The Necessity of the Spirit's Conviction Because of the Incompetency of Conscience
John 16:9
Of sin, because they believe not on me;


We have the voice of conscience sighing through every fresh crack that we make in God's image in our hearts, and conspiring, with reason and imagination and every other faculty, to admonish us that we are betraying our duty, outraging our better feelings, marring our true, aboriginal nature, polluting our souls, and withering and rotting our hearts. But is this enough to convince a man of sin? Alas! conscience is so wasted by year-long neglect, and crushed by reiterated violation, that it scarcely ever utters its warnings and reproofs, except against overt acts of sin. It seldom takes notice of our habitual sins: still less does it rouse us to contend against that sinfulness which is inwrought in the natural heart. No! when conscience is uttering her most righteous words, she often is only casting pearls before swine. The passions of the carnal mind are fretted and irritated by the sight of what is so unlike themselves, and trample them impatiently in the mire.

(Archdeacon Hare.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: Of sin, because they believe not on me;

WEB: about sin, because they don't believe in me;




The Holy Spirit Convincing of Sin
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