John 16:8

Reprove] RV 'convict.' The Gk. word, which also occurs John 3:20; John 8:9; (AV) John 8:46, means to prove a person in the wrong, hence to convict. The Holy Ghost will 'convince' or 'convict' the world, by placing before it the claims of Christ with a force and clearness that cannot be evaded. The result will be twofold. Some will be 'convicted by their own consciences' (John 8:9), or 'pricked to the heart' (Acts 2:37), and so repent and believe (Acts 2:38). Others will be hardened in their sin and unbelief (Romans 11:8), and be 'convicted' of wilful blindness in the sight of God and good men.

9-11. The Holy Ghost, through the apostolic preaching, and through the new power of holiness manifested in the lives of believers, will convince mankind, (1) of their sin and folly in rejecting Christ; (2) that Christ is a sincere and righteous teacher, and not, as they had thought, an impostor, as will be clearly demonstrated when the Father has raised Him from the dead and set Him at His right hand in heaven; (3) that the unspiritual system of religion which they have hitherto professed, and which has led them to reject Christ, is of the devil and not of God, that God Himself has condemned it, and that therefore they must condemn it too.

This passage is an extremely difficult one, and various other interpretations of it are given.