John 16:8-11 And when He has come, he will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin because the world does not believe in Me. Of righteousness because I go to My Father and you see Me no more. Of judgement because the ruler of this world is judged.
Jesus is speaking here about the Holy Spirit.
In John 14 Jesus first reveals the coming promise of the Holy Spirit. Jesus calls Him the “Comforter” and the “Spirit of Truth” who the world cannot receive, but will dwell within those who believe upon Jesus.
Comforter in the Greek is parakletos meaning Helper. Truth in the Greek is alethia and it is the same word Jesus uses when He refers to Himself as the truth. The Holy Spirit is given to establish you in Truth - in Christ.
The greatest truth you can know is that you are the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 5:21) and this is the truth that the Holy Spirit convicts Believers of today.
Some Christians think when they are feeling guilty or ashamed for something they did, that it is the Holy Spirit who is condemning them. But this is not true. The devil’s name is “accuser” and he is the father of guilt and condemnation.
In John 16, Jesus reveals the work of the Holy Spirit toward three different parties – the world, Believers and the devil.
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of the sin of unbelief. The only sin that prevents a person from everlasting life with God is unbelief. And when an unbeliever hears the good news about Jesus, the Holy Spirit will convict them of the truth about Jesus. They will either accept or reject Him.
The Holy Spirit convicts Believers of their righteousness. The Holy Spirit will not convict you of sin because the law does that! (Romans 7:7) The Holy Spirit doesn’t want to make you sin conscious, He wants to make you righteousness conscious. He will remind you of your righteous standing in Christ.
The Holy Spirit judges the ruler of this world (the devil). He is called the “accuser” in the Bible because he accuses the people of God of sin and wrong-doing. But the Holy Spirit simply points the devil back to what Jesus did on the cross. Jesus defeated the devil and his ultimate day of judgment will be when he is thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10).
Understand the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and will only reveal the truth about who you are in Christ – that your sin has been exchanged for Jesus' righteousness through the cross.
So every time you feel guilty, ashamed, judged or condemned by the devil, just remember that Jesus went to the cross and gifted you His righteousness. It doesn’t matter how many times you have to do this. Sooner or later you will begin to walk in the revelation of that truth and that’s when the devil loses any stronghold over your life!