"And when He comes, He will reprove the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment..."
John 16:8 What grace is here, that Jesus came for us to lead us, to show us what God is like, to give us an appetite for Him, to teach us and bring us to Himself. To call reproof "grace" is a work of the Spirit. As it is, the world balks at being reproved. And all along, it is for our happiness and rest. In fact, there is none apart from it.
What is reprove? To be reproved is to be corrected, warned...'you're going the wrong way, stop!' Real rebukes to convince. However, "it is one thing to convince the understanding and quite another to prevail upon the will". So writes Matthew Poole. He continues, "...because of the total corruption of our soul, we will not embrace what we confess as truth nor do we know what is best. But through the stubbornness of our will, we resist the light and conviction of our understanding. The Holy Spirit is here promised not only to lead men into truth by a work of illumination, but to BOW the hearts and wills to the embracing of it and living up to it while others remain without excuse."
I'm so thankful for reproof! Where would I be without it? Shudder to think....
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