By Chris Mogensen
How the Gospel advances in people’s lives.
The farming metaphor is very helpful; new growth never materializes out of nothing. A farm laborer carefully cultivates the soil and sows the seed, then waits for the harvest. The seed of the Word of God is sown in our hearts. The Holy Spirit, to a surprising extent, labors right alongside us in the soil of people's hearts and minds, causing the seed to sprout and grow.
Probably the best verse describing the work of the Holy Spirit in advancing the seed of the Gospel is John 16:8 where Jesus said, "When he comes, he will convince the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment." This appears to be perhaps his primary ministry in the hearts and minds of people around us. As you read this verse in several different versions, consider the following questions:
Why these particular convictions? Why these three particular areas?
John 16:8-11 (NIV)
When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
John 16:8-11 (New Living)
And when he comes, he will convince the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. The world’s sin is unbelief in me. Righteousness is available because I go to the Father and you will see me no more. Judgment will come because the Prince of this world has already been judged.
John 16:8-11 (The Message)
When he comes, he'll expose the error of the godless world's view of sin, righteousness, and judgment: He'll show them that their refusal to believe in me is their basic sin; that righteousness comes from above, where I am with the Father, out of their sight and control; that judgment takes place as the ruler of this godless world is brought to trial and convicted.
Write your own paraphrase here!
As confirmed believers, many of us accept on face value, the terms "sin", "righteousness" and "judgment". It is familiar language. However, to people struggling to discover and define a growing personal faith, these particular terms would never be a common starting point. But the concepts would be described using more everyday words.
As someone is becoming convinced of these three truths from John 16:8, what words might they use to describe them? What other terms could we possibly hear people using as they respond to the urgings of the Holy Spirit?
| Sin |
Righteousness |
Judgment |
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|
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Sometimes our own religious language or over-familiarity with common Bible texts keeps us from seeing or feeling what it is like for those struggling to come to faith. We have forgotten what it is like to not have God in our lives. And so we have lost a bit of what we should have in common with those who are being saved but haven't arrived yet. The apostle Paul spoke to this very issue in his letter to the believers in Rome.
Let's now take a closer look at the way people around us might be discovering the one concept of "sin". The classic verse that defines sin in the minds of many is Romans 3:23, where the apostle Paul writes, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
These are very familiar words. But, I'm willing to bet that as growing believers we have forgotten what it is like to have sinned and fall short.
To those of us who are firm and growing believers, the verb "falls short" definitively describes the dilemma of sin on people’s lives before being set free by Christ. "Falling short" has practically become a synonym for sin. But for someone discovering the complication of sin for the first time, what would it look like?
Compare and contrast Romans 3:23 in several translations below. Feel free to add the text from any other translations that you enjoy reading and studying.
The way that "falls short" is used in the Message and in other modern language translations seems to have a different feel to it. Why? Contrast the two approaches. How do they complete each other?
Study Bible Translations
Romans 3.23 (NIV) (NASB)
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Reading Bible Translations / Modern Language Versions
Romans 3.23 (New Living)
"For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard."
Romans 3.23 (Phillips)
"Everyone has sinned, everyone falls short of the beauty of God’s plan."
Romans 3.22-23 (The Message)
"For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve all compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us."
Notice that the notion "falls short" seems to include more than just the idea of "failure". When explaining sin, a lot of Christians attach hardly more than a notion of "guilt" and "shame". We need to take a closer look at this verb "fall short" since it does describe every person alive.
How is "fall short" used typically in a sentence? Probably a very familiar occurrence in English is in sports talk where a player's effort wasn’t good enough and as a result he or she will miss out on a golden opportunity to better the score: Her shot fell in the bunker just short of the green; The field goal was no good, the kick fell just short of the crossbar; The runner was stopped just short of the goal line.
The Greek verb translated "fall short" in Romans 3.23 is in the present imperative tense and middle voice.
Present tense = descriptive, always true
Imperative = commanding, directive
Middle voice = in between passive (something is being done to us) and active voice (we are doing something), the middle voice includes both ideas; we are at the same time responsible for it and a victim of it.
In what way are we both the author and victim of sin?
In Greek, this verb "falls short" has two definite sides to its meaning:
| To FAIL |
To MISS OUT |
To miss the mark
To come short of
To be deficient
To flop |
To be in want
To lack
To be the worse
To be deprived of something |
Tell us a little bit of your story. Think back to how you first discovered the notion of sin. Which side of the notion of sin did you become convinced of first? When did the other idea come?
Brainstorm a while longer. As people around you begin to accept the notion of sin into their worldview, how might they describe it? What phrases do you think they might use?