Does The Holy Spirit Convict A Believer Of Sin?

A common belief among many believers is the Holy Spirt convicts believers of sin.

But is this true?

Let’s take a deeper look into the Bible to see if the Holy Spirit convicts a believer of sin.

Let’s begin by defining the word convict.

The word convict means to declare a person guilty of breaking a law then sentencing that person to a specific consequence for having broken the law.

The one who has been convicted of the crime is called a convict, criminal, prisoner, felon, or lawbreaker.

So the question is, “Does the Holy Spirit pronounce a believer guilty of sin when a believer sins?”

Let’s see what the Bible says.

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he states in Romans 1:18-3:20 that all are guilty of sin, having broken the law – the Ten Commandments.

He states that the law convicts a person of sin and puts a person to death.

In Romans 7:7-25, the law – the Ten Commandments – convinces a person of his sin and convicts him of sin, thus sentencing him to death.

In his desperation under the law, he trusts in Jesus for salvation.

Jesus took upon himself at the cross the guilty conviction of sin and the guilt penalty for sin – death.

As a result, there is no condemnation for the one who believes in Jesus for salvation because he has trusted in Jesus, the one who was condemned in his place.

Let’s look a little further into what sin is.

In the letter of Romans, sin is breaking the Ten Commandments in our heads (thoughts), in our hearts (desires), and with our hands (deeds).

The identity of a lawbreaker is a sinner.

The consequence of breaking the Ten Commandments is death (Romans 5:12-21; 6:3)

However, we discover in Romans 5:8 that Jesus died the death for all sinners, for all lawbreakers, which is everyone – since we have all broken the law.

1 John 2:1-2 says that Jesus took all of our sins and our guilt upon himself at the cross.

In Romans 3:21-25, we learn that through faith in Jesus, we are declared not guilty by God of having sinned.

Not only are we declared not guilty of having sinned, but we are declared righteous by God.

The word used in the Bible for this is justified.

Justified is God declaring a person innocent of sin, innocent of breaking the Ten Commandments the moment this person believes in Jesus for salvation.

This person is declared righteous by God.

So a believer is a person who has been declared innocent of sin and righteous before God, just as if he or she had never sinned.

The new identity of this person is no longer a sinner but a saint (The word saint is used around 60 times in the Bible to refer to a believer. The word sinner is never used to refer to a believer).

So let’s go back to the question: “Does the Holy Spirit convict believers of sin, meaning - pronounce believers guilty of sin when they sin?”

The answer is no.

There is nowhere in the Bible that says the Holy Spirit convicts believers of sin or pronounces believers guilty of sin when they sin.

This would mean the Holy Spirit is working against God who has pronounced believers innocent of sin.

This would mean the Holy Spirit is working against Jesus who took all of our sins and all of our guilt upon himself at the cross and has given his righteousness as a free gift that believers have received by faith.

Jesus was pronounced guilty of sin on our behalf when he went to the cross and took upon himself our sinfulness.

When we believe in Jesus for salvation, God pronounces us not guilty of sin.

God pronounces the believer innocent and righteous.

The role of the Holy Spirit is to use the law to convict unbelievers of sin then use grace to convince them of what Jesus has done for them, so that they trust in Jesus for salvation.

The role of the Holy Spirit is to use grace to convince believers more fully of the work of Jesus on their behalf and to lead them to a life of love that flows from the love of God as Father to believers and from believers to others (Romans 5:5; Galatian 4:4-6; 5:22-23).