The Holy Spirit today, convicts us of righteousness, not sin. Sounds heretical right? Well, the church of Jesus Christ has heard all sorts of teachings on the Holy Spirit and this issue is one of the many issues I would like to address. Many believers are still clinging onto the grandfather teaching that the Holy Spirit convicts the believer of sin. However, down through the ages, little by little, God has supplied truths of the gospel and we are still rediscovering the gospel till it becomes a perfect jigsaw puzzle.
”But, this great man of God….”
Hold your horses! Let us quote the scriptures instead of this great man or that great man, deal?
”Okay then. John 16:8-11!”
As you wish.
John 16:8-11
New King James Version (NKJV)
8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
”See, the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin! See! See! I told you!”
Let me show u another verse. You supplied one verse, so I supply one.
John 15:19
New King James Version (NKJV)
19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
What Jesus meant in this verse is that we(believers) are in this world and yet not of this world! Let’s go back to John 16.
8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
For a long time, people have been using the same verse over and over again to prove their point.
If we preachers had used magnifying glasses, we would have seen the phrase,”convict the world of sin”.
Suffice to say, the word ”they” refers to the world. Jesus was speaking to His disciples so when He says, ”they”, He definitely wasn’t referring to His disciples. He was referring to people outside which is the ”world(unbelievers)”.
Now, what sin is an unbeliever convicted of? Unbelief! How can a believer, who has accepted Jesus Christ into his life, be included in the unbelief category?
Now, see the words highlighted in red. Jesus was talking to His disciples. Notice Jesus used different words? They, you, ruler of this world(devil)? They(world), you(disciples also known as believers), ruler of the world(devil). Jesus distinguishes us from the world and from the devil. We are in the category of righteousness.
The Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius when Peter proclaimed remission of sins. The Holy Spirit unveils to us our righteousness in Christ and not our sins.
The Holy Spirit is a helper according to Jesus. Can you live with a friend, a helper who always points out your faults? Absolutely not! David never had the Holy Spirit because David was never clean. The Holy Spirit at that time, comes and goes. We having been clean, washed by the blood of Jesus, have the benefit of the Holy Spirit coming into us and abiding with us forever and also reminding us of our righteousness in Christ!
The Word of God and His name is Jesus! 
Thank you for explaining that so well!!!! Those verses (John 16:8-11) came alive to me for the first time. Thank you!!! And please, keep writing and sharing.