The Result of the Holy Spirit’s Work
John 16:7-11
by: Jesse Licardo
June 29, 2024. Lakewood CA
“Nevertheless, 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 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.”
John 16:7-11 ESV
Convicts
Verse 7:
Why is it to their advantage? That the Lord goes away?
The reason why it’s beneficial that he goes away is that in order to complete His atonement for sin, it would be necessary for Jesus to leave.
The advantage of Jesus leaving is also tied to the specific role of the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus leaves He will send the Holy Spirit refer to verse 7.
The Holy Spirit provides the opportunity for all Christians to have constant personal indwelling contact with God
John 14: 16-17
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
- Verse 8
“And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:”
John 16:8 ESV
The word convict in Greek:
- elencho; verb, indicative future active; third person singular of G1651, strong, elegxei
- Generally with a suggestion of a shame of the person convicted.
- Legal word- to indict by evidence
- To expose
- To bring to light
- To refute
- To rebuke
- To reprimand severely
- To admonish
- To chasten
- To convict
- To convince
- To prove or declare guilt of an offense
- To impress with a sense of guilt
Thayer Greek Lexicon
The Holy Spirit acts as a Divine prosecutor in convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement
- Verse 9
“concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;”
John 16:9 ESV
The Holy Spirit will indict the world of the sin of unbelief. This is critical and necessary work for the world to know it is guilty. Why?
- no one seeks after God
Romans 3:10-12
“as it is written: “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.””
Psalms 14:2-3
“The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.”
- People will not realize they are sinners and in need of a savior and salvation without the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.
- The Holy Spirit, the helper, will come and convict the world, concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment.
- Concerning sin, because they do not believe
Sin of unbelief
- sin singular
The sin of unbelief I the greatest sin because
- God employs the highest means to bring men to the sense of it
- The loathsomeness of sin to God appears by His sending Christ to expiate it
- The odiousness of unbelief by His sending the spirit to reprove it.
The Holy Spirit will convict the world that they are guilty as sinners in need of salvation.
In John 1: 9-13
“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
John 3:19-21
“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.””
The Holy Spirit has the power to convince humanity of its need for God.
- Verse 10
“concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;”
John 16:10 ESV
The Spirit will convince the word in regards to righteousness.
- it will bring the world to a realization that its own righteousness is as filthy rags
Isaiah 64:6
“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”
Paul made it clear in Roman 3:9-12
“What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “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.””
Our own righteousness is nothing compared to the depths of our sin
- we must one to our realization of the gravity of our sins and see the complete insufficiency of our actions before GOD.
- The standard of righteousness is God not ourselves
- Our righteousness has no value in God’s kingdom
- Our righteousness does not work in God’s economy, and does not set us free but condemns us
- The work of the spirit is to show us that our righteousness is totally insufficient, we need the righteousness of Christ, His ultimate sacrifice on the cross, the shedding of His blood for the forgiveness of sin, His death, His resurrection that can only be availed by faith.
- This is the only way we can avail of the righteousness of Christ.
- The Bible says we can have this righteous by being in Christ.
2 Corinthians 5: 17-19
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”
2 Cor. 5:21
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The spirit will convict the world regarding judgement.
The rule of this world in its present fallen, sinful state is satan
John 14: 30-31
“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.”
1John 5:19
“We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”
At the cross the devil was defeated, he was cast out that is decisively defeated.
Colossians 2:14-15
“by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”
in Greco-Roman world,t he record of debt in Greek, chreographon was a written note of indebtedness. Paul uses this as a word picture to characterize each persons indebtedness to God because of sin.
- the Lord Himself has mercifully resolved this problem for all who put their faith in Him
- The cross of Christ marks the decisive defeat of Satan and demonic powers.
- on the cross, satan was stripped of their power to accuse believers in Christ.
- Satan in Greek Diablo’s, devil, which means accuser, slanderer.
Nevertheless we must be sober and vigilant.
1 Peter5:8
“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
Hebrews 2:14-15
“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”
Genesis 3: 15
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.””
How will the Spirit convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment?
Acts 1: 8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.””
I dwelled and empowered by the Holy Spirit, the apostle preached the good news, and the Holy Spirit convicts and convinces those who would hear.
Acts 2:14-41
“But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ “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. For David says concerning him, “‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”’ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 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?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”
Romans 10: 9-17
“because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
