ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 Pulelulu Sepitema 15, 2021

he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment

te ne lea o‘o ki māmani ‘i he angahala, mo e mā‘oni‘oni, mo e fakamaau

Sione 16 (John 16)

(v. 8-11) And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

(v. 8-11) Pea ‘i he ha‘u ‘a e Toko Taha ko ia te ne lea o‘o ki māmani ‘i he angahala, mo e mā‘oni‘oni, mo e fakamaau: ‘i he angahala, koe‘uhiā ko e ‘ikai te nau tui pīkitai kiate au; ‘i he mā‘oni‘oni, koe‘uhi ko ‘eku ‘alu ki he Tamai, pea ‘ikai te mou kei sio kiate au. Pea ‘i he fakamaau, koe‘uhi kuo fakamāu‘i ‘a e ‘eiki ‘o e maama ko eni.

 

* G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible*

Throughout these discourses our Lord was preparing His disciples for all that He saw coming to them. He told them that they would have sorrow resulting from their suffering. Because of this, it was necessary that they have the Comforter, and He could come only after the bodily departure of the Lord Himself.

The world was still in the heart of Jesus, and He told His disciples in very clear terms what the office of the Spirit would be in the world. To gather up the teaching, we see that the testimony of the Spirit is to be wholly concerned with Christ, and is to convince the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. As to His own, the Comforter will guide them into the truth, and into the perfect knowledge of Christ Himself. Here we see they displayed their ignorance, not understanding what He meant by "a little while." This, with great patience, He interpreted to them.

In the closing section of His discourse our Lord told them that He had been speaking in proverbs, but undoubtedly again referring to the coming Comforter, He declared that He was henceforth speaking to them plainly of the Father. All ended with the august words, "I came out from the Father, and am come into the world; again, I leave the world, and go unto the Father." In those sentences we have a declaration of the whole redemptive progress of the Son of God. From the Father into the world; from the world unto the Father.

David Guzik :: Study Guide for John 16

He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Sin is the truth about man, righteousness is the truth about God, judgment is the inevitable combination of these two truths.

“Each man’s conscience has some glimmering of light on each of these; some consciousness of guilt, some sense of right, some power of judgment of what is transitory and worthless; but all these are unreal and unpractical, till the convicting work of the Spirit has wrought in him.” (Alford)

He will convict: The ancient Greek work translated convict has a broader range of meaning than simply our word convict, especially as it is understood in a legal sense. It also carries the ideas to expose, to refute, and to convince (Bruce). This is the work of the Holy Spirit in the world and in individual hearts; to convince and convict of these truths.

He will convict: “Or undeceive the world, by refuting those odd conceits and erroneous opinions, that men had before drunk in, and were possessed of.” (Trapp)

It is a serious thing to resist and reject this work of the Holy Spirit, which is especially prominent and powerful in seasons of great spiritual advance (sometimes called revival or spiritual awakening).

Before the convicting work of the Holy Spirit one may say, I make a lot of mistakes. Nobody’s perfect. After the convicting work of the Holy Spirit one may say, I’m a lost rebel, fighting against God and His law – I must rely on Jesus to get right with God.

“The Spirit does not merely accuse men of sin, he brings to them an inescapable sense of guilt so that they realize their shame and helplessness before God.” (Tenney)

“The Spirit is the ‘advocate’ or helper of those who believe in Jesus, their counsel for the defence. But in relation to unbelievers, to the godless world, he acts as counsel for the prosecution.” (Bruce) It’s important to have the Spirit of God to defend rather than to convict.

In the great awakening of 1860-61 in Great Britain, a high-ranking army officer described the conviction of sin in his Scottish town: “Those of you who are ease have little conception of how terrifying a sight it is when the Holy Spirit is pleased to open a man’s eyes to see the real state of heart. Men who were thought to be, and who thought themselves to be good, religious people... have been led to search into the foundation upon which they were resting, and have found all rotten, that they were self-satisfied, resting on their own goodness, and not upon Christ. Many turned from open sin to lives of holiness, some weeping for joy for sins forgiven.” (J. Edwin Orr, The Second Evangelical Awakening in Britain)