The Holy Spirit
“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 go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”
In this passage, John records Jesus’ words telling of the coming of the Holy Spirit to be the great Helper of the church and specifically calls out why the Spirit will be coming. I see four things called out which the Spirit will concern himself with as he implements God’s will in the church.
The first aim of the Holy Spirit is to help. In fact, he is referred to in this passage as “the Helper.” This is because people require help. We see it first in the garden of Eden, when God says, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make a helper fit for him.” (Genesis 2:18). This need for man to require a helper is not a design flaw in God’s creation, but rather an intentional need for us to be in community with one another. It was not good for the man to be alone in the garden, it was not good for the church to be alone in the absence of Christ’s physical presence, and it is not good for us today to avoid the fellowship of the saints. We are made to be together, and so none of us should assume we can go it alone. Upon Christ’s departure from the earth, the Holy Spirit was sent as the ultimate Helper to the church. We’re told in this passage that the Holy Spirit’s work is to convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. Those three things should remind us of the present state we’re in, the state we ought to be aspiring towards, and the judgment that is coming as a part of the fall.
The Holy Spirit will convict man, “concerning sin, because they do not believe in me”. Time and again in Scripture we read that accepting the Gospel is accompanied by repentance. So, here, Christ is clearly pairing sinning and unbelief. This is not to say we became perfect the moment we were saved, as the old theologian, Alan Redpath said, “The conversion of a soul is the miracle of a moment, but the manufacture of a saint is the task of a lifetime.” However, there is a parallel between an unrelenting indifference, or even an embrace of sin, and a rejection of the Gospel. The Spirit is charged with the task of challenging each one of us when we sin. The sin may be a seemingly small matter of apathy, or it may be so large that it forever changes the trajectory of our lives. It is important to receive this correction when it comes and immediately repent. There is no need to try and minimize what you’ve done or try to justify it in some way. The Holy Spirit knows all and still loves you despite it, so we must be vulnerable and receive the correction that comes from the perfection and love of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit has come to replace the physical presence of Christ, “concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer”. During Christ’s earthly ministry, he brought clarity regarding the proper interpretation of Scripture. The Jews in Christ’s day had generations of theological interpretations, and sin had caused them to go astray from how God truly intended his Word to be interpreted. This is plainly evident in Christ’s repeated challenge and eventual rebuke of the Pharisees time and again. The example of the Pharisees provides a clear warning to us to not hold our own personal preferences and traditions above what Scripture says. We should not read into Scripture to fit our own narrative or to give us a license to do whatever we prefer to do, but rather it should be read plainly and understood in the context of the whole of Scripture. Therefore, one of the tasks of the Holy Spirit is to provide righteous instruction through the proper interpretation of Scripture. When we spend time in the Word and in prayer, the Holy Spirit does the work of correcting our theology. Paul requires that we should spend this time to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:12). So, when the Holy Spirit challenges you to listen to what he is saying, be sure to continue pursuing righteousness, which is also called sanctification, through regular time in Scripture and in prayer.
Lastly, this passage tells us that the Holy Spirit will also attend to the matter of God’s Judgment: “concerning judgment because the ruler of this world is judged”. While the effort of “working out your own salvation” and pursuing sanctification is of great earthly and eternal value for us personally, we should not lose sight of the fact that there is a coming judgment. When this passage refers to the “ruler of this world”, it is clearly talking about Satan. Satan will be judged in the last days, as will all of creation. When Paul adds, “with fear and trembling”, to his challenge in Philippians, it is because we serve a mighty and awesome God who is not to be challenged or trifled with. Many years ago, Chuck Swindoll said (and I’m paraphrasing), “We live in a society where God is so humanized, and man is so deified, it is difficult to sometimes tell the difference.” We should not think that we can keep God in a neat little box that only opens on Sunday morning and assume we are in proper relationship with him. No, we need to keep in mind his perfection and holiness as we await the coming judgment.
Prayer
Holy Spirit, we gladly receive what this passage tells us about you. We are thankful that you have been sent to provide all the things that we cannot. Please continue to challenge and convict us, and please continue to speak truth into our lives. May we always receive it with gladness and turn towards the righteousness you call us towards. Please continue working in the lives of those around us as we attempt to properly convey the Gospel message. Give us the words to speak, and the boldness to openly share about you. Amen.
