Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

This week the Lord is leading us to wrestle with conviction. We’ll begin with recognizing that the Holy Spirit has the responsibility of convicting.

In today’s scripture, John 16:8 (NLT), Jesus said…
And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.

Consider…
The idiom “judge, jury, and executioner” has its origins in the concept of frontier justice, particularly during the American Old West era. In those times, when law enforcement was often limited or absent, individuals or groups would take it upon themselves to maintain order and administer justice.

Many churches, led by their pastor’s, appear to be fans of the Old West, because there sermons and attitudes tend to judge, endict and damn certain sinners’ to hell. Rather than preaching the uplifting Good News of the Gospel, they grind down the spirit and hope of the godless, according to their personal standards. This is clear, because they harp on one or two sins as being the most egregious to God. Their emphasis is on what God hates rather than who He loves.

Yet, Proverbs 6:16‭-‬19 (ERV)
says…
The Lord hates these seven things:

• eyes that show pride,
• tongues that tell lies,
• hands that kill innocent people,
• hearts that plan evil things to do,
• feet that run to do evil,
• witnesses in court who tell lies,
• and anyone who causes family members to fight.

It’s interesting that God detests self elevation and others devastation.

It’s also interesting that Jesus admonished believers in Matthew 7:1‭-‬5 (ERV)…
“Don’t judge others, and God will not judge you. If you judge others, you will be judged the same way you judge them. God will treat you the same way you treat others. “Why do you notice the small piece of dust that is in your friend’s eye, but you don’t notice the big piece of wood that is in your own? Why do you say to your friend, ‘Let me take that piece of dust out of your eye’? Look at yourself first! You still have that big piece of wood in your own eye. You are a hypocrite! First, take the wood out of your own eye. Then you will see clearly to get the dust out of your friend’s eye.

This is a continuation on Jesus’ teaching, in the previous chapter. He said…
Yes, if you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, then your Father in heaven will also forgive your wrongs. But if you don’t forgive others, then your Father in heaven will not forgive the wrongs you do. – Matthew 6:14‭-‬15 ERV

I think we as believers forget what God showed us when He was guiding the Priest Samuel in selecting Israel’s second, and greatest King. 1 Samuel 16:7 (NLT) shares…
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Judging and condemning people, were who I considered the most egregious sinners’, with their pharisaic ways. That is until the Holy Spirit convicted me that my judgement and condemnation of them, was no different than theirs of others. He reminded me, that my primary responsibilities as Christ follower and friend are to:

• Love others as He’s loved me (John 13:34)
• Be His seasoning salt, spreading His grace to others (Mark 9:50)
• Be His light, through good deeds, showing others the way to Him (Matthew 5:16)

The Holy Spirit then re-emphasized, it’s not my job to be judge, jury and executioner.

In fact, did you know that Jesus’ purpose was to save, not condemn the world? Look at what He said in John 3:17 (AMP)…
For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him.

If Jesus came to save, rather than judge, why do we persist on sharing the gloom and doom of condemnation, instead of the love lifting hope of salvation in Christ? 🤷🏾‍♂

So what does all of this have to do with today’s title of ‘The Holy Spirit Convicts’? The message thus far is to emphasize that convicting people of sin was not Jesus’ purpose and it’s not our job. Instead, God wants us to understand that our job is simply to tell people who Jesus is by how we live, filled with His love and grace.

Over the next couple of days, we’ll look into what today’s scripture says the Holy Spirit convicts the world of:

• It’s sin
• God’s righteousness
• God’s impending judgement

But today, we’ll conclude our opening statements with the verb definition of convict. Merriam-Webster defines convict, to find or prove to be guilty.

So the message today is really, reiterating that it’s the Holy Spirit’s, not ours, job to prove…

• The world’s sin
• God’s righteousness
• God’s impending judgement

Lastly, the Holy Spirit reminded me of a movie called ‘Runaway Jury’. The overview of the film is, after a workplace shooting in New Orleans, a trial against the gun manufacturer pits lawyer Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman) against shady jury consultant Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman), who uses illegal means to stack the jury with people sympathetic to the defense.

The Holy Spirit showed me this movie to make this point; the reason God wants us to leave convicting to the Holy Spirit is because the shady jury consultant, Satan, stacks churches and religions with people more dedicated to condemning people away from God than sympathetic to bringing them to Him.

When the Holy Spirit convicts, He draws, not condemns.

I must admit, the scripture the Holy Spirit gave me to illustrate His point perplexed me. Romans 14:17‭-‬23 (ERV)…

In God’s kingdom, what we eat and drink is not important. Here is what is important: a right way of life, peace, and joy—all from the Holy Spirit. Whoever serves Christ by living this way is pleasing God, and they will be accepted by others. So let’s try as hard as we can to do what will bring peace. Let’s do whatever will help each other grow stronger in faith. Don’t let the eating of food destroy the work of God. All food is right to eat, but it is wrong for anyone to eat something that hurts the faith of another person. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else that hurts the faith of your brother or sister. You should keep your beliefs about these things a secret between yourself and God. It is a blessing to be able to do what you think is right without feeling guilty. But anyone who eats something without being sure it is right is doing wrong. That is because they did not believe it was right. And if you do anything that you believe is not right, it is sin.

Then the Holy Spirit made it plain, don’t let your religious convictions circumvent Christ’s relationship cultivation with others through you.

We should absolutely, and are required to live right in God’s eyes. God is just saying that our rightness is not determined by others wrongness. Thus, our living right should inspire, not require, others to do the same.

The underlying issue with our condemnation of others is that it’s truly rooted in self-promotion. When we begin to see our sin as less than another’s, we fool ourselves into believing we’re sinless (1 John 1:8)

And when we think the sin of others are more egregious than ours, we forget the truth of Romans 2:11 (AMP), which says…
For God shows no partiality [no arbitrary favoritism; with Him one person is not more important than another].

With that, the Holy Spirit just flashed the message, “stop trying to be God’s favorite and favor others for Him instead”. He emphasized, God always asked us to build others up, not break them down, for Him. (Romans 14:19)

So today, let’s seek to cultivate lives for Christ with the way we live, and leave the convicting of people to the Holy Spirit, since the responsibility is solely His. And because, when the Holy Spirit convicts, He draws people to God’s Grace found in Christ, whereas when we condemn we push them away.

Therefore, let your life be a testimony of God’s grace that the Holy Spirit revealed, when He convicted you of:

• Your sin
• Your righteousness in Christ
• And, His promised judgment in the end

Today’s Song…
My Life Is A Testimony

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)