INTRODUCTION

Throughout church history, much time has been given to the discussion of biblical conviction. Unfortunately, the subject matter has been corrupted to various extremes. The word only appears one time in scripture in the past tense (see John 8:9And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
See All...), but the concept appears quite frequently. Also in John 8, one can find another key Bible word that is very closely related to conviction, and that word is convinceth . In fact, some have defined conviction as the mental state of being convinced. In other words, one is never convicted or under conviction until he has first been convinced of sin or guilt. It is no wonder that the people could not convince the Saviour of sin; He was not guilty.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

• (For smaller children) When a copy of God's law had been found while the temple was being repaired, it was read to king Josiah. He was convinced that he and his people had been disobedient to God's word. He promised the Lord they would correct this sin (2 Kings 22:8-13 [8] And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. [9] And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD. [10] And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. [11] And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes. [12] And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king's, saying, [13] Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.
  See All...; 2 Kings 23:1-3 [1] And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. [2] And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD. [3] And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
  See All...).
• Men could not convince the Saviour of sin. Why? Can you convince others of sin? Why, or why not? Who is ultimately the only one who can convince of sin?
• How does conviction come about in the heart of an individual? Why must he first be convinced of God’s righteousness and his own guilt?

PRAYER NEEDS

• Ask the Lord to teach you more about conviction.
• Ask God to convict you of any wrong presently within your heart.

HYMN

Cleanse Me

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