Correcting a gross misunderstanding of John 16:8

Joh 16:8-11 NRSV  "And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:  (9)  about sin, because they do not believe in me;  (10)  about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer;  (11)  about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned."

How many times have you heard someone say that the Holy Spirit convicted them? I know I have heard it many, many times. They get it from John 16:8 in the NKJV and many other modern versions. Here it is from the ESV, Joh 16:8  "And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:" The question becomes, is this what Jesus meant in the words recorded by the apostle John? To that my answer is a resounding NO!

Look at the above passage from the NRSV. It reads that he, the Spirit will prove the world wrong about sin, righteousness and judgment. It reads exactly the same way in the NIV. In the Unvarnished New Testament, by Andy Gaus it reads... "And when he comes he will show the world better about wrongdoing and justice and condemnation" This certainly sheds a different light than the way it is in the NKJV and so many modern translations including the KJV which states he will reprove the world which means convict.

First off, the people who say the Holy Spirit convicted them would be wrong based on how it reads even in the King James, as verse nine explains that the conviction is about unbelief. But, the way it is rendered in the NRSV, the NIV and the Unvarnished New Testaments sheds a completely different light on the meaning. So the question that comes to mind is how does/did the Holy Spirit prove the word wrong about sin, righteousness and judgment? Well the answer to that comes in verse nine. It is not believing in Jesus. I have often written how the writer of Hebrews equates sin and unbelief in his discussion of the Sabbath Rest in chapters three and four. He uses unbelief, sin, synonymously. throughout the entire epistle. John explains it this way:3:18  "Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God." It is important to point out that those condemned are those condemned to suffer through the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.

Righteousness is having the character and characteristics of God. We know that God is love/agape so righteousness is love/agape. It is the love that Jesus described in his parables. It is the love that has the shepherd go after one lost sheep to find it and return it to the fold. Love is exemplified by the Father of the prodigal that ran out of the house to greet him when he was still a ways off. Love finds justice and comfort for the poor and disenfranchised. Righteousness is filling a need when it is brought to light. This is what the Holy Spirit, our Comforter and Counselor brings to light. Righteousness explains that God's heart is to make sure that all the lost, broken, poor in spirit are made whole. This is the righteousness that the Holy Spirit brings to light.

Finally, we come to judgment. It says that the ruler of the world is judged. This is the ruler of the world that tempted our original parents to partake of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The problem is that this knowledge simply makes each of us judges. It does not guarantee that we judge rightly. In fact, Jesus said this to the religious establishment of his day. Joh 7:24 NRSV "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment." The Pharisees were judging him according to their reasoned understanding of the law, but they did not have righteous judgment. Only with one indwelt by the Holy Spirit is there even a chance for righteous judgment. When God raised Jesus from the dead, he judged Satan and made a spectacle of him with the cross according to Paul. The former ruler of the world was judged at the cross event. The promised counselor, comforter, has been poured out from Pentecost forward. The first century saints listened to the comforter and thereby turned the religious world upside-down.

This is yet another glaring example of how off course evangelical dogma is. They misunderstand sin and try to become sin managers. They have adopted the righteousness of the Pharisees which Paul criticized in Romans 10:1-4. He said that in trying to establish their own righteousness they have not submitted to God's righteousness. Sadly that can be said about most of Christendom. Finally, the Holy Spirit is ever willing to supply righteous judgment. He would help us stop judging ourselves and one another and judge according to God's judgment which we are the righteousness of God in Jesus.

Finally, the word that is rendered convict is elengkho; its first meaning is confute, which means to prove wrong and the second meaning is convict. The way it really makes sense with a correct understanding of Jesus and the Father is confute not convict. However, with the leaven of the Pharisees which I believe strongly influenced orthodox doctrine from the second century forward, convict would be the best choice. I am confident that when Jesus was speaking this to John he meant confute.

I once again hear the lyrics of the song in my minds ear.... "when will they ever learn, when will they ever... learn?"