⁹  “… concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me…”

Main problem with lost sinners is not the specific sins they commit. Those are the symptoms of the deeper problem, namely the sin nature. When unbelievers sin (and sometimes sin in “big” ways), they are doing what sinners naturally do, nothing more, nothing less. Sometimes believers fall into the morass of trying to reform non-believers apart from their being regenerated from death into life. When we try to speak to their immorality, it comes across as judgmental and critical. At least that is how the world sees it. While it is true that acknowledgment of sin, confession and repentance are part of the process of salvation, so often a confusing message conveys the need to reform before coming to Christ in faith. This inadvertently communicates the wrong message through a subtle shift of focus.

To be sure the rich young man was tagged by the Lord to sell all he had and give it to the poor, then he could follow Jesus. Unfortunately, he was not able to turn from his idolatry of money. Jesus, knowing what was in each person’s heart” (John 2:25 NLT), perceived that the man’s love of his riches stood between him and Christ. Some could argue that the young man was being called to discipleship, not to salvation proper. But that begs the point. Jesus wasn’t in the ministry of seeking believers apart from seeking disciples. In fact, He had no problem turning away a probable 4,988 men from following as His disciples (John 6:10, 66). His difficult teaching about eating His body and drinking His blood was clearly intended to separate out those who came for the personal benefits of following Christ (John 6:26) versus the true believers who leave all to follow Him (John 6:68). He was not interested in the nuances that separate faith and discipleship into two separate callings He made no room for those who did not turn from their sinful ways. Salvation was all about turning from sin and turning to Jesus.

The call to salvation is a call to repent, not to change. An unregenerate sinner cannot change himself in order to be saved. That would be like a dirty person getting washed up first, before coming to take a bath. Only God can change a person—and that begins with the conviction our passage speaks about, which is the work of the Holy Spirit. This is not an outward focus on a specific symptom of sin, but of the core sin issue. And that core issue is unbelief. That is where true spiritual conviction takes place. Then, when followed by faith, the sinner is regenerated and becomes a new creation (2 Cor 5:17), and God begins to work the change in the specific areas of sin—inward first, then outwardly.

Lord, thank You for Your convicting Spirit who shows me my sinfulness.