Friday, April 15, 2011

Does the Holy Spirit Convict Believers of Sin?

A great question from a friend,
Pastor Alex,
A great sermon Wednesday.  I have a question about something that was said, that I would appreciate clarification please.  The statement of "the Holy Spirit does not convict" is troubling me.  John 16:8  states (ASV)   "And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:".  Did I misunderstand your statement or am I missing something here?
My spirit was jumping about, so could you help me here to receive better understanding.  I greatly appreciate your time.
Hey there,
thanks for the email. What I said was, "Holy Spirit convicts men (the world) of the need of a saviour "(John 16:8).  He does this directly to their soul because their spirits are not born again at that time and they cannot understand spiritual things (1Cor 2:14NLT). Then after we are born again (2Cor 5:17 NLT) our born again spirits are "face to face with God" (1 Peter 3:4 Greek). We then can hear from God for ourselves spirit to spirit. (1 Cor 2:11-12NLT). This allows our new born again spirits to monitor (1Cor 2:11 NLT) our soul (mind, will and emotion) and use the word of God to bring our minds more and more in line with God's truth for our lives.
Thanks for a great question and as always,
Be Life Giving
Pastor Alex


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