The Conviction of the Holy Spirit
I grew up hearing that infamous announcement at the end of a gruelingly long sermon; "The Spirit of God is in this place tonight." The lights were dimmed and the music was playing softly in the background as the sounds of people weeping and crying out to God filled the front of the building. As a kid, this usually meant that I had about 20 minutes remaining before we could leave and I could be reunited with the G.I. Joes my parents made me leave in the car.
Truthfully, I dreaded this moment at the end of all our Sunday evening services, because the spirit of the room was so depressing and sad. I found myself wishing I were a million miles away. Almost always the Pastor would tell us, "People are literally weeping and crying because the conviction of the Holy Spirit is on them tonight," as if we couldn't hear it for ourselves from anywhere in the building. It was as though we had set apart a special time in each service for everyone to be riddled with guilt and shame for their inadequacies and personal failures. It seemed that any time the Holy Spirit would show up, He would bring such conviction that everyone present was keenly aware of their every sin and shortcoming. This was always perplexing because I was told, "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ," and yet the moment the Holy Spirit entered the room, He heaped condemnation and guilt on everyone there. Either He was working against the work of Christ or we were understanding something drastically wrong.
As a child, I learned to hate it when the Holy Spirit decided to pay our Church a visit. I loathed the feeling in the room. He reminded me of my best friend's mother. She always followed him around and told him every time he did something wrong. I hated going over to Jesse's house. We felt his mother's eyes on us all the time. She was always trying to make us feel guilty. If we didn't feel guilty, she had a way of making us feel guilty for not feeling guilty. She was exhausting. The Holy Spirit for me was that part of God that we had to be friends with because He came with the God-package. If He wasn't attached to God however, I knew I wouldn't even be friends with Him.
I've always held to one basic principle when it comes to God. If you wouldn't be friends with a person like that; you won't be friends with a God like that.
If you had a friend who followed you around 24 hours a day and pointed out every single sin you committed, you would avoid being around that person like the plague. The Christian mindset today concerning the Holy Spirit is similar. We have convinced ourselves that His job is to "convict" us of all our sins. We think He sits inside us and monitors every move we make and every move we are about to make. If we are considering doing something sinful, we imagine the Holy Spirit inside, saying, "Don't do it, that's bad, no no no." Then we wonder why the average Christian feels a bit uneasy when the Pastor announces, "The Holy Spirit is in this building tonight."
The Holy Spirit is made to look like a worried, super-sensitive and manipulative mother. He is "grieved" at the drop of a hat. It takes almost nothing for Him to burst out crying, running to the bedroom to lock Himself in because of something we said or did. That gets old after a while. I generally try to avoid people like that because it's a daunting task to be around them. I must have grieved Him a thousand times a day. I got to the point where every prayer I prayed started with me apologizing to the Holy Spirit for the countless times I've hurt His feelings. I felt like an out-of-control abusive husband. After years of this, it was just easier not to pray, because I felt condemned and uncomfortable about the prospects of encountering the Holy Spirit all over again.
It wasn't until years later that I really began to study what the Scriptures say about the Holy Spirit. I began to take a serious look at everything I had been taught and I started comparing it to what is actually true. I also compared the modern-day Christian perspective on the Holy Spirit with my personal experience of knowing Him. At almost every point, I found that what we were told in Church about Him is not in the least bit true. This is what happens when our knowledge of God's Spirit is based on teachings and sayings rather than actual personal experience. I found that people would fight to the death for something they had memorized but when push came to shove; they had never personally experienced a single thing that they claim to believe. They only believe it because someone they respect told it to them. Their belief system is only as strong as the person who passed it on to them. This is the case with almost all of the teachings on the Holy Spirit.
Ironically, after reading this, people will comment by quoting Scripture concerning the Holy Spirit in an effort to prove me wrong, but rarely will you have anyone comment based on what they personally know. That's the problem with modern-day Christianity. It's not about knowing for yourself. It's about reading and memorizing.
I have found that the Holy Spirit does NOT convict us of our sins. He also doesn't whisper "no, no, no" just before we're about to sin.
That statement alone, if you get it and understand it, can change your entire Christian life forever! The problem is that EVERYTHING we have been taught concerning the Holy Spirit completely contradicts that statement. Sadly, most people will quit reading here and now because they'll assume they are being led astray by a heretic. What is even more upsetting is that most of us will actually fight for all we are worth to maintain a hideous picture of God's Spirit within our hearts rather than open ourselves to the possibility that He is something quite different and much more compelling than what we've been sold. We do this with the Heart of God, as well. I sit in amazement as I watch an entire generation of people go into an absolute rage over the grace and love message. They'll fight for all they are worth to prove that God is mean and scary and not loving and gentle. When I suggest to people that God would never, ever leave them, I am flabbergasted at their perverted responses. Rather than take that security and draw closer to His Heart, they'll purposefully conjure up terrible and wicked scenarios in their minds in an effort to find an exception in which God would ultimately leave them. I believe that this is precisely why Jesus called His generation a "Perverted" one.
The Holy Spirit does not convict Christians of their sins
He does convict the world of sin so they will know they need a Savior. Once we come to the Savior, however, He no longer convicts us of sin. He convicts us of righteousness.
When you are about to do something wrong, or just after you've done something wrong, and you hear that little voice from within you telling you how wrong what you just did was, that wasn't the Holy Spirit. THAT WAS YOU! It was your heart. Remember, God wrote His laws upon our hearts. Your heart knows right from wrong because of that. That voice inside you IS YOU! Think about it for a moment. Why would God write the law on our hearts and then also have the Holy Spirit stand beside us and convict us every time we did something wrong? The truth is, we don't need the Holy Spirit to convict us because we convict ourselves because we know the truth.
This is HUGELY IMPORTANT! Every time I ask people what their basic feelings are about the Holy Spirit, they almost always tell me that they are uneasy with Him. I've stood before audiences of several thousand people and I've asked them to close their eyes and raise their hands if they feel intimidation when the subject of the Holy Spirit is brought up, and believe it or not, almost every hand in the building goes up every single time I do this. We feel this way because we have been blaming the Holy Spirit for behavior that is completely contraty to His nature. If you understand that He's not the one breathing down your back, pointing out your every sin to you, you can actually open your heart to getting to know Him.
He is not interested in pointing out your sin to you. It's not even how He thinks. He only faces righteous things, so righteousness is all He points you towards. I was watching "Super Nanny" one day and there was this father who was following his child around saying, "No, no no Billy........don't do that, Billy........stop it, Billy......put that down, Billy" over and over. Finally Super Nanny sat him down and explained that when we do this to our children, they have a 30 to 40 percent higher chance of having an inferiority complex when they become adults. She went on to explain a better way to handle Billy when he was about to do something wrong. She taught this man to divert his son's attention by holding up a toy from across the room so Billy would choose to play with the toy rather than the electrical outlet.
This is exactly what the Holy Spirit does in our lives. He convicts us of righteousness! He inspires us to do good and righteous things. He shows us the better way in life and encourages us to take it. He absolutely does not follow you around nagging and nitpicking your every move. The Holy Spirit is not about getting you to stop sinning. He's about moving you towards righteousness. When you understand this about His personality, He suddenly becomes likable again. I believe that Christians today suffer from a severe spiritual inferiority complex. This is true because we believe God's Spirit has followed us around like Billy's father and pointed out every wrong thing we've done in our lives. This is so sad because nothing could be further from the truth.
We come from a generation of Christianity that has taught us that the Holy Spirit always looks at the dark side of everything in our lives. This is defamation of character! It's the opposite of truth. God's Spirit always looks at the bright side of your life. In the end, you will ultimately focus your attention on the exact place you believe God is focusing His attention. If you believe it's sin, then that's where you'll always be focused. If you believe it's righteousness, your focus will be on good things. My children can either learn what NOT to do, or they can be encouraged with what good they can do. I choose the latter and so does the Spirit of God.
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WOW! Dude,I'm studying The God"s Honest Truth with a group of 'experience" former charismatic elders, during each session I find myself saying WOW!Now I'm in to your blogs, this is good stuff. Give 'em Heaven Bro!!!
Cheers!
Fred if you want to follow my line of reasoning, you'll have to actually read the article. Your comment is proof that you either haven't read a single word of this article or you have a serious reading comprehension problem. Read it again. I seriously may even delete your comment in an effort to protect you because people who have read this might laugh at you. I would really honestly suggest you read through this before you make a comment like that.
So, if the Holy Spirit does not convict of sin, following your line of logic to it's conclusion, this is the work of the devil then? Sorry, Charlie.....you've thrown the baby out with the bath water!!! The minister tried to preach this demonic doctrine in church last week, and I stood up publicly and rebuked him for it. Rev. 3:19.
Chip how is it that you are reading this as though anyone here is "belittling" sin or acting like it doesn't matter? If you love Christ you don't need anyone standing over you convicting you of sin. You'll know it already. I love my wife and I don't need an accountability partner to constantly tell me not to cheat on her or beat her up. My love for her covers that. We have all been raised to believe that the Holy Spirit follows us around and points out our sins all the time. Where is the scriptural evidence of this? This is TRADITION, not truth.
John 14:26 26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. "everything", including the fact that every sin that we commit necessarily has put Jesus on the cross and is never to be belittled.1 John 3:7-10, etc. We are forgiven of those sins that we will commit, but we absolutely don't want to commit them if we love Christ. "if you love me, you will obey my commands." Yes, God points us to the righteousness we have in him, towards the freedom we have in Christ, to the reality that we are forgiven eternally, but this doesn't mean the opposite of conviction. It seems like we are putting a very narrow definition on conviction. I LOVE being convicted by the Spirit :0)
We are convicted of sin. Just not by the Holy Spirit. We convict ourselves of sin. Our own hearts convict us because the law of right and wrong is written on our hearts. Sin is NOT the polar opposite of righteousness just as the Devil is not the opposite of God. For sin to be the opposite of righteousness, it would have to be as terrible and bad as righteousness is right and good. It doesn’t even compare. I never said in this article that we are not convicted of sin. I just made the point that it’s not the Holy Spirits job to convict us of our sin. It happens naturally on it’s own.
(Joh 16:7-11) How do you even know what righteousness is if you don't know what sin is, though? If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins. He is our righteousness. To say that a person can be convicted of righteousness and not sin is like saying that someone can be convicted of knowledge and not know what the polar opposite of it is. It's absurd.
David did not have the law written on his heart like you and I do today. Once again, you seem to be unable to understand that no one is fighting whether or not confessing sins is a bad thing. No one is saying that sinning is ok. You are fighting to prove something that no one is disputing. Confessing sins is a great thing, but it has nothing to do with this article.
Read Psalm 51. David's confession of his sins go on and on. Why? Because he wanted to be clean. David, you see, went right down to the root of the matter. He confessed that he had a sin nature. David was saved like anybody else....through the blood of Jesus Christ. Confession is the application of the death of Christ to the life. If we have two natures....which one would convict us of our sins?
Who amoung us said we could go on sinning Ike? Where are you getting this? Like I said; you are fighting the wrong battle.
Ike, Folks like Eric and Bino are saying that the Holy Spirit doesn't convict believers of sin, not that believers are to continue on in sin. There is a huge gap between what you seem to be attributing to them and what they are actually saying. Maybe you are unable to disconnect the two? Do you believe that you will go on sinning unless the Spirit convicts you of sin? Just trying to understand by beating a dead horse a little more. Chris
What Bino is saying is 100% correct! But lets get real..if I'm going to serve the Lord I must give up something. Lets face it...I loved my sin! Why would I give that up? BECAUSE HE IS "WORTH IT"!! This is where the word "worship" comes from. It isn't.. do you believe....the devil does that! The question should be is He precious to you? Almost everybody in America believes in Jesus. Is almost everybody in America saved? Grace...YES....but do not make it into an academic exercise. Also, our sins are covered with the blood of Christ but we still have to wash our hands?? David did a lot of confessing after his many sins.......and he "paid" dearly for those sins!...and he was a man after God's own heart.....he did not continue in a sinful lifestyle!
Take a look at the verse Ike pointed out: "But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth." - 2 Th. 2:13 Let's not miss the part where it says: "and through belief in the truth." Is it by abstaining from sin and fall into self-condemnation and self-pity are we saved? Or it is by "through belief in the truth"? What is the truth? Jesus TOOK AWAY our past, present and future sins upon the cross and as we believed in the truth He imputed His righteousness to us. HIS righteousness! Today, if we have His righteousness, why would His spirit point us to our 'sins'? Holy Spirit is not oxymoronic.
You lost me. Sounds like you are saying that I'm saying it's ok to sin. That's not what is being said here. You need to read this article more closely. You're fighting a the wrong fight.
Ok Eric, you are correct. I accept Jesus and I'm OK and your OK. I go through that "narrow gate" (Jesus) and forget that He also says the way is "narrow"???
Nice try, but that verse has nothing to do at all with the Holy Spirit pointing out sins in your life. Maybe you should look up sanctification. It means to be set apart.
2 Th. 2:13.....If there is no working of sanctification in your life by the Holy Spirit it is because you are not a genuine believer.
Yes Keith, I would like a scripture for that as well. Can you please give us one?
Scripture please Keith.
Keith......you demonstrate genuine conversion!
Just to make a point - The Holy Spirit is never "sent" to any follower of Jesus since we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit and He already lives inside each of us. How could He remain silent when I sin? Answer: He doesn't since one of the main functions of the Holy Spirit is to convict us of our sins and draw us back to Christ continually.
I think the reason why Christians today are sensitive to sin or "sin focused" is because they've been taught to think that way. Today's christians are a product of the oppisite of this teaching about the Holy Spirit. Everyone thinks that God's Spirit is always focused on sin, so everyone follows suit.
How sad if that is what you've found genuine believers are more sensitive to. If the Lamb of God did not take away the sins of the world, what's the point in even believing? For anyone to have their eyes focused on sin, they would have to purposefully take their eyes off of the one who paid for it. Do we have the record of Christ because we follow the law or because we believe? "For if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing" Gal 2:21. I am not familiar with the term, "Darin--ism" but it sounds like you are accusing anyone who happens to agree with Darin Hufford of being brain washed or unable to think for themselves. I might have misinterpreted your comment as being a harsh name calling comment, so if I took it wrong could you explain what you mean?
Sounds more like Darin-ism? I have found that genuine believers are more sensitive to sin.
Gal 5:16 "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law." THIS VERSE SAYS IT ALL. The Holy Spirit desires righteous things. Being led by the Spirit is not being told not to sin, but it's being let towards righteousness. Then it goes on to say if we are lead by the Spirit we are NOT UNDER LAW, which means He isn't reciting the law to us. He is pointing us to righteousness. This is good stuff.
Keith, did you read this article? Where did anyone say that we never sinned? Where did anyone in this comment section even imply that they didn't sin anymore? The article clearly says that the conviction you feel when you sin comes from your own heart in which the law is written. Not from the Holy Spirit. Are you telling me that you would not know when you were sinning if the Holy Spirit didn't tell you? Why would God write His laws on our hearts if He were going to send the Holy Spirit to constantly notify us when we sinned? We wouldn't need it written on our hearts. It could still be on tablets of stone like in the Old Testament.
I must be unique as a Christian since I do regularly sin and I do feel the Holy Spirit convicting me. I wish I was like you guys and never sinned and never needed the Holy Spirit to convict me. kg
Darin and Kim, thanks for these comments. Very helpful. To add to what you're both saying, Jesus continues with the less personal "they" when he says, "concerning sin, because THEY do not believe in me." The "they" is the world, and if that's not obvious enough he adds, "because they do not believe in me," which we, as believers, obviously do. Then, He follows that by saying, "concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and YOU no longer see me." The world (they) is convicted of sin and believers (you) are convicted of righteousness. Great stuff guys! Another lost teaching in many churches.
Well that didn't work so maybe just cut and paste this to your browser... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsITbx2J4yQ
Confirmation! Click Here for lie # 63
Hey Keith, Just thought I would highlite the scripture you are quoting, "Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you" Jesus is very clear in stating that He would send the counselor to you ( the people He will reside in) notice the key word is "counselor" then He goes on to say; "When He comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment." notice he changes from being personal and using the word "you" (in regaurd to His people),to saying that He will convict the "world". There is no need to be convicted once the Holy spirit resides in you only encouraged, counseled and comforted. Now the world on the other hand does not have the Holy Spirit within them, so yes, they are convicted of sin.
Very good Keith. This Scripture backs up what I said in this post.---- "The Holy Spirit does not convict Christians of their sins. He does convict the world of sin so they will know they need a Savior. Once we come to the Savior, however, He no longer convicts us of sin. He convicts us of righteousness."
"But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I [Jesus] am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment." - JESUS, from John 16:7-8 (NIV)
I thought the Holy Spirit was Wonderful Counselor, Helper, the Dove etc. - Such horible abuse in the revivalists, Pentacostilism, Pietism etc. The abuse is huge. Keep it real! Our views of God are so important to keeping it real too. Of course God being Father Jesus and Holy Spirit.
I just saw a video on youtube the other night ... i had never seen this before, what ya'll talk about here. I couldn't believe what i was seeing. There was this lady supposedly 'in the spirit' she said 'The Holy spirit is here right now !' screaming at the congregation with a caption that said (prophesying) 'I love you! I care for you!' ... screaming like a crazy person! and all these people were moaning and screaming like banshees and rolling around on the floor like they were on fire and she kept going 'Do not be afraid!!! Do not be afraid !!!!' my first thought ... 'uh... i'm pretty afraid right now' That's not MY God ! Mine is gentle and loving.
One of the worst times I got in trouble in church was for reading my Harlequin romances tucked inside the pages of my Bible. For all appearances it looked as if I was studying intently the word of God. Your G.I. Joe comment reminded me of that experience. There is no way our preacher could ever compete with romance when I was a teen. Finally....someone said it. Thanks Darin. I stopped using the words Holy Spirit. I now use the word Navigator...I get a lot of flack for that.
Man, I wish I had a pic of myself to speak highly of also...thanks Darin. Whoa, I check out the sight daily (I'm in car sales and at $4 per gallon, business has been slow enough for me to read read read) After so many years in captivity, it is freaky to step outside the cage...I keep running back inside, it's familiar...I wish the door would shut so I would be stuck outside, totally dependent on Him, if you know what I mean. I think I keep trying to destroy the old system so I won't have it to run to. Thanks
Dude, you're totally hot! Seriously though, great article. Very thought provoking - as always.
I had always thought & believed the little voice of conviction within was the Holy Spirit. But, thanks to YOU, Darin, & the Holy Spirit in me, Upon salvation, we instantly receive a New Good Heart. We no longer need to be convicted of our sin. Instead, as believers, the HS points to righteousness. When we sin, it's US, b/c we have a New Heart, who tells OURSELVES, that our action was not consistant to the righteousness that we now are. Darin, I needed this! Up until today, I didn't fully "get" this in my heart. But I do now! This makes perfect sense to what Father has been showing me these past 5 years. Thank you! P.S. Ha ha! I love your comment, Darin! Right-on and Amen! Blessings, ~Amy http://amyiswalkinginthespirit.blogspot.com
Bwa ha ha....love the first comment! Yep. I scrolled to the bottom of this post first (to see how long it was). Saw the comment, laughed out loud and decided to post a comment about the comment instead of a comment about the post. Ain't freedom grand!
Way to go Darin. You are such a great man. You're also really good looking. Keep up the good work you brilliant person you...