Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient
for you that I go away: for if go 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.
John 16:7-11
The word "reprove" means to convict and the Greek tense is future indicative and active. This means to reprove, to put to test, to refute, to expose, even carries the meaning to chastise, to discipline. So when does this One, the Comforter who will "convict" come? When Jesus goes away. His going away from this world was when He died upon the cross. Jesus could not remain on this earth and be either the Savior or the Holy Spirit to come and "convict" the world of sin. Jesus had to die on the cross to fulfill the justice that man owes to God. This He accomplished by His death. Salvation was now possible through Him and the fact that He went to the Father and sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for all who will believe upon Him. How does one come to believe upon Jesus as Savior? Well, as I have often pointed out: by hearing the word of God. Many people hear the word of God and yet do not believe in Jesus and have no faith in Jesus or His death on the cross. Therefore, something more must happen to a person when they hear the word of God. What is that something? It is conviction you have by the Holy Spirit speaking to your spirit, your soul, and your responding to that conviction. Here is an important point: very few persons really know anything about conviction of sin. What most people call or respond to conviction is that feeling, that disturbing experience due to have done something wrong. This is not the conviction of sin, it is only sorry for being caught in sin. If a person is convicted by the Holy Spirit and your response is one that many leave out of their so-called conviction of sin is: "Against Thee, Thee only have I sinned!" This is the conviction that is authentic conviction for a person who has responded to the conviction of the Holy Spirit knows this: God dare not forgive him/her. Why? This sounds horrible! Yes, but if God does forgive you on the basis of your feeling terrible by getting caught in your sin you would have a greater and stronger sense of justice than God. Yes God forgives! On what basis does God forgive? For God to forgive and not violate His justice it would have to cost Him and this cost was the death of His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ on the cross. This death of Jesus enable God to forgive. This forgiveness is not a universal forgiveness and those who believe in Universalism of Christianity, no, it cost God His Son and there is a cost to you: You must come to know without any doubt that you are a sinner and cannot save yourself by anything you except to come to Authentic Christian Faith that Jesus death on the cross was your payment and then apply that payment to yourself. Your conviction is that you have not just sinned: no, you and I have sinned against a Holy and Just God.
I have heard from students of this cult called The School of the Supernatural of Bethel Church that they are going about to bring love to everyone. Sounds so good and it is good, that is if it is the right love and not the love that this culture will accept and define. It is shallow to say that God forgives us because He is love. If you have been truly convicted of sin you will never say that again. The love of God means Calvary, and nothing less for this is true love: to give His Son to die for sinful man: what a miracle this forgiveness is for God not only was repaid the debt owed to Him by sinful men, but He paid this debt out of His own pocket, He paid it Himself. The miracle is that God did this and it is the only ground upon which God can forgive you and I and thereby not doing injustice to His Justice.
Beware of anything the views the Fatherhood of god that He is so kind and living that of course He will forgive you. That is never found in the New Testament. The only ground on which God can forgive us is this tragedy of the cross. It is only this tragedy on which God can forgive sin and reinstate us in His favor. No other way! When once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, no longer will you be satisfied by saying that God just loves you and will forgive you because He is Love, no, you will, that is if you will accept Jesus Christ' work upon the cross that God allowed to occur so that not only was the debt paid but the door was now open for all who believe upon Jesus Christ, His Son now upon the conviction of the Holy Spirit be saved for eternity. This love of God will for all who have come to Authentic Christian Faith be constrained by the love of God. Your life will be forever different, your disposition will be different from the disposition of the world, you will now live according to the commands, principles, and precepts as revealed in the Bible.
This miracle of salvation can be your miracle.
Look unto Me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth:
for I am God, and there is
none else.
Isaiah 45:22
Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit
Richard L. Crumb
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