The Holy Spirit Talks

The Holy Spirit is Promised

Jesus is about to be crucified and go back to be with the Father. This saddens the hearts of the disciples that have followed him for three years. Jesus is what they have devoted their lives to and now he tells them that he is leaving and going back to the Father.

I imagine that the disciples feel somewhat confused and maybe even a little betrayed. After all, the disciples left their businesses, families, their homes to follow Jesus. I imagine that they believed that by doing so they would be rewarded by reigning with him on earth.

Now after three years Jesus tells them that he is leaving. However Jesus tells them something fascinating before he leaves. He tells them that it is to their advantage that He goes to the Father because He will send the Helper (Holy Spirit) to them.

Advantages to the Holy Spirit Coming

The obvious question for the disciples would be, “how is the Holy Spirit coming an advantage?”

These are some reasons I believe that it is an advantage. The Holy Spirit is not limited by flesh and blood to be in one place at one time. When Jesus took on the fullness of humanity, he subjected himself to spacial limitations. He could only be at one place at one time. Though his power could be manifested in different places at the same time, His presence could not. As a matter of fact Jesus only ministered to a small portion of the world when He walked on earth. His journey was only about 120-150 mile stretch of land from Bethlehem to Mt. Hermon. Jesus was limited in how many places He could be at one time.

The Holy Spirit on the other hand is not limited by space. He can be in the US and Australia at the same time. As a matter of fact that is exactly what the Holy Spirit does.

A second reason it is advantageous for the Holy Spirit to come is that He empowers the believers. When the disciples were with Jesus they primarily watched what Jesus did and periodically did ministry. They were observant followers of Jesus while He was on earth.

When the Holy Spirit came, He fulfilled Jesus promise to the disciples. Matthew 4:19

Matthew 4:19 NASB95

And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Jesus promised them that if they followed Him, they would make disciples of the kingdom of God

Acts 1:6–8 NASB95

So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

The Holy Spirit enables not just the disciples of Jesus, but all believers to be witnesses of Jesus Christ.

Finally, the Holy Spirit carries on the mission of God. God planned for the salvation of humanity. Christ executed God’s plan by dying sacrificially on the cross for our sins. The Holy Spirit applies the salvation to the human soul for those who repent and believe in Jesus. He does this in three ways.

Three Ways the Holy Spirit Applies Salvation to the Human Soul

John 16:8–10 NASB95

“And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me;

The three ways the Holy Spirit applies salvation is conviction of sin, conviction of righteousness, and conviction of judgement.

Conviction of sin

John 16:9 NASB95

concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;

We are not sent to hell because of the sin we commit. We are sent to hell because of salvation we reject.

Part of the Holy Spirit’s role is to convict a person of their sin and that they are separated from God and that Jesus is the Savior. Romans 3:23

Romans 3:23 NASB95

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23 NASB95

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 3:16 NASB95

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

When a person chooses to turn from sin, receive forgiveness, and surrender their life to Jesus, the Holy Spirit applies salvation Romans 10:13

Romans 10:13 NASB95

for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The Holy Spirit also applies salvation through the conviction of righteousness

Conviction of Righteousness

The Holy Spirit teaches us two things about righteousness. The first is that our righteousness is not enough and second Jesus righteousness is. Our righteousness will never be enough to get salvation or earn the love of God. Isaiah 64:6

Isaiah 64:6 NASB95

For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

We believe that the more moral we become the more favor we have with God. This is why most people believe that they are a good person. Because they haven’t done anything significantly wrong.

Here is the the thing that is wrong in depending on your own righteousness. There is always something else. What I mean is if you focus on your cussing and reduce it significantly, you might be tempted to say to God, “Look at me, I haven’t cussed in over a month. I am special!” Yeah, but what about all the other areas where you fall short.

Depending on your own righteousness is very tiring and frustrating because it is never enough.

The second thing the Holy Spirit convicts us of is the righteousness of Christ. When Jesus ascended to the Father he sat down at the right hand of the Father. Hebrews 10:11-14

Hebrews 10:11–14 NASB95

Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

When a king sits down he proclaims that the mission is accomplished and it is finished. When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He satisfied the demand for perfection regarding the law. It is in the righteousness of Christ where we find peace with God. Not our own righteousness.

Convicts the World of Judgement

John 16:11 NASB95

and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

Cite and Paraphrase

John, Volumes 1 & 2 Convicting the World of Judgment

The final convicting work of the Spirit pertains to judgment: “he will convict the world … concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged” (John 16:8, 11). Typically for John, the meaning here may be rightly taken in a couple of ways. Jesus might be teaching that his overthrow of the devil, both by dying to destroy the power of sin and by rising from the dead to bring new and heavenly life into the world, has proved that there is a judgment on evil. Paul says that when Jesus nailed our sins to the cross, putting away our condemnation, “he disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Col. 2:15). Christ saw his death and resurrection as the judgment of Satan, by which his falsehood is exposed and his demise achieved, and in the fall of Satan’s reign we see that all the powers of sin and darkness must fall. Therefore, if you doubt that there is a judgment awaiting all evil in this world, excepting the sin that has already been judged on Christ’s cross, then his defeat of Satan should prove your folly. It is the ministry of the Spirit to work this conviction concerning judgment.

Moreover, Jesus has judged all that is glorified in this Satan-ruled world: power, wealth, prestige, worldly glory, and carnal pleasure. Skip Ryan notes:

In the triumph of Christ, the false one, the liar, the accuser who wants to hold up to us false standards of judgment has been defeated. Do you evaluate yourself by your appearance? Your wealth? Your standard of living? Your success? The opportunities that you have? The clubs to which you belong? The accuser lies and tells us to see ourselves in this way. Jesus comes to reveal him as the liar.

The progression outlined for the Spirit’s convicting ministry helps us to see the relevance of this final conviction for the lives of Christians. We are first convicted of our sin and guilt, and then of forgiveness and righteousness through Jesus Christ. What conviction do we then need as we live as Christ’s people in the world? We need the Spirit’s conviction that the reign of Satan really is over. Jesus had already told the disciples concerning his cross, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out” (John 12:31). The cross to which we look for our salvation was also the judgment of the world we left behind to follow Jesus. Paul said that when we were dead in sin, we were under Satan’s domination, living “in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind” (Eph. 2:3). But Christ has judged and defeated Satan and his power, and we are now reborn in Christ “after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (4:24).

Do you believe that you are no longer under the dominion of Satan, no longer bound to sin, but now free in Christ to lead a new life of righteousness? It is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict believers that Satan and his reign are judged and cast down, so that our manner of acting and speaking, our treatment of one another, and our walk before Christ in the power of the Spirit will reflect the truth of his victory.