Holy Spirit Devotional

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit convicts the world about “righteousness, because he [Jesus] has gone to the Father”. Many miss the whole point here. They act as if the Holy Spirit was supposed to talk about unrighteousness, but that’s not the topic. No, the Holy Spirit persuades the world about Jesus’ righteousness, not society’s unrighteousness.

I don’t think for a moment that the topic of righteousness is something that occupies the mind of many unbelievers. If it crosses their thinking at all, they see it as something religious, or that to be righteous is impossible, a mere wishful thought.

In spite of the world’s apparent lack of interest in righteousness, God knows people better than we know ourselves. Secular people don’t talk about righteousness. Instead, they may discuss the purpose of life, that there’s something missing, a void in the heart, or that they feel isolated, ashamed and struggle with guilt. They may say that they want to be good people, who live a good life

To enjoy Christ’s righteousness is to be assured that everything is all right, as it ought to be.  Everything is clear between you and God! The Spirit convicts people that everything is all right because Jesus has gone, on our behalf, to the Father, as the guarantor that the world’s sins have been put away. Study this! Ponder it! Get this truth deep inside!

How does the gospel reveal Christ’s righteousness?  It shows that God didn’t take sin lightly. In fact, God was so serious about what sin and evil had done that He sent Christ to identify with the totality of humanity’s enslavement to Satan and Jesus triumphed over it. You could say that Jesus did an inside job; God came inside humanity. It was not an extraterrestrial rescue operation, but Jesus, son of God and son of man, as a human defeating sin, death and the devil. By doing so, Jesus accomplished for us that which we could never do for ourselves. He removed any hindrance, and now we stand before God completely righteous. Everything is okay between you and God!

The world longs to hear of a righteousness that is greater than anything human effort can attain to, a righteousness which is a gift from God through Jesus Christ. That’s the message the Holy Spirit is eager to get across to the world.

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