17The Holy Spirit Convicts the World  (John 16:1–11)

“These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. But 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 He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.” (16:1–11)

The followers of Jesus Christ have always faced the world’s hostility (a point that was detailed in chapter 15 of this volume). From the inception of the church, the apostles and those closely associated with them endured intense persecution. They were ridiculed, scorned, denounced, hunted, arrested, beaten, and imprisoned. Many even paid the ultimate price, giving their lives as martyrs (a transliteration of the Greek word meaning “witnesses”) for the sake of their Savior. A brief survey of ancient Christian tradition reveals that Peter, Andrew, and James the son of Alphaeus were all crucified; Bartholomew was whipped to death and then crucified; James the son of Zebedee was beheaded, as was Paul; Thomas was stabbed with spears; Mark was dragged to death through the streets of Alexandria; and James the half brother of Jesus was stoned by order of the Sanhedrin. Philip was also stoned to death. Others, including Matthew, Simon the Zealot, Thaddeus, Timothy, and Stephen, were also killed for their unwavering commitment to the Lord. As Clement of Rome, a contemporary of the apostles who died around A.D. 100, observed, “Through envy and jealousy, the greatest and most righteous pillars [of the church] have been persecuted and put to death” (First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, 5).

In the generations that followed, persecution continued. Under the Roman emperors of the first three centuries, thousands of faithful believers were arrested, tortured, and killed. One notable example is that of Polycarp, the aged bishop of Smyrna. Around A.D. 160, he was arrested for being a Christian, and then tied to a stake and burned. When asked to deny Christ, Polycarp stood firm. “Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury,” he replied resolutely. “How then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?” (Concerning the Martyrdom of the Holy Polycarp, 9). (Much more on the hostility of Imperial Rome toward the church can be found in chapter 15 of this volume.)

The persecution of the true church again reached a fever pitch during the Protestant Reformation. Appalled by the moral and doctrinal corruption of the Roman Catholic Church and emboldened by the clear teachings of Scripture, the Reformers denounced the Catholic system of indulgences and the false gospel of works righteousness. The response from Rome was vitriolic and violent. According to Protestant historian John Dowling, the Roman Catholic Church put to death more than fifty million “heretics” between A.D. 606 (the birth of the papacy) and the mid-1800s (History of Romanism [New York: Edward Walker, 1845], 8:541). Commenting on Rome’s murderous tactics, Martin Luther remarked, “lf the art of convincing heretics by fire were the right one, then the executioners would be the most learned Doctors on earth” (Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, in Henry Clay Vedder, The Reformation in Germany [NewYork: Macmillan, 1914], 119).

Godly leaders like John Huss (c. 1369–1415), Hugh Latimer (c. 1485–1555), William Tyndale (1495–1536), Patrick Hamilton (1504–1528), and George Wishart (1513–1546) were among those martyred for the faith. When the chain was put around John Huss, securing him to the stake where he would be burned, he said with a smile, “My Lord Jesus Christ was bound with a harder chain than this for my sake, and why then should I be ashamed of this rusty one?” When asked to recant, Huss declined, saying, “What I taught with my lips I now seal with my blood” (John Fox, Fox’s Book of Martyrs [Philadelphia: J. J. Woodward, 1830], 634). He died singing a hymn as the flames engulfed his body.

In many places around the world today, believers continue to face intense persecution. Muslim controlled countries are especially hostile toward Christianity (currently especially in the Middle East and Africa), though other nations such as Communist states also remain antagonistic. While exact numbers are difficult to reconstruct, historians estimate the number of Christian martyrs in the last century to be in the tens of millions. A 1997 article in the New York Times reported that “more Christians have died this century simply for being Christians than in the first nineteen centuries after the birth of Christ” (A. M. Rosenthal, “Persecuting the Christians,” New York Times, February 11, 1997, citing information from Nina Shea, In the Lion’s Den [Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1997]). In addition, an incalculable number of faithful believers have been arrested, beaten, or otherwise persecuted short of death—all on account of their loyalty to Jesus Christ.

The theme of persecution, which Jesus introduced in 15:18–25, continues into the opening section of chapter 16. But as He had done in 15:26–27, the Lord was quick to remind His disciples that they would not face the world’s hostility alone. Their witness to the world would be accompanied and empowered by the witness of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit would confront the world, not only by testifying to Jesus, but also by convicting sinners of their true heart condition. Because the Helper was coming to them, the disciples could remain confident, knowing that though the world system would always oppose them, many within that system would be delivered from its darkness and transferred into the kingdom of light (cf. Col. 1:13).

Although the content of this section is similar to that of chapter 15, there is a subtle difference in emphasis. In chapter 15, Jesus instructed the disciples as to what they were to do (e.g., vv. 4, 9, 10, 12, 14, 17–20). But in chapter 16 He focused on what God would do for them through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit (e.g., vv. 1–4, 7, 13–15). He would comfort, strengthen, and aid the disciples in the midst of their conflict with the world. As Leon Morris writes,

It is the mission of both the Holy Spirit and believers to bear witness to Jesus (cf. 15:26–27). The Spirit testifies to believers that the gospel is true (1 John 2:20–21, 27; cf. 14:26; 16:13–14), and then empowers them as they proclaim it to the world (Acts 1:8). Though God uses Christians to proclaim the gospel, only the Holy Spirit is able to redeem lost sinners (Titus 3:5). He alone can convict unbelievers of their sin and need for a Savior.

In these verses, Jesus warned the disciples that they would face conflict with the world. But He comforted them with the promised coming of the Holy Spirit, and explained to them that the Spirit would not only help them, but would also work in unbelievers to convict them of sin. Thus, the passage can be outlined around three distinct but related sections: the conflict with the world, the comforting of the disciples, and the convicting by the Spirit.

THE CONFLICT WITH THE WORLD

These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you. (16:1–4)

The phrase these things refers back to the Lord’s warning about the world’s hostility (15:18–25). He had spoken those words to the disciples so that they might be kept from stumbling. Stumbling translates a form of the verb skandalizō; the related noun literally refers to the bait stick in a trap. The term here refers figuratively to the disciples’ being caught off guard like an animal ensnared in a trap. Had Jesus not warned them of the persecution they would inevitably face, the disciples might have become shocked and disillusioned so that their faith might have faltered.

The events that transpired later that evening showed the timeliness of the Lord’s warning. Despite being told by Jesus to expect persecution, the disciples wilted at the first sign of it—even though it was aimed not at them, but at Him. On their way to Gethsemane from the upper room, Jesus told them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered’” (Matt. 26:31). Later that evening, when Jesus was arrested, His prediction came true:

Some might question why the Lord warned the disciples against stumbling when He knew they would shortly do just that. It is true that Jesus, in His omniscience, knew what was going to happen. But the point is that the disciples were responsible for their actions. They had been given the resources they needed to stand firm and not stumble, including a warning that persecution was imminent. Yet they failed to utilize those resources, and when the moment of truth came, they capitulated under the pressure and fled. Their failure in face of the truth they were told was inexcusable. But it is easy to see how hard the transition was, and for them to shift their minds from the expectation of the promised kingdom and glory (cf. Luke 19:11) to a promise of rejection and hostility. This was another in a list of things hard for them to believe.

The Lord continued by describing some of the specific persecution the disciples would face in the coming hour (a term that in John’s gospel refers especially to the events connected with Jesus’ death, resurrection, and exaltation [cf. 2:4;4:21, 23;5:25, 28; 7:30;8:20; 12:23, 27; 13:1; 16:25; 17:1]). To be made outcasts from the synagogue meant far more than merely being forbidden to attend religious services. Those who were excommunicated from the synagogue were cut off from all religious, social, and economic aspects of Jewish society. They were branded as traitors to their people and their God, and faced the likely consequence of losing both their families and their jobs. Not surprisingly, being unsynagogued was greatly feared (cf. 9:22; 12:42).

But even worse than such excommunication, some of Christ’s followers would pay with their lives (as was noted earlier). In a bitter irony, the enemies of Christ sometimes think that by killing Christians they are offering service to God (the word translated service is used in Scripture to speak of religious service, or worship [cf. Rom. 9:4; 12:1; Heb. 9:1, 6]). This is true even today in nations where in the name of Allah militant Islam stands violently opposed to Christianity. The folly of attempting to serve a false god by murdering God’s people reveals the depths to which sinful darkness blankets the minds of the unconverted.

Before his conversion, none other than the apostle Paul was a zealous persecutor of Christians. After being rescued by Roman soldiers outside the temple, he told the mob that had been trying to kill him, “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons” (Acts 22:4). In his defense before Herod Agrippa, Paul elaborated on that statement:

Writing to the churches of Galatia, the apostle explained what had motivated his violent persecution of the church: “For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it; and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions” (Gal. 1:13–14; cf. Phil. 3:6; 1 Tim. 1:12–13).

After Paul’s conversion the hater became the hated; the hunter the hunted; and the persecutor the persecuted. In virtually every city he visited, Paul faced opposition from Jews, Gentiles, or both, thereby fulfilling the Lord’s prediction concerning him: “I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:16). In 2 Corinthians 11:22–27 the apostle summarized how he received the “brand-marks of Jesus” (Gal. 6:17) that he so proudly bore:

How could seemingly religious people commit such atrocities in the guise of worshiping God? These things, Jesus explained, they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. Far from serving God, such people do not in any sense know the true God; no one who hates Jesus Christ or His followers (1 John 4:20; 5:1) knows the Father (John 8:19; 1 John 3:1; cf. John 5:23; 14:7; 15:21). Failing to know God is willful, inexcusable ignorance (Rom. 1:18–32), and those who manifest it do not have eternal life (cf. Rom. 10:2–3).

In verse 4 Jesus gave another reason for His warning to the disciples. These things I have spoken to you, He told them, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. Persecution would surely come, since “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12; cf. Acts 14:22). Years later, in his first epistle, Peter echoed the Lord’s prediction:

But rather than shatter the disciples’ faith, the hostility they faced would actually deepen and strengthen their resolve as they saw the Lord’s prediction fulfilled (cf. John 14:29).

Jesus had not needed to say these words of warning to the disciples at the beginning, because He was with them. During His ministry, the Lord not only protected His disciples, but also bore the brunt of the world’s attacks—something He would shortly do again for the last time (18:8–9). Because Jesus had been there to receive the assaults Himself and to shield them, the disciples had not experienced the full force of the opposition they would now face in His absence. In such passages as Matthew 5:10–12 and 10:24–25, Jesus had referred to persecution in general terms. But now that His death was only hours away, the disciples would be left to face the full fury of the world’s hatred. That reality is what prompted this explicit warning.

Jesus never glossed over the truth when it came to counting the cost of being His disciple. In Luke 9:23–24 He said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.” Later He told a parable illustrating that truth:

Christ does not offer His followers the way of comfort and ease, but a hard and difficult path. Though the gate is small and the road is narrow, it is certainly well worth the strenuous journey, for it alone “leads to life” and to eternal glory (Matt. 7:13–14). Thus Paul could write, in the midst of his multitudinous trials, “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17).

THE COMFORTING OF THE DISCIPLES

But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. But 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. (16:5–7)

These verses present a sharp contrast between the complete selflessness of Jesus and the utter selfishness of the disciples. As the cross loomed ever larger, they should have been comforting Him. He should have been their focus, since the time had come for Him to accomplish His mission and return to the Father who sent Him.

But none of them was even concerned enough about the Lord to ask Him, “Where are You going?” Though both Peter (13:36) and Thomas (14:5) had asked Him earlier where He was going, the Lord’s point was that their questions had reflected a concern for themselves and not a concern for Him. Those earlier queries were more of a protest over His abandoning them than an expression of genuine interest in what He was about to experience. As R. C. H. Lenski explains:

Because Jesus had said these things (about the coming persecution) to them, sorrow had filled the disciples’ hearts. Their thoughts were not centered on what this moment meant for Jesus, but only on what it meant for them. But instead of being consumed with anxiety, they should have been filled with joy to know that Jesus’ earthly mission was almost over and His return to heavenly glory near. As He had earlier chided them, “If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father” (14:28).

In actuality, the disciples’ sorrow was completely unwarranted. The truth is that it was to their advantage that Jesus go away. Obviously, apart from Jesus’ propitiatory, sacrificial death on the cross, there would be no atonement for their sins. But beyond that, if Jesus did not go away, the Helper (the Holy Spirit) would not come to them. But if the Lord left, He would send Him to them. Jesus promised that when the Holy Spirit came, He would give them eternal life (7:37–39), indwell them (14:16–17), instruct them (and through them all believers [14:26]), empower them in their witness, and activate for them the promises of God (see 15:26–27 and the commentary on those verses in the previous chapter of this volume).

There are at least two reasons why the Holy Spirit did not come until after Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension. First, the Spirit’s ministry is to reveal the person and works of Christ. That was not fully possible until after Christ finished His work of redemption on the cross and ascended to His full glory in heaven. Second, the Father gave the Spirit to the church to vindicate His Son’s faithfulness in completing the work of salvation in His death and resurrection (cf. John 7:39; Gal. 3:14). In his sermon on the day of Pentecost, Peter, after referring to the death and resurrection Christ (Acts 2:23–32), declared, “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear” (v.33).

THE CONVICTING BY THE SPIRIT

And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. (16:8–11)

The Holy Spirit does not minister only to believers, but also to the unbelieving world. Though the word convict judicially implies a negative connotation, theologically the Spirit’s convicting ministry is an exceedingly positive one. His goal is to bring sinners to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

No one can be saved apart from the Spirit’s convicting and regenerating work. The Bible teaches that all people are by nature rebels against God and hostile to Jesus Christ. They are “dead in [their] trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1);“by nature children of wrath” (v.3);“darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart … callous [having] given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness” (Eph. 4:18–19); “and alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds” (Col. 1:21); blinded by Satan so that they cannot understand spiritual truth (2 Cor. 4:4; cf. Luke 8:5, 12). In that condition, they are helpless; they are unable to believe the truth and are even guilty of suppressing it (Rom. 1:18–32). In John 6:44 Jesus declared, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” In a graphic description of fallen man’s utter inability to seek God on his own, Paul wrote,

The world hates Jesus Christ because sinfulness hates righteousness, imperfection hates perfection, and the “domain of darkness” hates the “kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col. 1:13; cf. John 3:19). It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to penetrate hearts steeped in sin, overcome sinners’ resistance to the gospel, and bring them through saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to fellowship with God.

To do that, the Spirit must break the power of sin that enslaves people (John 8:34), and the love of iniquity that keeps them in rebellion against God. Jesus had already told the disciples that the Spirit would testify about Him to the world (15:26). In addition to that outward testimony, the Spirit also convicts the hearts of sinners. When He comes on the day of Pentecost, Jesus said, the Spirit will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.

The beginning of the Holy Spirit’s saving ministry to the lost is revealed in this word convict. The word can describe convicting in a judicial sense, like a criminal who is convicted of wrongdoing (cf. its use in James 2:9 and Jude 15). Ultimately, those convicted in this sense will be sentenced to eternal punishment in hell. But in this context the word more likely refers to being convinced of the reality of sin and the need for salvation in Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 14:24). It is the Spirit’s mission to present the truth about Jesus Christ to the world (15:26); those who reject the truth will be found guilty and judged by the Son and Father (5:22, 27, 30).

The Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning three things: sin and righteousness and judgment. The singular form of hamartias (sin) refers not to sin in general but specifically to the ultimate sin of refusing to believe in Jesus Christ. It is that sin that finally damns people, since all others are forgiven when a person believes savingly in Him (cf. Matt. 12:31–32). In John 3:18 Jesus said, “He who believes in Him (Christ) is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” In 5:40 He rebuked those who were “unwilling to come to [Him] so that [they might] have life.” He solemnly warned the unbelieving Jews, “Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24). The sole issue that determines people’s eternal destiny is how they react to the Spirit’s convicting ministry concerning their own sin and the provision of forgiveness by grace through Jesus Christ.

Second, Jesus told the disciples, “the Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me.” The righteousness here is that which belongs to Jesus Christ by nature as the holy Son of God. This is the flip side of the previous point; not only does the Spirit convict unbelievers of their sin, but also of the necessity of having the perfect righteousness of Christ (cf. Matt. 5:20, 48). When their wickedness is compared to His sinless holiness, their sin is seen more truly for the detestable evil that it is. And the sinner is face-to-face with the impossibility of salvation by any effort, work, or achievement he may do.

The Lord’s statement, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me, provides the supreme evidence of His righteousness: His acceptance into the Father’s presence. Habakkuk 1:13 says of God, “Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You can not look on wickedness with favor.” When the Father “highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name” (Phil. 2:9), He Himself testified to Christ’s righteousness. Those who heed the Spirit’s testimony about their utter sinfulness and Christ’s perfect righteousness and respond to the gospel in genuine faith, are instantly clothed with His righteousness. Their sins are placed fully on Him and, in His death at the hands of God’s holy justice, He paid the penalty in full (Phil. 3:9; cf. Rom. 3:21–22; 4:5, 13; 5:21; 10:10; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21). God justifies sinners when He accounts their sins to have been paid for by Christ’s death and Christ’s righteousness is credited to them by His grace alone.

Finally, the Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. The world’s judgments are erroneous and evil, as was supremely demonstrated by its rejection of the Son of God. But while the world is incapable of judging righteously (cf. 7:24), the Spirit always does so. He convicts people of their false assessment of Jesus Christ.

The ruler of this world is Satan (12:31; 14:30; 1 John 5:19). He has already been judged and cast from heaven along with the rest of the angels who rebelled with him (Rev. 12:7–9; cf. Luke 10:18). He was totally defeated at the cross (Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8), when what appeared to be his hour of triumph was in reality the hour of his undoing. Though Satan has been defeated and judged, the final sentence against him will not be carried out until the end of the millennium (Rev. 20:10). In the meantime he goes about as the god of this age, seeking to capture and devour souls. The sobering warning to those who embrace the world system is that since its ruler will not escape judgment, neither will they, unless they repent. The Devil’s fate guarantees the judgment of every unrepentant sinner.

There are only two possible responses to the convicting work of the Spirit: repentance or rejection. From those who reject the Spirit’s conviction will come hostility to the followers of Christ. Their end is “eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thess. 1:9). Those who repent when the Spirit convicts them will spend eternity in the inexpressible glory and joy of heaven. Yet they will, in this life, face fiery trials of persecution without a fatal defection because “greater is He who is in [them] than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).