Enjoy this excerpt from Paul Ellis' book "The Gospel in Ten Words"
Grace=Peace,
Jeremy
"If I'm so righteous, how come the Holy Spirit keeps convicting me of my sin?" Actually, he never does that. That's an extra-Biblical myth that needs to be busted. Adam didn't need God's help in recognizing his sin and neither do we. Any guilt you have over wrongdoing comes from a condemning source and not the one called Comforter. There is no condemnation--not now, not ever--to those who are in Christ Jesus.
Jesus said the Holy Spirit would seek to convince us of our righteousness (John 16:8-10). When do you most need convincing of your righteousness in Christ? It is when you are feeling unrighteous. It is when you have just sinned.
When you sin, the Holy Spirit will seek to remind you that you are still righteous because you are in Christ the Righteous One.
I appreciate this is completely different to the message many of us have heard (and some of us have preached). We have been told the Holy Spirit is like a heavenly cop who issues warnings whenever we stray. But that's not what Jesus said. He said the Holy Spirit would "glorify me" (that's Jesus), guide us into all truth (also Jesus), and convince us of our righteousness (Jesus again). The Holy Spirit is not closing his eyes to your sin; he is trying to open your eyes to Jesus. Just as a gyroscope in a plane will always reveal the true horizon, the Holy Spirit will always point you to the Righteous One. He will always encourage you to fix your eyes on Jesus.
"Having been declared righteous, then, by faith, we have peace toward God..." (Romans 5:1 YLT)
Do you know why so many believers have no peace in their relationship with God? They would tell you it is because God is angry with them and their sin, but the real reason is they are ignorant of him and his righteousness. In the kingdom, peace always follows righteousness. If you are more conscious of your sin that his righteousness, you will never enjoy peace with God.
The church has an unhealthy obsession with sin. We spend our lives:
watching out for sin
resisting sin
fighting sin
hiding sin
running from sin
owning up to sin
talking about sin
turning from sin,
and hopefully, overcoming sin.
With so much emphasis on sin, guilt, and shame, is it any wonder so many of us don't feel righteous? We need the ministry of the Holy Spirit now more than ever.
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