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Bible Notes - Tabernacle Commentaries
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John 16:10
Comments
When the Spirit is come, he will reprove, convict, convince of righteousness. What does this mean? Of righteousness – of what righteousness? Well, of Christ’s righteousness. They are going to arrest Christ, subject him to a false trial, then he is going to be convicted as a criminal and crucified, handed over to the Roman authority for crucifixion, and he is going to hang on the cross as a criminal. But when the Holy Spirit comes, however, he will convince and convict and reprove on account of Christ’s righteousness. All along he was perfect and righteous and whole. And that is the work of the Holy Spirit today: to convict us of sin and at the same time to make us aware that we need the righteousness of Christ. He is perfect, unblemished, wonderful, and we need his mediatorial righteousness. You need Christ to suffer and die for you on Calvary, to bear the punishment of your sin in your place so that you can be forgiven all your sins. He has suffered instead of you, and then you will not go to hell, then you will not be punished. But it does not quite get you into heaven. It delivers you from hell, but how are you going to get into heaven? You not only need the negatives to be got rid of – your sin record – but you need something positive to earn and to deserve heaven. You need the righteousness of Christ. That is what the Holy Spirit convinces you of. He convicts you of your sin, he makes you aware that you need the perfection and the righteousness of Christ. You have got to go under his wing as his child, clad in the righteousness which he will give to you.
Application
We speak of Christ and what he has done and we try to reveal his heart, and as we do so the Holy Spirit moves within, and people see and grasp and believe in the perfections of Christ. They would be quite entitled to say to the preacher, as he describes the acts of Christ and gives his views about what Christ was like – ‘Well, that is your opinion.’ But if the Holy Spirit works in that heart, they will not say, ‘That is your opinion’, they will say, ‘This is true, and I never saw it before, and I never grasped it.’ So we preached the things that the Holy Spirit will make real to people. ‘Ye are my witnesses,’ says Christ.
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