John 16:5-15 The Holy Spirit will bring conviction

John 16:5-15 First, Jesus talks about His imminent departure, as a means of further explaining the Holy Spirit. Understanding this, the disciples grieve. Jesus does not try to talk them out of their sorrow. Rather, He objectively explains the enormous benefit they will derive from His going away. He does not dwell on the plan of redemption, of the fact that their sins will be forgiven through His atoning sacrifice. Not at all. The Holy Spirit cannot indwell them unless He goes back to the Father and sends Him.

          In the Old Testament, there are a few occasions when the Holy Spirit came upon select individuals. (Numbers 11:25, 24:2; Judges 3:10,11:29; I Samuel 16:13; 19:20&23; and others. ) But the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all mankind, although promised (Joel 2:28-29) cannot happen until His departure. Why is this? Jesus does not directly explain. One might theorize that the atonement was necessary because the Holy Spirit cannot indwell those who still bear the guilt of sin. But if so, how could the Holy Spirit have come upon the elders in Moses’ time, Balaam, Othniel, Jephthah, Samson, David, Saul, and Saul’s men?  Perhaps it was Jesus' physical presence that precluded Holy Spirit indwelling. I think it must remain a mystery.

          Jesus goes on to talk about how the Holy Spirit interacts with the world. He brings conviction. We often speak of convictions as ones' most strongly held beliefs but that does not seem to be Jesus' meaning here. It seems closer to the conviction that a court might render, except that in this case, it is the court of the individual's conscience. There are three aspects of the Holy Spirit's ministry to the world.

•    He will convict the world concerning sin, because the world does not believe in Him.

•    He will convict the world concerning righteousness, because He is going to the Father and they (the disciples) will see Him no more

•    He will convict the world concerning judgment, because the ruler of the world (i.e., Satan) has been judged.

          The sin of the world is not at its core breaking God's rules or violating His holiness. The core root of the world's sin is refusing to believe in Jesus. He means to believe in Him with a conviction that is strong enough to take what He says seriously, and act and live in accordance with it. The Holy Spirit will not give the world a clear conscience. They are free to reject Jesus, but they cannot escape the inner certitude that they have rejected Him and that they are guilty for this reason. When the world hears the gospel preached, the Holy Spirit bears witness that it is true. Every person of some minimal age (often called the age of accountability) has had this experience. Earlier Jesus had said that they were not guilty when they acted in ignorance, but now He has come and revealed the truth and they have no excuse. They are guilty and the Holy Spirit tells them so.

          The righteousness that the world is convicted of concerns the lives of Jesus' disciples when He is no longer physically present. The world will see the Holy Spirit-imbued lifestyle of Jesus' disciples and the Holy Spirit will bring conviction to the world that their lifestyles are right. And this is in the absence of the physical presence of Jesus. The world may not understand how Jesus' followers can live this way.  Lives of sacrificial love, untainted holiness, joy in the midst of hardship. How the Holy Spirit empowers believers is a mystery to the world. But the world cannot escape the inner knowledge that Jesus' people are different, and that difference is right and good.

          The judgment that the world is convicted of relates to the role of the devil in the world. The devil is the ruler of the world (I John 5:19), but he has been judged (Genesis 3:14-15) and the world knows that it cannot escape the consequences of partaking of his kingdom, because the Holy Spirit tells this to people in the world with the conviction of certainty. 

          That the certainty of judgment hangs over the world is evidenced in politics, economics, entertainment, even philosophy. It is not only Christians who have an eschatological view of life. The threat of World War 3 hung over the heads of a whole generation. The fear of another Great Depression haunts many economic diatribes. How many movies and books depict a worldwide catastrophe of one kind or another, a new dark age following a cataclysmic war or epidemic? Why? Because all men feel the conviction that the choices we have made to pander to the flesh, to selfishly exploit other people or the natural world, and to cooperate with spiritual forces of darkness in high places will ultimately yield the bitter fruit that God warned Adam about. (Genesis 3:17-19) The Holy Spirit gives people inner certainty of this. Even if the world avoids Ragarnok during their lifetime, there will be an accounting afterwards in front of the judge. The panache of those who deny this by denying God's existence are whistling in the dark.

          Jesus then turns to the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of His disciples. They cannot possibly remember everything He taught them. But the Holy Spirit will bring it back to them. Or, if they have completely forgotten what He told them, then the Holy Spirit will tell them directly. Just as Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing, so the Holy Spirit will only tell them the things of Jesus and the Father. This is in sharp contrast to the conviction that the Holy Spirit brings to the world. The righteousness that the world is convicted of is life and joy to Jesus' disciples. There is no fear because perfect love casts out fear. (I John 4:18).