in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me;
Parallel translations
- WEB about sin, because they don’t believe in me;
- KJV Of sin, because they believe not on me;
- NKJV of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
- NASB regarding sin, because they do not believe in Me;
- NLT The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Spirit convicts the world of sin because people do not believe in Jesus. Unbelief in Christ is the root sin exposed.
Overview
The defining sin the Spirit exposes is the refusal to believe in Jesus. All other sins flow from this central rejection of the Son whom God has sent. By convicting of this sin, the Spirit confronts the world with its core rebellion and points to faith in Christ as the only remedy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- John 15:22–25If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.
- John 12:47–48As for anyone who hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
- John 8:23–24Then He told them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
- Mark 16:16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
- Heb 3:12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.
- John 8:42–47Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on My own, but He sent Me.
- Acts 2:22–38Men of Israel, listen to this message: Jesus of Nazareth was a man certified by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know.
- Acts 3:14–19You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.
- John 3:18–21Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
- Heb 10:28–29Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
- 1 Th 2:15–16who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men,
- Acts 7:51–54You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
- John 5:40–44yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.
- Rom 3:19–20Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
- Rom 7:9Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.
- Acts 26:9–10So then, I too was convinced that I ought to do all I could to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
- 1 Tim 1:13I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man; yet because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief, I was shown mercy.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 16:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.