I have to be honest....many of us said this same thing over in the not by works thread and did so many times, yet were promptly accused of preaching sinless-perfection...and that we were saying we did not sin anymore....
You are quite correct, the Holy Spirit can only convince a believer of their righteousness.....
Sometimes we misunderstand each other. I think where we end up disagreeing (not you and me), but just different works vs grace mindsets is when we say something like: salvation produces works. And people come in and say yeah it does, BUT... and then sneak in some mindset that makes it faith plus works = salvation.
It's faith, always been faith, always will be faith. Faith is the only thing that pleases Him. Obedience is having faith in Him. And having faith in Him produces salvation. As a result of salvation we produce works because of who we are in Him.
So the big elephant is this: why do some not have good works AFTER salvation?
1. Some argue it's because they aren't really saved. Scripture confirms this.
2. Some argue it's because their minds aren't really renewed. Scripture confirms this.
3. Some argue it's because they willfully disobey God. This is one I struggle to agree with because people disobey God because of lies. If we knew better, we would ALWAYS desire His ways. So the issue is knowing the truth. And that's why it sets us free.
Why do I say this? Because I don't believe in sinless perfection in regards to we CAN'T sin. The mere presence of Scripture shows us that true believers needed to be reminded who they are in Christ and then given steps of application to produce their identity. So yes, we CAN sin, but it's stupid. And the more we understand how good, kind, and loving our Father is the more we realize how stupid it is to do our own flesh-lead thing - this leads to repentance (or turning to God) - and we realize how good His ways are. And this is growing up in Christ through discipleship.
I think the issues come when we try to make A = B, when really there are a lot of pieces to the puzzle when we take Scripture as a whole. I am probably one of the loudest exhorters of how we need to love one another. I am all for good works. ALL for them. In fact, I think we minimize sin because Scripture says ANYTHING not of faith is sin. Those who think that faith plus works are needed probably don't have a clue what good works really are. So that's when I start to change my tone to show them self-righteousness is exactly what is stopping them from doing what they desire (exactly as Paul explains in Romans 7).
What *I* desire I can not do...
Well you're dead to you.. now you're alive to Him... and you are part of something bigger than just yourself.
Now you're apart of His Body, joined to His Head, lead by His Spirit. Now you're ONE with Him. It's not what *I* can do, but what HE can do by the power of His Spirit.
We ARE His Holy temple. And let NO man call unholy what He calls holy.