How Does the Holy Spirit Convict us?
How does the Spirit convict us?
“Through the law,” says the mixed-grace preacher. “It is by God’s law that we are convicted. When you sin, the Holy Spirit will remind you of God’s holy commands and show you the way to go.”
The mixed-grace preacher says the law shows us the way of life. Yet Paul said the law ministers death (2 Cor. 3:7).
Something doesn’t add up.
The mixed-grace preacher describes the Holy Spirit as a Spirit of law, but the writer of Hebrews said he is the Spirit of grace (Heb 10:29).
Again, something doesn’t add up.
I have heard people say they were convicted of sin while reading the law and that this caused them to run to God in repentance. These experiences testify to the true ministry of the law—it helps us recognize sin and our need for grace.
But the law is not the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit of Grace does not minister law to you.
The ministry that brought death, … was engraved in letters on stone… If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! (2 Corinthians 3:7-9)
Look into the mirror of the law and you will feel condemned, every time. That’s what the law does. It points out your faults and failings.
But that is not what the Holy Spirit does. That is not the more glorious ministry that brings righteousness.
When you sin it takes no faith to look into the mirror of the law and agree that you made a mess. It takes faith to listen to the Holy Spirit and agree that in Christ you are as righteous and holy as he is!
This is the good news that turns sinners into saints. This is the startling revelation that empowers you to go and sin no more.
We are not under law, but grace. We do not need the law to teach us how to live.
But without the guidance of the law, how will we please the Lord? How will the Holy Spirit set us on the straight and narrow? Or to use a recent example I read on Charisma News, how will we know it’s a bad idea to steal from Walmart?
How does the Spirit of grace convict us?
A law-conscious preacher defines conviction as fault-finding and rebuke. But an interpretation of conviction which is more consistent with the Holy Spirit’s gracious character is expose, or bring into the light.
How does the Holy Spirit convict us? By turning on the lights. He does this not to shame you (Jesus carried your shame), but to show you the way to life. Ian Thomas described it like this:
The Holy Spirit is like a man with a lamp entering a dark and dirty room, and what you have learned to live with in the dark becomes repugnant in the light.
Think of Saul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3). By his own account he was chief of sinners. Then the lights went on and he became a different man.
We need a new covenant definition of conviction, one that does not emphasize your badness but God’s goodness and grace.
The Holy Spirit will never convict you of your sin. When you sin, your conscience may condemn you, the law will condemn you, the judge and jury may condemn you, the religious may condemn you, and the devil will certainly condemn you, but against the chorus of condemners stands the sweet Holy Spirit who defends you and draws you to grace.
The Holy Spirit’s conviction has nothing to do with your sin and everything to do with God’s grace.
It’s not about the bad thing you’ve done but the good thing he wants to do in you right now.
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Escape to Reality 
I was convicted by something quite beautiful over 20 years ago something untouched , unsullied i would have called it back then, the most beautiful uadulterated feeling i have ever known i knew after that it was the holy spirit and i have never forgotten the feeling . i am blessed , truly blessed thet he came to me and healed me of a broken heart he looked and saw my need , i have never been the same since i cannot or do i wish to deny the meeting with my lord and saviour he sent the holy spirit then revealed himself im going to cry im so blessed i really am , its a done deal for all time and i am not shamed to say i fell in love head over heels with this beautiful saviour, dont need fancy words i tell it just as it is JESUS SAVES and my golly this world needs a saviour , i pray for all that dont know him bless you all as i am blessed .
Beautiful indeed Mavis! I wonder if much of what is defined as “conviction of the Spirit” is simply the lovely, beautiful and loving Lord simply drawing near to us and revealing himself to us. When He does that our own unbeautiful, unloving and unlovely issues remaining in our lives are spontaneously exposed. As Isaiah who when he was the holy and righteous prophet of God – GOD SHOWED UP- suddenly Isaiah cries, “Woe is me I am undone!” Isn’t this how the process of divine beautification of our experiential lives and behaviour is transformed, “As we gaze upon His beauty in the gospel we are transformed from glory to glory even into His own image” and “We are changed into His image through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.”
The transformation that is a process is from progressively seeing a clearer picture of Jesus is not conviction of sin – it is biblical transformation.
The Bible says the Holy Spirit will convict us of sin in John 16:8 .” And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgement.” So the Holy Spirit does convict of sin,please correct this. God bless
Hi Jeremiah. Please read to the end of Jesus’ sentence: “And he (the Holy Spirit), when he comes, will convict the world concerning sin… because they do not believe in me” (John 16:8). The Holy Spirit is not the law pointing out your faults; he is the Comforter who points to Jesus so that you may believe that Jesus has borne all your sin.
Jeremiah, you’ve got to read the whole argument. I believe the point is that the Holy Spirit convicts THE WORLD of sin, not believers. Your proof text doesn’t say what you think it does.
Also, if you follow the thread, the comments seem to suggest that the Holy Spirit does deal with us in this regard. There seems to be a problem with the word “convict” in that is suggests a trial, and being found guilty, which implies a punishment. This is not how God deals with his children.
For me, I know that there have been times when the Holy Spirit has pointed out to me that the way I handled a certain situation was not consistent with his Love. And I’m not talking about my conscience. It was clear to me that I needed to change my behavior to be more loving, but I didn’t rent my clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes. I just agreed.
Paul, the Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of truth “to guide us into all truth”. It seems that a lot of grace teaching is hyper sensitive to anything that could be perceived as works. I think the problem is that very few Christians (or preachers) actually understand what Jesus was saving us from. Perhaps the system of dualism from the tree of knowledge causes us to constantly “weigh up” moral issues of good and evil through our own autonomy (being like God knowing good and evil), and that process leads to a mess of subjectivity that could be called “hell”, especially when millions of people are doing it all at once.
If when we come to faith in Christ we don’t understand how that fallen “mode of being” operates in our life, we perhaps feed the knowledge of God and the bible into that fallen system of dualism and away we go again weighing up good and evil on our own and making a complete mess of it.
That is why I think grace preachers that rally against “dying to self” could be making an unintentional error. We don’t die to self to “work harder” we die to self to let go of the mode of being that was wearing us out!
I would love to hear your thoughts on this, because I can not find any teaching on the tree of knowledge or it’s effect other than a book written in the late 80’s.
If you check out the Archives > Subject Index, you will find that I have written more articles on “works of faith” than just about any other subject. True, there is a perception that grace preachers are opposed to works, but like most perceptions about hypergrace, it’s flat-out wrong. I have also written quite a bit on the subject of “walking after the flesh,” which I think will address your question.
I’ve just had a read and had a “preach it brother!” reaction to what you wrote in some of those articles, if i have a developing message or ministry then I think that is the subject that I am most passionate about.
This is a fascinating experience really, it wasn’t until my marriage and life fell apart that I really understood grace for the first time. I was like a man sifting through the ashes of a failed life looking for answers that could not be found, the enemy in my ear reminding me of every damned thing I had done wrong in my life. The Lords response was simply “you’ve got to let it go, do you believe I have forgiven you?” There was a time when I thought my future involved suicide or living as a depressed, bitter, broken man.
But the Lord delivered me in quite a dramatic way, and it was through a revelation of grace that He did it.
I admit to being cautious about you and any other popular Christian teachers, but I can’t help but see the very same things that I experienced in some of your articles.
I am thinking about setting up my own blog, but I do not want to be presumptuous and just add to confusion, but I can not deny this growing desire to preach or teach. How did you know it was the right time for you to set up your blog?
Thanks for sharing your story Daniel. I think a lot of people who read your comment will nod and go, “Similar thing happened to me.” If you have a fire burning in you, I encourage you to look for an outlet. I started writing because I could not not write, if that makes sense. Writing brings me relief, like giving birth, but on a far smaller scale.
The trick to not being presumptuous, I think, is to not cast yourself as an expert, but a fellow Christian on a journey. There are plenty of experts and self-appointed apostles out there, but that way lies danger and disappointment. Be yourself, trust the Lord’s leading, and you can’t go wrong.
Good post – and great comments Paul – As usual. God bless!
Thank you, Craig.
If as a Christian we sin a sin unto death (1 John 5:16), which we never have to do, the Law is there to convict us. It ministers condemnation and death. But if there is some unrighteousness in our lives (not a sin unto death), then the Holy Spirit will convict us of righteousness. He will shine the light and show us we are wrong, and if we yield to His ministry (by most often asking forgiveness of the one we offended) – such life is the result. Our experience as Christians bears this out and the Holy Spirit is so persistent in pressing us to humble ourselves, admit we were wrong, and asking, not God, but others for forgiveness. And once we yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness is the result. God is so good and we are so blessed to have The Helper.
I appreciate the way you break it down
I think Jesus expounds His own words the best : What He meant when He said concerning the Holy Spirit regarding sin, righteousness and judgement. Let us not put our own meaning and interpretations in Jesus mouth. Those who do not believe Jesus, He will reprove them – that is to rebuke/convict/correct them – to let them know they were wrong, when they thought they were right.
7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement:
9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
11 Of judgement, because the prince of this world is judged.
Thank you for this AWESOME article. I grew up in an abusive home so knowing the difference between guilting and the Holy Spirit’s convictions of our sins is extremely important.Thank you for spreading Jesus’ peace!
Amen, Pinkflowers! Tell guilt to take a hike. It’s only use was to bring us to Christ. The Law’s condemnation (guilting) has been FULLY dealt with at the cross. Jesus took care of that for us so we could be FREE to indulge ourselves as children sitting in the lap of His Father basking in His attention, affection and power without having to feel unworthy. The the article says, the Holy Spirit doesn’t use guilt to keep us from sin. Far from that! His pleasure is to transform us through His revelation – that is, the revealing of Truth otherwise hidden from our perspective. It’s not that the Holy Spirit is withholding information, it’s just that you can’t get it anywhere else. Simply put, He wants to show us things that only He can. The beauty is that He finds a way to speak to you that is personal and meaningful and tailored just for you and Him. All we have to do is shut up for a minute, lol. If we stop thinking we know it all, be calm and listen, He’s always there. I had a dream a few months ago where there was a young boy following me around all day long, waving his arms all around, sometimes pointing at things, sometimes from a distance jumping up and down calling me over etc. Yet, somehow in the dream I was unaware of his presence all day. The boy’s relentless efforts to get my attention were somehow out of my range of perception even though he was right next to me and I never saw him or knew he was trying to get my attention. I rarely ever remember my dreams, but I think that is close to how the Holy Spirit’s ministry works (and sadly, how in touch we are with His guidance). He has no desire to have us look at our sin and feel guilty. It’s the SO MUCH OTHER STUFF that he wants us to SEE about our union with Christ that will make our sin unappetizing, nonsensical and pointless. Not to mention we start to walk in victory and possess a divine confidence. That’s the power, strength, and glory of Grace. That’s the New Covenant!
That is Beautiful Jason
Hi Dr Paul, really need you to help me out by explaining this to me. Because I preached that the Holy Spirit is in the Christian and He is going nowhere, I was embarrassed by someone with this explanation and I got stucked. He said the Holy Spirit abandons the believer when he sins and will not return until he confesses his sins with sorrow. He said, that is why the Bible says Christians should not grieve the spirit. He says he casts out demons from Christians in church all the time because when they sin, the Holy Spirit leaves them, because He cannot stay with demons in the body of the possessed Christian. Please, help clarify me on this issue that, if the Christian sins, the Holy Spirit leaves and demons take over his body, so pastors cast out demons from the body of Christians in churches. This is rampant where I live and I just don’t get it.
Thanks
I guess the Holy Spirit is scared of demons. What’s wrong with that picture?
Whenever you feel challenged by someone’s theology, I would encourage you to search the scriptures and find out what Jesus said. On this subject he said this: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, that he may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know him because he abides with you and will be in you” (Joh 14:16-17). More here.
Good day Dr. Paul. I’m blessed by your insights of the word. Once more thanks for the directions.
I’d looked at John 14:17 that’s why I have always believed that the Holy Spirit lives in the believer and no sin can chase Him out. What makes me to scratch my head and raise eye brows is, when pastors lay hand on Christians in church and shout “demon, out in the name of Jesus” and the Christian start manifesting and shivering and shouting until he becomes cool and the pastor says the demon has left. “He’s now free”. What could really be happening? Sir, I witnessed a case where the demon said of the Christian, ” she’s my home. I caused all the suffering in her life and I won’t leave her. I must kill her ”
Sir, I just can’t understand this whole thing. This is a Christian sister full of the Holy Spirit. My worry is, how come a demon was living in her and was speaking and resisting the pastor’s command to go out? I just don’t get this whole thing. How come a demon was in her while the Holy Spirit lives in her. Please I believe your thoughts on this will bring relieve.
I thought I had gotten saved when I was a child. I looked like and talked like any genuinely saved person. On the inside I was a mess of course but I fit in on the outside at church. It was not until 8 years ago that I finally saw what salvation was and then the inside matched the outside. It is very possible to think you are saved, look like it and not be.
My problem came from a combinations of not being taught the real gospel. I thought what saved me was feel sorry for sinning, believing Jesus died for my past sins and trying really hard to be good for God and trying even harder to not sin any more.
Satan no longer owns us Jesus bought us. satan has no spiritual legal power to us. We can’t even give it to him as we do not own ourselves either. Jesus is the only one who has the ownership of us.
What might be happening is people are really scared that they have demons. Fear does powerful things to our minds which then shows up in our physical body. If we think a demon is coming out of us we are going to show physical signs based upon our mental fear even though there is no demon in us.
Hello momzilla. I am asking this out of genuine curiosity and slight uneasiness. If we can think we are saved and not be, then can any of us really know if we are saved or not? Recieving eternal life is pretty easy. You just ask for it and agree that Jesus loves you. It is not about doing it a proper way. It brings fear and steals my peace when people say you may think youre saved but do you know if youre really saved?
It is a long story so I will try to keep it to the point. I was told that I had prayed to be saved while very young. Even though I didn’t recall the event I trusted the people who told me. Despite trying to live right for God I felt a if I had a head full of knowledge but could not get that truth down into my heart. I had a black spot inside me that no amount of Christian living & bible reading could get rid of. Eight years ago I heard two sermons. One was the full gospel of grace and peace with God and the other was about making sure we were saved and not deluded about it. Putting the two together changed my life. Suddenly saw everything that Jesus did for me, not just erasing my past so I could strive to please God. I also saw that while I thought I was saved I really didn’t understand what salvation was. The blackness inside me left, a sin I had been battling a long time up and left and other changes cascaded into my life. Some could say that it was just a perspective shift. I would agree except for that blackness at my core. The inside of my cup was dirty while my outsides were clean looking. The blackness got washed out.
I appreciate your story, thank you for being open. However, it makes it seem difficult to be saved (this could just be my fears). What if there are still some days where I doubt the complete forgiveness or where I feel like I have a black hole or what if my sins didnt just stop once I believed. If we can be tricked (thinking we are saved when we are not) how am I ever able to rest in KNOWING I am saved when I may not feel it. How do I know I am not tricked. The idea of us thinking we are saved but not really being saved seems like a trick from the devil so christians never find rest.
You are not alone Jenny- every believer in Jesus experiences fears and doubts regarding the assurance of their salvation. Our subjective emotions- positive or negative are not the foundation of our security. Jesus promises, faithfulness, Person and work plus nothing is our complete security. “”Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”
Your ability to trust him only effects your emotions- but Jesus alone plus nothing of you secures your salvation.
John 5:24 NASB
Barry, peace washed over me as I read that. Thank you!
One other comment might be worth considering. Our friend who thought he was saved but wasn’t and then discovered he wasn’t so that he could be saved- It was not his careful insight or dilegence that made him this discovery – IT WAS JESUS ALONE PLUS NOTHING THAT MADE THIS DISCOVERY TO HIM! Jesus plus nothing = his (and our) salvation
A breath of fresh air. Thanks for this article – keep writing 😄, this has been a huge blessing to me – clarity.
You say: ‘But the simple fact is the Holy Spirit will never convict you of your sin.’ God in His Word says: “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”
Read the next verse: “And he, when he comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me.” (John 16:8-9) There is grace upon grace here. The Holy Spirit does not convict the believers, but nor does he convict the world of its sin. Instead, he convicts the world in regard to their unbelief in Jesus, who is the once-and-for-all-time remedy for sin. Your conscience may condemn you, and the devil may accuse you, but the Holy Spirit will always point you to Jesus, so that you may believe he has borne all your sin. Good news, no?
Read that more carefully.
1. He will convict the WORLD of sin.
2. The ONE sin that He will convict the world of is the sin of “not believing in Me.”
You read the tradition of men into that verse that has become so entrenched in the church that it is assumed that the Holy Spirit is in the habit of pointing out and making Christians aware of their sins. When the Bible clearly says the Holy Spirit by covenant promises “ I will remember your sins no more” (Hebrews 8:12). In fact over 20 times in the New Testament the Holy Spirit tells us that ALL OF our sins are forgiven, removed, washed away and cleansed as a fundamental promise of our salvation.
As the old First Nations saying says, “Does the Holy Spirit speak with forked tongue?”
I don’t question that the ministry of the Holy Spirit has always been Repentance, pointing to Christ, and not Condemnation and Guilt. But doesn’t the Holy Spirit use The Law or the law of the conscious to point an unbeliever to Christ? How will an unbeliever feel the need of a Savior if they do not feel the weight of their sin through the law when the Holy Spirit softens their hearts? And for the Believer, doesn’t the Holy Spirit correct and rebuke the believer through His Word when their living in contradiction to who they are in Christ?
I would say our conscience makes good use of the law. Or vice versa. The Spirit of Grace points to Jesus. More on the purpose of the law here.
I see. I was just saying in terms of the gentiles who did not have the written Law of Moses, but still had the law written in the hearts, and their conscious bears witness to this. (Romans 2:15) So if I’m understanding this right, we are convicted by God‘s law and not the Spirit. But rather the Spirit enlightens the unbeliever’s need of a Savior through the Law and they feel the weight of their sin due to having a new heart. And I agree the Law was not meant to be our guide but the Spirit does guide us by using the Word to correct our understanding. (2 Timothy 3:16)