Can someone explain what conviction of Holy Spirit feel like?

Maria Billingsley · Nov 28, 2021

Now we love Him more than our sin.
Be blessed.

eleos1954 · Nov 28, 2021

Jesus has called the Holy Spirit the paraclete, a word rich in meaning and that conveys the idea of helper, advocate, and comforter.

As you draw closer to God, you will see your sinfulness in the light of Christ’s righteous life. (the help of the Holy Spirit showing this)

Christ revealed to humanity an example of a pure and holy life (1 Peter 2:22). The Spirit’s work is for you to behold His life, His goodness, and see your hopeless state. This is for the purpose that you may be led to repentance (Romans 2:4). It is the conviction of sin (Holy Spirit showing you your sin), and Christ‘s righteousness, that leads you to salvation. And it is through the salvation experience that you will begin to grow through the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit leads one to repentance (turning away from sin) .... how one respond's to the leading of the Holy Spirit will determine how long that will take. That is one can resist the Holy Spirit .... even to the point where God will remove His Spirit totally (blasphemy of the Holy Spirit) that is ones heart becomes to hardened (continuously rejecting the Holy Spirit's conviction) and that is blasphemy of the Spirit and is the unpardonable sin ... (because the person is not able to recognize his/her sin.)

walkswithFire · Nov 29, 2021

The sense is a feeling of clarity and sober mindedness mixed with guilt and wrongdoing. It feels like you have been caught breaking the law, a law you never ever knew existed.

Sometimes it can happen over a period of time. Other times it can be instant...

After truly repenting of something that bought you to a place of conviction, there is a sense of exhalation. A sense of just managing to avoid something that would have been distastrous if not confronted and dealt when it was.

Morghaine · Nov 29, 2021

I could not agree more! Good word!

Morghaine · Nov 29, 2021

I agree with a few others, that it can be instant, or build up over time. Today, I was listening to the radio, switching stations around and stopped on a song by a band that I used to enjoy when I was younger and smiled, and then it was if a neon sign went on in my head that said 'filth in, filth out' - I immediately changed the station. I am thankful that we are given the chance to change and grow and mature in our faith and to grow to be more like our Savior!

SANTOSO · Dec 1, 2021

Beloved ones, this is what we have heard about CONVICTION:

“And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:”
‭‭John‬ ‭16:8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

In KJV translation, this is what we heard:
“And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:”
‭‭John‬ ‭16:8‬ ‭KJV‬‬

What reprove” means In Hebrew:

Strong's #3198: yakach (pronounced yaw-kahh')
a primitive root; to be right (i.e. correct); reciprocal, to argue; causatively, to decide, justify or convict:--appoint, argue, chasten, convince, correct(-ion), daysman, dispute, judge, maintain, plead, reason (together), rebuke, reprove(-r), surely, in any wise.

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon:
yâkach

1) to prove, decide, judge, rebuke, reprove, correct, be right
1a) (Hiphil)
1a1) to decide, judge
1a2) to adjudge, appoint
1a3) to show to be right, prove
1a4) to convince, convict
1a5) to reprove, chide
1a6) to correct, rebuke
1b) (Hophal) to be chastened
1c) (Niphal) to reason, reason together
1d) (Hithpael) to argue

Beloved ones, let us consider again what our Lord have said:
“And 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.”
‭‭John‬ ‭16:8-11‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
‭‭John‬ ‭16:12-13‬ ‭KJV‬‬

So the conviction or the reproving of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement— that we may bear the truth, for the Holy Spirit is come, He will guide us into all truth: for He shall not speak of himself.

How we should bear the truth ? By bearing witness of the truth, guided by the Spirit of truth.

For we also heard apostle Peter said:
“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:”
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭1:22‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Beloved ones, the conviction or reproving of the Holy Spirit leads our souls to be purified in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that we love one another with a pure heart fervently.

Beloved ones, I would not say as “feels like” since conviction is of the Spirit and through the Spirit. I would say conviction of the Spirit is of faith in Christ Jesus. So conviction of the Holy Spirit leads to sanctification of the Spirit.

For we heard :
“But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:”
‭‭2 Thessalonians‬ ‭2:13‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Also apostle Paul said:
“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭6:22‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Beloved ones, Holy Spirit leads us to bear the fruit of righteousness, that fruit we get leads to sanctification of the Spirit and its end, eternal life.

Beloved ones, let us be thankful to God the Father through Christ, who has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit.

To God be all glory and praise.
Amen.

Blaise N · Dec 2, 2021

Here is my personal take on it.The Holy Spirit almighty as I like to call him,works through the conscience,convicting you if something potentially being dangerous,sinful,evil,wrong,selfish,etc. it’s like a thought of the mind that says “This is a bad decision that will cause sin,so it’s best avoid it” Also if you ever have a thought that something is sinful,it’s most likely the Holy Spirit revealing to you something that is sinful you don’t know of.He also persuades you strongly to repent of any habitual sin and after committing sin in general.

aiki · Dec 3, 2021

Very often, Spirit conviction is mixed up with mere pangs of conscience. They may overlap, our conscience being God-given, after all, but they are not identical things by any means. In particular, one's conscience can be seared, corrupted and dulled, failing, then, to react to things that ought to provoke it sharply. This can never be the case with the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. We can become deaf and dull to His conviction of us, but he cannot himself ever be corrupted or made dull to evil by our sin.

True conviction moves us toward God, never into the bushes to hide, as with Adam and Eve in Eden. The Spirit's conviction is restorative, not condemning (Romans 8:1) and isolating. Only as we are living holy, righteous lives can we enjoy God fully, which the Spirit knows, of course, and to which end the Spirit is always working in pointing at the sin in our lives that must go (John 16:8). Under the Spirit's conviction, the believer is pressed to confess and forsake sin in order to restore fellowship with God, not merely to relieve a guilty conscience.

The Spirit's conviction is always working in tandem with God's truth (John 16:13; 1 Corinthians 2:10-16), and so has the effect both of moving us toward God and also changing our thinking, our understanding, of what it is to walk well with God, conforming our living more and more to God's word.

And yes, a sensitivity to the Spirit's conviction grows over time as the believer gives heed to the Spirit's prodding and drawing. The reverse also happens, though, as the believer ignores the Spirit's conviction.

The effect of responding positively to the convicting work of the Spirit will be a natural and profound withdrawal from the values, philosophies and behaviors of the World, a deepening rejection of fleshly, carnal living, and a deep hatred of the demonic. Walking with God necessarily requires a departure from all of these things, a careful cleansing of one's life of their dark taint. (2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Ephesians 5:1-16; 2 Corinthians 7:1) And so, as the Spirit convicts, the result will be an ever-increasing separation between the believer and the World, the Flesh and the devil.

Repentance produces confession and is an essential part of how the Spirit convicts us. When genuine repentance occurs, when a person is genuinely changed in their thinking about their sin, a hatred of that sin is very typical; for the believer realizes in repentance, in changing their thinking about their sin, just how damaging and stultifying sin is to their enjoyment of God and of being of service to Him in the world.

ChristServant · Dec 18, 2021

Christians grow more as time passes or should unless something is hindering them.

We develop the fruits of spirit over time.

The more we get to know the word of GOD and the more we pray the more understanding you will gain.

We are on a journey home, a pilgrimage to the kingdom of our GOD.

We will be guided and taught on this journey by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth if we choose to let it. Do not lean on our own understanding we are told.

You will stumble on your journey at times but repent and look past this. Do not dwell on mistakes as the accuser will use this against you, if you let him, and continue on to the kingdom. We are told to seek the Kingdom of GOD and HIS righteousness.

As time passes you will learn to hate the things GOD hates and love the things GOD loves.

May Peace and Grace abound with you on your journey

Peace be to all those in the Body of Christ.

Joy · Dec 19, 2021

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BobRyan · Dec 19, 2021

Turning from sin , being disinclined to follow the path of rebellion is Holy Spirit's work in the miracle of new creation.

2 Cor 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from people, but from God.

Phil 3: 7 But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ,

But conviction of sin is to realize that we have been doing wrong.

John 16:

7 But I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I am leaving; for if I do not leave, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 And He, when He comes, will convict the world regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment: 9 regarding sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and regarding righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you no longer are going to see Me; 11 and regarding judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

James 4: "17 So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin."

1 John 3:4 Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."

Rom 7:
7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. ... 12 So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

James 2:8 If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. 11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.

Sketcher · Dec 19, 2021

One of its aspects is it will guide you in the direction of repentance. Perhaps just an uncomfortable first step. For that step: the Holy Spirit will not tell you to harm others, but he may lead you to separate from sins that you are doing with others.

RaymondG · Jan 5, 2022

Conviction of the spirit is akin to a strong feeling......it is neither positive or negative...... just simply a strong persuasion to either do, undo, or to not do something. Ignoring this urge could lead you into danger, or simply make you miss out on finding a crisp hundred dollar bill on the floor, waiting for you around the corner.....

RaymondG · Jan 5, 2022

And this persuasion is felt by all, not just people who call themselves Christians, or believe themselves to be saved.

aiki · Jan 7, 2022

We have a conscience, God-given, that signals to us when we have contravened the "law of God written on our hearts." But our conscience can be hardened toward sin, blunted in its sensitivity to what is evil, "seared" the Bible says, and so is not a reliable source of conviction about the wrongness of our attitudes, thoughts and actions. The Christian does far better relying instead upon the conviction of the Holy Spirit, who cannot be corrupted, or deceived, or misled, as we can be.

The Spirit's conviction may work in tandem with the prick of our conscience, but mere shame and guilt over wrong-doing has the effect of driving us into isolation, away from God. Think Adam and Eve in Eden. Their hiding in the bushes from God was a great illustration of the condemnation and shame of knowing one has disobeyed God and how such disobedience prompts us to separate ourselves from Him.

In contrast to mere guiltiness, Spirit-conviction always has the effect of moving us toward God, back into joyful fellowship with Him, rather than into ashamed withdrawal. The conviction of the Spirit has a remedial purpose, exposing our sin so that we might come free of it and enjoy God more fully, not merely to shame and condemn us.

The Spirit's conviction is always in accord with the Truth, never accommodating self-deception and/or the lies of the devil and the World over which he "rules." The conviction of the Spirit always takes the believer deeper into the light of the Truth of God's word, revealing the long-held, even cherished, falsehoods that have allowed sin to grow within, challenging and casting them out. In this respect, conviction and repentance (changing your mind) go hand-in-hand.

The Spirit's conviction of us fans the flame of our desire for God, our love for Him. It is love that is the ground for all of our walk with our Maker, motivating all we do as Christ-followers (Matthew 22:36-38; 1 Corinthians 13:1-3), and the Spirit always works in challenging our sin with a view to enlarging our desire for, our love of, God.

Will the conviction of the Spirit result in particular negative feelings about sin? In time, yes. But more vitally, the Spirit, in his conviction of you, will turn you away from your sin to God. No one ever became more like Jesus by looking upon sin - even to hate it. We have been made by God to be shaped by the things upon which we focus ourselves, and so, the Spirit's conviction will result in revulsion toward sin, but never in morbid fascination with it, or in any sort of preoccupation with one's disgusted feelings about sin. On this point, the apostle Paul had great advice:

Philippians 3:12-14
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 3:18
18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Hebrews 12:2-3
2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

One other thing: There is a place for responding in sorrow to the Spirit's conviction of you. James wrote on this head in his letter to the Early Church:

James 4:8-10
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

The Spirit's conviction often results in sorrow - not over one's own wretchedness, but over the injury to one's fellowship with God (and to others) that sin has caused and in response to the understanding that Christ had to pay with his life and blood for the sin you've committed.

tturt · Jan 7, 2022

Godly sorrow -- "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death."

Put another way "God designed us to feel remorse over sin in order to produce repentance that leads to victory. This leaves us with no regrets. But the sorrow of the world works death." II Cor 7:10

Jaxxi · Feb 3, 2022

Conviction feels like you are Job, seriously. It feels like God has gone to lunch and Satan has snuck in to water board you for a half hour. It is not a fun time.

ViaCrucis · Feb 3, 2022

As we grow in faith, as we are exposed to Scripture, as we are called to lives of love and self-sacrifice for others, then the Law will grow a weight on your conscience.

Because the Law serves to act as a mirror, revealing our sin. So when we come face-to-face with the commandment, "Love your neighbor as yourself" and we realize we aren't doing that (because of sin), then the conscience is pricked by guilt. The guilty conscience, the conscience of one who is guilty before the Law, drives us down in that guilt and grief.

This is also why it is impossible for anyone to be justified by the Law, because the Law does not provide us with any righteousness before God; but rather standing before God the Law condemns us; our own sin stands as evidence against us, our own conscience testifies against us that we are guilty and deserving of Judgment.

I'm not sure that the idea of "conviction" as is sometimes popularly described is necessarily what Jesus means when He talks about the power and work of the Spirit who will "convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment" (John 16:8). The idea here isn't that the Holy Spirit functions as the individual conscience of unbelieving (or believing) persons; rather the idea here is that when the Holy Spirit comes (which He did in spectacular fashion as described in the Acts of the Apostles) He will convict the world, that is, bring a conviction against the world--to refute, correct, to show fault with, etc.

In other words, part of what the Holy Spirit will do is that He will demonstrate, show forth, how the world is at fault, broken, as it relates to righteousness (or justice), sin, and judgment.

Because all authority has been given to the Son to make judgment (John 5:22), and of course when the Lord returns at the conclusion of history He returns to "judge the living and the dead" (2 Timothy 4:1). But also, the Lord Himself says there is already judgment against the world, and that it is that men lived in darkness and despised the light, and men hid because their deeds were evil.

The judgment already against us is the judgment of the Law.

How does the Holy Spirit convict the world? Well, through the conscience could be one way; but He does so also through the word. Namely, we do preach the Law for repentance, not just to the unbelieving, but also to we who believe. Because even though we have been regenerated, and made new in Christ, having received the "new man"; we still have the "old man" cleaving onto us. It's what the Apostle calls "the flesh", it's why the Apostle says in Romans 7 that the good he wishes to do he doesn't do, and the evil he doesn't want to do he does anyway.

Therefore the Law cannot justify. We are justified by God's grace alone, through faith, on Christ's account alone. It is Christ's righteousness that we receive as pure gift, through faith, that renders us justified--and in this way we have righteousness from God through the Gospel (Romans 1:16-17, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Philippians 3:9, etc.)

So we actually find that the normative way that the Holy Spirit works in and through the Church, is through the ordinary things of the Church: Word and Sacrament.

Consider the power of the Holy Spirit who keeps us in true faith, and encourages us on Christ's account, according to Christ's own commandments that we love our neighbor, that we love one another as brothers and sisters, and that we love our enemy. So when we see in Romans 12, the Apostle speaks of the renewal and transformation of ourselves--as we are being renewed and transformed by the power of the Spirit day by day, as together in the Body of Christ, God's word creating and working faith, celebrating the Lord's Supper, baptizing and making disciples, preaching God's word continually that we are built up together in the Spirit, as the Body. To live as living sacrifices, as we actually live out our spiritual worship before God by loving one another, caring for others, to be humble--and to care, love, feed, and help even those who despise us.

The depth of poverty in the power of the world is demonstrated through the Gospel, where God chose the foolish and weak things of the world to confound the wise and the strong. In Colossians 2 Paul says that Christ took the powers and principalities and made them a public spectacle.

The short version is that there is no "secret" to unravel here. Through the Church, the Holy Spirit is at work, He is at work through Word and Sacrament. As we preach, as we teach, as we hear the Scriptures, as we confess our sins, as we worship, as we pray, as we sing hymns and psalms and spiritual songs. Through all these things the Holy Spirit is at work, He is working on us, He is working through us for others (even if we may not always realize it).

St. Paul says in Romans 10:17 that through the Gospel God creates faith, "For faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ". So wherever the Word is being preached and the Sacraments are administered we can be confident of God's power and work. We can be confident that the Holy Spirit is faithful to His Church.

-CryptoLutheran

Jaxxi · Feb 3, 2022

The Holy Spirit convicted me 30 years ago and allowed the enemy to spiritually attack me in a most violating and vicious way, and though Jesus came immediately to my rescue, He then withdrew from me in my aftermath until I showed Him I was more than talk and fear. It was terrifying beyond imagination. One step from possession, and it was a 6 second nightmare that changed me forever. Conviction is no joke, and you may walk through the darkness feeling alone, but I feel it is how He prepares His people for the battles to come.

Dietrich Lorentz · Feb 4, 2022

"Very well put, for so did God in the Psalms when the Psalmist prayed for release from his reigns [kidneys] of David. The "Reigns" like of a horses' bridle are what pulls a soul whose reigns are held by God." DL

Can someone explain what conviction of Holy Spirit feel like?

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