Holy Spirit 101 part 3

Read John 16:5-15

6) vs. 7. Jesus said it is good that He was leaving the disciples, why? If He didn’t leave the Holy Spirit could not come to them.

7) When the Holy Spirit does come, what will He do in regards to the world?

Greek word for world is Kosmos. It is a world system made up people, technology, thoughts, activities, actions, words, philosophies, beliefs, desires. Things we can see and things we can’t see. Things that are tangible and things that are not tangible. They all interact with one another to produce a world system (kosmos). How would you characterize the world system (kosmos) we have created … that our technology, thoughts, activities, actions, words, philosophies, beliefs, desires has constructed? Evil; sinful; ungodly. According to Jesus, the one who rules this evil, sinful, ungodly world system (kosmos) is the Enemy, Satan. He dominates this world system (kosmos). He influences/molds people, technology, thoughts, activities, actions, words, philosophies, beliefs, desires to promote evil/wickedness. To create a world system (kosmos) that promotes evil/wickedness … makes evil/wickedness the norm.

Jesus says when the Holy Spirit comes into this world (kosmos) He will convict it. Convict in the Greek means “to expose; find fault with by bringing to light.” Holy Spirit is not only a defense attorney, He is also a prosecutor. The Holy Spirit is a defense attorney for the followers of Jesus. He is a prosecutor against the followers of Satan. In order to convict someone, what must a prosecutor do? Present evidence to prove his case against the accused. Bring to light proof that the accused is guilty. In John 16, who is the accused? This evil, sinful, ungodly world system (kosmos) that we live in ruled by Satan.

The Holy Spirit will convict the world (kosmos)concerning:

Reminder: Jesus is giving the disciples a short summary/outline/template of who the Holy Spirit is and His role in the lives of Jesus’ followers. He does not have a lot of time left. At this moment, Judas is leading a mob to arrest Jesus. Jesus does not have to time to go into detail about the Holy Spirit. Even if He did, the disciples were not spiritually mature enough to comprehend everything Jesus had to say. As we’ll see, Jesus assures the disciples that more information about the Holy Spirit will be forthcoming in the future.

a) sin – vs. 9. The Holy Spirit will expose/bring to light the sin of the world (kosmos). He will make lucid/plain/unambiguous/coherent what sin is. Exhibit number 1 in His case will be the fact the world (kosmos) does not believe in Jesus. This world (kosmos) does not believe Him to be the Son of God. You do not believe in Jesus, you are guilty of sin. You do, you are innocent. Read John 3:16

b) righteousness – vs. 10. Righteousness means to be in right standing with God/doing what is right according to God’s standards. Up to this point, it has been Jesus acting as prosecutor against the world (kosmos) – see Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5-7) for an example. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus defined what it means to be truly righteous, a true follower of God, and how the world (kosmos) fell short of God’s definition of righteousness. He did so throughout his three years of ministry. But, soon Jesus is leaving to go be with the Father. So who will now act as prosecutor against the world (kosmos)? The Holy Spirit will take on the role of prosecuter against the world (kosmos) in regards to righteousness. He will confront this world (kosmos) with the definition of true righteousness and this world (kosmos) will be found sorely lacking. Example –What is the world view regarding sex outside of marriage, abortion, or pursuit of wealth? The Holy Spirit acts as prosecutor by presenting evidence (the Word of God) that condemns the world (kosmos) in this area. What the world (kosmos) tries to present to humanity as something enjoyable, fun, pleasurable, the Holy Spirit exposes as evil, putrid, ungodly. For a moment, imagine a world (kosmos) with no Holy Spirit to counteract the evil of this world (kosmos). It’s a scary thought.