The Holy Spirit lesson 03 – The Holy Spirit Will Convict You
When I traveled to Israel several years ago, my tour guide was a Jew who came to believe in Jesus. He had great insight into the Bible. I asked him how he became so knowledgeable about the Bible and what books he read on the Bible. Surprisingly, he replied he only read the Bible and prayed constantly for the Holy Spirit to give him insight and convict him of truth. He said that the Holy Spirit gave him conviction that Jesus Christ is His Lord and Savior.
The Bible says that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. What does this mean? Let’s try to break this statement down into three parts.
The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin. Jesus explains in verse 9 that the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin because they do not believe in Him. Have you ever tried convincing a non-Christian about their need for salvation, but been rejected? It is usually because they do not seem themselves as sinful, and therefore have no need of a Savior.
The Bible clearly tells us that we are all sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God (Isaiah 59:2; Romans 3:23; 6:23). It is the job of the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sins. Once we are convicted of our sins, we will see our need of Jesus.
Let’s turn to Matthew 12:31-32.
Have you ever heard of the “unpardonable sin”? I have had Christians come to me, concerned that they have committed the “unpardonable sin” against the Holy Spirit. I tell them the good news that if they are worried about committing the unpardonable sin, then they have not committed the unpardonable sin!
The unpardonable sin is not one particular sin, but an attitude of unbelief. Jesus will always forgive all our sins that we confess to Him and repent of (1 John 1:9). However, if we ignore the Holy Spirit’s conviction of sins, then we will not go to Jesus to be forgiven of those sins.
Think of an alarm clock. When the alarm goes off, you are supposed to wake up. However if you repeatedly hit the snooze button, there may come a point where you totally disregard the alarm or throw the alarm clock to the other side of the room and go back to sleep. When we disregard the warnings and pleadings of the Holy Spirit, we may be come insensitive to Him and remain in our sins.
The Holy Spirit will convict the world of righteousness. The Holy Spirit will not only convict us of sin, but show us that there is a standard for righteousness, and that standard is Jesus. The Holy Spirit will convict our hearts that we cannot meet that standard of righteousness on our own merits. The Holy Spirit will show us that we need a Savior who will intercede on our behalf (1 John 1:7; 1 Timothy 2:5). The Holy Spirit will lead us to Jesus.
The Holy Spirit will convict the world of judgment. The Holy Spirit convicts us that there will be a day of reckoning where we are all face judgment. Jesus says that even Satan, the ruler of this world, will be judged (John 12:31). On Judgment Day, there will only be two groups of people: 1) the saved who believe in Jesus, and 2) the lost who rejected Jesus. The Holy Spirit wants us to choose Jesus!
Friend, will you allow the Holy Spirit to convict you of sin, righteousness, and judgment?