What does the Lord Christ mean when He says of the Holy Spirit: “And when He has come, He will convict the world … of judgment” (John 16:8)?

The Holy Spirit convicts the world of judgment for He declared that He will say to those on the left: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41). In the Bible there are many passages about the Lord Christ being the one who convicts. Why then does He attribute this to the Holy Spirit as if this prerogative were proper to the Spirit? St. Augustine’s answer is that the Holy Spirit was poured out into the hearts of the disciples (Rom. 5:5), granting them the love that casts out fear (1 John 4:8) and bestowing upon them the right to rebuke and reproach. The saint continues: “We have frequently said, however, that the operations of the Trinity are inseparable; but the Persons needed to be set forth one by one, that not only without separating Them, but also without

881 St. Augustine of Hippo, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament , Volume 2 , trans. R. G. Macmullen (Oxford University Press, 1845) 94.6: pp. 674 amended.

882 St. Augustine of Hippo, Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 95.2 (NPNF I/7:369).

883 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on John 78 (FOTC 41:341–342).

confounding Them together, we may have a right understanding both of Their Unity and Trinity.”⁸⁸⁴

The Holy Spirit convicts of judgment, “because the ruler of this world is judged” (John 16:11). The world thought that it had judged Christ and condemned Him; but the Holy Spirit reveals to the faithful that through the cross, it is the enemy of good who is judged and made a spectacle (Col. 2:15). Through the preaching of the cross of Christ, the devil was exposed as a deceiver and destroyer of humanity, and the nations began to reject him and abandon worshipping him. The work of the Holy Spirit affirms that Christ is greater and stronger than the devil, Christ who gave authority to His disciples to trample upon the powers of darkness. Thus, the believer experiences in his daily life the token of authority that is given to him, that he may enjoy its perfection on the Day of Judgment, when the devil will be condemned and humanity will be greatly honored. Humanity occupies the highest echelon of heaven, that from which Satan and all his army fell. Therefore, the verb “ judge ” carries the meaning of continuity, for the victory over the powers of darkness is an ongoing daily work.

St. Augustine says, “And therefore of judgment too is the world convinced, because the prince of this world has been judged already ; that is, the devil, the prince of the unrighteous, who in heart are invested only in this world which they love, and therefore are called the world ; whereas our conversation is in heaven, if we have risen again with Christ. Therefore as Christ together with us — that is His Body — is One; so the devil with all the ungodly whose head he is, with as it were his own body, is one . Wherefore as we are not separated from the righteousness, of which the Lord said, Because I go to the Father ; so the ungodly are not separated from that, judgment, of which He said, Because the prince of this world has been judged already .”⁸⁸⁵

And He says, “Therefore the prince of this world, that is, the prince of the darkness thereof, or of unbelievers, out of whose hands that world is rescued, to which it is said, ‘For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord’ (Eph. 5:8); the prince of this world, of whom He elsewhere says, ‘Now the ruler of this world will be cast out’ (John 12:31), is assuredly judged, in as much as he is irrevocably destined to the judgment of everlasting fire.”⁸⁸⁶

Therefore, the Holy Spirit presents us with three important facts that affect our lives: our nature is corrupted by sin; our nature can be restored and imbued with the righteousness of Christ; the judgment of evil is everlasting.

884 St. Augustine of Hippo, Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 95.1 (NPNF I/7:369).

885 St. Augustine of Hippo, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament , Volume 2 , trans. R. G. Macmullen (Oxford University Press, 1845) 94.6: pp. 674, amended.

886 St. Augustine of Hippo, Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 95.4 (NPNF I/7:370) amended.