When Jesus ascended into Heaven; He assured all believers that God would send an indwelling Presence – The Holy Spirit.
John 14:16, where Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.” It’s a foundational verse that brings comfort to many!
Let me ask you this: If Jesus, in the flesh were here (present) would you do that? Yes! Jesus lived a sinless life here on Earth in the flesh (people have had 1000’s of years to find one sin Jesus committed and failed!!!)
The Holy Spirit’s conviction of sin: John 16:8. In this passage, Jesus promises His disciples: “And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment”
The life of a Christ follower is characterized by an attitude of ongoing repentance and pursuit of holiness and righteousness (Job 42:6; Matthew 3:2, 8; Acts 3:19; Luke 3:8, 17:3; James 5:16; Hebrews 6:1; Revelation 2:5). And God uses the Spirit of God to convey the truth of His Word, for the express purpose of CONVICTING the hearts of both the saved and unsaved of His righteousness, so they might repent (2 Timothy 3:16, Titus 1:9, John 16:8, Ezekiel 36:26-27, Revelation 3:3, 1 John 1:9).
The Holy Spirit is the Author of the Word of God (2 Peter 1:20-21), and the Word of God is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit…discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (John 3:34, Hebrews 4:12). The Holy Spirit absolutely convicts both the unbeliever AND the believer of sin, which is why blasphemy of the Spirit is so damning—because it means one is refusing the conviction of the very Source that makes godly sorrow and repentance even possible (Mark 3:29, Romans 2:4, Ephesians 4:30, 2 Corinthians 7:10).
And, since one must be able to objectively examine one’s own faith and test the spirits to recognize/see if they are from God or not, it is unscriptural to assert the believer should NOT be conscious of and have a sound working knowledge of the will and ways of God—a.k.a. His righteousness—as detailed in His Law (2 Corinthians 13:5, 1 John 4:1). The NT is replete with warnings that we not be deceived, and the goal of all deception is to persuade people to break the commandments of God. It only makes sense that arming ourselves with a Spirit-led understanding of the truth of God’s Law—which literally defines both sin and righteousness—is the first piece of armor to be put on by the believer (Ephesians 6:13-14).
In other words, you cannot separate the Law of God from the Spirit of God, because they are both integral to the gospel plan of redemption.