion
I want to conclude this sobering passage with the hope of the gospel. 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 assures us,
"And because of [God] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'"
Notice he didn't say, "He became for us," although this is true, but "he became to us," showing that conversion involves a change in our subjective perception of Christ. He used to seem foolish, vile, degrading, and useless, but after the Spirit works in us, he becomes to us the very essence of wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption!
Do you find in Jesus Christ today God's definitive answer to the problem of your sins?
Has he answered the haunting guilt of your soul by convincing you that Jesus crucified on the cross in your place, bearing your sins, alone provides the righteousness God accepts?
Has he persuaded you that apart from faith in Jesus Christ and repentance from the sins we cherish we too will perish justly like all the rest?
If you belong to God by faith today, flee to Christ from both your sins and your self-made righteousness and trust alone in Jesus Christ as your only hope, your only refuge, and your only boast.
And if you've been praying for an unconverted friend, loved one, child, neighbor, or coworker, find solace and confidence in Jesus' words:
There is no skeptic so doubtful that the Spirit cannot convince. There is no cynic so hardened that she cannot be won. There is no soul so lost that it cannot be found through the convicting work of the the Holy Spirit of Almighty God. ❖
