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THE OF JOHN Small Group Discussion Guide Text: John 16:8-11

Theme/ Big Idea: The witness of the to those who do not believe.

Context/ Background Information: In :26, promised to request and send the Holy Spirit to the disciples. When the Spirit arrived, Jesus said the Holy Spirit would witness to them. In John 16:4-7 and 12-15, Jesus explained the characteristics of the Holy Spirit's witness to believers in greater detail.

In addition to witnessing to the disciples, Jesus also said the Spirit would come as a witness through the disciples to the unbelieving world (John 15:27). Jesus explains in greater detail what the Spirit's witness to the world would entail in John 16:8-11. Jesus said the Spirit would come to convict, and then Jesus outlined three specific areas the Spirit would bring conviction. He would convict concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment.

CONVICTION In John 16:8, Jesus makes a general statement about the role of the Holy Spirit in witnessing to an unbelieving world. Jesus said, "And when [the Spirit] comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment." The Greek word for "convict" in this context is "elencho." It is a legal term always used in personal contexts. It is used in Matt 18:15 when Jesus said, "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone." "Tell him his fault" is the same Greek word "elencho." It means to unmask a wrong, to point out a fault, to poke holes in a story, to expose, to present to view, to disclose something previously unknown, or to prove to be guilty. Generally, it means "to show someone his sin and to summon him to repentance." (1)

Notice that the purpose of "unmasking" or "pointing out fault" has a purpose. The aim is not simply to shame or prove wrong; it is to point out a wrong and lead a person to repent and change. Jesus used the same word, "elencho" in :20, where it is translated as "expose." This is the sense in which it is used in John 16:8. Jesus is saying the role and witness of the Holy Spirit in the life of the unbeliever is to expose what is false. By implication and by context, this means the Holy Spirit also points to what is true and better.

What is the Spirit going to elencho? What does he expose and unmask? What stories does he poke holes in? In John 16:9-11, Jesus expounds on verse 8, giving three specific things the Spirit exposes and unmasks: "sin, righteousness, and judgment." In other words, the Spirit witnesses to an unbelieving world by confronting, dismantling, exposing, and poking holes in the world's false understanding of sin, righteousness, and judgment. First, he confronts our false understanding of sin, showing the depth and pervasiveness of our desire to overthrow God and substitute ourselves on his throne. Then, he unmasks the false and insufficient righteousness we trust in, pointing us to the righteous One that comes from God. And finally, he dismantles our false system of judgment by overthrowing the source of that false system. At each point, he shines the spotlight of faith on an all-sufficient Savior who willingly substituted himself in our place, offering his righteousness in exchange for our sin and punishment.

SIN Jesus first says the Spirit convicts the world of "sin, because they do not believe in me" (John 16:9). Though not a message we want to hear, it is the we need and where the Spirit always begins. Generally, most people think of themselves as relatively good (or at least not as bad as other people). If the unbelieving world even acknowledges sin, it generally sees it as a minor offense or non-issue using words like "struggle" or "mistake." But the Spirit comes to poke holes in that story and to unmask the depth and pervasiveness of our sin. The word Jesus uses for sin in verse 9 is "hamartia." It does not simply mean "missing the mark" but to "willfully miss the mark." Hamartia is willful and blatant rebellion against a holy God and his commands. John describes it as "lawlessness," which means to live without reference or regard for God (1 John 3:4). Hamartia captures well the attitude and action of Adam and Eve in the Garden in Genesis 3. They were given clear instructions with clear consequences and invited to trust God (Genesis 2:17). Rather than trusting God and his commands, they rebelled against God and substituted themselves in the place of God.

This heart attitude was handed down to us from our first parents, who willfully and blatantly disobeyed God (Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 5:12). The consequences were catastrophic and tragic. What was once life, friendship, and peace with God became death, alienation, and chaos (Gen 3:23-24; Rom 5:18-19; Eph 2:1-12; Gen 3:12-19; Rom 8:20-23). As a result of sin, Adam's descendants are born spiritually dead, objects of God's wrath, and without hope (Eph 2:1, 3, and 12). Now, every action, whether good or bad, overflows from a dead, rebellious, and sinful heart.

If we lose sight of the depth of our sinfulness and our condition before God, then we will be tempted to think we can contribute something to our salvation. If we understand sin simply as sickness, then all we need is some medicine, and we will be on our way. If we understand sin simply as the need for moral reform (or mistakes), then all we need is behavior modification. If sin is simply being uninformed, then all we need is instruction and a good example.

The Holy Spirit says something different. He pokes holes in our false notions of sin, taking us to rock bottom in order to point us to our only hope and rescue. In other words, we never fully appreciate, nor hope in, nor cling to the remedy of Jesus if we misdiagnosis the problem and pervasiveness of sin. Therefore, it is against the dark backdrop of the diagnosis of sin that the bright light of the good news of the gospel shines brightest. The Spirit graciously points to our root issue and like a floodlight redirects our attention to our chief solution. (2)

RIGHTEOUSNESS The Spirit comes to convict the unbelieving world of sin. But he does not leave us there. No, he points us to hope and to the remedy and location of our righteousness. In verse 10, Jesus says the Spirit will convict the world "concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer." Righteousness means "standard" or "right standing before God." What Jesus is saying is that the Spirit comes to unmask the false substitutes for righteousness that we trust in proving them to be incomplete and insufficient.

Because the world minimizes sin, it necessarily minimizes the remedy. Because the world misdiagnosis the problem, it also misprescribes the cure. The world appeals to a standard of righteousness within itself, believing righteousness is something we develop and bring to God. The , however, points us to a standard beyond us and something God gives. Paul says, the "righteousness of God" that we desperately need comes "from God" and is "revealed" and "made known" in the gospel (Rom 1:17; 3:21; Phil 3:6-9). That righteousness is not something we muster up and give to God but something God gives to us (Rom 10:3). Namely, it is his Son, Jesus Christ, who reveals the righteousness of God and through whom we receive the righteousness of God. Paul says God "made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor 5:20).

By spotlighting Jesus, the Spirit urges, implores, and nudges us to despair of our own self-righteousness and look to the righteous One come from God. Jesus came to reveal and make known God's standard of righteousness, to cause all men to despair of their own righteousness, and to offer the hope of right standing with God. Because he is returning to the Father, Jesus says the Spirit will come and continue that ministry in the world. The Spirit does this in leading us to salvation and does this in daily sanctification.

JUDGMENT Finally, Jesus says the Spirit will convict the world "concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged" (John 16:11). The words "judgment" and "judged" are the same root words and mean "final analysis or decision." As we have seen, the world's understanding of sin and righteousness is wrong. The world minimizes sin as well as the solution. The reason the world does either of these things is because its system of judgment is fatally flawed. It is a flawed system of thinking because it is based on a flawed and corrupt source. According to Jesus, that source is the father of lies, Satan (:44-47).

Remember the context. The flawed judgment of the world will be on full display just a few short hours after Jesus gives this instruction to his disciples. The Jewish leaders will put Jesus on trial, render a judgment, and then crucify him believing they are exposing Jesus as unrighteous and therefore doing a service to God. Yet, in reality, they will prove how upside down and backward the world's system of judgment is. They will crucify the perfectly innocent Son of God who came offering life, light, peace, and truth. Ironically and providentially, it is through Jesus' death and resurrection that Jesus rights all that is wrong, reverses what all that is backward, and decisively overthrows the ruler of this world.

Jesus tells us in verse 11 that the Spirit comes to expose and reveal the world's false system of judgment. The Spirit causes the world to question, "Are you sure your judgment is right? Where did you get your information?" Then he points to Jesus as the only source of "right" and "true" judgment, whose character was perfectly spotless (:30; 8:16). And by doing so, the Spirit points to the cross and Jesus' decisive victory over the ruler of this world.

Interestingly, during the time of the Old and New Testaments, to "rule" and to "judge" were intimately linked. Whoever was king also issued judgments, and those judgments were final. Notice carefully what Jesus says, however. He says, "The ruler of this world is judged." Jesus is doing the judging of "the god of this world" (2 Cor 4:4). He is literally overruling and overthrowing "the ruler of this world."

Where and how does that happen? It happens on the cross. Whether it is Genesis 3:15, :31, or John 16:11, the "ruler of this world," Satan, already stands condemned. The victory was won, and his overthrow assured when Jesus died and was raised again. At that point, Paul says, God "disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in [Christ]" (Col 2:15). Jesus conquered sin, death, and Satan. The ruler of this world is disarmed, judged, overthrown, and the final consummate victory will occur when Satan is thrown into the lake of fire in Revelation 20:10.

This is extraordinarily good news for the believer. Jesus announced he was leaving, and the disciples would enter a hostile world that would oppose, hate, persecute, reject, and even kill them. Though that is an impossible task for disciples, it is not for the Holy Spirit. The Spirit goes before the disciple undermining false systems of belief, unmasking false notions of sin and righteousness, and defeating the strongholds of the ruler of this world. He does this to plow the ground and till the soil for disciples to come behind, testifying to the glory and grace of Jesus.

While it is great news for believers, it ought to give the unbelieving world pause. The Spirit will convict the world of its false system of judgment, but the point is to lead the world to see the error of its way and repent; otherwise, it too will face an impending final judgment. The writer of Hebrews says, "it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment" (Heb 9:27). Jesus said that if anyone rejects him, they stand condemned already (John 3:18). John writes that "if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he [too will be] thrown into the lake of fire" (Rev 20:15).

The Spirit uses the brevity of our lives and final judgment to force us to wrestle with the location of our security and hope. He asks, "When you die and face judgment, what will be your hope? Will it be the house- of-cards righteousness you built and brought to God, or will it be the rock of righteousness God offered to you in Jesus? Will it be your good moral life, or will it be Jesus and his perfect righteousness? Whose judgment will you trust? Your own, or God's?" After leading us to despair of our own righteousness and our own judgment, the Spirit graciously directs our attention to the cross where our judgment fell on Jesus. Directing us to the cross, the Spirit proclaims the twin that, "whoever believes in [Jesus] is not condemned" and "there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (John 3:18; Rom 8:1).

The Holy Spirit prosecutes and dismantles our false ideas of sin, righteousness, and judgment and shows us to be dead in sin, devoid of righteousness, and condemned before God. But his role is not simply to dismantle and crush. No, he simultaneously points to Jesus, who knew no sin yet was "made to be sin" that, "in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor 5:21). In doing so, the Spirit is pointing sinful man to his only means of escaping the wrath of God, and he is proclaiming from the rooftops, "there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom 8:1). Wonderfully and remarkably, the convicting ministry of the Spirit goes before the disciple and is proclaimed through the disciple as he or she proclaims the good news of the gospel to the world.

Quotes To Consider: • "Men will never hunger and thirst for righteousness, but, on the contrary, will disdainfully reject all that is said concerning it, if they have not been moved by a conviction of sin. As to believers particularly, we ought to understand that they cannot make progress in the Gospel till they have first been humbled; and this cannot take place, till they have acknowledged their sins." —John Calvin • “Therefore, my dear brother, learn Christ and Him crucified; learn to pray to Him despairing of yourself, saying, ‘Thou, Lord Jesus, are my righteousness and your sin; you have taken on yourself what you were not, and have given to me what I am not.’” — Martin Luther • "Bad self-esteem says you're so sinful you cannot run to God. The Holy Spirit does the opposite. He says you're so sinful you must run to God." —Tim Keller • “One day, as I was passing through a field, suddenly I thought of a sentence, ‘your righteousness is in heaven,’ and with the eyes of faith, I saw Christ sitting at God’s right hand. And I suddenly realized — THERE is my righteousness. Now my chains fell off indeed! I felt delivered from slavery to guilt and fears. I went home rejoicing for the love and grace of God.” —John Bunyan

Discussion Questions: 1. Have you experienced the Holy Spirit's initial convicting work to lead you to despair of your own righteousness and judgment and hope in Jesus' righteousness and judgment on your behalf? 2. Why is it important to have a clear understanding of our spiritual diagnosis before moving to the cure? Based on Mark 1:15, how does Jesus follow a similar pattern to the convicting work of the Spirit in John 16:8-11? What about Paul in Eph 2:1-10? 3. Why is it that when the Holy Spirit confronts us, showing us to be wrong, we resist him rather than receive that news with joy? What does that say about the condition of our hearts? 4. Righteousness and justification are often interchangeable. They refer to a record of merit or right standing before God. 1. What does Jesus mean in verse 10 when he says the Spirit will convict the world concerning righteousness? 2. According to Romans 10:3, what are the Jews ignorant of and what are they attempting to do as a result? 3. What are examples of false righteousness we present to God as reasons he should accept us? 4. Where does righteousness come from and who is the one that reveals it according to Romans 1:17 and 3:21? 5. Why is it that the world's standards, expectations, and rules are different and opposed to God? 6. Often we shy away from evangelism because of fear (i.e., fear we won't know what to say, fear we will be rejected, fear that the message won't be received). Why is John 16:8-11 good news for believers as we enter a hostile world to share the good news of the gospel?

Footnotes: 1. Friedrich Büchsel, “Ἐλέγχω, Ἔλεγξις, Ἔλεγχος, Ἐλεγμός,” ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964–), 474. 2. J. I. Packer, Keep in Step With The Spirit: Finding Fullness in Our Walk with God, Rev. and enl. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005). 46.