The Convicting Comforter!

The Spirit of God, also known as the Comforter and the Holy Spirit, is indispensable to the conversion of the unsaved and the ministry of evangelism. His work in the human heart, upon hearing the Gospel, is so crucial there can be no imparting of new life without it. This is not merely my opinion; the Lord Jesus was roundly convinced of this spiritual reality. In John 16:7-11, our Savior gave this richly informative declaration,

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. ⁸ And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹ Of sin, because they believe not on me; ¹⁰ Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; ¹¹ Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged (KJV).

Our Lord Jesus was highlighting the basic convicting/persuading ministry of the Comforter which is vital to the Christian conversion experience. The Spirit’s work in the soul of the unbelievers must precede a genuine new birth. Jesus knew His departure was “expedient” for his disciples and every subsequent Christian witness. The Comforter would replace Him and represent Him in the world after the Lord Jesus returned to Heaven. As His disciples proclaim the gospel throughout the world, Jesus wanted His followers to know the convicting ministry of the Spirit would be at work in concert with them. This was great assurance that the evangelism efforts would be effective and fruitful to the glory of God and the salvation of man. Regarding this crucial endeavor, Christ specified a three-prong conviction strategy of the Holy Spirit during this age of God’s divine economy. It involves sin, righteousness, judgment and their central connection to Jesus Christ the Savior.

SIN

First, the Lord Jesus taught the Spirit would “reprove the world of sin.” From the outset it is important to recognize the fundamental nature of this reproof.  This is conviction as the Holy Spirit persuades the sinner of sin and condemnation before a righteous God. Then he convincingly points the unbeliever to Christ as the only viable solution to man’s sin problem. The active Agent of conviction is obviously the Holy Spirit Himself who is referred to as the “Comforter” by the Lord Jesus (Jn. 16:7). Thus, the Spirit helps the sinner perceive their existing guilt before God and the only remedy to this damning predicament.

What exactly is this convicting work?  Well, to “reprove the world” means to confute, and admonish: convict, convince, tell a fault, or even rebuke.  The idea is to overwhelm with arguments for the purpose of persuading: to refute conclusively by proving wrong with evidence and argument. The Holy Spirit in a sense takes the sinner to “court” and causes him to recognize his sinful nature/condition and the eternal consequences of his fallen state. The convicting work of the Spirit places the truth of the gospel in a clear light before the unsaved person’s conscience so that he acknowledges it as truth whether or not he receives Christ as personal Savior. Conviction then is making the message transparently clear, not the saving of the soul—that’s regeneration.  The Spirit uses the gospel to reveal the “world’s” fault, and overwhelms the conscience with personal responsibility for unbelief and rejection of Christ—like a highly skilled prosecuting attorney the Spirit seeks a “conviction.” In other words, the witnessing Christian who testifies about the saving grace of God must utterly depend on the Spirit to even make that testimony understood clearly. A. T. Robertson (1960, p. 267) astutely observed in Word Pictures in the New Testament, “Without this conviction by the Paraclete such men actually have a pride of intellectual superiority in refusing to believe on Jesus.” Simply put, if there is not conviction in the soul of the sinner by the Holy Spirit, there cannot be a spiritual conversion! None whatsoever, not even a hint.

What truth is it that the Holy Spirit makes clear during conviction? According to the Lord Jesus, it is the truth about “sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8).  First the proof that men are in a state of sin is “they believe not on me” (John 16:9), said the Lord Jesus. Pfeiffer and Harrison (1962, p. 1109) accurately said in The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, “The sin of the world came to sharp focus in the rejection of Jesus when there should have been acceptance of Him, the Spirit makes this the important issue.” Jamieson, Fausset and Brown (1983, p. 641) in The Bethany Parallel Commentary on the New Testaments echoed this very same idea stating,

As all sin has its root in unbelief, so the most aggravated form of unbelief is the rejection of Christ. The Spirit, however, in fastening this truth upon the conscience, does not extinguish, but, on the contrary, does consummate and intensify, the sense of all other sins.

The rejection of Jesus Christ—unbelief—is the chief sin of condemnation for “the world” of sinners without Christ. Does this not signal how serious unbelief is from God’s perspective?

RIGHTEOUSNESS

Secondly, the “righteousness” (Jn. 16:10) of Christ is proven because of His resurrection from the dead and ascension to the Father (John 16:10). This is important because the Jewish nation rejected the Lord Jesus as their Messiah and Savior. The religious leaders thought Christ an impostor and fraud as they sought the means to kill Him. In spite of the overwhelming evidence the Lord Jesus presented through His words and works, His nation refused Him believing Him to be an offender of their Law. They questioned His authenticity, nativity, and rejected His honest claims. They did not view Christ Jesus as righteous!

In contrast, the Father in Heaven obviously sees Jesus differently! He raised Him from the dead after His crucifixion, and upon Christ ascension, the Father gladly received Him into Heaven. Not only did the Father receive Him, but He honored and exalted Jesus Christ at His very right hand of power and authority. Jesus is not only righteous, He is God! These actions of God the Father fully venerated all the teachings, claims, actions, miracles, and lifestyle of the Lord Jesus Christ.  There is no fault in Him that He should be rejected as Savior and Lord.  No, Jesus is the spotless Lamb of God!  Charles Ryrie (1995) in A Survey of Bible Doctrine said, “All of His righteous claims were fully vindicated when He returned to heaven.” Pfeiffer and Harrison (1962, p. 1109) in The Wycliffe Bible Commentary concurs saying, “The Father is the true judge of righteousness. His readiness to receive the Son back into glory is the proof that he found in him no deficiency (Rom 1:4; 4:25; I Tim 3:16).”  The verdict of God concerning the Lord Jesus’ righteousness is transparently clear—He is consummately righteous! The Spirit will seek to bring the unbeliever to this same conclusion.

JUDGMENT

Thirdly, the proof of “judgment to come” is based on the past judgment of the prince of this world—Satan (John 16:11). God judged and condemned Satan through Christ’s cross and resurrection (Col. 2:15; 1Jn. 3:8).Once again The Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Pfeiffer and Harrison 1962, p. 1109, 1110) states precisely the intent of this passage.

When those who crucified Jesus saw that God did not interfere, they imagined that the judgment of God was being pronounced on him. Actually, another was being judged there, even Satan, the prince of this world. Satan rules by means of sin and death. Christ’s triumph over sin at the cross and over death at the Resurrection heralded the fact that Satan had been judged. The execution of final judgment is only a matter of time.

In his book, A Survey of Bible Doctrine, Ryrie (1995) explained, “In other words, if Satan, Christ’s archenemy, has been judged (John 12:31), what chance can any man hope to have of escaping judgment if he refuses the grace of God?” The blessed Spirit of the Living God takes “the world” to court and presents convincing evidence proving that it is guilty before God on three counts: (a) their unwillingness to believe on Christ as Savior, which reveals their unsaved condition and the magnitude of their sin; (b) their failure to accept the Lord Jesus as the absolute perfect standard of righteousness in spite of His resurrection and glorious ascension to the Father.  Undoubtedly, the Father’s obvious acceptance of Christ fully vindicated His inherent righteousness; (c) their refusal to accept liability for their impending judgment, which is as surely attested as the North Pole is cold! It is certain because Satan, the god of this world, stands judged before God already. So, the Spirit of God convicts the sinner of the awfulness of unbelief and rejection of Jesus Christ, He shows that Christ is obviously righteous and no sinner measures up, and He persuades the sinner of the certainty of pending judgment for sin.  These are the basic truths the Spirit seeks to make expressly clear in the mind and conscience of the sinner under conviction.

The believer’s responsibility is to be a “witness!”  Our aim is to testify to what we have experienced and know of Christ the Savior.  While it is our responsibility to convince, encourage, and even plead with the sinner, it still remains the ministry of the Spirit to convict and then convert.

RESULTS

Why is the Spirit’s ministry of conviction necessity?  Conviction could lead to conversion—genuine repentance from sin and faith in Christ (Acts 20:21).  There can be absolutely no conversion to Christ without the Spirit’s conviction. The awareness of wrong in the heart develops an eagerness to make things right with God. The Spirit creates a yearning for something different then continuous domination by sin. The Corinthian Christians thoroughly repented after Paul rebuked them for their sin and they evidenced these same motives and desires (2 Corinthians 7:10–13).  Their contrition serves as a brilliant example of this.  Also conviction can result in a willingness and readiness to accept God’s salvation and answers as illustrated on the Day of Pentecost by the Jews who repented and believed the Word (Acts 2:37–38).  They eagerly submitted themselves to God’s plan and came to Him on His terms; they did not propose or craft their own means or terms of reconciliation.  Clearly the mighty Spirit of God must work in the sinner’s heart to bring about this condition in the soul and to enable sinners to arrive at this same place today. Yes, it is true. The Comforter actually makes it quite uncomfortable in the conscience until the sinner trusts the Lord Jesus as Savior and Lord. He remains indispensable to conversion and the work of evangelism.