John 16:8
And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:
And when He comes
This phrase refers to the coming of the Holy Spirit, promised by Jesus to His disciples. The context is the Upper Room Discourse, where Jesus prepares His followers for His departure. The Holy Spirit's coming is a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, such as Joel 2:28-29, where God promises to pour out His Spirit on all people. The Spirit's arrival at Pentecost (Acts 2) marks the beginning of His active role in the world and the church.

He will convict the world
The term "convict" implies a legal or judicial process, suggesting the Holy Spirit's role in revealing truth and exposing error. The "world" here refers to humanity in its fallen state, often in opposition to God. The Spirit's work is universal, not limited to believers, and involves bringing awareness of spiritual realities to all people.

in regard to sin
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, highlighting humanity's rebellion against God. This conviction is necessary for repentance and salvation. Sin, in this context, is primarily unbelief in Jesus (John 16:9), which is the root of all other sins. The Spirit's role is to reveal the truth of Jesus' identity and mission, leading people to recognize their need for a Savior.

and righteousness
Righteousness here refers to the standard of holiness required by God, exemplified in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of righteousness by demonstrating the perfect life and sacrificial death of Jesus, who fulfilled all righteousness (Matthew 3:15). This conviction also involves revealing the inadequacy of human righteousness and the necessity of Christ's righteousness imputed to believers (2 Corinthians 5:21).

and judgment
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of judgment, emphasizing the reality of divine justice. This includes the judgment of Satan, the ruler of this world, who has been condemned through Christ's victory on the cross (John 16:11). It also points to the future judgment of all humanity, where each person will be held accountable for their response to Jesus (Revelation 20:11-15). The Spirit's conviction serves as a warning and a call to repentance before the final judgment.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jesus Christ
The speaker in this passage, preparing His disciples for His departure and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

2. The Holy Spirit
Referred to as "He" in this verse, the Holy Spirit is promised by Jesus to come and fulfill specific roles.

3. The Disciples
The immediate audience of Jesus' teaching, who are being prepared for the new era of the Spirit's work.

4. The World
Represents humanity at large, which will be convicted by the Holy Spirit.

5. Sin, Righteousness, and Judgment
The three areas in which the Holy Spirit will convict the world.
Teaching Points
The Role of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is not just a comforter but also a convictor. His work involves bringing awareness of sin, the need for righteousness, and the reality of judgment.

Conviction of Sin
The Spirit reveals the truth about sin, leading individuals to recognize their need for repentance and salvation through Christ.

Understanding Righteousness
The Spirit convicts us of the righteousness available through faith in Jesus, contrasting human self-righteousness with God's standard.

Awareness of Judgment
The Spirit's conviction includes a reminder of the coming judgment, urging believers to live in a way that reflects their faith and hope in Christ.

Living by the Spirit
Believers are called to be sensitive to the Spirit's conviction in their lives, allowing Him to guide their actions and decisions.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the Holy Spirit's role in convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment impact your understanding of His work in your life?

2. In what ways can you be more receptive to the Holy Spirit's conviction in your daily walk with Christ?

3. How does the conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit lead to genuine repentance and transformation in a believer's life?

4. What are some practical steps you can take to align your life with the righteousness that the Holy Spirit convicts us of?

5. How does the awareness of judgment influence your interactions with others and your approach to sharing the Gospel?
Connections to Other Scriptures
John 14:26
This verse also speaks of the Holy Spirit as the Helper who will teach and remind the disciples of Jesus' teachings, emphasizing the Spirit's role in guidance and truth.

Acts 2:37
The conviction of the Holy Spirit is evident when Peter preaches at Pentecost, and the people are "cut to the heart," illustrating the Spirit's work in convicting of sin.

Romans 8:16
The Spirit testifies with our spirit, affirming the truth of our identity in Christ, which connects to the Spirit's role in convicting of righteousness.

Hebrews 9:27
Speaks of judgment after death, aligning with the Spirit's role in convicting the world of judgment.
Conviction of SinJ.R. Thomson John 16:8, 9
Conviction of RighteousnessJ.R. Thomson John 16:8, 10
ConvictionBp. Westcott.John 16:8-11
Conviction of JudgmentJ.R. Thomson John 16:8, 11
The Awful Evil of SinC. H. Spurgeon.John 16:8-11
The Convicting Work of the SpiritD. Young John 16:8-11
The Facts Which Convince the WorldA. Maclaren, D. D.John 16:8-11
The Fixing of ImpressionsJ. Stoughton, D. D.John 16:8-11
The Hardened SinnerJohn 16:8-11
The Holy Spirit's Threefold Conviction of MenC. H. Spurgeon.John 16:8-11
The Mission of the ComforterE. L. Hull, B. A.John 16:8-11
The Object of the Mission of the ComforterJ. Cumming, D. D.John 16:8-11
The Spirit of FireJohn 16:8-11
The Spirit's Threefold ConvictionG. D. Boardman, D. D.John 16:8-11
The Threefold ConvictionGeo. G. Findlay, B. A.John 16:8-11
People
Jesus, Disciples
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Bring, Conscious, Convict, Convince, Demonstration, Guilt, Judged, Judgement, Judgment, Regard, Reprove, Respect, Righteousness, Sin
Dictionary of Bible Themes
John 16:8

     1125   God, righteousness
     1403   God, revelation
     5016   heart, fallen and redeemed
     5263   communication
     5436   pain
     5567   suffering, emotional
     5816   consciousness

John 16:5-10

     2505   Christ, ascension

John 16:5-21

     3215   Holy Spirit, and peace

John 16:7-8

     3212   Holy Spirit, and mission
     6173   guilt, and God

John 16:7-11

     1436   reality
     3035   Holy Spirit, presence of
     3130   Holy Spirit, Counsellor
     3296   Holy Spirit, in the world
     5031   knowledge, of sin
     8498   witnessing, and Holy Spirit

John 16:7-15

     3040   Holy Spirit, promise of

John 16:8-9

     6029   sin, forgiveness
     6632   conviction
     8744   faithlessness, as disobedience

John 16:8-11

     3248   Holy Spirit, conviction
     5038   mind, the human
     5360   justice, God
     8105   assurance, basis of
     8150   revival, personal

Library
Presence in Absence
Eversley, third Sunday after Easter. 1862. St John xvi. 16. "A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father." Divines differ, and, perhaps, have always differed, about the meaning of these words. Some think that our Lord speaks in them of His death and resurrection. Others that He speaks of His ascension and coming again in glory. I cannot decide which is right. I dare not decide. It is a very solemn thing--too solemn
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

November 6 Evening
Lead me in thy truth, and teach me--PSA. 25:5. When . . . the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth.--Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.--All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

November 29 Evening
Do ye now believe?--JOHN 16:31. What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son. Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead.--Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Ye see then how that
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 14 Morning
The fellowship of His sufferings.--PHI. 3:10. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.--In the world ye shall have tribulation.--Because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. I looked for some to take pity, but there was none.--At my
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

December 21 Morning
The days of thy mourning shall be ended.--ISA. 60:20. In the world ye shall have tribulation.--The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.--We that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 15 Evening
The Spirit . . . maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.--ROM. 8:27. Verily, verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.--Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us; and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

August 15. "He Will Guide You into all Truth" (John xvi. 13).
"He will guide you into all truth" (John xvi. 13). The Holy Ghost does not come to give us extraordinary manifestations, but to give its life and light, and the nearer we come to Him, the more simple will His illumination and leading be. He comes to "guide us into all truth." He comes to shed light upon our own hearts, and to show us ourselves. He comes to reveal Christ, to give, and then to illumine, the Holy Scriptures, and to make Divine realities vivid and clear to our spiritual apprehension.
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

October 29. "Whatsoever Ye Shall Ask the Father in My Name, He Will Give it You" (John xvi. 23).
"Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you" (John xvi. 23). Two men go to the bank cashier, both holding in their hands a piece of paper. One is dressed in expensive style, and presents a gloved and jeweled hand; the other is a rough, unwashed workman. The first is rejected with a polite sentence, and the second receives a thousand dollars over the counter. What is the difference? The one presented a worthless name; the other handed in a note endorsed by the president of
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

March 5. "I have Overcome the World" (John xvi. 33).
"I have overcome the world" (John xvi. 33). Christ has overcome for us every one of our four terrible foes--Sin, Sickness, Sorrow, Satan. He has borne our Sin, and we may lay all, even down to our sinfulness itself, on Him. "I have overcome for thee." He has borne our sickness, and we may detach ourselves from our old infirmities and rise into His glorious life and strength. He has borne our sorrows, and we must not even carry a care, but rejoice evermore, and even glory in tribulations also. And
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Self-Help
ST. JOHN xvi. 7. It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. This is a deep and strange saying. How can it be expedient, useful, or profitable, for any human being that Christ should go away from them? To be in Christ's presence; to see his face; to hear his voice;--would not this be the most expedient and profitable, yea, the most blessed and blissful of things which could befall us? Is it not
Charles Kingsley—Discipline and Other Sermons

From' and 'to'
'I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.'--JOHN xvi. 28. These majestic and strange words are the proper close of our Lord's discourse, what follows being rather a reply to the disciples' exclamation. There is nothing absolutely new in them, but what is new is the completeness and the brevity with which they cover the whole ground of His being, work, and glory. They fall into two halves, each consisting of two clauses; the former half
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Peace and victory
'These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.'--JOHN xvi. 33. So end these wonderful discourses, and so ends our Lord's teaching before His passion. He gathers up in one mighty word the total intention of these sweet and deep sayings which we have so long been pondering together. He sketches in broad outline the continual characteristics of the disciples' life, and closes all with the
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Why Christ Speaks
'These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor Me. But these things have I told you, that, when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go My way to Him that
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

The Guide into all Truth
'I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I, that He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you.'--JOHN xvi. 12-15. This is our Lord's
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Christ's 'little Whiles'
'A little while, and ye shall not see Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me, because I go to the Father. Then said some of His disciples among themselves, What is this that He saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me: and, Because I go to the Father? They said therefore, What is this that He saith, A little while? we cannot tell what He saith. Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask Him, and said unto them, Do ye inquire
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

'In that Day'
'And in that day ye shall ask Me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.'--JOHN xvi. 23, 24. Our Lord here sums up the prerogatives and privileges of His servants in the day that was about to dawn and to last till He came again. There is nothing absolutely new in the words; substantially the promises contained in them have appeared in
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

The Joys of 'that Day'
'These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of the Father. At that day ye shall ask in My Name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: For the Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved Me, and have believed that I came out from God.'--JOHN xvi. 25-27. The stream which we have been tracking for so long in these discourses has now nearly reached its close. Our Lord,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Glad Confession and Sad Warning
'His disciples said unto Jesus, Lo! now speakest Thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that Thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask Thee: by this we believe that Thou earnest forth from God. Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave Me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.' --JOHN xvi. 29-32. The first words of these wonderful
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

The Departing Christ and the Coming Spirit
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you. And when He is come, He will convince the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.'--JOHN xvi. 7, 8. We read these words in the light of all that has gone after, and to us they are familiar and almost thread-bare. But if we would appreciate their sublimity, we must think away nineteen centuries, and all Christendom,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

The Convicting Facts
'Of sin, because they believe not on Me; Of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and ye see Me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.'--JOHN xvi. 9-11. Our Lord has just been telling His disciples how He will equip them, as His champions, for their conflict with the world. A divine Spirit is coming to them who will work in them and through them; and by their simple and unlettered testimony will 'convict,' or convince, the mass of ungodly men of error and crime in regard
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Nevertheless I Tell You the Truth; it is Expedient for You that I Go Away; for if I Go not Away
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them
Charles G. Finney—Lectures to Professing Christians

June the Second Our Spiritual Guide
"When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth." --JOHN xvi. 7-14. How great is the difference between a guide-post and a guide! And what a difference between a guide-book and a companion! Mere instructions may be very uninspiring, and bare commandments may be very cold. Our Guide is an inseparable Friend. And how will He guide us? He will give us insight. "He will guide you into all truth." He will refine our spirits so that we may be able to distinguish "things that
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Loved in the Beloved.
(Third Sunday in Advent, 1831.) TEXT: JOHN xvi. 27. "For the Father Himself loveth you, be cause ye have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from the Father." THAT was a great word of the Saviour about Himself on which we lately spoke together, in which He represented Himself as from of old the one object of desire and longing to all the best part of mankind, to those who were nearest to God and had received most teaching from Him: but this is a still greater saying, in which He sets Himself
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

The Spirit not Striving Always.
"And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man."-Gen. vi. 3. IN speaking from this text I shall pursue the following outline of thought, and attempt to show: I. What is implied in the assertion, My Spirit shall not always strive with man; II. What is not intended by the Spirit's striving; III. What is intended by it; IV. How it maybe known when the Spirit strives with an individual; V. What is intended by His not striving always; VI. Why He will not always strive; and, VII. Some consequences
Charles G. Finney—Sermons on Gospel Themes

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