When God the Holy Spirit comes to a person's heart in saving grace, he always performs a threefold conviction in the sinner's heart. God always convicts that person whom he saves of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. This is what our Lord Jesus Christ told us - "When he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." In saving grace, in true Holy Spirit conviction, the Spirit of God persuades and convinces sinners that, except they repent and believe on Christ, they shall be judged and eternally damned by Christ, even as Satan, the prince of this world, was judged and damned by Christ.
When our Lord Jesus Christ tells us that the Holy Spirit convicts men "of Judgment, because the prince of this world is judged", he is telling us four things The first obvious fact which these words reveal is the fact that CHRIST IS LORD. Because of his obedience to the Father as our Substitute, both in his life and in his death, God the Father has exalted his Son Jesus and made him to be Lord of heaven and earth. As Lord, Jesus Christ has all power and authority in his hands. He is the sovereign Judge of all the earth who will execute justice upon all men. "The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son." Every man will soon meet Christ in judgment. Secondly, as Lord, CHRIST JUDGED SATAN AT CALVARY. The Lord Jesus Christ crushed the serpent's head when he died on the cross. He broke the power of Satan's usurped dominion over the nations of the world, and has cast him into prison. Today, Satan is in chains of bondage, sentenced to eternal damnation; and the One who locked him up and rules over him is Jesus Christ the Lord. The prince of this world is judged; his power is broken; the Son of God himself declares that it is so! Thirdly, our Savior is telling us that IT WILL BE A RIGHTEOUS THING FOR GOD TO JUDGE SIN BY CHRIST. In the last day God will gather all men before the bar of Justice, to give an account of their deeds. And it will be a just and righteous thing for God to punish all sin. The Lord Jesus Christ, the great judge, will cast into hell every person in whom sin is found; and it will be right for him to do so. But the principle thing our Lord is telling us is that WHEN GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES TO A PERSON'S HEART IN SAVING GRACE HE CONVINCES THAT PERSON THAT GOD HAS JUDGED THE SINS OF HIS PEOPLE IN CHRIST THE SUBSTITUTE. This is the thing that produces faith. God the Holy Spirit makes the sinner to see that there is freedom from sin and guilt in Christ, because sin has been judged in a suitable, all-sufficient Substitute. "God hath made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." The Lord Jesus Christ was made to be sin for us. As our Substitute before God, he bore the penalty of our sin and guilt in the eyes of God's law. OUR SIN WAS JUDGED IN CHRIST! He satisfied the law and justice of God for our sin. The Son of God shed his blood in death to put away all of our sins, He made this mighty atonement and put away sin for all who trust him. Now, if my sin has been judged in Christ, I have no sin for which I shall be judged. If the Holy Spirit ever shows a man how that God judged sin in Christ, that man will trust Christ. The work of the Holy Spirit is always effectual. It always produces faith.
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