The Spirit's Conviction in the Believer -- 3/23/13

Sunday, March 24, 2013

THE SPIRIT'S CONVICTION IN THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVER

John 16:7-11

            Suppose you pull up to the drive-thru window at Sonic or MacDonald's.  You study the menu a bit and then place your order:  "I would like an ice cream cone...  Small... No, that should do it."  When you get up to the window, the lady hands you an ice-cream cone.  When I say "ice cream cone," I mean the cone.  There's no ice cream in it.  But you didn't say you wanted a cone with ice cream in it; you simply said you wanted an ice cream cone.  You got what you ordered.  Of course, that is crazy, and it has never happened to you.  Why?  Because certain things go together; some things are just part of the package.  The cone always comes with ice cream in it.  It's like ordering a hot dog; you know that it will come with the bun.  A bicycle comes with tires.  Babies come with crying.  When you eat onions, you get bad breath.  We could go on and on, but you get the picture.

            Now allow me to come to something that is much more important than ice cream cones and hot dogs.  All have sinned and come short of God's glory.  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  Everyone  of us will admit that he or she has sinned, but that isn't the end of the story.  Sin comes with something else.  Yes, there's something else in the package.  Sin comes with blinders.  Though we admit that we sin, we have a way of overlooking, ignoring, and justifying our sin.  Of course, God gave the law to expose our sin.  Absolutely.  However, sin's blinders attempt to sneak sin in under the radar.  Sometimes even we who know the law of God, can be blind to our own sin.

            Please allow me to give you a personal illustration.  I like to think that I'm not a person who gets upset about anything.  I don't yell and scream when things go wrong or someone does something I don't appreciate.  But apparently there are more subtle ways to express one's feelings, as least that is what one member of my household has told me.  There were many times when I would speak to Rhonda and she would share with me an interesting observation.  "You're curling your lip."  I would quickly let her know that I was not curling my lip.  And what does that mean anyway?  What does a curled lip look like.  I sure couldn't see it.  Nevertheless, from time to time, when I would express my disapproval in what I thought was a nice, even tone, she would point out that I was curling my lip.  I was blind to it.  If she hadn't pointed out this behavior which seemed to be consistent with me being upset, I would have been totally blind to the behavior of my lip and the attitude of my heart.  Sin comes with blinders.  That's one reason why it is so dangerous.  As a cancer that is undetected becomes a great threat to the human body, so sin that is not dealt with becomes a great danger to the real you.

            So do we have something that reveals our sin?  That question brings us to the passage we are going to read this morning.  It should be familiar to you, because we read it last week.  Let's look at it again this morning.  Read John 16:7-11...

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 depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 "of righteous-ness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

            Last week we looked at how the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.  Our focus was on how the Spirit convicts the unbeliever.  Ultimately, such conviction will be final condemnation, in the same sense that a criminal is pronounced legally guilty.  However, the Spirit is presently convicting lost sinners of sin, righteousness, and judgment by producing an internal witness of these truths.  Sometimes that inward testimony is so effective that the lost sinner will be broken and will repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.  He will be convicted of his own sin, because he hasn't put his trust in Jesus.  He will be convicted of Jesus' righteousness, because He has been received into the presence of His Father.  And he will be convicted of judgment, because Satan, the ruler of this world has been judged.  And if God has judged Satan, He will do the same to anyone who rejects Jesus, the Righteous One. 

            If you are still apart from God, if you are under the wrath of God because you have not believed on Jesus, we continue to pray the convicting work of the Spirit will bring you to repentance and faith.  I remind you that nothing else matters.  For what will it profit you, if you gain the whole world and lose your own soul?  Of what value will be the praise of men, if the Son of Man says to you in the end, "I never knew you; depart from you, you who practice lawlessness"?

            This morning we come to that question with which we closed last week:  Does this passage apply to believers?  We don't have any trouble with the idea that the Spirit will convict unbelievers of sin, righteousness, and judgment, but what about believers?  Does the fact that Jesus says the Holy Spirit will convict the world rule out such conviction for believers?  Must we conclude that the world is used in the sense of the world system that opposes God?  Can it also include all people, as in John 3:16 (For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son)?  Basically, there are two ways that we might affirm the Spirit's conviction of believers...

                        1.  The term "world" is used in the sense of all people

                        2.  This 3-fold conviction begins with the lost, but the Holy Spirit continues this work after conversion.

            In general, most all will agree that the Holy Spirit convicts the Christian, except with respect to sin.  Yes, the Spirit convicts the believer of Jesus' righteousness and of Satan's judgment, but conviction of our sin is another matter.  Later we will see that the Spirit's conviction of Christ's righteousness and Satan's judgment comes from a different angle for the believer, but it would seem that there is no other way to look at the conviction of sin.  So the critical question is this:  "Does the Holy Spirit convict the believer of sin?"

            This is no "ivory tower" discussion which has no practical implications for daily life.  The answer to that question is of vital importance.  As a believer, can you expect the Holy Spirit to convict you of sin?  While some of you may be thinking, "We know the answer to that question; why even ask it?", the answer is not now apparent in some Christian circles.  There is an entire movement in Christendom today which concludes that the Holy Spirit does not convict believers of sin, and it is very misleading and wrong to say that He does. 

            The reason I take time to discuss this issue is because I am finding that it is more prevalent than realized.  This new movement is sometimes called "The New Grace Reformation" or some similar term, and the key concept is grace.  Though there are certain variations, the general view looks something like this...

Because Jesus has died for us and made us righteous and because we are now fully accepted in Jesus, not only have we been justified so that God puts us in the righteous column, but we have already been sanctified and made perfectly holy, so that God sees us only as holy.   Because Jesus died for all of our sins -- past, present, and future -- that means that all of our sins have already been considered forgiven by God.  Therefore we don't have to confess our sins or repent of our sins, because they have already been forgiven and do not exist in God's sight.   Jeremiah prophesied that under the new covenant God would remember our sins no more.  Confession of sin is introspective and legalistic, and asking for forgiveness results in works-righteousness and self-obsession.  The Holy Spirit doesn't convict us of sin, since there is no real difference between conviction and condemnation.  Any human effort put into trying to please God is a denial of grace and denial of the cross.

            As I see it, there is truth to be found here, but it is mixed with error.  Though this mixture may appear attractive, it is dangerous.  Remember that Satan still specializes in mixing truth and error, just as he did in the Garden of Eden.  Let's think particularly about the conviction of sin, confession of sin, and repentance from sin.  This  movement pro-claims that for the believer, when it comes to sin, there is no need for confession or repentance.  Certainly, if there is no need to confess our sins, then we shouldn't expect the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin.  If we don't need to repent, then there is no need for conviction.

            Perhaps the most basic argument for this line of thinking is that Jesus died for all of our sins.  In other words, when Jesus died on the cross, all of our sins were future.  The sin I committed as a 14-year-old was almost 2,000 years after Jesus died on the cross.  It was as much future as the sin I committed last week.  Therefore, since Jesus forgave me of my sins through His death and resurrection, they are all forgiven.  And if they are all forgiven, it does not make since that I confess them.  Why confess sins that have already been forgiven?

            It is certainly true that Jesus died for all of our sins.  The great implication of that truth is that Jesus doesn't have to die again for the sins we have committed after we were converted.  His once-for-all death and resurrection is sufficient to wash away all of our sins.  But is it also true that since Jesus died for all of our sins, do we need to confess any sins that we commit?  After all, didn't our confession of sins at conversion include all of our future sins, whether we realized it or not? 

            Brothers and sisters, don't be swayed by this kind of thinking.  When I commit a sin, I need to confess that sin to God.  Let me suggest three reasons for that conclusion.  First of all, simplicity demands it.  When you initially came to Christ, you confessed your sins; you asked God to forgive you.  It never entered your mind that you were asking Him to forgive you of sins that you would commit in the future.  This idea that we don't need to confess our sins is built  on a logical argument that is never entertained by scripture.

            The second reason for rejecting this line of thinking is as simple as I John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."   John is obviously speaking about present confession of present sins.  A little bit later we are going to discuss the meaning of that word "confess."  For now suffice it to say that John encourages believers to confess their sins in order to find forgiveness and cleansing.

            The third reason is also based in the New Testament.  This modern movement suggests that we don't need to be sorry for our sin, and we certainly don't need to repent.  To do such will lead us to focus on sin, and that should not be our focus; rather, we should focus on Jesus.  That sounds good, but it doesn't line up with scripture.  Please turn to II Cor. 7.  Before we read from there, I need to give you a little background.  The Holy Spirit has preserved for us I and II Corinthians, two letters which Paul the apostle wrote to the church at Corinth.  However, the content of these letters makes it clear that there these were not the only correspondence between Paul and the church at Corinth.  I Cor. 5:9 refers to an earlier letter which Paul wrote to the church.  It also seems highly likely that Paul made a quick visit between the writing of I Corinthians and II Corinthians. 

            In I Corinthians 5 we read of a professing brother who was living in sexual immorality, seemingly with no shame.  Paul sternly rebuked the church for not dealing quickly and firmly with this brother,  bluntly telling them to put him out of the church.  In II Cor. 2 we learn that the church finally obeyed, and this brother came to repentance.  Paul urged them to restore him to full fellowship in the body.  In that context, he speaks of a stern letter he had written to them (not I Corinthians).  Now in II Cor. 7 Paul is reflecting again upon that letter.  Now let's read II Cor. 7:5-11...

For indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears. 6 Nevertheless God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming, but also by the consolation with which he was comforted in you, when he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more. 8 For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. 9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us   in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. 11 For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

            Paul rejoiced that they were made sorry in a godly manner, because godly sorrow leads to repentance.  Make no mistake about it, Paul was speaking to believers, to the Christians in Corinth.  Paul's stern letter of rebuke caused them to grieve, but out of that godly sorrow came genuine repentance.  This passage makes it clear that repentance in the believer is necessary and desirable and that it is godly sorrow that produces that repentance.  Why did they grieve?  Because of their sin.  And what was it that led them to recognize their sin?  Yes, it was Paul's loving concern and courage to confront them, but no man can convict of sin.  Surely it was the Spirit of God using Paul that brought conviction of their sin.

            If confession of sin and repentance for sin are normal and desirable for the believer, then it is healthy to experience conviction of sin.  Brothers and sisters, it is the Spirit who brings conviction of sin. 

            You may say, "But I thought it was the written Word that convicted us of sin?"  Yes, that is true.  Let's read that well-known passage from II Tim. 3:16-17... "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."  Consider that word "reproof."  The Greek word is the noun form of the word that is translated "convict" in John 16:8.  The Spirit will convict of sin, righteousness, and judgment.  The written Word is profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.  The Spirit and the Word work together.  The Spirit takes the truth of the Word and drives it home to the heart of the believer in order to bring genuine conviction of sin, to bring our sin to light, to make us keenly aware of our sin. 

            But what about this idea that confession and repentance gets our eyes on sin rather than on Christ?  We certainly don't want consciousness of sin to overshadow the glory of Jesus Christ in our lives, but what we have to realize is that sin is the very thing that dims His glory in our lives.  Sin cuts off our fellowship with Him.  If that sin is not dealt with, we are only kidding ourselves into thinking that we are walking with Him.  "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth" (I John 1:6).  When we sin, we come to God and confess that sin, and thus we receive His forgiveness.  But hasn't Jesus forgiven us of all our sins -- past, present, and future?  Yes, in the sense that His once-for-all death and resurrection provides for the forgiveness of all our sins.  Nevertheless, practical forgiveness comes in the present transaction, when we come to confess our present sin. 

            Consider an illustration.  Your 8-year-old son or daughter has taken a package of cookies from the cabinet and hidden them in his bedroom, thinking that he will be a happy muncher for a few days.  Soon he realizes that he was mistaken.  For some reason, those cookies aren't nearly as tasty as he thought they would be.  They have been poisoned by the guilt of his sin.  You know he took them, because you discovered them in his room.  So do you still love him?  Of course, you do.  Do you have the attitude that there is no wrong he could ever do that would put him beyond your love and forgiveness?  Of course.  You might say that you have already forgiven all his wrongs -- past, present, and future.  And your son knows the depth of your love.  So what should he do?  Should he just quietly return the cookies and not say anything?  He realizes that nothing he has done or could ever do will separate him from your love.  We know the answer.  Until he confesses his theft directly to you, he is going to be eaten up with guilt and there is going to be a barrier between him and you. 

            That's the way it is with the Lord.  There is no question that He will forgive, that He loves you no matter what.  You are still His son, His daughter.  And He knows perfectly well the sin that you committed.  But He still calls you to come and confess that sin to Him.  When you do, He blesses you with complete forgiveness and cleansing.

            Listen to me.  It is this open confession of sin that moves our mind and hearts from sin to Christ.  It is not confession of sin that causes us to be focused on sin and be obsessed with self.  If we don't confess our sin, we are either eaten up with guilt or we deceive ourselves into thinking everything is okay, when in reality we are out of fellowship with our Lord. 

            Make no mistake about it, the scripture talks about self-examination.  That doesn't mean we are to constantly be examining ourselves, but there is a time to do so.  In the context of the Lord's Supper in I Cor. 11, Paul commands the believers to examine themselves.  II Cor. 13:5, "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith."  There is a time for self-examination, and when the Spirit convicts us of sin, that is a proper time.  Once we have determined that we have indeed sinned, then with a heart of repentance we run to the Lord to confess that sin, and that process shouldn't take long.  Though we view our sin, our godly sorrow turns us to God and the One He sent to provide forgiveness.  As Robert Murray McCheyne once said, "For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ."  Sin turns our eyes on self, but confession quickly turns us to Christ, in whom we then rejoice.

            Don't swallow this idea that the Christian must not think about sin.  Read Romans 6-8 and you will find Paul talking freely about sin.  Paul doesn't tell us not to concern ourselves with sin, but he tells us to reckon ourselves to be dead unto sin.  Please allow me to read you a quote from a professing Christian...

I have never lived a day but I have had to sorrow over my imperfections... I tell you solemnly that the talk which we have heard lately about perfection in the flesh comes from ignorance of the law and of self...  God's children sin, for they are still in the body.  If they are in a right state of heart, they will mourn over this, and it will be the burden of their lives.  Oh that they could live without sin!  It is this that they sigh after, and they can never be fully content until they obtain it.  They do not excuse themselves by saying, "I cannot be perfect," but they feel that their inability is their sin.  They regard every transgression and tendency to sin as a grievous fault, and they mourn over it from day to day.  They would [want to be] holy as Christ is holy.  The will is present with them, but how to perform that which they would they find not.  (C. H. Spurgeon, Metro-politan Tabernacle Pulpit, 24, 436;  34, 623;  25, 367... Quoted by Iain Murray in The Forgotten Spurgeon, p. 231).

That quote is not from some raving pessimistic heretic; it is from the mouth of Charles Spurgeon, who is often referred to as "the prince of preachers."  He was a man who was steeped in the scriptures and was not influenced by the shallow thinking of modern evangelicalism.  Taking sin seriously and rejoicing in Christ are not mutually exclusive. 

            Let me be clear.  Is there a danger of focusing too much on sin?  Yes.  And how can a person do that?  You focus too much on sin, when the Spirit convicts you and you dwell on the sin apart from Christ.  The enemy may tempt you to think, "I'm just no good.  There is no way I am ever going to be able to please God."  If you dwell on those thoughts, then your focus will indeed be on sin and self, and that is not healthy.  Or maybe you are tempted to think, "I have committed this sin so many times, I am ashamed to ask God for forgiveness.  I'm just being a hypocrite."  That kind of thinking can quickly snowball into self-absorption, but that is not what God tells us to do.  The Spirit convicts us of sin, and then we confess it to God, saying the same thing about it that God says. 

            Let's pause a moment to think about that concept of confession.  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9).  The word translated "confess" literally means "to say the same thing."  When we confess our sins to God, we say the same thing about our sin that He says.  Remember that God is absolutely holy and righteous.  He hates sin; He detests it; He can have no part of it.  Sin is what caused Him to crush His own Son on the cross.  When we confess our sin, we view it like God views it.

            One writer reveals a lower view of confession, saying...

Is there a place for confession in the Christian's life?  Yes, if confession means acknowledging the foolishness of disobedience to the Father and then praising Him that we are already [italicized in the quote] forgiven and accepted by Him.  The Father relates to us from a forgiving heart because He loves us unconditionally.  (Grace Walk, Steve McVey, p. 125).

            This writer suggests that we admit our foolishness in disobeying God, but he stops short of actually viewing the sin as God views it.  He subtly suggests that viewing the sin as God views it, sorrowing over sin, is to deny God's love and acceptance.  Don't be fooled by that line of thinking.  It reminds me of "no-fault divorce," a procedure that presses for divorce without acknowledging fault.  May God deliver us from no-fault confession.  The problem with most of us is not that we make too much of sin, but that we don't take sin seriously enough.  Taking sin seriously does not deny God's love and acceptance of us as His children. 

            Consider another illustration.  Husband, you speak cruelly to your wife.  You were having a bad day and you snapped at her.  Your wife didn't say a word; she just retreated into the bedroom with a wounded look on her face.  At the time you stomped out of the house, justifying your actions completely.  But later, you realized that what you said was very hurtful and there was no excuse for it.  So how do you handle the situation now?  Would you come into the house later in the day and say, "Hey, Mary, that was a foolish thing I did this morning.  Now how about some supper?"  Not if you care for your wife.  You realize that you have hurt her deeply the wife who loves you and has given herself freely to you for years and years.  You give her your full attention.  You look her squarely in the eye and are deadly serious.  Then you apologize from your heart.  You explain that you were wrong and that you are hurting because you hurt her.  You offer no "buts" for your action.  Then you ask her to forgive you.  Will you do any less for the God who sent His Son to redeem you?

Conclusion

            I suggest to you that God is delighted when we are broken over our sin and come to Him in sincere confession and repentance, just as a father or mother is delighted when that child comes, owns up to his wrong, and the barrier is swept away.  So praise God that His Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin.  Sin separates us from God, with fellowship with Him.  Since that is true, we need to be aware of our sin.  The Spirit, using the Word as His tool, reveals our sin to us.

            I remind you that our text says that the Spirit will convict of sin not sins.  And He will convict us of sin, because we do not believe on Jesus.  How can that be true of the believer?  It is true in the sense that when we sin against the Lord, we are not trusting in Jesus at that time.  Why do we sin in the first place?  Because we take our eyes off Him.  Because we refuse to believe that we can trust Him even in this situation.  So whatever the particular sin we commit, the basic problem is that we don't believe on Jesus.  We need to remember that.  The problem of sin is bigger than the particular act of disobedience.  At the core of sin is the fact that we are not trusting our Lord.

            The Spirit will convict us not only of sin, but also of righteousness, because Jesus has gone to the Father.  Last week we looked at this focus on Jesus' righteousness, but this morning I want to remind you that Jesus' righteousness has become our righteousness.  Remember, God made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be the righteousness of God in Christ.  When the Spirit reminds us of that truth, He throws light upon our sin.  This sin goes against my nature; this is not who I am.  This sin is out of character for one who is the righteousness of God in Christ.  Thus the righteousness of Christ, which has become mine, becomes a motivation to keep me from sin.

            The Spirit will also convict us of judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.  Satan is the ruler of this world, but he was judged at the cross.  Though it appeared he had defeated Jesus, in reality, it was Jesus' death on the cross that was his undoing and our salvation, and the resurrection was God's confirmation of those truths.  We are often reminded that we are in a war against a most powerful enemy.  Satan has many fallen angels who are working for him.  "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12).  But praise God that the leader of all of them has been judged; his condemnation is sealed.  And because that is true, we don't have to fear the tempter, the accuser of the brethren.  As John said, "Greater is He that is in you that he that is in the world."  That very One who is in us convinces us that though Satan is powerful, our Lord has overcome him and we don't have to fear.  He can tempt us to sin, but he can't cause us to sin.

            Brothers and sisters, don't let anyone lead you to believe that the conviction of the Holy Spirit is a negative thing, because it is not.  Our loving Father and our precious Lord Jesus have sent the Spirit into our lives, that He might continue this work of conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment.  This is part of the process of being conformed to the image of Christ.  Let's rejoice in Him.

            I thought we would get farther than we did, but that's okay.  For the next few weeks, I want us to be thinking about the Spirit's conviction in our lives.  More than thinking about it, let's take courage and ask the Spirit to do His work of conviction.  It's not that He won't bring conviction if we don't ask, but by asking, we are saying to God that we are thankful for this convicting work of the Spirit.  We want to cooperate fully with the Spirit.  I find it to be parallel to what we discover in Psalm 139.  The Psalm begins, "O Lord, you have searched me and known me."  Then David gives great detail about how the Lord knows him inside and out.  Then he closes the Psalm with this prayer, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts.  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Ps. 139:23-24).  God has searched him and knows his heart.  Nevertheless, David invites the Lord to search him and know his heart.  So it is with us.  The Spirit convicts us of sin, righteousness, and judgment.  Now let's pray that He will convict us of sin, righteousness, and judgment, telling God enthusiastically that we welcome this necessary and productive ministry of His Spirit.

            As we pray, let's expect the Spirit to convict us of sin which has escaped our notice.  Let's expect Him to give us a greater appreciation of Christ's righteousness.  And may the Spirit assure us that no one, not even Satan himself, can derail God's plan to make us like His Son.