The Holy Spirit convicts the believer of his sins and the unbeliever of his unbelief (John 16:8-10). The word
“convicts” means He exposes or reveals the verdict; He brings to light sin in the Christian’s life and unbelief
in the non-Christian (Acts 5:3). The Christian is convicted of the need to stop sinning and the non-Christian is
convicted of the need for Christ. In both cases, conviction leads to repentance. Conviction for the unbeliever
works something like this: A man is driving along the road of life and passes a person standing at an intersection
waving a flag for him to turn. The man ignores the warning and continues driving until he encounters another person
doing the same thing at the next intersection. He continues driving, finding the road getting darker and rougher.
He begins to sense he is lost. When he passes yet another person motioning for him to turn in, he does. Suddenly he
finds himself on a brighter road with clearer directions. Out of gratitude, the driver joins those on the road
waving the flags trying to convince others to turn in and be saved. Conversion to Christ flows out of conviction,
and conviction is the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the unbeliever (1 Thessalonians 1:5).
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