The Spirit of Truth

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The godless world is wrong about sin, righteousness, and judgment. But Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would expose those errors.

Program Transcript

The night Jesus was
arrested, one of the things he talked about with his disciples was the Holy
Spirit. He referred to the Holy Spirit with a word that was translated into
Greek as parakletos, a word that conveyed the sense of
“advocate,” “friend” or “supporter.” Parakletos
was the word used for a person who would stand beside you in court to support
you and your cause, to speak up for you, to hearten you.

“When he comes,”
Jesus said in John 16:8-11, “he’ll
expose the error of the godless world’s view of sin, righteousness, and
judgment: He’ll show them that their refusal to believe in me is their basic
sin; that righteousness comes from above, where I am with the Father, out of
their sight and control; that judgment takes place as the ruler of this godless
world is brought to trial and convicted” (John 16:8-11, The Message).

The godless world is wrong
about three things, Jesus said: sin, righteousness, and judgment. But the Holy
Spirit would expose those errors.

So
how is the godless world wrong about sin?
The world thinks sinners can atone for their own sins by doing works of
goodness. But now that Jesus has come to forgive all sin and reconcile all
things to God, the only kind of sin that can remain is the sin of not trusting
in him who takes away all sin. There is no sin Jesus hasn’t forgiven. But if we
don’t believe that, we’ll keep carrying the burden of guilt even though we
don’t need to.

And
how is the world wrong about righteousness?
The world thinks righteousness is human virtue and goodness. But now that the
Son of God has lived a perfect, obedient life in our place and as one of us,
human righteousness can only be defined as the gift of God through Jesus Christ.
Jesus himself is our righteousness, not our good works.

How
is the world wrong about judgment?
The world thinks that people who suffer in this world are sinners under God’s
curse, and that people who are healthy and wealthy are the only ones under
God’s favor. But now that the Son of God has destroyed the works of the devil,
judgment can only be defined only as condemnation of the evil god of this
world, not as condemnation of those Jesus came to save.

Jesus told the disciples
that the Holy Spirit would bring the truth about sin, righteousness and
judgment. To be forgiven of sin, to be judged righteous, and to be freed from condemnation
are all gifts of the Father through Jesus Christ. They are not something we
earn, or something we deserve. We experience them only by trusting the One who
gives them to us.

In Jesus Christ and only in
Jesus Christ, we are reconciled to the Father and share in Christ’s
righteousness and Christ’s relationship with the Father. In Jesus, we are the
Father’s beloved children. The gospel is indeed good
news.

I’m Joseph Tkach, speaking
of LIFE.

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Program Transcript

The night Jesus was
arrested, one of the things he talked about with his disciples was the Holy
Spirit. He referred to the Holy Spirit with a word that was translated into
Greek as parakletos, a word that conveyed the sense of
“advocate,” “friend” or “supporter.” Parakletos
was the word used for a person who would stand beside you in court to support
you and your cause, to speak up for you, to hearten you.

“When he comes,”
Jesus said in John 16:8-11, “he’ll
expose the error of the godless world’s view of sin, righteousness, and
judgment: He’ll show them that their refusal to believe in me is their basic
sin; that righteousness comes from above, where I am with the Father, out of
their sight and control; that judgment takes place as the ruler of this godless
world is brought to trial and convicted” (John 16:8-11, The Message).

The godless world is wrong
about three things, Jesus said: sin, righteousness, and judgment. But the Holy
Spirit would expose those errors.

So
how is the godless world wrong about sin?
The world thinks sinners can atone for their own sins by doing works of
goodness. But now that Jesus has come to forgive all sin and reconcile all
things to God, the only kind of sin that can remain is the sin of not trusting
in him who takes away all sin. There is no sin Jesus hasn’t forgiven. But if we
don’t believe that, we’ll keep carrying the burden of guilt even though we
don’t need to.

And
how is the world wrong about righteousness?
The world thinks righteousness is human virtue and goodness. But now that the
Son of God has lived a perfect, obedient life in our place and as one of us,
human righteousness can only be defined as the gift of God through Jesus Christ.
Jesus himself is our righteousness, not our good works.

How
is the world wrong about judgment?
The world thinks that people who suffer in this world are sinners under God’s
curse, and that people who are healthy and wealthy are the only ones under
God’s favor. But now that the Son of God has destroyed the works of the devil,
judgment can only be defined only as condemnation of the evil god of this
world, not as condemnation of those Jesus came to save.

Jesus told the disciples
that the Holy Spirit would bring the truth about sin, righteousness and
judgment. To be forgiven of sin, to be judged righteous, and to be freed from condemnation
are all gifts of the Father through Jesus Christ. They are not something we
earn, or something we deserve. We experience them only by trusting the One who
gives them to us.

In Jesus Christ and only in
Jesus Christ, we are reconciled to the Father and share in Christ’s
righteousness and Christ’s relationship with the Father. In Jesus, we are the
Father’s beloved children. The gospel is indeed good
news.

I’m Joseph Tkach, speaking
of LIFE.

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