Holy Spirit Convictions
Where do we Christians get the idea that the Holy Spirit brings conviction? I don’t mean in a general sense, but in a specific sense. As in, “The Holy Spirit convicted me today about wearing dresses!” Or, “The Holy Spirit convicted me to day that I have been sinning by not praying for my lost father!” Or, “The Holy Spirit convicted me today that I need to spend more time in the Word.” Where do we get the idea that the Holy Spirit brings conviction for specific sins?
I’ve been looking it up and I’ve learned the following things, so far, about the Holy Spirit:
- Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is Unforgivable! Luke 12:10
- The Holy Spirit is our Teacher. Luke 12:12, John 14:26, John 16:13,
- He convicts the world of sin, unrighteousness and judgement. John 16:8
- He brings power to believers! Acts 1:8
- He is a gift to believers and we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38, Acts 4:31, Acts 6:3, Acts 6:5
- He brings the Love of God into our hearts. Romans 5:5
- He brings righteousness and peace and joy. Romans 14:16-18,
- He sanctifies us! Romans 15:16, 1 Corinthians 6:19, Ephesians 1:13,
- He ministers to our spirit. Jude 1:20
I found no evidence that the Holy Spirit brings conviction for specific sins. I found the one reference where the Holy Spirit convicts the WORLD of sin – that is general sin that seperates man from God. And convicts about righteousness – that would be in a general sense, that you can have no righteousness apart from God. And the Holy Spirit convicts regarding judgement – but not judgementalism that Christians seem to soak up and spew out faster than they can breathe the air God has given them – but God’s judgement for sin. That is what that verse is talking about – it is not referencing sin in a believer’s life.
I’ve always heard Christians say, “The Holy Spirit convicted me of…” and I even used to say it. I believed the conviction was from the Holy Spirit. But that is a false teaching. The Holy Spirit does not bring conviction to the believer. It is not His job! His job is to teach us, illuminate us, bring us hope and peace and joy, bring us understanding and to minister to our spirits. And we are filled with the Holy Spirit the MOMENT we believe in Yeshua and put our trust in Him.
He also does not bring despair, sadness or depression. I once had a friend who would say that the despair she felt over the state of a family member’s soul was so strong and so overwhelming for her that it could only come from the Holy Spirit. It always left a weird feeling in my gut when she would speak in that manner. And now I know why – because it wasn’t from the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t bring despair, sadness or anxiety. It’s not in his character to do so.
I don’t fully understand his role entirely. But I think he is sort of like our own personal priest. He teaches us what God wants us to know. He illuminates our mind and heart so when we read the Word or speak with God, we are renewed…we are sanctified. This was just a quick study that I felt really compelled to do before tomorrow night. We are taking Communion at Bible Study tomorrow night. I wanted to get at least one thing checked off my, “Berean Adventures” checklist before I come home with another long list of things to research. 
Well said Sarah! The Holy Spirit’s only role of conviction is that of “sin” not “sins”. The sin is that we know not Christ…that we don’t have a relationship with the Heavenly Father.
Once we are His child, the Holy Spirit is our Comforter, teacher, and guide—giving us direction as the Father directs him to. He illuminates the Word of God so that we can understand what it really means–without that, they are just words on a page.
We are convicted by our own hearts…God has laid his laws on all of our hearts. That is why even if you aren’t saved, you KNOW that you are doing right/wrong…whether you admit it is another thing. His word says that we are to “judge ourselves”, not that the Holy Spirit judges us!
The Holy Spirit is meek and gentle and it is not in His character or role to convict people of their daily sins, only that they don’t know God–the ONLY sin that will send you to hell instead of Heaven!
Thanks for sharing!
Brought to mind…..II Cor 7:10 “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. ” Depression would be a sorrow unto death. I high recommend “The Sovereignty of God” by A.W. Pink. It answers A LOT in terms of perspective that would eliminate much of the ungodly sorrow in the world (and many Christian homes, churches, etc) You can read it online at http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/Sovereignty/sovereignty.htm
I meant to comment on this earlier than today…just had a moment to do some catching up. Just wanted to thank you for sharing your thoughts (convictions! hee hee) about the role of the Holy Spirit. Well said. It is good for us to be reminded of truth and to be admonished to recognize false teaching and not take back on yokes of bondage from which Father has so painstakingly prepared a path for freedom.
Alas, I am guilty often of not remembering who I am in Christ, how Father sees me versus how I see myself. There is a false holy spirit and his ways are subtle but cannot and will not stand against the truth of God’s word and will.
It is so good to be reminded that the Holy Spirit is my comforter, my helper, and everpresent in my hours of need.
I didn’t need to say all that as you already very eloquently put it to words… I just wanted to add my testimony of the Holy Spirit in my own life to encourage myself and others who might be seeking or who might be tempted to be diverted from God’s simple truth of love.
Did you ever do a more in-depth study on this? I’d really like to know if you’ve scratched any more of the surface of this topic because it has captivated my mind’s eye on the topic of God’s grace toward us Christian’s through the Blood of Jesus.
Thanks! (Email me if you can!!!)
This comes from a pastor of 16 years in NC…
I appreciate much of what you’ve said. What a great topic to discusss! However I have to disagree with the notion that the Holy Spirit doesn’t convict of “specific sins.” In John 16:13 Jesus said that “when he comes he will guide you into ALL (emphasis mine) truth.” And He will convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement (John 16:8). Sure, a guilty conscience can come from our parents or our own sense of right and wrong. But if he guides us into ALL truth, he has the right to speak to us about anything He desires. But we should make sure we separate His voice from our own or our parents or friends.
Here’s the problem… If He doesn’t convict of specific sins, that leaves us to guide our own hearts and minds. Yet we already know that we are capable of deceiving ourselves. We all do it. Self deception is a repeated theme throughout Scripture. The Holy Spirit comes to live in our lives and makes Himself at home. He goes through every “room” of our lives….every thought, every action, every attitude. However I believe our problem is that we do not want Him to be in charge. Even as Christians many of us still want to run our lives apart from His presence.
If He doesn’t convict us – specifically – we would sense a lack of fellowship with Him. There’s little worse than a Christian who is out of fellowship with God.
However, let me say this. If someone feels convicted about every little thing (i.e., I shouldn’t have chewed gum, I shouldn’t wear pants, etc.) something’s gone wrong. That’s not the way God works. Learning to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit takes much “listening” as well as a thorough study of God’s Word.
Thanks for studying and writing…keep it up!
Sorry but I have to DIS-AGREE with your conclusion about the “Conviction of the Holy Spirit”. I believe your statement are very basic and reflect not complete Biblical truth to the readers of your website. Having said that, I respond here in LOVE, not judgement – OK.
There are two “feelings” we can experience after we’ve sinned. One is conviction and the other is condemnation. Conviction is from the Holy Spirit, prompting us to confess and be restored to fellowship so God can continue to bless us. Its purpose is to draw us closer to God. Condemnation is from Satan, trying to convince us that we’re no good, and that God will never forgive us. It’s purpose is to keep us away from God by making us feel guilty.
“As soon as we confess our sins, we’re forgiven and the sin is forgotten as God immediately purifies us from ALL unrighteousness” (See: 1 John 1:9). John are talking to believers here. Now how do ‘they’ know WHAT [specific sin] to confess if the Holy Spirit ONLY convicts GENERALLY and only the world – referring to convicting the world of sin(John 16:7-11) [believing in Jesus] ?
The ministries of the Holy Spirit are many, and CONVICTION is one. Conviction is a NECESSITY and a POSITIVE experience. I thank God for the conviction of the Holy Spirit through my righteous CONSCIENCE.
So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.
(Acts 24:16)
Hebrews 9:14 (New International Version) 14How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,[a] so that we may serve the living God!
“Romans 9:1 – I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— 2I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.”
I see conviction as “guidance”, “leading”, “Counsel”, “revealing”, “The Holy Spirits VOICE”, – in some sense it might be part of ALL the Spirits work in me to live RIGHTEOUSLY before God at all times. So WHY the negative connection to it?
Off cause it has NOTHING to do with foolish things like, ‘the Holy Spirit convicted me to wash my cat, yesterday…’, we all know that.
Thanks and be BLESSED
Ps Cornelius
Thanks, Cornelius, for your addition to the conversation. Always nice to read a loving reply. I can’t say I agree with you – or the pastor who replied above your post – because you are only saying that my argument is lacking because your argument is more sound. If you can show that my argument is lacking because of errors in the argument, then that would be interesting to read. Basically you are simply saying what I’ve said I don’t believe in. You haven’t said why my argument is wrong.
Does that make sense?
Sarah says, “I believe B means C and that B doesn’t mean A.”
Cornelius says, “You are wrong. B means A and can’t mean C because B means A.”
That is not a strong response.
I would love to hear your opinion on the specific passages I posted in the article.
I believe if you look at the seven letters to the churches in Revelation you will see that each church was guilty of sin, which were listed in their letters. Each letter was ended with this. ” Let he who has an ear listen to what the SPIRIT says to the churches”.
Your concern about Holy Spirit conviction is normal and many other believers have sought out what you are looking for also..
Many times in scriptures when one would or could not hear the Spirit (Let he who has an ear listen) , One would be sent by God to speak counsel or rebuke by the the Spirit….
Nathan sent & rebukes/ David confesses sin
Ananias and Saphira’s lie to the Holy Spirit/ Peter rebukes( the Spirit told Peter of the lie)
Paul rebuked Peter for not walking according to the truth of the gospel( the Spirit leads us into all truth, therefore Peter was brought back into truth, was this just by Pauls own doing or by leading of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit teaches us about sin in the life of the believer, That scripture brought to mind about desiring your neighbors goods while lusting over their new car, it is the work of the Spirit,leading you into All Truth .
It is not about letter of the law verses spirit of the law, nor is it about semantics. The scriptures do teach Holy Spirit conviction of the believer.
” Let us be wary lest we end up following another gospel”