John 16:10

The Spirit would also convict the world of righteousness. Normally righteousness (Gr. dikaiosyne, which occurs only here in John’s Gospel) refers to truly righteous conduct and standing before God. The world does not have that. It also refers to the righteousness that people profess to have that is far inferior to the righteousness that they need for acceptance with God (Matthew 5:20; Romans 10:3; Philippians 3:6-9; Titus 3:5). This self-righteousness, which Isaiah compared to a filthy menstrual cloth (Isaiah 64:6), is apparently the negative side of what Jesus had in mind. The Spirit would convict the world of the inadequacy of its righteousness and move the unsaved to seek the true righteousness that only Jesus Christ provides.

The Spirit would convict the world of its lack of righteousness because Jesus was going to the Father with the result that His disciples would see Him no longer. Jesus had convicted those He contacted of their inadequate righteousness during His earthly ministry, but that source of conviction was about to depart. The Spirit would continue this ministry.

Jesus’ reference to the disciples’ inability to see Him implies the need for them to become the instruments through whom the Spirit would exercise this ministry. Moreover Jesus’ ascension testified that His righteousness is the standard for divine acceptance (cf. Acts 3:14-15; 1 John 3:5).