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Living in a World of Confusion
One of the last things that Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who had Jesus executed, asked Jesus was, “What is truth?”
It’s a question that’s been asked by countless philosophers, theologians, and everyday people, practically since the beginning of creation.
What is truth?
It’s a question that people are still asking and debating today.
Some even argue that truth isn’t knowable or that there is no truth or that every person has to find their own truth.
Whatever truth is, our culture tells us that it’s not something that applies to everyone.
According to the world, there’s no way for us to discover and build our lives on objective, unchanging truth.
But Jesus taught a different way.
According to Jesus, there is an absolute truth.
There is a truth that is not only knowable - it must be known if we’re going to live as we ought to live.
You see, according to Moses, God created humanity in a particular way with a particular purpose.
He made him as his representative in the world.
But rather than representing God, we have all chosen to rebel and represent ourselves.
We are rebels, each one searching for our own ‘truth’ - a way of living that will make us feel satisfied and complete.
But God has provided a way out of the confusion - it’s a way that leads us to our God-given purpose, the reason that we exist to begin with.
As opens, Jesus has just told his disciples that he’s going to have to die.
This man - their teacher and best friend for three years - is leaving them.
Naturally, this has created some real distress for them.
They had high expectations for him and the kingdom he was going to establish.
And now he was leaving.
But he promised them that he would “not leave them orphans.”
He’s told them that he would send another teacher, a helper or advocate like himself.
This is the Holy Spirit.
God’s very Spirit and presence.
This is the same Spirit that we talked about last week - that Spirit who seals us as God’s own possession.
The same Spirit whose current presence is a down payment of our eternal inheritance.
The same Spirit who leads us into a life of hope and of praise.
All this month we’re talking about God’s Holy Spirit and how he works in our lives.
We’ve already seen that his presence gives us assurance that we are saved.
But we might ask, how do we see him at work?
What are the signs that the Holy Spirit is alive and moving in my life?
Or, in other words, what is the Spirit’s ministry?
Mere hours before his arrest, Jesus told his disciples about the Holy Spirit.
He promised them that the Spirit would be sent to them and that he would begin to work in their lives.
Let’s listen in on this conversation, that we might come to understand how God’s Spirit not only worked in the lives of the disciples but also how he works in our own lives.
The Spirit’s Ministry
If you read this passage closely, you’ll realize that the Spirit has a work to do in every human heart.
In verses 8 through 11, he describes the way that the Holy Spirit works in the world - in those who do not believe or have faith in Jesus.
Then, in verses 12 through 15, he describes how the Holy Spirit works in the lives of believers.
So, we’re going to look at both of these areas and see how they are closely related.
Then we’re going to ask the question, what does the Holy Spirit’s work mean for us?
…to the World
Jesus tells his disciples that the Holy Spirit will come and “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”
…conviction
What does Jesus mean when he talks about convicting the world about sin and righteousness and judgment?
We should first understand what it means for the Spirit to convict a person.
This word is used throughout the New Testament to refer to showing someone where they err - helping them to see that they’ve made a mistake.
It’s the same word that Jesus uses when he tells his disciples, “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private.”
Conviction takes place when someone helps us realize that we’re believing or acting on a lie.
As a young teenager, my family had moved a number of times and I had gotten progressively angrier about it.
I remember during one of our last moves, being frustrated with losing my friends and having to start over again.
While I was in the midst of my anger and frustration I remember my dad giving me some advice that I’ve never forgotten: There’s a lot you can’t change in life.
But one thing you can always change is your attitude.
It’s one of the few things you have any real control over.
You see, I had been under the impression that my circumstances determined my happiness.
But that’s a lie.
And it’s one that needed correcting.
And so, Jesus says that the Spirit comes and he shows the world that they’re living under a lie.
He reveals the truth and exposes their falsehoods.
…concerning sin
…about sin
…about righteousness
First, he convicts the world concerning sin because the world doesn’t believe in Jesus.
According to John’s writings, sin is rooted in unbelief.
This is why in , Jesus tells the crowds, “unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
…about judgment
You see, the world is confused about sin.
Today, if you were to go out in the streets and ask “What is sin?” most people would probably look at you like you’d lost your mind.
For most people today, like truth, sin is relative if it exists at all.
And if our culture has a greatest sin, it’s the sin of intolerance or exclusion.
It’s the sin of offending someone.
We ought to acknowledge that intolerance and exclusion and giving offense can be sinful.
But they are not the root of sin - they’re merely symptoms of it.
And so, when the Holy Spirit begins to work in the world, one of the first things that he does is show people what real sin is - it’s a rejection of God and his way.
It’s a lack of faith in our Creator and his will for our lives.
It’s when we choose to love ourselves - and our own choices - more than we love God or others.
And so, the Spirit reveals this to us as unbelievers.
He shows us that our idea of what is ‘wrong’, our idea of ‘sin’ is all out of whack.
Sin is rooted in a lack of trust and love for God.
But that’s not all he convicts the world of...
…concerning righteousness
Second, the Spirit convinces the world that there is indeed a standard of righteousness - and what’s more, Jesus is that standard of righteousness.
Just as people do in our day, those in Jesus’ day had an idea of what it meant to be righteous.
They believed that righteousness was about keeping this set of rules and applying it rigidly.
And they assumed that if they checked all of the boxes, that they would be righteous and thus, pleasing to God.
In other words, they saw the way to heaven as through their own righteousness and if anyone acted outside of their box, he or she must not be righteous.
But Jesus didn’t just act outside of their box - he danced all over it.
He healed on the sabbath.
He called out their hypocrisy.
He associated with ‘sinful’ people - with prostitutes and alcoholics and other outcasts.
Jesus didn’t follow the rules of righteousness like they did.
Before he became an Apostle for Jesus, Paul thought this way.
He believed Jesus was a sham because he’d violated Paul’s standard of righteousness.
But one day, Paul was thrown off of his donkey and Jesus spoke to him.
And in that moment, Paul realized that his standard of righteousness was not God’s standard.
God was less concerned with the purity of a person’s bloodline and more concerned with the purity of their faith in him and in his son.
But then, three days after he was brutally killed, God vindicated - or justified - him by raising him from the dead.
And in doing so, he proved that their righteousness was built on lies.
Self-righteousness is no kind of righteousness.
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