There is this phenomenon called guilt that exists in our world today. It is one of the many things that guides the action of people these days. People either take action based on desire, remorse or guilt among others.
From this statement, we understand that there’s always a guiding force behind the actions that any individual takes. While the popular belief is that it is our conscience that guides our actions – especially those made out of guilt. Let us understand that what we define as “conscience” is more than just a inbuilt nature or feeling we have that enables us to “do good”.
Even the English Dictionary has been unable to fully capture the accurate definition of that term. Most dictionaries confine its meaning to a person’s moral sense of right and wrong, viewed as acting as a guide to one’s behaviour. In other words, morals, principles, standards, values, ethics, etc. All of these supposedly form that guiding force called conscience.
If this is true, then, it means that what really guides someone is not the conscience. Rather it is whatsoever informs all those other factors mentioned above. Because whatever can govern the building blocks of your “morals, principles, standards, values, ethics, etc” is the real guiding power behind the scenes.
With this brief introduction at the back of our minds, let’s proceed into the next aspect of today’s discussion.
Conscience or Spirit? | There is a Physical & Spiritual Realm
Understand this – Our world has two realms – a physical (or natural) realm AND also a spiritual realm.
The natural realm is everything tangible that we know of. Think of humans, inventions, microorganisms. Everything that is physical and visible to the human senses – whether naturally or with the help of machines. So yes, all those tiny microscopic things – discovered or nay are inclusive. Basically, our five senses help us navigate this physical realm.
The spiritual realm, on the other hand, is an invisible one. We cannot navigate it with just our natural senses. The Bible explains that the spiritual realm consists of both good (God and His angels) and evil (the devil and his demons).
Both realms interact with themselves and also influence one another on a consistent daily basis. But the spiritual realm governs the physical.
Let’s Look Look at Job’s Story
The story of Job in Job 1 shows this reality beautifully.
Job had had what we would term as a “bad day”. Messenger after messenger delivered terrible news. All his material things were gone. He lost livestock (his source of living). He lost his workforce, his children, and even the support of his wife. Any man in such a situation may have even lost his sanity too!
If we analyze Job’s situation through the lens of just the natural realm, we would only find solutions based on the natural problems. But Job 1:6-12 enhances our understanding of Job’s situation. Without acknowledging the existence of the spiritual realm, and its influence over the physical, any suggestions given to him would have been like treating the symptoms instead of the root cause.
Because what happened to Job was not a coincidence. There was something ongoing in the invisible, spiritual realm that affected the physical realm.
The interrelationship of the two realms
The world we live in appears to be merely physical. But understand that there is another realm, a spiritual realm, that governs the physical. It can affect families, churches, nations, marriages, etc.
So take a good look at yourself and really analyze your circumstances. Ask yourself:
- Is this bad mood really just happening?
- Does selfishness occur for no reason?
- Does bad health just happen?
- Do wars and famines just take place suddenly?
- Is stinginess, lying, and deception really natural?
We could go on and on. And when we dig deep enough, we’ll realize that nothing is truly coincidental. We’re at war and that’s a fact. There are many who aren’t doing well in this war. All because they don’t know Jesus yet. So, they’re are constantly giving into the world’s values.
Thus, they’re living under Satan’s rule.
And for those that do know Jesus and have accepted him into their hearts, the devil is on the move to try to convince them of lies in the hopes that he can corrupt their belief. One such lie that he is spreading across is that the Holy Spirit convicts a believer of sin.
The Ministry of the Holy Spirit Defined in John 16:8 | Conviction of Sin, Righteousness and Judgment
There is a current existing picture being painted about the Holy Spirit along the years. It is one of a nagging principal who is always on the lookout for your wrongdoings so as to penalize you. Or accuse you.
Ain’t that funny? The devil is busy trying to parade his work as the handiwork of the Holy Spirit. We saw it in Job 1… the devil was the one bringing forth the accusations. He is the one who is always trying to trip you up. So that if you fall, he can accuse you.
The Holy Spirit of God convicts us believers of righteousness. NOT sin.
“And when He [the Holy Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”
John 16:8–11
Many read the first section and stop there and then use it to defend their propaganda that that guilty feeling or that feeling of condemnation is the conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit.
That is false.
He Convicts THE WORLD of sin
Remember, it is important to read Bible verses in context. When Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would convict the world of sin, he was talking about unbelievers (because they are of the world) who do not believe in him.
If you pay close attention, you will notice that it is only one “sin” that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of. The Scripture said “sin” NOT “SINS”. This is the sin of unbelief – rejecting Jesus and not believing in His finished work on the Cross.
Because if you believe in Jesus, you will follow His leadership and thus not fall subject to other sins which primarily originate from unbelief.
The Holy Spirit Convicts BELIEVERS of RIGHTEOUSNESS
The Holy Spirit convicts believers of righteousness, not sin. He does this by reminding them of their right standing before God because of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is the helper and comforter, promised to us by Jesus, not a nag. He is there to help believers understand their righteousness in Christ and to point them back to the cross when they fail.
In the Scripture we see that Jesus says that the Holy Spirit convicts you “of righteousness”. Why? He continues to say “because I go to My Father and you see Me no more.”
And when referring to the sin aspect, He said “because they do not believe in me”. Just based on this alone, we can see He’s not referring to believers. Because we became Christians or believers in the first due to our belief. We believed in his finished work on the cross and accepted Him into our heart as our Lord and personal Savior.
How, then, can the statement of the Holy Spirit convicting of sin be referring to believers?
The Holy Spirit does not convict a believer of his/her sins not does He come to point out your faults.
Rather, He is in you to convict you of your righteousness in Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ has made you forgiven completely. This is what the Holy Spirit reminds you of. And thus you are eternally righteous.
He is present to bring back to your consciousness that God will be merciful to your unrighteousness. And every sin of yours and lawless deeds you committed, He will remember no more (Heb. 8:12, Hebrews 10:15-17).
He Convicts the devil of JUDGMENT
Jesus identifies Satan as the one whom judgment fell upon.
He indicated earlier that His death on the cross would be when “the prince of this world will be driven out” (John 12:31).
On the cross, Jesus redeemed sinners for God and completely defeated Satan (Hebrews 2:14).
Jesus rose from the dead three days later. Thus making it clear for the world to see that Satan’s rule had been overthrown.
Jesus defeated Satan on the cross, redeeming sinners and breaking the devil’s power over death. Because the devil cannot do anything to change that, the only thing he can do is accuse and attempt to confuse the believers.
He does this hoping to lead them astray. Those who reject Christ and remain in their sin will be condemned along with Satan.
The devil has succeeded in his mission by convincing the Church that his job of convicting believers of sin is done by the Holy Spirit. This has led to preachers claiming that God will judge believers based on their behavior, which is not true.
God’s judgment is based on faith in Jesus Christ, not on our behavior. Those who believe in Jesus are forgiven of their sins and will be saved. Those who believe not in Jesus and His finished work will be condemned.
The devil is a liar and a deceiver. He wants to keep people from believing in Jesus and being saved. He will use any means necessary to accomplish this, including convincing people that God will judge them based on their behavior. However, the truth is that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not by our own works.
Consider this a wakeup call… DO NOT BE DECEIVED.
In Summary
- What we define as “conscience” is more than just a inbuilt nature or feeling we have that enables us to “do good”.
- Because whatever can govern the building blocks of your “morals, principles, standards, values, ethics, etc” is the real guiding power behind the scenes.
- Our world has two realms – a physical (or natural) realm AND also a spiritual realm.
- Both realms interact with themselves and also influence one another on a consistent daily basis. But the spiritual realm governs the physical.
- Nothing happens just by coincidence.
- The devil is on the move to try to convince believers of lies in the hopes that he can corrupt their belief. One such lie that he is spreading across is that the Holy Spirit convicts a believer of sin.
- The devil is the one who is always trying to trip you up. So that if you fall, he can accuse you.
- The Holy Spirit convicts the world of only one sin which is unbelief in Jesus.
- He convicts the believer of his/her righteousness in Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ has made you forgiven completely. This is what the Holy Spirit reminds you of. And thus you are eternally righteous.
- And finally, He convicts the devil of Judgment.
