The Spirit of Truth

In the scripture before us today, we see Jesus returning to some of the themes He had already introduced to His disciples - the disciples will face persecution, He will be returning to the Father, the need for the Holy Spirit’s guidance, the trauma of His impending death, and the reassurance of His imminent return.

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that this is the fourth time that Jesus is promising the Holy Spirit to His disciples. In today’s passage, Jesus shares further about the roles of the Holy Spirit. One of those roles is that the Holy Spirit will “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness” (v 8). Have you ever wondered how the Holy Spirit will do that? It is hard to imagine this happening when we look at the world around us. The world is getting more violent, crime rates are going up, divorce rates are going up, poverty is increasing in many nations, etc. Where is the “convicting work” of the Holy Spirit?

The answer to this is not complicated. The Holy Spirit first enters into the life of a believer. He will do His work of convicting in our lives first. He will show us where we fall short of God’s glory and convict us of our sins. How can a believer be the salt and light of the world if we cannot differentiate between right and wrong? We must first be transformed by the Holy Spirit so that we embrace and embody kingdom values. Without the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we will be unable to have an honest and true assessment of the world, its values, and its way of life. Our views will be tainted. The Holy Spirit must convict and transform us from our sinfulness first. Then, we will be able to find our true north. Therefore, we must cooperate with His refining work in our lives!

As our values become more aligned with the Kingdom’s, we will become more effective as the “light of the world”. We are called to be the voice in the world that calls out unrighteousness and promotes God’s way of living. The Holy Spirit will do His work of convicting the world of sin through us as we counter worldliness with God’s values, and win one more for Jesus.

Many years ago, the Lord confronted me with this question - “What would your life look like as a disciple if you stopped being a full-time staff at church?” I pondered on that question for a while. My immediate assessment was that I would be less committed as a Christian. I might not be as regular in church and would probably participate less in ministry and outreaches. The Lord then confronted my condition head-on - “What then is the point of your preaching and ministry in the church if you are unwilling to live it all out without the title?”

This became a defining moment in my life as God revealed the true condition of my heart. God was challenging me to first be the message, before being the messenger. He desired to do His convicting work in me first before He could do His convicting work through me. From that day on, I decided to establish several consistent pillars in my life - not missing Sunday services, being a regular contributor in my cell, tithing to His kingdom, helping the poor and needy, and reaching out to the lost. These pillars have become key convictions of my Christian faith.

Likewise, we need the Holy Spirit to align our values to His. As He does that, we will be more and more distinguishable from the world, especially in the way we love, serve and relate to other people. May your prayer today be - “Come, Holy Spirit, transform my heart to be more like Christ!”

Reflection

• In what ways have you experienced the Holy Spirit moulding your heart? (Promptings, nudges, etc) How can you acknowledge the Holy Spirit’s presence more in your life?
• How can you utilise the Holy Spirit’s role in your life as you navigate through the “grey areas” of your life?

Application

Constantly ask the Holy Spirit to show you the areas of your life that He wants to transform. Then, ask Him to grant you the strength to be able to submit to His transformative work in your life.