CONVICTION

To understand the will of God for our life, we must have conviction with our understanding. Just because we understanding something pertaining to God's word, does not mean we have conviction, but we can have understanding with conviction and that is what truth is. It takes the written word, the Holy Spirit and the blood of Christ to have conviction in our understanding. We will not have conviction if our understanding is based upon error, deceit or upon some humanistic philosophy that comes from those who wrestle with the scriptures / 2Pt 3:16. A lack of godly conviction is what leads us away from the faith, causing many to backslide, because our understanding did nothing to sustain us in the truth and by the truth through grace. When we are instructed to walk in the light of truth we must have the light of God's conviction to do it and when we do it, we can do nothing against the truth but for the truth / 2Cor 13:5-8. We can have an understanding of truth and have no conviction and walk in darkness and do not the truth / 1Jn 1:6. Think about that

Ps 119:105 'Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path'.

This verse has to do with walking in the light of conviction. Not only do I have conviction in my walk but also in the path I am walking. When we have conviction in our walk and unto the path (or way) we are going, we are walking in the light of truth / Ps 86:11, 3Jn 1:4. These are the steps that are ordered by the Lord.

Ps 37:23 'The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way'.

Is 30:20,21 'And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:
21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left'.

Prov 21:16 'The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead'.

The way of understanding is having the light of God's conviction through the counsel of the Holy Spirit that guides us into all truth / Is 40:14, Jn 16:13. Those that God has ordained to be our teachers shall not be put in a corner with the fools, but we shall see them, be restored to them, listen to them and perceive with understanding what they are teaching from God. When we walk in the Spirit of understanding we will hear the still small voice of God telling us, 'This is the way, walk ye in it'. There will not be confusion or doubt or any double-mindedness. Understanding with conviction will remove all these things that have hindered us from having life and being in the perfect will of God. But if we wander out of the way of understanding there is nothing but death.

Wandering out of the way of understanding has to do with removing ourselves from our teachers and the light of God's word that they bring to our understanding. The congregation of the dead is made up of those that have rejected God's conviction and have no life, no love, no joy, no peace and no light and no fellowship in the Holy Spirit. True fellowship is not based upon personality rapport that we have with others or upon commonality of interests, but is based upon what the blood of Christ did for us and the light that we receive through the conviction of the Holy Spirit revealed through the word of God's teachers that are giving us an understanding of how to walk with God in the truth.

If we have not been walking in the light of God's conviction and we have been living in confusion, doubt, double-mindedness or insecurity, we have a promise from God in Is 29:24 ...

'They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured (inward debating and deliberating) shall learn doctrine'.

What this means is that God has teachers that will teach you doctrine and you will come to an understanding with conviction through the Holy Spirit and the light of God's word. All the inward warring and debating and murmuring that has occupied your mind and emotions for so long will be transformed with joy and peace and with an understanding as to the will of God / Eph 5:17. Don't forsake those that God has raised up to be your teachers because that is how we get conviction worked into our understanding so that we might serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear / Heb 12:28.

I think I would descrbe that more as illumination and transformation. Good post though.

Originally Posted by charisenexcelcis

I think I would descrbe that more as illumination and transformation. Good post though.

Tell me what conviction is and how does God bring it into a person's life? Illustrate it if you can.

[greatkraw]

Originally Posted by shad

Tell me what conviction is and how does God bring it into a person's life? Illustrate it if you can.

convict = convince

Originally Posted by shad

Tell me what conviction is and how does God bring it into a person's life? Illustrate it if you can.

Conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit in convincing a man's heart that the steps he is taking or the path he is on is displeasing to God. I think you integrate it into what you are saying. Conviction can stem from the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit and is a neccesary step to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.

Originally Posted by charisenexcelcis

Conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit in convincing a man's heart that the steps he is taking or the path he is on is displeasing to God. I think you integrate it into what you are saying. Conviction can stem from the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit and is a neccesary step to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.

I understand what you are saying and that's true, but don't you think that conviction is also a good thing and that it can be positive reinforcement and pleasing to God and not negative all the time? I like the word 'greatkraw' used, 'convince'. I may know something about the truth but it is better to be convinced of it so that I will not waiver in my heart when I hear something that might be contrary. It is like what Ps 119:130 says...'The entrance of God's word gives light and understanding to the simple. It takes the light of applying what we know to get the understanding we need so that the word of God becomes resident in our heart and soul through conviction or being convinced through the Holy Spirit. Would you agree?

Originally Posted by shad

I understand what you are saying and that's true, but don't you think that conviction is also a good thing and that it can be positive reinforcement and pleasing to God and not negative all the time? I like the word 'greatkraw' used, 'convince'. I may know something about the truth but it is better to be convinced of it so that I will not waiver in my heart when I hear something that might be contrary. It is like what Ps 119:130 says...'The entrance of God's word gives light and understanding to the simple. It takes the light of applying what we know to get the understanding we need so that the word of God becomes resident in our heart and soul through conviction or being convinced through the Holy Spirit. Would you agree?

You are right, some "course corrections" have nothing negative about them.