In this chapter we will consider the work of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit is the application of salvation. Salvation originated in God’s love, was accomplished through Christ’s redemption, and is applied through the work of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit applies the very salvation that came out of God’s love and was accomplished through the redemption of Christ. Without God’s love, salvation has no source. Yet without Christ’s redemption, God’s love could not have accomplished salvation. Moreover, God’s love and Christ’s redemption require the work of the Holy Spirit in order to apply salvation to us.
We can illustrate God’s salvation in this way: God is an author, Christ is a typesetter, the Holy Spirit is a printer, and we are sheets of paper. Because of His love, God wrote the story of salvation; through His redemption, Christ set the type for salvation according to God’s writing; and the Holy Spirit then printed God’s salvation, which was set in type through Christ’s work onto us, the sheets of paper. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, what was accomplished through God’s love and Christ’s redemption would only be an objective redemption and could not become our subjective salvation. The work of the Holy Spirit turns our objective redemption into subjective salvation. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, Christ’s redemption is only a fact in Him and is not experiential to us. The work of the Holy Spirit is necessary to transform the fact of our redemption in Christ into our subjective experience.
The Holy Spirit works on us in four aspects.
The first step of the Holy Spirit’s work was to regenerate us. We were dead within, but the Holy Spirit imparted God’s life into us so that we might be regenerated and made alive.
1. “Convict the world concerning sin and concerning righteousness and concerning judgment” (John 16:8).
In order to regenerate man, the Holy Spirit first convicts man. He convicts man first concerning sin, then concerning righteousness, and then concerning judgment. The Holy Spirit convicts man concerning sin because he does not believe in the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit uncovers man’s iniquities, unveiling them in man’s inner consciousness scene by scene, as in a movie; thus, man sees that he is sinful, that he was born in sin, and that he will die in his sins unless he believes in the Lord Jesus (8:24). The Holy Spirit shows man that in Adam he is condemned already (3:18). If he will not believe in the Lord Jesus, he can only wait for perdition under judgment. The Holy Spirit reveals to man that God’s charge to believe in the Lord Jesus is not only a God-given grace but also a commandment to sinners. If a sinner does not believe in the Lord Jesus, he not only rejects God’s grace but also defies God’s commandment. Therefore, unbelief is a great sin that can cause man to perish forever (Rev. 21:8). Furthermore, this is God’s only commandment for sinners. Since man is sinful and has been judged, what God demands of man is that he believe in the Lord Jesus. God’s unique commandment to sinners is that they believe in the Lord Jesus. Therefore, if a man will not believe in the Lord Jesus, he violates God’s unique commandment and commits the unique sin. The Holy Spirit causes man to see all these things and thus to be convicted.
The Holy Spirit convicts man concerning righteousness because the Lord Jesus resurrected and ascended to God. The Holy Spirit shows man that the Lord Jesus, who did not know sin, was made sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). He bore our sins on the cross and satisfied God’s righteous requirement (1 Pet. 2:24); therefore, God raised Him from the dead both for our justification and as proof of our justification (Rom. 4:25). When we see that the Lord Jesus ascended into the heavens and is seated at the right hand of God, we realize that His death took care of our sins and satisfied God’s righteous requirement. Now God can and even must justify those who believe in the Lord Jesus according to His righteousness. Since this is so, why would we not believe in Him? Thus, the Holy Spirit convicts man concerning righteousness.
The Holy Spirit convicts man concerning judgment because Satan, the ruler of this world, has been judged. The Holy Spirit shows man that Satan, who opposes God and is God’s enemy, has been judged on the cross of Christ. Since the ruler of the world, God’s enemy, has been judged, how could those in the world, who follow Satan to be enemies of God, not be judged? Therefore, man should repent, leave Satan and his world, and turn to God. Since Satan was judged on the cross of Christ, he no longer has authority to control those who believe in Christ. Man is delivered from Satan’s rule by Christ and His cross. Since this is so, why would man remain under Satan as an enemy of God awaiting judgment? Thus, the Holy Spirit also convicts man concerning judgment.
The Holy Spirit convicts man concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment—that is, concerning the contents of the entire gospel. Sin is related to man, righteousness is related to God, and judgment is related to Satan. Man is sinful, God is righteous, and Satan is under judgment. Man commits sins, God justifies, and Satan awaits the judgment reserved for him. Sin is in Adam, righteousness is in Christ, and judgment is reserved for Satan. In Adam man is sinful and condemned, in Christ man is righteous and justified, and with Satan man is judged. On the cross Christ took care of man’s sin, fulfilled God’s righteousness, and judged Satan. If man believes in Christ, he is delivered from his sins, obtains God’s righteousness, and is spared from Satan’s judgment. If man does not believe, he remains in sin, has no part in God’s righteousness, and ultimately shares Satan’s judgment, entering into the eternal fire reserved for Satan as his companion forever (Matt. 25:41). When the Holy Spirit regenerates man, He reveals these things to him in order to convict him.
2. “Light a lamp and sweep the house and seek carefully until she finds it” (Luke 15:8).
The parable of a woman seeking a silver coin in Luke 15 unveils the work of the Holy Spirit within the heart of lost sinners, which causes them to repent and turn to God. The woman lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and seeks carefully until she finds the lost coin. This indicates that the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God, the Bible (Psa. 119:130), to shine in man, searching and examining him thoroughly to reveal his inward condition. The Holy Spirit searches until man repents, that is, until He finds the lost sinner, who is a treasure in God’s eyes, and causes him to turn back to God. Those who have never been worked on by the Holy Spirit cannot convict themselves. Similarly, those who have not been enlightened or searched by the Holy Spirit cannot repent and turn to God.
3. “Testify concerning Me” (John 15:26).
After the Holy Spirit convicts and enlightens a man and causes him to repent, He testifies to him concerning Christ. The Holy Spirit reveals Christ to man, showing him that Christ is the Savior of sinners and the One who bore man’s sins on the cross. This leads man to receive Christ as his personal Savior.
4. “Born of the Spirit” (John 3:6, 8, see also vv. 3, 5).
When a man receives Christ as his personal Savior, the Holy Spirit immediately imparts God’s life into him and regenerates him; thus, he is born of the Spirit.
5. “The Spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6; see also John 6:63).
The Holy Spirit imparts the life of God into those who receive Christ as their Savior, thus enlivening the deadened spirit within them. Originally, man’s spirit was dead through sin, but when he receives Christ as his Savior, his sins are forgiven and the Spirit enlivens his spirit.
6. “Inscribed not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God” (2 Cor. 3:3).
When a man is regenerated by the Holy Spirit and his spirit is made alive, he becomes a living epistle of Christ. This living epistle is written with the Spirit of the living God; that is, God writes Christ into the believers by the Spirit, imprinting Christ into them. The believers possess the life of Christ and are joined to Christ; they are born again by receiving Christ as their life.