Previously in Theology 101, we have considered the first two of the passages in the Gospel of John that refer to the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete.
In that first passage, we noted how Jesus responded to His disciples’ troubled hearts over His announcement that He would be leaving them. To those troubled hearts He promised His presence would continue with them through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling Spirit would equate to His indwelling presence (John 14:15–18).
In the second reference to the Paraclete, Jesus acknowledged that His followers were unable to receive all that He wanted to teach them. In light of this inability of the disciples, Jesus promised them the Spirit of Truth who would come upon them and lead them into all truth by continuing to teach them truths that Jesus had begun to show them (John 14:25–26).
Enabling ministry
In a third reference to the Holy Spirit, Jesus spoke of the Spirit’s help in enabling His followers to be effective witnesses as they testified of Him following His ascension (John 15:26–27). The promise of this provision would place them in good stead when they began to go into all the world as His witnesses.
In John 16:7–11, Jesus elaborated further on the Spirit’s ministry of enabling His followers to be effective and fruitful witnesses. In doing this, He spoke about the convicting or convincing work of the Spirit. This work of the Spirit focuses on three areas.
First, He is God’s provision for convicting the world of sin. The focus of this conviction is human unbelief. Without conviction, sinners are doomed to eternal punishment as a result of never being forgiven through faith in Christ.
Second, the Spirit’s convicting work focuses on righteousness, which unbelievers do not possess in a measure that fits them for heaven. Jesus declared His return to the Father would be evidence that He possessed a righteousness that God accepts into His heaven. Human righteousness amounts to filthy rags when compared with the perfect righteousness that dwells in heaven (Isa. 64:6). Sinners must respond to the Spirit’s convicting of this fact by accepting God’s gift of righteousness by receiving His Son in faith.
Third, the convicting work of the Spirit also focuses on the judgment that awaits the unforgiven. Satan, called “the ruler of this world,” is already under divine judgment, and so are all who have not turned from him and embraced the Savior.
The abiding truth is that our witness for Christ can only be fruitful when accompanied by the Spirit’s convicting ministry.
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