I am reading now in John, chapter 16. Jesus was speaking to his disciples, preparing their hearts for the time when Jesus would leave them via his death and resurrection and ascension back to heaven. And he let them know that, as his disciples, they would be put out of the synagogues, and whoever killed them would think (misguidedly) that he is offering service to God.
And then he let them know that he was leaving them to go back to where the Father is, but that it was to their advantage that he went away so that the Helper (the Holy Spirit) would be sent to them.
“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.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:8-15 ESV)
And what is the role of the Holy Spirit here (not including all his ministries)? To CONVICT the people of the world concerning SIN and RIGHTEOUSNESS and JUDGMENT, and to GUIDE us who are the Lord’s disciples INTO ALL TRUTH, and to DECLARE to us the things that ARE TO COME. And this really is a summation of the purpose of the message of the gospel of Christ which we who believe in Jesus Christ are to be living and are to be sharing with the people of the world and with the church, the body of Christ, too.
But we live in a day and time here in America where this is largely not the picture being given of the Holy Spirit nor of the message of the gospel of our salvation by “the church.” For many are avoiding such words as “conviction,” and “sin,” and “righteousness,” and “judgment.” And they are avoiding and altering and sanitizing the truth of God’s word and of the gospel of our salvation in order to make them less offensive and more acceptable to the ungodly and to human flesh. So they remove the truth they are not willing to accept and they insert half-truths (lies) in the place of truth.
But the gospel message that Jesus taught and that his NT apostles taught all talked about sin and conviction of sin and repentance and righteousness and judgment and obedience. And none of them sugar-coated the truth. None of them felt it necessary to remove or to ignore certain parts of the gospel message in order to make it more acceptable to the ungodly and to human flesh. For they were not concerned with whether or not they offended people with the truth. They were concerned about people heading to hell.
And this is where we need to be, too. We need to be more concerned with where people are going to spend eternity than we are with what they will think about us or how they might treat us. For we can’t have it both ways! For in this day and age, if you tell the people what Jesus said and what his NT apostles said (all of it), in context, you are not going to have many friends or “likes” on social media. For the modern way is not to talk about stuff that makes people uncomfortable or offended, but to say only what makes them feel good about themselves.
And they like to hear the promises of God, but all of God’s promises have conditions. So if we tell them the promises, to make them feel good, but without the conditions, we are not telling them the truth, and it is the truth which sets us free. For if we claim to be in fellowship with God while we walk (in conduct, in practice) in sin, we are liars. And if we claim to know God but while we do not obey his commandments (New Covenant), in practice, we are liars. And if sin is what we obey and not righteousness, we are not born of God, but we are of the devil, and we don’t have eternal life with God.
[1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Romans 6:1-23]
And the message of the gospel must include conviction of sin, repentance, righteous living, walking in the truth of God’s word, walking in obedience to our Lord’s commands, and warnings regarding the judgment of God if we do not walk in righteousness and in obedience, but we, instead, choose to walk in sin. But when this is what we teach, and not the lies that so many are teaching, we may get put out of or encouraged out of small groups or out of larger gatherings of what is called “the church.” And that is because that is largely not the message they are wanting people to hear these days.
And that is because they are listening to men, and not God, and so many are getting their messages from men, and not God’s word. Even if they use the Scriptures, often they are taken out of context and twisted and made to say something that the Scriptures do not teach. But we are to be students of the Scriptures who rightly handle the word of truth, to the best that we understand, but as we are seeking the understanding and the counsel of God and not of man. And I am not against Bible helps. But they should not replace the Holy Spirit. We need to let the Spirit guide us to all truth.
For the gospel that Jesus and his NT apostles taught teaches us to forsake our sins, and to die with Christ to sin that we might be raised with him to walk in newness of life, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So sin is to no longer have mastery over our lives to where we obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if obedience is what we obey, it leads to righteousness and sanctification and its end is eternal life with God. For Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. That is the gospel message.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
I Will Call Upon the Lord
Words and music by Michael O'Shields
I will call upon the Lord
Who is worthy to be praised
So shall I be saved from my enemies
The Lord liveth and blessed be the Rock
And let the God of my salvation be exalted
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZIigMiXfuE
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