“We preach and pray, and you hear; but there is no motion Christ-ward until the Spirit of God blows upon them.”
John Flavel
During the farewell address of Jesus to his disciples (John 13-17), he informs them of the work of the Holy Spirit, not only toward them (comfort and counsel), but also of his work toward the hostile world. The word hostile seems strong but just reflects the language of Jesus who describes the world as hating him, hating his disciples, and persecuting them even unto death. Here is Jesus’ description of the activity of the Holy Spirit toward the hostile, unfriendly world:
7 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 go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (John 16:7-11)
One component of the work of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world regarding righteousness or concerning its deficient righteousness. The righteousness of the world is a false one. It is self-constructed and is no sure foundation. R. C. Sproul writes, “The Spirit exposes us; He strips us of our self-righteousness. He shows us the utter inadequacy of our own behavior to satisfy the demands of God and drives us to that redemption that was accomplished by Jesus.” When the unregenerate individual (one who is not yet a believer in Christ and in their natural, lost condition) encounters the Holy Spirit, one of the activities of the Spirit is to reveal to them their need for Christ and the emptiness of trusting in their own works-based righteousness. The prophet Isaiah wrote the following about man’s own deeds:
We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (Isa. 64:6)
Jesus also testifies that the works or deeds of this world are evil and that the world rejects Jesus and his evaluation of their righteousness, “The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.” (John 7:7) The farewell discourse does leave us with a note of hope, when Jesus says, “concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father,” he is actually pointing to his suffering, to the cross, to the resurrection, to the ascension, and to his session (being seated at the right hand of the Father). This is where true salvation exists. It is accomplished already by Jesus. We can stop trying to construct a faulty righteousness of our own and start trusting the well-built, foundational righteousness of Christ. Have you done that today? Are you a believer in Christ? Have a blessed week and we will see many of you on Sunday.
Love in Christ,
Pastor Dale
