Concerning Righteousness

John 16: 10

I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

In John 16: 7 – 11, Jesus revealed that He would send the Holy Spirit and He made known some of the tasks the Spirit would perform in the earth. Besides convicting the world concerning sin and judgment, he also convicts our hearts about righteousness.

The segment of Jesus’ statement about righteousness, is just as involved as that concerning sin which we looked at yesterday. This Greek word translated as “convict” in the New American Standard is more complex than one might initially suspect. While we hear that the Holy Spirit came to pass sentence on us or imprison, punish or berate us in the context of sin, righteousness and judgment, that is not the understanding a Greek reader would have taken away from this passage. The word “elegcho” certainly contains elements of that translation but in this verse, I think some of the other words in its definition are more apropos; words such as convince and to prove. It means, also, to bring to light. Therefore, read this verse in this way, “And He, when He comes, will convince the world concerning righteousness.”

The Holy Spirit is proving and convincing us regarding righteousness because Jesus has gone to the Father. Jesus’ departure ushered in an entire new way of being, much less a new way of thinking. Jesus’ words undoubtedly perplexed his followers who thought they knew about sin and righteousness. It really took until the Apostle Paul’s writings for it to become clear. He wrote, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him,” (2 Corinthians 5: 21). Those words never cease to amaze. God took Jesus’ righteousness and made an even trade with us for our sin. In so doing, Jesus became all sin and we became the righteousness of God. What a deal!

The Holy Spirit is now in the earth trying to convince you of your righteousness. He offers proofs of the righteousness of God so that we may believe. That is what Jesus was expressing in this statement. You see, the Holy Spirit was sent into the earth for our benefit. He didn’t come into the earth to condemn us. We had already very successfully done that for ourselves. He came to prove to you the goodness of God and the love with which the Father has already saved and blessed you. Through no effort on our part, through no miracle of human ingenuity or wisdom, we have become righteousness so that when God looks upon us, He sees His own righteousness in Christ upon us. That is crazy cool! What a miracle!