John 16:9 Study Bible: about sin, because they do not believe in me;

◄ John 16:9 ►

in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me;

in regard to sin
The phrase "in regard to sin" introduces the subject of sin as a central theme in this verse. The Greek word for sin, "hamartia," conveys the idea of missing the mark or falling short of God's standard. In the context of the Gospel of John, sin is not merely a list of wrongdoings but a fundamental separation from God. This separation is highlighted by the failure to recognize and accept Jesus as the Messiah. The Holy Spirit's role, as described in this passage, is to convict the world of this sin, emphasizing the need for repentance and reconciliation with God.

because they do not believe
The phrase "because they do not believe" points to unbelief as the root cause of sin. The Greek word for believe, "pisteuo," implies trust, faith, and reliance. In the Gospel of John, belief is not just intellectual assent but a deep, personal trust in Jesus Christ. The failure to believe in Jesus is the ultimate sin because it rejects the only means of salvation and reconciliation with God. This unbelief is not just a passive state but an active rejection of the truth revealed in Christ.

in Me
The phrase "in Me" is central to understanding the object of belief. Jesus is the focal point of faith, and the preposition "in" (Greek "eis") suggests a movement towards and a resting in Jesus. This belief is not merely about accepting facts about Jesus but entering into a relationship with Him. The historical context of this statement is crucial, as Jesus is speaking to His disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit, who will testify about Him and convict the world of its need for Him. The phrase underscores the exclusivity of Christ as the way to the Father, a theme that resonates throughout the Gospel of John.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Jesus Christ
The speaker of this verse, Jesus is addressing His disciples during the Last Supper, preparing them for His departure and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

2. The Disciples
The immediate audience of Jesus' teaching, they are being prepared for the challenges they will face after Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.

3. The Holy Spirit
Although not directly mentioned in this verse, the context of John 16 involves Jesus explaining the role of the Holy Spirit in convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

4. The World
Refers to those who do not believe in Jesus, highlighting the broader audience that the Holy Spirit will convict.

5. The Last Supper
The setting of this discourse, where Jesus shares His final teachings with His disciples before His crucifixion.

Teaching Points

The Root of Sin
Unbelief in Jesus is the fundamental sin that separates humanity from God. Recognizing this helps us understand the importance of faith in the Christian life.

Role of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, specifically the sin of unbelief. This conviction is a call to faith and repentance.

Faith as a Response
Belief in Jesus is the antidote to sin. Our response to the Holy Spirit's conviction should be to place our trust in Christ.

Evangelism and Witnessing
Understanding that unbelief is the core issue can guide our evangelistic efforts, focusing on presenting the truth of Jesus to those who do not believe.

Personal Reflection
Examine areas of personal unbelief or doubt and seek to strengthen faith through prayer, study, and fellowship.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does understanding unbelief as the root of sin change your perspective on sin and its consequences?

2. In what ways can you be more receptive to the Holy Spirit's conviction in your life?

3. How can you effectively communicate the importance of belief in Jesus to those who do not yet believe?

4. Reflect on a time when you struggled with unbelief. How did you overcome it, and what role did faith play in that process?

5. How can the church support individuals in moving from unbelief to faith in Jesus?

Connections to Other Scriptures

John 3:18
This verse discusses the condemnation that comes from not believing in Jesus, connecting to the idea of sin being rooted in unbelief.

Romans 3:23
Highlights the universality of sin, which underscores the need for belief in Jesus as the remedy for sin.

Hebrews 11:6
Emphasizes the necessity of faith to please God, aligning with the idea that unbelief is a fundamental sin.

Acts 2:37-38
Shows the response to conviction of sin, leading to repentance and belief in Jesus.

Sermons

Conviction of Sin	C. Hodge, D. D.	John 16:9
Conviction of Sin	J. F. B. Tinling, B. A.	John 16:9
Faith in Christ	W. H. H. Aitken, M. A.	John 16:9
Ineffectual Reproof and Effectual Conviction of Sin	Archdeacon Hare.	John 16:9
Sin and its Reproof	J. T. Duryea, D. D.	John 16:9
The Convicting Facts	Alexander Maclaren	John 16:9
The Convictive Work of the Holy Ghost	J. Parker, D. D.	John 16:9
The Convincer of Sin	W. R. Clark, M. A.	John 16:9
The Holy Spirit Convincing of Sin	H. Kollock, D. D.	John 16:9
The Necessity of the Spirit's Conviction Because of the Incompetency of Conscience	Archdeacon Hare.	John 16:9
The Necessity of the Spirit's Conviction Because of the Incompetency of the Law	Archdeacon Hare.	John 16:9
The Sin of Unbelief	C. Hodge, D. D.	John 16:9
The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Conviction of Sin	C. Hodge, D. D.	John 16:9
The Work of the Spirit in the Conviction of Sin	W. Roberts.	John 16:9
Unbelief, the Greatest Sin	S. Charnock, B. D.	John 16:9
Conviction of Sin	J.R. Thomson	John 16:8, 9
Conviction of Righteousness	J.R. Thomson	John 16:8, 10
Conviction	Bp. Westcott.	John 16:8-11
Conviction of Judgment	J.R. Thomson	John 16:8, 11
The Awful Evil of Sin	C. H. Spurgeon.	John 16:8-11
The Convicting Work of the Spirit	D. Young	John 16:8-11
The Facts Which Convince the World	A. Maclaren, D. D.	John 16:8-11
The Fixing of Impressions	J. Stoughton, D. D.	John 16:8-11
The Hardened Sinner		John 16:8-11
The Holy Spirit's Threefold Conviction of Men	C. H. Spurgeon.	John 16:8-11
The Mission of the Comforter	E. L. Hull, B. A.	John 16:8-11
The Object of the Mission of the Comforter	J. Cumming, D. D.	John 16:8-11
The Spirit of Fire		John 16:8-11
The Spirit's Threefold Conviction	G. D. Boardman, D. D.	John 16:8-11
The Threefold Conviction	Geo. G. Findlay, B. A.	John 16:8-11

People

Jesus, Disciples

Places

Jerusalem

Topics

Believe, Faith, Indeed, Sin

Dictionary of Bible Themes

John 16:9

8834 unbelief

John 16:5-10

2505 Christ, ascension

John 16:5-21

3215 Holy Spirit, and peace

John 16:7-11

     1436   reality
     3035   Holy Spirit, presence of
     3130   Holy Spirit, Counsellor
     3296   Holy Spirit, in the world
     5031   knowledge, of sin
     8498   witnessing, and Holy Spirit

John 16:7-15

3040 Holy Spirit, promise of

John 16:8-9

6029 sin, forgiveness
8744 faithlessness, as disobedience

John 16:8-11

     3248   Holy Spirit, conviction
     5038   mind, the human
     5360   justice, God
     8105   assurance, basis of

Library

Presence in Absence
Eversley, third Sunday after Easter. 1862. St John xvi. 16. "A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father." Divines differ, and, perhaps, have always differed, about the meaning of these words. Some think that our Lord speaks in them of His death and resurrection. Others that He speaks of His ascension and coming again in glory. I cannot decide which is right. I dare not decide. It is a very solemn thing--too solemn …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

November 6 Evening
Lead me in thy truth, and teach me--PSA. 25:5. When . . . the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth.--Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.--All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

November 29 Evening
Do ye now believe?--JOHN 16:31. What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son. Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead.--Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Ye see then how that …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 14 Morning
The fellowship of His sufferings.--PHI. 3:10. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.--In the world ye shall have tribulation.--Because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. I looked for some to take pity, but there was none.--At my …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

December 21 Morning
The days of thy mourning shall be ended.--ISA. 60:20. In the world ye shall have tribulation.--The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.--We that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 15 Evening
The Spirit . . . maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.--ROM. 8:27. Verily, verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.--Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us; and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

August 15. "He Will Guide You into all Truth" (John xvi. 13).
"He will guide you into all truth" (John xvi. 13). The Holy Ghost does not come to give us extraordinary manifestations, but to give its life and light, and the nearer we come to Him, the more simple will His illumination and leading be. He comes to "guide us into all truth." He comes to shed light upon our own hearts, and to show us ourselves. He comes to reveal Christ, to give, and then to illumine, the Holy Scriptures, and to make Divine realities vivid and clear to our spiritual apprehension. …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

October 29. "Whatsoever Ye Shall Ask the Father in My Name, He Will Give it You" (John xvi. 23).
"Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you" (John xvi. 23). Two men go to the bank cashier, both holding in their hands a piece of paper. One is dressed in expensive style, and presents a gloved and jeweled hand; the other is a rough, unwashed workman. The first is rejected with a polite sentence, and the second receives a thousand dollars over the counter. What is the difference? The one presented a worthless name; the other handed in a note endorsed by the president of …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

March 5. "I have Overcome the World" (John xvi. 33).
"I have overcome the world" (John xvi. 33). Christ has overcome for us every one of our four terrible foes--Sin, Sickness, Sorrow, Satan. He has borne our Sin, and we may lay all, even down to our sinfulness itself, on Him. "I have overcome for thee." He has borne our sickness, and we may detach ourselves from our old infirmities and rise into His glorious life and strength. He has borne our sorrows, and we must not even carry a care, but rejoice evermore, and even glory in tribulations also. And …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Self-Help
ST. JOHN xvi. 7. It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. This is a deep and strange saying. How can it be expedient, useful, or profitable, for any human being that Christ should go away from them? To be in Christ's presence; to see his face; to hear his voice;--would not this be the most expedient and profitable, yea, the most blessed and blissful of things which could befall us? Is it not …
Charles Kingsley—Discipline and Other Sermons

From' and 'to'
'I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.'--JOHN xvi. 28. These majestic and strange words are the proper close of our Lord's discourse, what follows being rather a reply to the disciples' exclamation. There is nothing absolutely new in them, but what is new is the completeness and the brevity with which they cover the whole ground of His being, work, and glory. They fall into two halves, each consisting of two clauses; the former half …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Peace and victory
'These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.'--JOHN xvi. 33. So end these wonderful discourses, and so ends our Lord's teaching before His passion. He gathers up in one mighty word the total intention of these sweet and deep sayings which we have so long been pondering together. He sketches in broad outline the continual characteristics of the disciples' life, and closes all with the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Why Christ Speaks
'These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor Me. But these things have I told you, that, when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go My way to Him that …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

The Guide into all Truth
'I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I, that He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you.'--JOHN xvi. 12-15. This is our Lord's …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Christ's 'little Whiles'
'A little while, and ye shall not see Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me, because I go to the Father. Then said some of His disciples among themselves, What is this that He saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me: and, Because I go to the Father? They said therefore, What is this that He saith, A little while? we cannot tell what He saith. Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask Him, and said unto them, Do ye inquire …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

'In that Day'
'And in that day ye shall ask Me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.'--JOHN xvi. 23, 24. Our Lord here sums up the prerogatives and privileges of His servants in the day that was about to dawn and to last till He came again. There is nothing absolutely new in the words; substantially the promises contained in them have appeared in …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

The Joys of 'that Day'
'These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of the Father. At that day ye shall ask in My Name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: For the Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved Me, and have believed that I came out from God.'--JOHN xvi. 25-27. The stream which we have been tracking for so long in these discourses has now nearly reached its close. Our Lord, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Glad Confession and Sad Warning
'His disciples said unto Jesus, Lo! now speakest Thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that Thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask Thee: by this we believe that Thou earnest forth from God. Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave Me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.' --JOHN xvi. 29-32. The first words of these wonderful …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

The Departing Christ and the Coming Spirit
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you. And when He is come, He will convince the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.'--JOHN xvi. 7, 8. We read these words in the light of all that has gone after, and to us they are familiar and almost thread-bare. But if we would appreciate their sublimity, we must think away nineteen centuries, and all Christendom, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

The Convicting Facts
'Of sin, because they believe not on Me; Of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and ye see Me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.'--JOHN xvi. 9-11. Our Lord has just been telling His disciples how He will equip them, as His champions, for their conflict with the world. A divine Spirit is coming to them who will work in them and through them; and by their simple and unlettered testimony will 'convict,' or convince, the mass of ungodly men of error and crime in regard …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Nevertheless I Tell You the Truth; it is Expedient for You that I Go Away; for if I Go not Away
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them …
Charles G. Finney—Lectures to Professing Christians

June the Second Our Spiritual Guide
"When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth." --JOHN xvi. 7-14. How great is the difference between a guide-post and a guide! And what a difference between a guide-book and a companion! Mere instructions may be very uninspiring, and bare commandments may be very cold. Our Guide is an inseparable Friend. And how will He guide us? He will give us insight. "He will guide you into all truth." He will refine our spirits so that we may be able to distinguish "things that …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Loved in the Beloved.
(Third Sunday in Advent, 1831.) TEXT: JOHN xvi. 27. "For the Father Himself loveth you, be cause ye have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from the Father." THAT was a great word of the Saviour about Himself on which we lately spoke together, in which He represented Himself as from of old the one object of desire and longing to all the best part of mankind, to those who were nearest to God and had received most teaching from Him: but this is a still greater saying, in which He sets Himself …
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

The Spirit not Striving Always.
"And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man."-Gen. vi. 3. IN speaking from this text I shall pursue the following outline of thought, and attempt to show: I. What is implied in the assertion, My Spirit shall not always strive with man; II. What is not intended by the Spirit's striving; III. What is intended by it; IV. How it maybe known when the Spirit strives with an individual; V. What is intended by His not striving always; VI. Why He will not always strive; and, VII. Some consequences …
Charles G. Finney—Sermons on Gospel Themes

Links

John 16:9 NIV
John 16:9 NLT
John 16:9 ESV
John 16:9 NASB
John 16:9 KJV

John 16:9 Commentaries

Bible Hub