When He has come, He will convict the world of sin . . . —John 16:8
Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin. We know the experience of being disturbed because we have done wrong things. But conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit blots out every relationship on earth and makes us aware of only one— “Against You, You only, have I sinned . . .” (Psalm 51:4). When a person is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every bit of his conscience that God would not dare to forgive him. If God did forgive him, then this person would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the breaking of His heart with grief in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. Once we have been convicted of sin, we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary— nothing less! The love of God is spelled out on the Cross and nowhere else. The only basis for which God can forgive me is the Cross of Christ. It is there that His conscience is satisfied.
Forgiveness doesn’t merely mean that I am saved from hell and have been made ready for heaven (no one would accept forgiveness on that level). Forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a newly created relationship which identifies me with God in Christ. The miracle of redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One. He does this by putting into me a new nature, the nature of Jesus Christ.
Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
Today’s devo differentiates between a full Conviction of Sin by the Holy Spirit and the twinges of guilt which are the more common experience. With these minor twinges of guilt, we are tempted to do “guilt management” and try our best to clean up our act. This is an exercise of will power and although we may manage our sin for a while, it never achieves the glorious realization of your love that David had after being busted by Nathan the prophet. I wonder how many times per lifetime we can expect an experience of that magnitude. … And if the ones of lesser magnitude can add up to the impact and revelation that is referred to here?
The key to remember is that I deal with all my children differently. It is dangerous to count and compare experiences. I put them in the Book so you could know some of my ways. But I don’t fit in a recipe book. or a spreadsheet, or bar graph and your experiences shouldn’t either. The main thing is to stay tight with me and I will show you great insights. I don’t usually shout. I mainly whisper … The busy-ness and stress of your life can drown it out and you will miss it. Come away with me … even in a crowd, and I will show you my ways.
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