The Ultimate Wilderness Guide

In this passage Jesus talks about three supremely important things that the Spirit does for us. “When he comes, will make the world conscious of sin, and of righteousness, and of being judged.” [v. 8]

Sin, righteousness, and judgment. Why is being convicted - that is convinced - of these things this good for us?

Many commentators emphasis that Jesus says the Spirit will convict the world of sin and judgment, not the disciples, not those who follow him. But that’s only if you think of being “convicted” as having a sentence passed on you, of being found guilty. And of course that’s part of it. But even more important, conviction means understanding and acceptance. If we don’t accept that evil and sin exist, in us as well as in our neighbors, if we don't understand it and recognize it when we see it, we’ll spend our lives blundering off down blind alleys, winding up at dead ends, and never make it to our goal, which is union with God. This is why the Spirit is called the Comforter, as well as the Counselor, even when he talks about sin. Preacher and scholar Matthew Henry said: “One could think this were cold comfort, but it is the method the Spirit takes, first to convince, and then to comfort; first to lay open the wound, and then to apply healing medicines.”

Another way to understand this is that the Spirit shows us where we are, and then he takes us where we need to go.

The primary sin the Holy Spirit convicts us of is, to the surprise of many, not one of the ten commandments. It's more important than of all the laws about our behavior: murder, adultery, lying, etc. According to Jesus, who should know, the worst sin of all is failure to believe in him. But, I hear some people say, "How can lack of belief be a sin? I know a lot of really good people who don’t believe that Jesus is God." These are, of course, the same people who discount the first three commandments because they have to do with how we relate to God the Father rather than with one another. Here Jesus underlines that he deserves the same attention and respect that is owed to our creator.

The reason that lack of belief is a sin is that if you don't understand that reunion with God (which is attainable only through Christ) is the purpose of life, you will wind up lost. Literally. It's just like wilderness hiking: no matter how energetic and competent you are, if you don't know the terrain and the destination, you’re going to get lost in the foothills or passes and never make it home. It’s not about being a bad person. It’s about knowing what you were made for.

Now, unbelief is also a sin because in many cases failure to believe is rebellion - that is, an unwillingness to admit that we need a guide, a helper, a savior. It’s a sin to want to be our own God, our own guide to good and evil and the meaning of life.

Well, enough about sin. What about righteousness?

It doesn’t make any sense for us to understand sin if we aren’t at the same time pointed in the direction of “not sin” - that is, righteousness. You can only understand darkness when the light gets turned on. Or, to put it another way, it’s good to understand about sin because it keeps you from walking off spiritual and moral cliffs. It keeps you from looking for fruitless solutions to the probems of life, or from expecting human endeavor to create a paradise.