The Convicting Work of the Holy Spirit in John 16:8-11

The Convicting Work of the Holy Spirit in John 16:8-11 www.prshockley.org

What does “convict” mean? The verb occurs 18 times in N.T.: Mt. 18:15; Lk. 3:19; Jn. 3:20; 8:46; 1 Cor. 14;24; Eph. 5:11, 13, 1 Tim. 5:20; 2 Tim. 4;2; Tit. 1:9, 13; 2:15; Heb. 12:5; Jas. 2:9; Jude 15, 22; Rev. 3:19. In his famous commentary, The Gospel According to John, D. A. Carson states, “Arguably, in every instance the verb has to do with showing someone his sin, usually as a summons to repentance” [pg. 534

What does “convict” mean? • basic meaning of “elencho” for conviction” is “show” or “demonstrate” and can be used with a legal to mean “prove guilty” which is evident from the context of passages as John 8:46; James 2:9; Jude 15 cf. John 16:8 and cf. “confute” in Titus 1:9 where we we have the idea of successfully demonstrating the truth of a charge. • In Corinthians 14:24 the meaning (though perhaps less obvious) “convicted”; it could just well be “exposed” as in John 3:20 and Ephesians 5:11, 13.

What does “convict” mean? • “elencho” and “exelencho” is used in the following ways: • “Prove in the wrong” (John 8:46); • “bring conviction” (1 Corinthians 14:24); • “convicts himself” in 2 Samuel 14:13 in Hebrew which is literally “he speaks as guilty,” “as one which is faulty,” or “you condemn yourself.”

What does “Conviction” [Gk. Plerophoria, elenchos] mean? • Assurance (1 Thessalonians 1:5); • In 1 Thess. 1:5 Paul states that the gospel comes not as mere words but also in “power and in the Holy Spirit,” and here he adds plerophoria polle, that is, “with complete certainty.” Therefore, built into the gopsel message is the power to convince completely through the Holy Spirit. • Evidence (Hebrews 11:1) or “Make us certain.” • Faith is described as the “elenchos” of things not seen.” This word, elenchos can be translated as “evidence”.

What does “convict” mean? • The Theological Wordbook summarizes the meaning of this word by stating, “to bring someone to a realization of his guilt.” D. Campbell goes on to say: • “It is an antecedent to repentance and faith is the work of the Holy Spirit, who removes satanic blindness from people’s eyes so that they are able to see themselves as God sees them-guilty and inescapable of saving themselves (2 Cor. 4:3-4)” [pg. 71].

Systematic Theological Definition of “conviction” is offered by Charles C. Ryrie in Survey of Bible Doctrine • The idea of ‘conviction’ is complex. It involves the conceptions of authoritative examination, of unquestionable proof, of decisive judgment, of punitive power. Whatever the final issue may be, he who ‘convicts’ another places the truth of the case in dispute in a clear light before him, so that it must be seen and acknowledged as truth. He who then rejects the conclusion which the exposition involves [John 16:8-11], rejects it with his eyes open and at his peril. Truth seen as truth carries with it condemnation to all who refuse to welcome it. Ryrie goes on to say: Thus, the convicting work of the Spirit is the placing of the truth of the gospel before the unsaved person so he acknowledges it as truth whether or not he receives Christ as personal Saviour. Conviction is making the message clear, not the saving of the soul-that’s regeneration. In other words, the one who testifies about the saving grace of God must depend on the Spirit even to make the testimony understood clearly.

Charles Ryrie’s comments on “Conviction”: Ryrie continues: What truth is that He makes clear? It is the truth about sin, righteousness, and judgment (Jn 16:8ff). The proof that men are in a state of sin is because ‘they believe not on me.’ The righteousness of Christ is proved because of His resurrection from the dead and ascension to the Father. All of his righteous claims were fully vindicated when He returned to heaven. The proof of judgment to come is based on the past judgment of Satan. In other words, if Satan, Christ’s archenemy, has been judged (Jn. 12:31), what chance can any man hope to have of escaping judgment if he refuses the grace of God? He concludes: The order of the Spirit’s work of conviction is a logical one. Man needs first to see his state of sin, then he needs to have proof of the the righteousness of the Saviour who can save him from that sin, and finally he needs to be reminded that if he refuses to receive the Saviour he will face certain judgment and condemnation.

Central Passage on Conviction is John 16:7-11: • In this Narrative Discourse Jesus explains to His disciples that it is necessary for Him to depart, even though the separation would be both painful and difficult. But if He did not depart, He would not be glorified and could not send the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. • Consider the following exegetical outline:

Exegetical Outline: • Jesus accomplishes His return to the Father: 13:1-20:31; A. Last Supper: Jesus prepares disciples for departure: 13:31-17:26; 1. The relationship of the disciples to Jesus and to world after his departure: 15:1-16:33 a. Jesus exhorts disciples to remain in Him as True Vine: 15:1-17; b. The hatred of the world for Jesus and disciples: 15:18-16:4a; c. The coming of the Holy Spirit: His work: 16:4b-15: 2. The Holy Spirit’s work with respect to the world: 16:4b-11: 3. The Holy Spirit’s work with respect to the disciples: 16:12-15 a. Jesus’ return to his disciples will cause their sadness turn to joy: 16:16-24 b. The disciples claim to understand who Jesus us and from when he has come: 16:25-33

Exegetical Difficulties: • How is “to convict” being used here and how does “convict” fit with the “sin”, “righteousness”, and “judgment?” Three possibilities: • To convict or convince someone of something; • To bring to light or expose something; • To correct or punish someone. • We can rule out third possibility on contextual grounds since punishment is not implied.

Exegetical Difficulties: • The meaning “to convict” is often understood to be that the Holy Spirit will ‘convince’ the world of its error, so that some at least will repent. But it has been demonstrated that the verb “to convict” in Greek does not necessarily imply the conversion or reform of the guilty party. • The upshot? We are probably looking at conviction in more of a legal sense (as in a trial). • The only certainty is that the accused party is indeed proven guilty. • This is further confirmed in 14:17 whereby it states that the world cannot receive the Holy Spirit. • Also in John 3:20 where it is stated that the evildoer deliberately refuses to come to the light. It is noteworthy to observe that the verb in 3:20 is also “elencho.”

Exegetical Difficulties: How is “hoti” functioning: causal or explanatory? • Some N .T. scholars such as Brown and Bultmann favor an explanatory function. • Barrett, Harris, and Morris prefer a causal interpretation because it fits the parallel statements in verses 11 and 12 better than an explanatory use would. If this is the case, then Jesus is stating that in each instance the reason why the world is proven guilty or wrong by the Holy Spirit. • Some suggest that “prove guilty” concerning its sin of refusing to believe in Christ-does not fit so well with righteousness and judgment in verses 10-11; the meaning of “elencho” must be similar in all three of the phrases. Therefore, the more general meaning we should maintain is “prove wrong” which would fit in all three cases (Carson’s argument). • But while that may be the case, there is another possibility which I submit to you following the work of Hall Harris: The developmental aspect to the meaning of “elencho”: which would then shift from verse 9 to verse10 to verse 11.

“…convict the world of sin” means: The world is proven guilty concerning sin: The reason given is refusal to believe in Jesus. Remember, in John 3:19-20 the effect of Jesus coming into the world as the Light of the world was to provoke judgment by forcing people to choose up sides for or against him, and they chose darkness rather than light. Further, at the very end of Jesus’ public ministry we have the following summary about the response to His ministry: “But as many sign-miracles as he performed among them, they kept on refusing to believe in him” John 12:37

Convict the world of… righteousness: The word “righteousness” only occurs here in verses, 8,10 in Gospel of John. Consider these two interpretations; 1. Righteousness could refer to “forensic justification” as it does so often in Paul’s writings (e.g., Romans, 33 times). Thus, the conclusion would be that the Holy Spirit shows people that their righteousness before God depends not on their own efforts but on Christ’s atoning work for them (Morris’ interpretation in Gospel According to John, 699). 2. However, contextually and since this word only occurs here in John 16:8,10), it seems preferable to understand “righteousness” has to do with Jesus’ return to the Father and his absence from the disciples (cf. John 10). Hall Harris contends that the context does not favor forensic justification but the idea that Jesus’ return to the Father constitutes his own righteousness in the sense of vindication. Let’s consider the exegetical outline again for support:

Exegetical Outline: • Jesus accomplishes His return to the Father: 13:1-20:31; A. Last Supper: Jesus prepares disciples for departure: 13:31-17:26; 1. The relationship of the disciples to Jesus and to world after his departure: 15:1-16:33 a. Jesus exhorts disciples to remain in Him as True Vine: 15:1-17; b. The hatred of the world for Jesus and disciples: 15:18-16:4a; c. The coming of the Holy Spirit: His work: 16:4b-15: 2. The Holy Spirit’s work with respect to the world: 16:4b-11: 3. The Holy Spirit’s work with respect to the disciples: 16:12-15 a. Jesus’ return to his disciples will cause their sadness turn to joy: 16:16-24 b. The disciples claim to understand who Jesus us and from when he has come: 16:25-33

Convict the world of… righteousness: Hall Harris goes on to substantiate this claim by observing: “Jesus had repeatedly claimed oneness with the Father, and his opponents had repeatedly rejected this and labeled him a deceiver, a sinner, and blasphemer (5:18; 7:12; 9:24; 10:33, etc). But Jesus, by his glorification through his return to the Father, is vindicated in his claims in spite of his opponents. In his vindication his followers are also vindicated as well, but their vindication derives from his. Thus we would answer question (1) by saying that in context … [righteousness] refers not to forensic justification but vindication, and question (2) by referring this justification/vindication not to the world or even to Christians directly, but to Jesus himself.” Verse 10 states: of righteousness because I go to my Father and you see Me no more:

Convict the world of… judgment: The world is proven wrong concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged. Since Jesus was vindicated before the Father, as demonstrated by His return to the Father, his glorification constitutes judgment against Satan. 1. This is parallel to judgment of world which Jesus provokes in 3:19-21. Jesus presence as Light of the world provokes judgment of those in the world, because they respond to the Light (either coming to Jesus or rejecting Him) so they are judged. That judgment is in a sense already realized. So, it is here, where they judgment of Satan is already realized in Jesus’ glorification. The judgment will be executed following the millennial imprisonment when he is thrown into the eternal lake of fire. Vs. 11: Of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. Verse 10 states: of righteousness because I go to my Father and you see Me no more:

Who are the objects of the work of the Holy Spirit… • In proving the world guilty concerning their sin of rejecting Jesus (16:9), • Proving the world wrong concerning the justification (the vindication of his claims) before the Father (16:10), • And proving the world wrong concerning the judgment of Satan, the ruler of this world (16:11)? • Is it non-believer, disciples, i.e., believers, or both?

Who are the objects of the work of the Holy Spirit… • We could argue that the world refers exclusively to non-believers…that the work of the holy Spirit is convicting the world but the context of John 16 concerns Jesus’ reassurance to the disciples in the light of His coming persecution (cf. John 15:18-25 and 16:1-4a). Notwithstanding, it is also truth that in John15:26-27 Jesus explains to the disciples that the Holy Spirit will bear witness concerning Him, and they too will bear witness.

Who are the objects of the work of the Holy Spirit… a. If the Holy Spirit is reassuring the disciples, then the context refers only to the disciples and not the world. b. The second, the witness of the disciples themselves, must refer to the world. c. But the parallelism between the two strongly favors the notion that the Holy Spirit also bears witness to the world. Therefore, it seems best to say that the people in the world and the disciples (i.e., both non-believers & believers) are to be the objects of the Holy Spirit’s work.

Other Interpretations of John 16:8-11 John 16:8-11: • Edwin A. Blum in Bible Knowledge Commentary. • Leon Morris • Gordon Kenny • J. Dwight Pentecost • D. A. Carson

Now, consider some of the following exegetical comments regarding John 16:8-11 as it relates to “convict”: In his commentary on Gospel of John in The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Edwin Blum writes: One of the Spirit’s new ministries was to convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. Conviction is not the same as conversion but is necessary to it. The words ‘convict… of guilt’ translate the one word ‘elenxei,’ ‘to present or expose facts, to convince of the truth.’ The Spirit works on the minds of the unsaved to show them the truth of God for what it is. Normally this process includes human aid (cf. 15:26-27).

Comments on John 16:8-11 In his commentary, The Gospel According to John, Leon Morris asserts: 8. When the Spirit is come He ‘will convict the world’. This is the one place in Scripture where the Spirit is spoken of as performing a work ‘in the world’. The many other reference refer to what He will do with believers. We have seen that the word translated ‘Comforter’ is a world with legal implications. Normally it denotes a person whose activities are in favor of the defendant. Here, however, the meaning is that the Spirit will as prosecutor and bring about the world’s conviction. This is given a threefold qualification which is further developed in the succeeding verses. Apart from the Holy Spirit men do not really know the truth about sin or righteousness or judgment’ [pg. 697-8].

In his Reflections on the Gospel of John, Leon Morris writes: “The natural person always tends to see others as sinners, and thus the natural person sees no reason for accepting Jesus as Savior What has he to be saved from? It is only when the Holy Spirit has done a work of grace in a person’s heart that this person sees his sins for the horrible reality they are” [543]. He goes on to say: Jesus adds to the words about convicting of sin ‘because they do not believe in me’ (v. 9), an expression that can be taken in more ways than one: 1. It might mean that the essence of their sin consists in the fact that they do no believe in Jesus. It is failure to believe that is the basic sin. 2. It might mean that the Spirit will convict people of erroneous ideas about sin, as shown in the fact that they do not believe. They have got it all wrong, and it needs the Spirit to help them to see sin for what it is. 3. It might mean that sin reached its heinous depth in the failure to believe in Christ. The fact that they do not believe is the supreme illustration of what sin is. All three interpretations are possible (and all three are true) [pg. 543-4].

Consider Gordon Keddy’s Comments on John 16:8-11 from his commentary on Gospel of John: What our Lord has in view is the active prosecution of the work of the gospel in the world through the ministry of the church, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Positively, as Thomas Goodwin puts it, ‘He shall be a converter and convincer of the world; that is, the glory of the conversion of the Gentiles is reserved for him, by your ministry. Along the way to that goal, the Spirit has to convince sinners of their need and their danger. Hence, the threefold focus of the Spirit’s work is the world’s sin, righteousness and coming judgment [2:199]. Keddy goes on to say: That being the case, it is the Holy Spirit’s mission to ‘press home the world’s sin despite the world’s unbelief’ and convince people of their need of a Saviour-their need to believe in Jesus Christ. As the Word of God is preached-and that means the whole Word, both law and gospel-the Holy Spirit ‘convicts men of their sin [so that] they will feel the essence of their sin [the one great sin which embraces all others for those who have heard the Gospel] is this: that they have not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour but have rejected him [2:200].

In The Word of Works of Jesus Christ, J. Dwight Pentecost offers this interpretation: • Christ said that when the Spirit came He would ‘prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment’ (personal translation) (v. 9). The Greek words translated ‘prove the world wrong’ must be understood in the sense of ‘bring something to the attention of’ or ‘convince’ someone of something. The Spirit will bring truth about sin to people ‘because [they] do not believe in me.’ This clause does not refer to the fact that the Spirit will convict people that they are sinners; rather, the clause gives the reason He convicts people that they are sinners. The reason is that people have rejected Christ. If people had received Christ, they would not longer be classified as sinners. Further, Christ said that the Spirit would bring truth about righteousness to people, and He added that the Spirit’s reason for doing so was ‘because I am going to the Father’ (v. 10). Christ’s return to the Father would validate Christ’s offer of Himself as ‘the way and the truth and the life’ (John 14:6)., and the inevitability of judgment [pg. 445].

In The Word of Works of Jesus Christ, J. Dwight Pentecost offers this interpretation: The resurrection of Christ validated the offer of salvation which He made. The ascension of Christ declared that righteousness was not available to anyone who would accept Christ as Savior. The Spirit would convict people in regard to righteousness if they rejected Christ; nevertheless, righteousness would be available. Finally, the Spirit would speak truth to people concerning judgment ‘because the prince of this world now stands condemned’ (16:11). Christ entered into conflict with Satan at the cross, and His resurrection demonstrated Him to be the Victor. The cross therefore stands as a divine judgment on Satan so that it could be said, ‘The prince of this world now stands condemned.’ People who have rejected Christ are united with the prince of this world, who is under judgment. By virtue of their union with him, people partake of judgment. He concludes: People need to be prepared to receive the Spirit’s message as He brings truth concerning the fact of sin, the availability of righteousness, and the inevitability of judgment [pg. 445].

Summary of D. A. Carson’s Treatment of John 16:8-11: • According to D. A. Carson, there are five important interpretations of this passage that we should consider: • 1st Interp. Spirit will prove the world wrong about sin, righteousness, and judgment (cerebral notion); • 2nd Interp. Conviction of the World (as a courtroom scene); • 3rd Interp. Prove the world wrong about to the disciples. • 4th Interp. Expose the world for a verdict of guilty, innocence, or one way or the other. • 5th Interp. Shaming the world and convincing it of its own guilt, calling it repentance (Carson’s view).

1st Interpretation: Spirit will prove the world wrong about sin, righteousness, and judgment. • Some take verse 8 to say that the Spirit will prove the world wrong about sin, righteousness, and judgment. • The three hoti clauses in vv. 9-11 (NIV ‘because’) are then taken as instances of the ‘hoti explicative’ –i.e., each of these clauses must being with ‘in that’, and gives the substance of what is wrong with the world’s thinking in each of these three areas.

1st Interpretation: Spirit will prove the world wrong about sin, righteousness, and judgment. Carson’s critique: This sounds far too cerebral: the world merely holds wrong opinions which must be righted by argument. The one other place in the Fourth Gospel where the verb elencho is linked to peri cannot be taken to support such a weak notion: Jesus’ question in 8:46 certainly does not mean, ‘Which of you can prove I have the wrong idea about sin?’ [535].

2nd Interpretation: Courtroom Conviction of the World: • Verb is used to mean “to convict” whereby the Holy Spirit is seen as a prosecuting attorney. • The entire scene is understood to be modeled on the courtroom. Thus, the entire world is under conviction in a judicial sense. • Carson observes that if this be conviction in a judicial sense, the Paraclete as prosecuting attorney is not convincing the world of its guilty, but is proving to the judge that the world is guilty. But there is no judge in this context. • Carson goes on to say that they unwittingly look at the Holy Spirit bringing about a sense of guilt in the world.

Critique: Critique of this view by D.A. Carson (pg. 536): • Carson observes that if this be conviction in a judicial sense, the Paraclete as prosecuting attorney is not convincing the world of its guilty, but is proving to the judge that the world is guilty. But there is no judge in this context. • Carson goes on to say that they unwittingly look at the Holy Spirit bringing about a sense of guilt in the world. While that view may harmonize well with the meaning of the verb, “to convict”, “peri” (concerning) followed by the sin which is being held up to elicit the shame and guilt, or by the sinner who performs the evil. To return to 8:46, the question is ‘Can any of convict me of sin?’, not ‘in regard to sin.’ Without question that is the way the first of the three elements ‘sin and righteousness and judgment’ would be taken, if it were not for the presence of the other two: i.e., we would happily read ‘he will convict the world of sin’. But then what shall we do with ‘righteousness’ and ‘judgment’? Buy understanding peri to mean “in regard to”, it is possible to suppose that the references are to the world’s sin, Christ’s righteousness and God’s judgment-but that is not the natural way of understanding “peri” after the verb “elencho.”

Response: • I favor this second view and I believe Carson’s objection regarding the difficulty how “proven guilty” concerning its sin of refusing to believe in Jesus is competently answered by Hall Harris. • Carson overlooks the fact that a developmental aspect in the three cases (sin, righteousness, and judgment) is a very reasonable possibility. • In proving the world guilty concerning their sin of rejecting Jesus (16:9), • Proving the world wrong concerning the justification (the vindication of his claims) before the Father (16:10), • And proving the world wrong concerning the judgment of Satan, the ruler of this world (16:11).

3rd Interpretation: Holy Spirit will prove the world wrong about to the disciples: This proof is not directed to an independent judge, nor the world, but to the disciples. a. the hoti clauses are taken as explicative or causal. Critique: a. There are only four instances of this meaning: One in Plato, two in Christian papyri, one in a later church Father, with no examples from the New Testament or the LXX. b. Therefore, the alleged structural reasons for supporting this view proves unsubstantial.

4th Interpretation: The Holy Spirit will expose the world for a verdict of guilty, a verdict of innocence, a verdict one way or the other. • The Paraclete will expose the world for a verdict of guilty (taking Hamartia to refer to guilt, not sin); • The Paraclete will expose the world for a verdict of righteousness; • The Paraclete will expose the world for a verdict of one way or the other (Gr. krisis, “judgment”). Critique: This interpretation of elencho peri entails no conclusion about guilt of the world. This is problematic because in every instance of the verb in the N.T., and in the overwhelming majority of occurrence elsewhere, is the guilt of the party being “convicted.” This is the case here whereby in John the “world” as a theological construct is invariably guilty.

5th Interp. is by D. A. Carson: • Shaming the world and convincing it of its own guilt, calling it to repentance. Thus, just as Jesus forced a division in the world (15:20 by showing that what it does is evil (7:7; 15:11), so the Paraclete continues this work. When the Holy spirit, he extends the ministry in ways the disciples could not have foreseen: he convicts the world of its sin, its righteousness, and its judgment. • Support is as follows:

Carson’s Interpretation: • In common with other N.T. usages, “elencho” means to “convict [the world]” in the personal sense, i.e., not arguing the case for the world’s objective guilt before God at the final Great Assize, but shaming the world and convincing it of its own guilt, thus calling it to repentance. • The preposition peri introduces what the world is guilty of: its sin, righteousness, and its judgment. • The hoti clauses are causal, each clause providing a reason why the Paraclete is engaged in this convicting work. He convicts the world of its sin “because (hoti)” the people who constitute the world do not believe in Jesus (vs. 9). If they did believe in Jesus, they would believe his statements about their guilt and turn to him.

Carson’s Interpretation: • Carson writes: As it is, their unbelief brings not only condemnation (3:18, 36) but willful ignorance of their need. The world’s unbelief not only ensures that it will not receive life, it ensures that it cannot perceive that it walks in death and needs life. The Holy Spirit presses home the world’s sin despite the world’s unbelief; he convicts the world of sin because they do not believe in Jesus. This convicting work of the Paraclete is therefore gracious: it is designed to bring men and women of the world to recognize their need, and so turn to Jesus, and thus stop ‘being the world’.

Carson’s Interpretation: • Carson writes: He convicts the world of its righteousness because (hoti) Jesus is going to the Father (v. 10). It might be objected that it is passing strange to speak of convicting the world of righteousness at all. Nevertheless the syntactical parallel with ‘sin’ is plain enough, and this is the most straightforward way of taking elenchoperi… ..John loves to quote or allude to Isaiah, and Isaiah 64:5 (LXX) established that all the diakaiosyne (‘righteousness’) of the people of Isaiah’s day was as a menstruous cloth. Within the Fourth Gospel, the reading of righteousness is eminently appropriate. For instance, the temple, the focus of Jewish worship and righteousness, must be cleansed,… Is it not therefore thematically appropriate that the Paraclete should convict the world of it righteousness? Certainly there are other places in the New Testament where the dikaiosyne of the world is shown to be hopelessly inadequate (e.g., Mt. 5:20, Rom. 10:3, Phil. 3:6-9; Tit. 3:5).

Carson’s Interpretation: • Why does the Paraclete the convict the world of its righteousness is because Jesus is going to Father. As we have observed, one of Jesus’ most startling roles with respect to the world was to show up the emptiness of its pretensions, to expose to the world was to show up the emptiness of its pretensions, to expose by his light the darkness of the world for what it is (3:19-21; 7:7; 15:22, 5:24). But now Jesus is going, how will that convicting work be continued? It is continued by the Paraclete, who drives home this conviction in the world precisely because Jesus is no longer present to discharge this task…. They [disciples] will continue to follow Jesus and thus convict the world of its empty righteousness [pg. 538].

Carson’s Interpretation: Finally, Carson writes: The Paraclete convicts the world of its judgment, because (hoti) the prince of this world now stands condemned (v. 11). The judgment of which the Spirit convicts the world is its multifaceted spiritual blindness, supremely displayed in its treatment of Jesus. Earlier Jesus had exhorted the ‘world’, ‘Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment’ (7:24). Jesus’ judgment is righteous and true. The world’s judgment is profoundly wrong and morally perverse. And now, the Paraclete convicts the world of its false judgment, because in the impending triumph of Christ the prince of this world stands condemned. All false judgment is related to him who was a liar from the beginning, whose children we are if we echo his values (8:24-47). If he stands condemned by the triumph of the cross, the false judgment of those who follow in his train is doubly exposed. The need for the conviction of this false judgment is all the more urgent: the world is condemned already (3:36) and in desperate need to learn of its plight [Ibid., 539].

Jesus is Nodal Point of Revelation Perhaps the best part of Carson’s critique is this observation: We are to understand that Jesus is the nodal point of revelation, God’s culminating self-disclosure, God’s final expression, God’s ‘Word’ (1:1, 14). All antecedent revelation has pointed toward him, and reaches its climax in him. That does mean he himself provides all the details his followers will need; it does not mean that ‘extra’ bits the Holy Spirit provides after he is sent by Christ Jesus, consequent upon Jesus’ death/exaltation, are nothing more than the filling out of the revelation nodally present in Jesus himself. The same same thought is presented in different form in Hebrews 1:1-14: in times past God spoke through prophets at many times and in various ways, ‘but in these says he has spoken to us by his Son’ (en huio, the anarthrous construction focuses on the climactic quality of this revelation) [Ibid., 539]. I would also add that natural revelation is also antecedent revelation that cultivates the ground for special revelation: God exists and objective morality (good/evil) and truth is knowable (Romans 1; 2:14-15); no one is ignorant of God’s existence and what is good and evil. The conscience applauds goodness and condemns wickedness.

In Summary: So, the world “convict” refers to an unbeliever coming to the knowledge of his sin, of righteousness, and judgment. It seems to be is used in a judicial sense. Convict the world of “sin” is used in a judicial sense: the world is proven guilty concerning sin in light of their refusal to believe in Jesus (John 3:19-20). The word “righteousness” is related to the vindication of Christ; the world is proven wrong regarding Christ; The Holy Spirit will vindicate who Christ is as the one received by the Father, “glorified.” The word “judgment” refers to the the world’s judgment is because the ruler of this world has been judged. As they respond to the Light either coming to Jesus or rejecting Him, they are judged. Since Jesus was vindicated by the Father, this constitutes a judgment against Satan. The world will judged just as Satan is judged. So, we may say that “ conviction” is making the message clear that the world is proven guilty for their refusal to believe in Jesus, their understanding regarding Him, (He is vindicated by the Father), and because of their judgment of Him.

Conclusion: Consider the words of John F. Walvoord in The Holy Spirit at Work Today The state of spiritual death did not completely erase the divine image, however, and man can manifest religious yearnings for God, prompted by the Spirit of God, even before he is converted. It is nevertheless true that apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in bestowing grace , there seems to be no natural stirring in the human heart toward God. Man is spiritually dead and does not originate in himself a movement toward God and the spiritual life. Spiritual renewal begins when man is prompted by the Spirit of God, brought under conviction of need, and made aware of the provision of salvation in Christ (Jn. 16:7-11). While the work of grace in the heart of one spiritually dead is inscrutable, it is nevertheless effective in somehow supernaturally bringing one who is spiritually dead to the point of active faith in Jesus Christ, resulting in his salvation [pg. 18].

The Convicting Work of the Holy Spirit in John 16:8-11