CONVICTION OF MEN

Are you convicted by men? Or are you convicted by the Holy Spirit? Are you convicted by religion? Are you convicted by the crowd? 

Conviction does not only come by the Holy Spirit. Men can convict you, police convict, judges convict, anything or anyone can convict us or make us feel convicted. Yet the only conviction that matters is the conviction of the Holy Spirit. So why do we who are dead to the world, and dead to the law, still submit and feel condemnation and conviction from the world and the law?

“But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ.” Galatians 2:11-16

Peter, a Jew, called out from Judaism and into the kingdom, ordained an Apostle by God Himself, submitted himself to those of the circumcision. Barnabas, an Apostle of God, traveling all over with Paul, preaching in power with signs and wonder, also submits himself to the Jewish believers. Paul the Pharisee of Pharisees, the Christian killer, stood strong against them all. It took a Pharisee of Pharisees to show them that they were all still acting like Pharisees. 

Peter was happy to greet Paul and eat with the gentiles. Barnabas was happy to do what he's been doing and sit and fellowship with the gentiles. Yet when those that formerly had influence came around, they withdrew themselves. They acted as if they weren't doing what they were doing. They acted as if they had nothing to do with the gentiles. They acted as if they thought the gentiles were filthy again, but deep down that wasn't the case.

Deep down they submitted to the opinion of the Jewish believers, but they were not submitting to God. They submitted to man's conviction. The Jewish believers felt that they shouldn't be around the gentiles, nor that they should be preached to. Barnabas and Peter were not convicted by God to stay away from the gentiles. The brothers, the family, the fellow brethren that they had been with before, or the majority of the time, came around, and they switched back into their false narrative to please people. They went back to falsely portray that they were of the circumcision again.

You see, it wasn’t that Peter and Barnabas were convicted by God to withdraw themselves, they were convicted by men. Yet the root is already revealed. Their conviction was not rooted in the Spirit that convicts. It was rooted in a man-pleasing spirit. Yet the same happens to us in this day. We get around certain people and we change.

We may be dancing in the Spirit and a religious person that thinks dancing is not of God walks in and we quickly stop. We quickly man please, quickly submit to men and their law of life. Where is your freedom in Christ now? David didn’t stop dancing, why should you?  David was proud of His freedom in Christ. These religious men and women are looking to spy out your liberty in Christ! What does it mean to be free in Christ? Does that mean do whatever you want? No. 

Yet it means that we are free from every law, ever thought of man, every opinion of man, the law of sin and death, and the knowledge of good and evil. No longer do we have to be bound by the world's opinion of morals and righteousness, but now we can let the tree of life, God himself, be our new law. Now we are free to let God himself tell us what is right and wrong. This is our freedom in Christ, that we are to be convicted by God and no one else!

So how come when religious people come around, how come when your family, friends, or others come around, you withdraw yourself? How come you can't be free in Christ?

The law of people is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When you submit to those people, you are submitting yourselves back again to the tree of death. Giving up all of your inheritance to please people. Submitting to other people’s versions of right and wrong. God says you are being your own God because you are pleasing yourself by pleasing other people.

Even when someone speaks or preaches, our conviction still must be from God or we will not be convinced. Conviction convinces. Conviction carries power and weight to help us repent. Even now you cannot just believe what I'm saying just because I'm saying it. You need to be convicted of the Holy Spirit, and if you're not being convicted, you must go to the one who convicts. This is freedom. It’s not freedom when I resist God. That’s suicide. Yet it is freedom when I listen to God because the Bible says you have no need that any man teach you but I myself will teach you.

Does that mean don't listen to anyone anymore? No. It means don't listen to man speaking from man's perspective, but when man is speaking from God, you better listen. God is no respecter of persons. He used a donkey to speak. We're looking for God in man to minister to us who are men.

Some say, “I have the Holy Spirit so I don't need to listen to anyone,” yet if the Spirit is not convicting you to listen to present-day messages from God, then you don't have God. Then that's not the Holy Spirit, because that goes against God's word. He gave gifts unto men and those gifts are given to men to be feed men.

Conviction is not only to show us bad things but also to convict of the light. To convince us. If I am not convicted when a messenger of God speaks, I search out my heart. When certain things are in our heart, we can prevent ourselves from catching the conviction of the Holy Spirit. It's called a seared conscience.

When I have an offense with a certain messenger, I may prevent myself from conviction. If I have wrong desires in my heart, I may not catch His conviction because I want to hear what I want to hear. Whatever it is, I may not be convicted because I'm telling God that I want to be fed according to what's in my heart.

Those that have a pure heart will see Him and be convicted unto repentance by Him. Maybe what was in Peter's heart was that he was not willing to lose his reputation with the Jews which is why he came under their influence. What's in our heart will also dictate what influence we come under.

It's not like the Christian Jews questioned Peter and Barnabas for being with the gentiles. Yet their influence was so strong that it made two apostles submit to men. When certain men come around, do you change? Is it you that withdraws and adjusts for people? The biggest problem is when we call conviction that we feel inside from God, yet it's actually from the influence of men.

We cannot do things because our brother or sister told us, we must see it through the conviction of God. If not, we will be doing things not because we are obeying God but because we are obeying men. And in the end, we think we're doing God's will but it's all man's will or man-pleasing. We can hear words from men that are words from God but if God doesn't convince us or help us understand that word, we will never do it in power. And if we do it without His conviction, we will become religious. Religion does things without conviction.

Somebody from God can be preaching a word on prosperity or praying but I may never walk in the fruits of it because I'm doing it only because I was told. I'm never sure on the inside if that's what God is saying. We need to be convicted by God! Or we will be evicted from God's presence by men. Your pastor, the prophet, your family, your friend, guess what? None of them will stand before the throne room with you!

God is not going to ask you if you obeyed your pastor, He is going to ask you if you obeyed His Word! See, it's not what works we do, it's what works that “HE” gave us to do that will be counted worthy on judgment day. Every man's work will be judged, and if your work was done because of conviction or convincing or man-pleasing or anything outside of God from man in the flesh, it will be judged and burned by fire!

“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.” John 16:7-8

Jesus said it was expedient, good, better for him to go away. Why? Wouldn't it be better to have Jesus in flesh? No, the inner part of a man is His deepest part. Jesus was essentially saying to them, “It is better for you if I go because I myself will come back but when I come back I will come back in spirit.” I will send my spiritual body. The helper, the Holy Spirit, my deepest part! Now you will no longer question everything like you have for the last 3 years but I will live in you now! I will show you all things! I will convict you of all things! He's here! He says He will lead unto all truth! He will comfort, convict, empower, He will do all things that are necessary for life and godliness.

Submit to Him, submit to the Spirit of God, and you will have life, you will have real conviction that doesn't lead to worldly sorrow but that leads to true repentance. God, we ask you today for true conviction, not the yoke and burden that man puts on us but the easy and light one. Even Jesus had someone help Him carry His cross and you, Holy Spirit, will help me carry mine and you will show me the way.

By Joe Pinto

Full Message: https://youtu.be/iU54VTwTq5g