CONVICTED!

John 16:7-11 NKJV

"Nevertheless 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 depart, I will send Him to you.  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  of sin, because they do not believe in Me;  of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;  of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."

Context, context, context.  It is, BY FAR, the most important tool we have for understanding and rightly dividing the word of God.  A perfect example is the above passage.  Taken out of context, it has been MISunderstood, MISapplied and MISused to put believers under bondage MIStakenly.

(For a complete study on Rightly Dividing the Word of God, follow this link to begin part 1 of 16:  http://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2014/11/part-1-of-16-introduction-to-rightly.html)

Ever been told as a Christian that the Holy Spirit convicts you of sin?  Yeah, me too.  Well guess what?  HE DOESN'T DO THAT.  Quite the contrary.  He convicts us of RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Who gets convicted of sin?  Look carefully at the verses above.  He convicts THE WORLD OF SIN. Why does Jesus call them the world?  "Because they do not believe in Me."

Believers don't fit the criteria.  We can no longer be called "the world."  The Bible says we are in it but no longer of it.  We are not the ones who don't believe in Jesus.  So based on that Church, do you fall into the category of those He convicts of sin?  

DUH!  OF COURSE NOT. 

You already believe in Him.

Why do we need to be convicted of righteousness?  Jesus said it: "because I go to the Father..... and here's the key.....AND YOU SEE ME NO MORE". 

He isn't here in person right now so we cannot look into His sweet face and see His beautiful eyes.  We can't see His love and acceptance of us there to be assured we are ALWAYS AND FOREVER RIGHT WITH GOD.

Those whispers in your head that tell you God is angry with you, or if nor angry, at least mildly disappointed, isn't the voice of Holy Spirit. It's the devil.

Who is more conscious of sin:  Believers or non-believers?  Believers!  Ask anyone you know who doesn't know Jesus and most of them don't believe they're all that bad and, maybe, even pretty good. If they understood otherwise, they'd realize their need of a Savior and run screaming to Jesus.

Believers, contrarywise, who's sins actually have been--PAST TENSE--cleansed FOREVER, are convinced they are full of sin!

IT'S BACKWARDS. 

That's why He sent the Holy Spirit:  TO CONVICT US OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.  He knows all too well the devil is continually trying to steal, kill and destroy. He uses the law UNlawfully against you and I trying to get us to believe God is angry with us. 

IT'S A PACK OF LIES.  Don't believe him.

We have accepted Jesus' payment for us.  He took ALL OUR JUDGMENT on Himself.  God would be unrighteous to judge us for our sinful actions after already heaping the FULL PUNISHMENT for them on Jesus.  Because of all His beloved Son endured on the cross He can legally declare us righteous because of His finished work!  

HALLELUJAH!

So, Church, are you forever righteous? 
Yes!  Guilty as charged and CONVICTED!