John 16:5-11 NASB
[5] “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ [6] But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. [7] But 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 He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; [9] concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; [10] and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; [11] and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
There is a threefold ministry of the Holy Spirit referred to here that I want you to see. Jesus is encouraging His disciples in light of His soon coming physical departure from them, by telling them that it will be much better for them once He goes to the Father, because then He will send the Holy Spirit who will be in them forever. If you read through the whole upper room discourse you will discover that Jesus is encouraging them by telling them that even though they have enjoyed Him being with them, after His death, resurrection, and ascension, it will be even better for them, because He won’t just be with them as He has been; instead, He will be in them, living His life, by The Holy Spirit, through them.
He tells them in these verses in John 16, that when the Holy Spirit comes to this world, He will convict (expose) the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgement.
Jesus explains in verse 9-10 that the conviction of sin is about convicting the Lost about their mistake to not believe in Jesus. Even though it is the Holy Spirit who convinces Christians of behavior in their lives that aren’t Christlike, that is not what Jesus is talking about here. Here He is talking about the Holy Spirit working on the hearts of the unsaved to believe in the good news of Jesus. Remember, when you are talking to someone about Jesus, it is the Spirit who convinces their heart to believe. Just restfully share, knowing you are the instrument, not the surgeon.
The second ministry of the Holy Spirit mentioned in these verses is convicting the Christian about righteousness. Because most Christians live under a spirit of condemnation, and a sin consciousness, they believe that the primary work of the Holy Spirit is to point out sin in their lives; but the truth is, the primary work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer, is to convince them that they are in union with the righteous of God in Christ. In the ascension of Jesus, the promise of the Spirit was poured out by the Father. If you read further down in John 16 you will see that the coming of the Holy Spirit into the life of the believer personalizes their Union with Christ, and makes real and manifest in us, all that is ours in Christ to successfully live the Christian life. Jesus accomplished our Union with Him in His death, burial and resurrection, but when a person is born again, the Holy Spirit invades us and actualizes and personalizes that union with Christ and his righteous life, that enables us to live in supernatural holiness. The Holy Spirit has a priority, and that priority is to convince us that we have what is necessary to live a Christlike life, because we are in union with God’s righteousness in Christ, and we can live the Christian life victoriously by appropriating His righteousness, instead of trying to manifest our own. I think it is a liberating concept to understand that the Holy Spirit is much more concerned with convincing you of your righteousness before God, and His righteousness in you, than He is wanting to talk to you about sin. He wants to talk about answers, not just problems. He came to st us free; not beat us up. Our God is a Solutional Savior, not a “Rub your Nose in it Condemner.”
Finally, the third ministry of the Holy Spirit is convicting (exposing the fact, convincing us) that the Enemy of our souls, has been judged. At the Cross, the enemy throught He was humiliating Jesus, but instead satan suffered a Humiliating public defeat. We spend too much time consumed thinking about the loser in the fight. All authority was taken from him, and he is terrified at the thought that you might become convinced of his defeat. He knows if you do, you won’t put up with his nonsense anymore.