Have you ever had to acknowledge your own terribleness? What about your own self-righteousness? And judgment? The gift of how you are able to recognize these things is through the Holy Spirit.

We have been given the person of the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sin, convict us of righteousness, and judge the world.

7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

John 16:7-11

So what is it that the Holy Spirit really does for us? Why does it matter if we are convicted of our sin, righteousness, and judgment?

Kevin DeYoung writes, “The primary fulfillment to this threefold promise came at Pentecost, but the ongoing work of the Spirit-prompted conviction continues wherever there is sin to be exposed and forgiven. The convicting work of the Spirit is the first element in regeneration. God the Holy Spirit must awaken us to our selfishness, our antipathy to godliness, and our indifference to Christ.”

So the real purpose of our conviction is to be regenerated. By our sin coming to light, we are able to air ‘our dirty laundry’, repent, and be forgiven.

That’s great, right? But what does this actually look like in my life? What about how terrible I feel when I sin?

Conviction isn’t shame, or guilt or, fear, or anger. Conviction is the pronouncement that wrong has been done and it is made known.  In a court of law, if someone is convicted, they are charged with the crime and will be punished according to the law, which is just. The Holy Spirit’s role in this particular piece is simply to make our wrongdoing known to us. Christ has played the part of sacrificial lamb, has taken our sin upon Him and has satisfied the justice system. But there still lies this piece of recognizing our sin and bringing it to the Lord with our repentance for our own hearts.

When I am angry that I am unable to be in control of a situation and I take it out on my child, I need the Spirit to remind me that my heart is ugly and sinful and that I need Jesus. When I take that anger to the cross, I repent, I know I should be punished, but I can appropriately (although insufficiently) thank God for His amazing provision for my sin and the grace to be able to walk in relationship with Him. The Holy Spirit brings that regeneration about by the work He does in my heart. Walking around feeling bad about it, and being angry over it, or afraid I will do it again - that’s not the Holy Spirit, that’s our sinful stuff. There may be a place for anger at sin, but it’s not here.

God’s desire in giving us the Holy Spirit is not to demean or bring us down. It is to uplift us out of our muck. To draw us near to Him and show us how clean we are in Christ, even if we are deserving of hell.

In Him,

Cara