Question (6) The Lord Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit came, he would “convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” Why does God still need to do the work of judgment?

Answer: The brothers and sisters ask this question because they have mistaken the work of “convicting the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment” done by the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, for God’s work of judgment in the end time. So they think it is unnecessary for God to do the work of judgment again. To understand this, let us first have a fellowship about what these words of the Lord Jesus actually mean. The Lord Jesus said: “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned” (John 16:7-11). Here, Jesus was speaking about the work the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, would come to do after his work in the flesh. After the Lord resurrected and ascended, God sent the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, to uphold the work of the Age of the Grace. This was another way for God to do his work. The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, came on people to inspire, enlighten, guide, comfort, rebuke, empower, and bestow faith to them, helping them turn to the Lord, better understand his word, act according to his heart’s desire, cooperate with his gospel work, and testify about the salvation of the Lord Jesus’ cross. The Counselor (the Holy Spirit of Pentecost) mainly helped people receive power from God so as to testify about the salvation of the Lord Jesus’ cross and spread his gospel to the ends of the earth, so that more people could receive salvation from God, be delivered from the bondage of the law, and gain peace and joy. As the Scripture says: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Then, what does “sin” refer to? In John 3:18, 19, it says: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” From this we see that men “sinned” when they heard the gospel of the Lord yet did not believe in him. What then does “righteousness” refer to? In Acts 13:39, it says: “Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.” This shows that men were considered “righteous” when they were forgiven of their sins because of their belief in the Lord Jesus. Of course, if they preached the salvation of the Lord Jesus’ cross, they would be even more considered “righteous” and could better gain God’s commendation. As the Scripture says: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” “The prince of this world now stands condemned” means that devils and satans would be condemned and judged by God for their disturbing the Lord’s work and persecuting the believers in the Lord. In short, “he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment” refers to the Holy Spirit’s work after the Lord Jesus ascended to heaven and before he comes the second time. Its purpose was to uphold Jesus’ work and testimony on the earth and make people confess and repent of their sins and receive the Lord’s salvation, thus achieving the results of God’s working in the Age of the Grace. So, the Holy Spirit’s work in the Age of the Grace is totally different from God’s work of judgment in the end time, which separates the sheep from the goats, judges and purifies man, rewards good and punishes evil, and determines man’ s outcome. We will be even clearer about this if we read John 12: 46-48, which says: “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.” From these verses we see that in the Age of the Grace God mainly saves the world and not judges it, yet in the end time God will expose everything and judge everyone who does not keep his words. At this point, the brothers and sisters probably won’t confuse the Counselor’s work in the Age of the Grace with God’s work of judgment in the end time anymore.