Jesus was talking about the work of the Holy Spirit when He said, “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”” (John 16:8-12)
In this passage Jesus gives us a definition of sin which may be different than the one many people have been taught. Most people think of sin as something we do that we call wrong or evil, or something that we fail to do that we call right or good. Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will convict us of sin because we don’t believe in Jesus.
When you think about it, it makes perfect sense that sin is unbelief. The Bible establishes in the Old Testament that Abraham was reckoned to be righteous because he believed God. Righteousness has always been a matter of belief. We are not made righteous by our actions. We are made righteous by our faith, that is our belief that God is God and we are not and the only way to approach God is through His plan and not by our performance or efforts. And our faith is grounded in our belief – Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.
I like to use the example of each of us having two clouds hanging over us, one a cloud of unbelief and another a cloud of belief. Whichever cloud we focus on grows and when one grows the other shrinks. We focus on our cloud of unbelief whenever we live as if there is no God or as if we are God. An example of this would be living as if there are no absolute truths, morals or ethics. Living as if we are God includes living in our own strength and trusting in ourselves for our righteousness, worth, success, safety or satisfaction.
When we focus on ourselves instead of God our cloud of unbelief grows. Our cloud of unbelief grows not because we are actively trying to rebel against God, but because whenever we focus on ourselves, our environment, our enemies, our happiness, or whatever else other than who we are in God, our cloud of belief shrinks from lack of attention and our cloud of unbelief grows to fill in the void. The fruit of the Spirit in our lives hang down from our cloud of belief and the things we think of as sins (anger, lust, stealing, selfishness, pride, etc.) hang down from our cloud of unbelief. The bigger the cloud the more stuff hanging down – fruit or “sins.”
Now here is the secret to the battle. This is the primary truth that Satan does not want you to know. If you are not yet a believer of course you have a very small cloud of belief based on whatever you have gleaned about God from His revelation about Himself through creation and conscience. Your small cloud has very little room for love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control (the fruit of the Spirit). Your cloud of unbelief of course has lots of room for “good” things but ultimately they will be revealed as self focused attempts at trying to earn favor, reputation, status, respect, or even heaven. In the end pride will show its face.
Once you have become a believer, the struggle is even more difficult and subtle. Since as an unbeliever you had become comfortable with a large cloud of unbelief and a small cloud of belief, Satan will whisper in your ear that you need to clip off the “sins” hanging down from your cloud of unbelief and staple on some artificial fruit to your tiny cloud of belief so everyone knows that your are a Christian. This is Satan’s greatest weapon to keep Christians, and therefore the church, from being effective and overflowing with hope and joy. You see if Satan can keep you focused on getting rid of your “sins”, he can keep your eyes off of who you are in God because of Jesus’ finished work on the cross and your cloud of belief continues to either shrink or remain small and your cloud of unbelief grows. And as your cloud of unbelief continues to grow, your “sins” increase in coverage and your work of clipping them off becomes never ending. And the viscous cycle perpetuates itself. Unless you can break out of the cycle of unbelief you will never be effective and joyful.
Now here’s the secret. Stop focusing on your cloud of unbelief. Start focusing on your cloud of belief. How so you say? Stop focusing on what you are doing and stop focusing on your circumstances, needs, desires, and efforts. Start focusing on who God is, what He has done for you through the Gospel and His Son, and on who you are “in Him.” Just like Noah was safe from the flood because he was in the Ark, you as a believer are safe because you are in Christ. You are not just safe but you are His child. And as His child you are complete “in Him” and loved by God unconditionally and forever. You are complete and secure. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone, you just need to believe in God and in His faithfulness, mercy and love.
As you focus on who you are in God, your cloud of belief will grow and your cloud of unbelief will shrink. As your cloud of belief grows, more real fruit will hang down and you will be more filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control naturally and not by your own efforts or desires. Reciprocally, your cloud of unbelief will shrink and your “sins” will fall away because there is no room for their roots – not because you are constantly clipping them off above the root. You will be less tempted to take credit for your improvement because it will not be by your own efforts, instead it will be the result of God’s mercy.
So you see that we each have two clouds. As Jesus said, when He sends the Holy Spirit, He will convict each of us of sin, because we do not believe in Him. Sin is unbelief. Righteousness is a matter of belief. The cloud you choose to focus on will grow. If you focus on yourself, your cloud of unbelief will grow and so will your discontent because being god is a difficult task. Remember God never slumbers nor sleeps. If we choose to be god by focusing on our cloud of unbelief we will ultimately wear out because there is no rest. But if we focus on who we are in Him, beloved children of God Almighty, saved by Jesus’ completed work on the cross, our cloud of belief will grow and destroy our cloud of unbelief and we will enjoy a life of hope and joy, secure in the love and mercy of God. It’s that simple. Which cloud will you choose to be your focus?
The righteous shall live by faith!”
