Conviction of sin – A Work of the Holy Spirit
When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; (John 16:8-9)
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, that man is sinful. The Holy Spirit convicts man that he misses the mark and comes short of the glory of God. That he trespasses: wanders off the right path and that man transgresses: breaks the law of God.
The Holy Spirit shows mankind their error concerning sin in such a way that it produces a deep sense of personal sinfulness. This is where salvation begins in a lot of people, when one has the deep understanding that they are a sinner and need a Saviour then they are ready to accept Jesus Christ and receive Him into their heart and life as Lord and Saviour.
The need of the Holy Spirit to convict people of sin is always great and may seem to be an ever increasing need as the world we live in becomes more accepting of sin. People of the world don’t consider certain sin to be sin. People of the world do not understand they are sinning before God despite what the world tells them.
Christians are not immune to this problem either. There are many Christians who have allowed sin to creep into their life and they don’t consider it to be sin because other Christians and/or outside sources affirm the behavior. Or they do understand it is sin but have no urgency to change because the world affirms their behavior and the affirmation of the world is comforting to their sense of self. If they do understand it is sin and have not changed the behavior then they have rejected the conviction of the Holy Spirit in their life in regards to the matter of sin. This is a dangerous practice.
It is important for us to understand that it is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict people of sin. The Holy Spirit is the one who will bring a person to the realization of their sinfulness, lost condition and guilt before God. We are not able to convince anyone of sin. The human heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked and we see this truth in the blindness of every one of us to our own sinfulness. We can see the sin in others perfectly clear, but we are all too often blind t our own sin. The world is so blind to its own sin that only the Holy Spirit can convince the world of sin and brings people to see how sinful they are. We need to keep in mind that no matter how persuasive you and I may be we cannot produce real conviction of sin. Real conviction of sin is only produced by the Holy Spirit.
It is the Holy Spirit that convinces man that Jesus died for sin. It is the Holy Spirit who convinces the unbeliever that Jesus is Savior and that sins are really forgiven for those who truly believe in Christ. We as Christians are the messenger, we share the good news; we share the truth. If we share the truth it will allow for the Holy Spirit to convict a person and then turn to Christ. If we try to do the work of the Holy Spirit and convict the person ourselves as we are sharing the gospel truth the person will not turn to Christ. They will turn either to us or away from us. In either case we fail because we did not allow the Holy Spirit to do the work that He alone is to do. The result of our failure is the unbeliever does not turn to Christ.
We are to put ourselves at the disposal of the Holy Spirit for Him to use us as He sees fit. And if we are more available to the Holy Spirit while we speak the truth and more willing to look to the Holy Spirit for conviction, then I believe more conversions would happen.
My prayer is that we accept the conviction that the Holy Spirit brings into our life and that it leads to a true repentance, a change in our heart and our behavior and we draw nearer to Christ. I pray that we are faithful in calling sin what it is according to God’s word; sin. I pray that we do not set ourselves up for failure by taking on a task that God does not intend for us and I pray that we allow the Holy Spirit to use us as He sees fit. God has a plan for us all and if we just stick to His plan a great change will come in our lives and in our communities and in our country. I pray that we let the world know of His plan for our life.
In Jesus’s name I Pray. Amen.
Pastor Rick Gault
Kings Creek Union Chapel