Conviction. The word appears
8 times in the New Testament. Without
going into each verse and its meaning, let me just share a few thoughts.
For years we have believed traditionally that the Holy Spirit
is there to convict us (Christians) of our sins. With that belief, the enemy has found the
opportunity to sneak in under the guise of “conviction” and heap false guilt
and condemnation on the heads of believers; God’s holy ones, the saints, His
righteous ones, His sons and daughters.
Let’s look at this. The
word for convict(ion) is elegchos or elegchÅ: “not merely a charge on the basis
of the conviction, but the manifestation of the truth of that charge. The results will be reaped from that charge,
and the acknowledgement, if not outwardly, yet inwardly, of its truth on the
part of the accused. This doesn’t just imply the charge, but the truth of the
charge.” Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D., Hebrew-Greek
Key Word Study Bible
Romans 8:33-34 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect?
God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who
died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also
intercedes for us.
When Jesus became the Propitiation for our sin, He satisfied God! When Jesus died on the cross for all of the
sins committed from the beginning of time to the end of time (Rom. 5), He said “It
is finished!” When we receive His forgiveness
and His life, we are given His righteousness.
It’s not your righteousness. If
it is, then you will be convicted of sin every time you miss the mark. But if it’s His righteousness, you will be
convicted of your righteousness every time the Holy Spirit comes to you to
remind you who you are when you are walking in opposition to your true nature.
(2 Cor. 5:17)
If you are being convicted of your sins, you might be bound in
the cycle of sin, try hard, defeat, sin, try harder and ultimate defeat! Not to mention your eyes would be on
yourself! But, if when you sin, the Holy
Spirit is convicting you of your righteousness and wooing you to look again to
the cross of Christ, then your eyes are on Him and the joy before you would cause
you to run into His arms.
We’ve been duped. The
enemy has come in for thousands of years and convinced the church that we are
sinners and ultimately failures. He is
there tempting us and when we don’t know who we are and what we were created
for, we say “yes” to sin. Then he stands
as accuser and pretends that he is God accusing us. We walk away feeling like God is mad at us or
maybe that He is simply disappointed. How
has this helped the church? Does this
bring us into sonship? Does it release
us into our destiny? How has it worked
for you? …Or does this lead us to run
from God, hide from Him and ultimately give up?
Romans 16:7-11 But 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 He, when He comes, will convict the world
concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do
not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and
you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world
has been judged.
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin. The world needs to be convicted of sin because
they need to receive the sacrifice for those sins; because they need Jesus. We do not need a Savior until we are convinced
of our need for a Savior. The Holy Spirit convicts the believer of
righteousness. Jesus, talking to His 11
closest friends, hours before His betrayal said, “concerning righteousness,
because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me.”
Remember, we are in the world, but not of the world. We are the “you” in John 16 because we are
His followers. “He made Him who knew no
sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in
Him.” If I am righteous; if I have been
justified; if I am redeemed and sanctified… why would the Holy Spirit come and
convict me of sin. He knows that my sin
is upon the cross. He knows that I will
walk in it if I believe that it’s still alive in me. He knows that I will be free of it if I know I
have been crucified. (Rom. 6) If God casts our sin as far as the east is from
the west and remembers it no more, why do you think the Holy Spirit still
remembers? Hmmmm. Maybe that voice that is pointing at your sin
and causing guilt and condemnation to rise up within you is not the voice of
God at all. Maybe it is the voice of the
accuser who accuses us day and night!
Romans 8:1 Therefore there is NOW no condemnation for those
who are in Christ Jesus. When will we believe
this? When will we receive this? If we continue to hold onto our sin and
condemnation, then we continue to walk in pride. It might be masked as false humility, “I’m
just a sinner saved by grace”; but don’t be fooled. Jesus was enough! Jesus did it!
He went to the cross. He took the
sin of the world and He said, “It is finished.”
He defeated death and hell and is now seated at the right hand of God
and we are in Him. (Eph. 1 & 2) Do
not be deceived any longer. Agree with
God. Say yes to the finished work of Jesus and enter into the rest that God has
for you. (Heb. 4) May you be convicted
of the truth of that charge: that you are righteous, redeemed, hidden with
Christ in God, sanctified sons and daughters; that you have peace with God because
of His great love and His great sacrifice.
Amen
