To Encourage You

John 16:8-11 “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

The Bible makes pretty clear that we often minimize the things that we should give greatest emphasis to in our lives, and overemphasize the things that we should minimize. For example, on the whole, men tend to have a minimal view of their need for God and tend to have an inflated view of their own goodness. These truths become evident if we ponder the verses above that speak of the work of the divine Holy Spirit. In this passage, Jesus is speaking to the apostles shortly before His death about the great gift of the Holy Spirit that He would soon send to them. The God of the universe, Who has infinite power, would come to them for a very specific purpose – to convict the world.

The word “convict” here, in the original Greek language in which it was written, can be defined in the following way: “to prove that a person or an assertion is wrong.” The fact that it takes God’s power to do this, demonstrates that man’s unbelief toward God is breathtaking in its scope. Although God has created us in His own image and made it clear to each of us that we have been “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14); and although God has placed man in a Creation whereby everything in nature that a person sees, hears, smells, tastes, and touches every moment of every day gives irrefutable evidence of the God who made it all; many, indeed MOST, STILL refuse to believe in Him. Furthermore, although God took the incredible action of first sending his prophets and then His own Son in flesh and blood to speak to man, man’s reaction was to murder them. Finally, God gave His Holy Spirit to work in men’s hearts to convince them that the Truth about their views regarding sin, righteousness, and judgment are the opposite of what they think, and that if they continue to believe the lies they hold to about these three things, they will, in the end, be lost forever, with no hope of a relationship with the God Who made them.

The Bible teaches us that men and women tend to have a very inflated view of themselves. They tend to see themselves as basically good and that the way they live their lives is “right.” They tend to live their lives never thinking that they will one day face the judgment of God to give account of how they have lived and what they have believed. Yet, all the while, God has told us that we are ALL sinners from birth (Psalm 51:5), that OUR righteousness is “as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6), and that we will ALL one day stand before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Truly, the lengths that God has gone to reach the unbelieving world with the Truth about Himself and itself is incredible. The fact that men and women, nevertheless, resist, reject, and won’t believe Him is more incredible, still. Are you one of them? Have you turned to this patient and merciful God, confessed your sin, and received the forgiveness He so wonderfully offers? And if not, will you?