Advocate II

John 16:^8-11 “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” (KJV].

When the Holy Spirit comes, He will radically redefine three of the foundational notions of spirituality. The first notion He is redefining is sin; sin is not believing in Jesus. Previously, the opposite of sin was righteousness. But now, the opposite of sin is faith in Christ Jesus sin. The second notion of spirituality that the Holy Spirit redefines by extension is righteousness. Previously, righteousness was based on human performance. But now righteousness is based on the right relationship with the Father which only comes by not sinning. How do you not sin? By putting your faith in Jesus; righteousness only comes through Jesus.

I know that this is a lot to take in. The reality is, sometimes we think we understand these things only for us to discover that we really did not understand it. The third notion of spirituality that the Holy Spirit redefines is judgement. Jesus says, ‘He, the Holy Spirit, is going to reprove the world of sin, reprove the world of righteousness, and reprove the world of judgement.’ The world is wrong about judgement. The Jews knew that there is a devil, the ruler of the world. They thought that the devil will someday be judged. However, Jesus says, ‘the ruler of this world has already been judged because I am the Lamb of God that was slain before the foundations of the earth. The Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.’ The ruler of this world has already been judged. We are not waiting for a time that satan will be defeated, satan is already defeated. Jesus was saying to the disciples that He had come to nail satan’s coffin with His death on the cross and His resurrection on the third day. In other words, Jesus came to put ‘paid’ to the price that needed to be paid. The lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world was saying, I am here that the Holy Spirit will reprove the world of judgement.

So, as they stood there at the cross jeering and laughing at Jesus, the Jews wrongfully believed that His death was justified. They could never have imagined these three things. Number one, they could never have imagined that the atonement of the world’s sin, including their own, was on Jesus. Some people say Jesus does not take care of future sins; Jesus only takes care of past sins. Once Jesus takes care of past sins, then you have to work it out and take care of your future sins. That is so wrong because when Jesus died on the cross of Calvary all our sins were in the future. Does that mean Jesus died for the sins we have not even committed? Yes, all the sins you are committing right now and even the sins you will commit tomorrow – He died for it all. Some people do not think that people should know this truth. They believe people will take it as a license to sin. I do not think so, however, we are human, and we are going to make mistakes. But it is forgiven. Sit with this truth, wrestle it until it burns into your heart. Jesus paid it all! Huge!

Prayer [song]: Calvary covers it all. My sin and shame don’t count anymore. All praise to the One who has ransomed my soul. Calvary covers it all. Amen!