“When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: About sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged…. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come” (John 16:8-11,13, CSB).

The previous post on these verses (The Dance) focused on the Holy Spirit as our moral compass Who internally guides us and externally empowers us to live out God’s will in this world. The Holy Spirit confirms our salvation in Christ and affirms our hope for eternal life with God.

But, the work of the Holy Spirit is comprehensive and so there’s another side to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our personal lives.

The Holy Spirit is not just some little thought in the back of your mind reminding you to be good. He is actively present–in this world and in the lives of Christians.

He convicts. He guides. He hears. He speaks. Truth.

In this fallen world when people are confronted with God’s Truth, it can disturbing, especially to unregenerate people. But, the disturbing truth about sin, righteousness and judgment can also be unsettling in the lives of formerly unregenerate people–that is, Christians!

But, in both cases, the regenerate and the unregenerate, the end game for the Holy Spirit is the same: to convict (or convince) us of our sin and God’s righteousness and judgment against evil in this world.

So, the ministry of the Holy Spirit in this world is apparent–to help us become more like Jesus and enable us to do God’s will in preparation for the world to come.

When left to our own (human) devices, sin becomes shortcomings instead of separation from God. Righteousness becomes self-righteousness and the gospel becomes more about good works rather than God’s grace. And, judgment becomes more about being blessed in this world than taking up our cross and following Jesus to the next world!

Fortunately, God sent the Holy Spirit into this world to continue the ministry of Jesus when He walked the earth. And, just like Jesus, His ministry can disrupt, distress and agitate those who don’t and those who do follow Jesus.

The abiding presence of the Holy Spirit not only assures us of our salvation and our hope for eternal life with God, but He provokes us to live out God’s righteousness in this world to prepare us for the judgment of the world to come.

May our prayer be for the provocation of the Holy Spirit in our lives!

Let us pray as Sir Francis Drake, the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe, prayed long ago–Disturb Us, Lord:

Dis­turb us, Lord, when
With the abun­dance of things we pos­sess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Hav­ing fall­en in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eter­ni­ty
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heav­en to dim.

Excerpt from a prayer written in the 15th century by the famous sea captain and explorer Sir Francis Drake