The word “conviction” is a powerful word in our language. It conjures up ideas of not only a guilty verdict from a courtroom setting, but also a solid or firmly held belief, as in the idea that people should be convicted of what they believe.
Vocabulary.com explains this word: “A conviction is something certain: a judgment of guilty in court and a strong belief are both convictions. In the legal world, when a judge or jury convicts someone of a crime — finding them guilty — this is called a conviction.” Evidence is presented and weighed, and a decision is made.
The Greek word used in the New Testament for conviction is elénchos . It means to scorn or to bring into contempt. The term evolved in such a way that the emphasis falls more upon that conviction of guilt or the demonstration of guilt. This is the meaning that has survived, more or less intact, through the New Testament and early church writings.
The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament provides another overall definition for elénchos when it says, “to show people their sins and to summon them to repentance.” How is someone supposed to know about sin? Paul simply states, “For no human being will be justified in His sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20 RSV).
Paul continues to speak about how crucial the law is in Romans 7:7 NIV: “What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
The problem is that the natural human mind is hostile to God and His law. And there is only one thing that can break through that barrier. How does that happen? When Jesus speaks to His disciples He says: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper [Holy Spirit] will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send [it] to you. And when [it] has come, [it] will convict the world of sin…” (John 16: 7-8).
Here we see that the “conviction” we are interested in is an action of the Holy Spirit working within the mind of man to bring about a profound inner sense of truth about ourselves. It leads to a deep conviction of one’s sinfulness. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit “the Spirit of Truth”. In the process of conversion, of which conviction is a part, the Holy Spirit reveals the truth about the condition of the human heart. God’s law exposes the sin so mankind can recognize sin for what it really is – lawlessness: “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4).
In Revelation 3:19, Jesus says, “As many as I love I rebuke and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” Convict and rebuke are from the same word, elénchos. It’s not just about proving guilt, condemning, and locking away. It’s about changing the mind, a “summon to repentance.” God’s desire is to cleanse His people to give them freedom from the natural consequences of sinful lawlessness.
True conviction lays a foundation for a fruitful godly life. Those who have experienced a deep and sobering revelation of their true nature will choose to be led by the Holy Spirit to a complete change of heart and mind.
So, grace is extended to us, and we accept not only our guilt, but that Jesus paid the death penalty in our place. We are then given a Spirit that comes from God and allows conviction of heart, so we can be molded and changed from something hard and opposed to God, to something malleable and able to be deeply convinced of the plan of God and our role in it.
That’s where faith comes into play. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). The word “evidence” used in this verse is elénchos. A weak human can now move from the conviction of sin to the conviction of faith. And that’s all about our response and our actions going forward.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10.17). Conviction is a crucial partner to faith. They work together and when one is missing, the other suffers. Faith is placing hope in God Himself. It’s a belief that something is true, a reality, and is not contingent upon human reason or justification.
The person who really believes God is convinced of the things he cannot see: “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11.3).
Many claim to believe God, but what influence does this belief have on their behavior? If it has little or no influence, they are unconvinced people without conviction who are seeking only intellectual righteousness. Such belief is without certainty so it’s weak, it’s lukewarm, and belief gradually retreats instead of growing. Many become this way under the pressure of time and trial.
Our responsiveness can be effectively measured by the depth of our personal convictions to God’s way of life. Conviction is about how strong our beliefs and principles really are. God is looking at the intent of the heart, not just on legalistic observance. Some observances are commanded, of course, and are part of the conversion process. A convicted heart and mind, toward what the observances represent lasts for eternity and is what God is truly looking for.
For the most part our society lives on preferences, not on convictions. Many may believe that their convictions are rooted in true values, but in reality, they prefer to live by standards they can change to whatever is convenient or relative at the time. A rapidly growing state of mind is to violently shun convictions of every kind, claiming to be “open minded” or “tolerant”.
Our preferences can be formed by our environment, our culture, and our traditions. But they must stay within the boundaries of our convictions based on God’s law and way of life. That may sound simple, but it is not so easily understood or followed. A preference can also masquerade as a strong belief. A well understood example is whether our beliefs stand or fall depending on what people around us do. If we stand because of what others do or don’t do, then our beliefs are preferences, not convictions.
A conviction is a belief that is held tightly because it’s built on faith and based on what God requires. It doesn’t matter about the opinions of others, or the physical conditions surrounding us. The Holy Spirit empowers our behavior to reflect that conviction. There must be action behind our faith. “But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. . . . For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2: 19,26).
Now, preferences can lead to actions, but they are usually based on our human desires. Action taken as a result of a changed heart and mind is what proves the conviction that God is looking for. However, a certain degree of courage and wisdom is needed to understand what to do or say in any complex situation because there are usually many variables. The Word of God is about a whole way of life that is going to be constantly challenged in this world by the god of this world. God can work to grow our faith and our conviction, but we must choose to turn that into action in our daily lives. God is not looking for robots; we make the decisions.
The apostles were often challenged in their ministry because what they were preaching was not popular, especially to the religious authorities of the day. Peter and John were addressing the Sanhedrin regarding the healing of a man who was lame and couldn’t walk (Acts 4:7-14,18-20). These men were convicted and full of courage. They were threatened and released, but very soon they ended up in prison again because they did exactly what they said they were going to do. Why? Faith, conviction, and courage to act drove them to continue forward.
Continuing in Acts 5:27-32: “And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying, ‘Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!’ But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: ‘We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.’”
Peter and John had strengths and weaknesses just like we do, but in their struggle against the world they stood firm when challenged. When challenges come, we will only have the strength to stand firm if we have been living by the standards that we are convicted are true. Living by it, the daily decisions over an extended period of time, builds upon the conviction with the courage to stand by that conviction. God is patient and merciful and knows that we need time to develop conviction. We are given a starting point, but it’s our responsibility to build upon it. We need to grow in sensitivity to the lead of the Holy Spirit with a daily conviction of our natural tendencies and working to put them to death.
Conviction comes from exercise in our lives through daily decisions. Those decisions can either show that we want to live by the spiritual intent of God’s perfect law, or whether we don’t. Decisions can lead either to stagnation or to growth. On the negative side, that is not always easy for humans to see clearly, because we are so easily deceived into thinking we’re OK and that we don’t need to continually work at it. On the positive side, if we do continually work at it, then we can grow to the point of not needing intellectual reasons for our conviction. It can be built upon faith.
We need to be convicted that God is the author and finisher of our life and that He knows what is best. That is a conviction that stands firm, because its source is from His Spirit and our minds which allow His Spirit to work. That is a “conviction of faith.” And “being confident of this very thing, He who has begun a good work in us will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;” (Philippians 1:6).