December 8, 2023

Breaking the Grip of Sin

By Skip Heitzig

The Holy Spirit, the third member of the triune Godhead, is known as the helper. He exclusively helps believers as he works in and through us. He is a helper to us in the same way Jesus was a helper to His disciples. That's not saying that He has nothing to do with unbelievers. In fact, He certainly does. Did you know the Holy Spirit was with you before you got saved? He was there to make you feel really bad so you would do something really good: come to Christ.

The Holy Spirit has been called the hound of heaven. That's the title of a poem written in the 1800s by Francis Thompson. It is his testimony of how he ran from God and how the Holy Spirit pursued him and brought him to salvation. He described the Spirit's pursuit as an "unhurrying chase, and unperturbed pace."

In John 15:26, Jesus said the Holy Spirit "will testify of Me." That is, the Holy Spirit opens the heart of the unbeliever to salvation, to Christ Himself. It was the Holy Spirit who awakened your need to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. The feeling you got inside of you before you said yes to Jesus, that was the Holy Spirit, the hound of heaven.

John 16:8 says, "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." The Holy Spirit convicts a person of their sin, which must happen before they realize they need a Savior. As long as you think, "I'm good enough," you won't look for help. Most unbelievers are not convinced of this. They won't even tolerate the word sin. They blame their upbringing, environment, or something else—but we shouldn't give up on them. Just keep praying the Holy Spirit will pursue them.

By the way, convicting people of sin is the Spirit's job, not ours. Whenever Christians try to convict someone, it comes out as condemnation. When you leave it to the Holy Spirit, He drives a person to see their deep need for the Savior.

Now, I want to highlight three things in John 16:8. First, notice that sin is singular, not plural. That sin is unbelief. Jesus said, "Because they do not believe in Me" (v. 9). Most worldly people don't see unbelief as a bad thing, but Jesus said it's sin. In fact, it's the worst sin of all, because unbelief prevents people from being forgiven for every other sin.

Second, the Holy Spirit convicts people of righteousness, that their own righteousness is not good enough. The world's standard is typically this: "I'm not perfect, but I'm better than a lot of other people." In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "Be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). When Jesus died, atoning for our sins, and ascended into heaven, God was saying, "This is the righteousness I accept."

So the Holy Spirit convinces us we need to stand in Jesus' imputed righteousness, which just means Christ confers it upon us when we believe in Him.

Third, the Holy Spirit convicts the world of judgment. He shows unbelievers who say, "I don't need Christ" that there is a coming judgment, and they are standing right in its path if they reject Jesus' righteousness.

It's the Holy Spirit who pursues us and testifies that Jesus Christ is what we need. He is determined and unrelenting. If you believe He's been pursuing you, I encourage you to surrender today and watch Him work in your life. And if you have loved ones who don't yet know Christ, keep praying the Holy Spirit will chase them. He is with the unbeliever. He's the hound of heaven.

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