Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

In John 16:10, Jesus described one of the functions of the future coming of the Holy Spirit as being to "convict the world regarding righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see Me no more". The word translated as "convict" means "to expose" or "to show to be guilty". 

During His earthly life, in passages such as Matthew 23:13-36, Jesus had repeatedly condemned the self-righteousness of individuals such as the scribes and Pharisees, who looked down on those who recognized their own sinfulness and their need for the redemption that Jesus had been incarnated to provide through His death and resurrection. Jesus also, through His sinless life, had provided an example of perfect righteousness for everyone to follow and emulate, and that stood in contrast to the hypocritical attitudes and behavior that Jesus had pointed out.

Now that Jesus was going to the Father, He was telling the apostles that the Holy Spirit would continue to perform this function in His absence, with the goal of having the same type of individuals recognize their sinfulness and their need for forgiveness and salvation (just as the apostles had).

Since Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit performing this function with regard to "the world" (which is a term commonly used to denote those who comprise the unbelieving world system), Jesus was not (in my opinion) saying this with regard to born-again believers with respect to their salvation (since they would have already been saved) -- although, even with born-again believers, the Holy Spirit dwelling within them continues to point out to them occasions when they sin and are in need of seeking God's forgiveness for Jesus' sake, so that their fellowship with God can be restored.

March 24 2019 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report