The righteousness of God

John 16:8-11 (NLT) 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. 9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. 10 Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. 11 Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged. Last time we were speaking of the Holy Spirit's ministry to convict of sin. Today we will go into His ministry to convict of righteousness.

Most translations agree on the word "convict". Satan knows this is a very important aspect of the Holy Spirit's ministry and he comes quite close to it with his "condemnation". Unfortunately, many Christians do not know the difference. One way to know is to make friends with the Holy Spirit, talk to Him and let Him talk to you until you know His voice. Worship is the atmosphere the Holy Spirit enjoys, so be a worshipper. Ask His advice and let Him know you depend on His control of your thoughts. Another way I employ is to wait and check out my motives. Am I in control of the situation or am I asking God to be in control. The Holy Spirit knows the will of the Father and He will reveal it to you if you wait.
Romans 8:26-27(NLT) 26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.

We will discuss the advantage of speaking in our prayer language (unknown tongue) at another time, but for this discussion, it is important that we are able to bring anything we are questioning to God through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He always beholds the face of the Father and is given to us to guide us into all Truth. He will manifest Jesus to us so we follow in His footsteps. This is how we know we are being convicted by the Spirit and not condemned by Satan.

It is interesting that the translators use the word convict. We always think of the word in terms of "sinning", but this is used in the terminology of the Holy Spirit's ministry to us. It comes to us in our spirit and is a type of revelation knowledge. It requires faith in God's love for us and in His eternal Being.

This brings us to the next very important aspect of this verse. Our faith is in what we do not "see". Abraham was approached with covenant language to cut a covenant with the unseen Eternal God. His faith, that the Almighty God, unseen by him, was willing and able to cut a covenant with a mortal man, made him qualified to stand before God as righteous. Many have said his faith that he would receive a son made him righteous. I believe that God intended to give Abraham a son (mentioned long before to him when God called him to leave his family) but mentioned it at the time of His covenant approach because Abraham was using it as a reason he could not be a recipient of an eternal covenant. After God's reassurance of a son, Abraham's faith was unconditional. He only asked how it was to be done and then faithfully carried out God's demand for the ceremony.

Jesus spoke of the blessing we receive when we believe, when He spoke to Thomas. John 20:29(NLT)Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

Our concept of righteousness, according to human understanding, is laid on us. We feel we are responsible in the way we dress, act and the works we do, to appear righteous. Each group of believers has a different slant on righteousness and so has different "rules" in how it is be achieved. But Paul was very clear in his description of righteousness to us.
Romans 9:30(NLT) What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place.
Romans 10:6-10(NLT) 6 But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven’ (to bring Christ down to earth). 7 And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” 8 In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.

Righteousness is right standing with God. Jesus knew the human heart and mind. He knew that these men perceived they knew righteousness because they were watching Jesus. But the Holy Spirit would "convict" (penetrate their conscious minds and opinions and their spirit) with a right standing with God through faith when they would no longer see Him. The ministry of Jesus on earth was to fulfill the Law and bring it to a complete satisfaction to the heart of God by a man. This is one reason Jesus continually called Himself "the son of man" and was not declaring Himself openly to be the Son of God. He fulfilled the Law as a man, for the righteousness God was seeking in man went beyond the "doing" of the Law and was to be a submission by faith to the One Who gave the Law. But the disciples, living and walking with Jesus, saw Him keeping the Law, which to them was the "normal" way to please God. The apostles' faith was challenged by the Holy Spirit's revealing commands that went beyond the Law. Peter receiving the command to go to Cornelius' house to minister to a gentile was a challenge to his reliance on the Law to please God.

The first step in the restoration of the Church of God at the close of the "Dark Ages", was the revelation to Martin Luther that the "just shall live by faith." Right standing with God does not come by our efforts but faith in what Jesus accomplished. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to lead you deeper into that right standing by challenging your faith in One Who loves you and gave Himself for you, but Who you cannot see with your human eyes. When the circumstances all around you would make you doubt, the Holy Spirit comes to "convict" you of your right standing with God and helps you "see" the unseen by faith. You make the choice to believe in the face of all that stands against faith. You give a covenant response with the help of the Holy Spirit.