In this Gospel religion is revealed as the enemy of life. In the Gospels, Judaism opposed and persecuted the Lord Jesus. In the Acts it continued by opposing and persecuting the apostles and the disciples (Acts 4:1-3; 5:17-18, 40; 6:11-14; 7:57-59; 26:9-12). In subsequent history the Catholic Church persecuted the Lord's followers. All organized religions, of whatever kind, persecute those who seek the Lord in life. All these religions consider their persecuting of the Lord's seekers a service offered to God.

The work of the Spirit is, first, to convict the world. Second, as the Spirit of reality He guides the believers into all the reality; that is, He makes all that the Son is and has real to the believers. All that the Father is and has is embodied in the Son (Col. 2:9), and all that the Son is and has is declared as reality to the believers through the Spirit (vv. 14-15). This declaring is the glorifying of the Son with the Father. Hence, it is a matter of the Triune God being wrought into and mingled with the believers. Third, the Spirit declares the things that are to come, which are revealed mainly in Revelation (Rev. 1:1, 19). The three aspects of the Spirit's work correspond with the three sections of John's writings: his Gospel, his Epistles, and his Revelation.

The bringing forth here is the begetting in Acts 13:33. The incarnated Christ, including all His believers, was begotten in His resurrection to be the Son of God (1 Pet. 1:3). Thus, He has become the firstborn Son of God, and all His believers have become God's many sons as His brothers to constitute His church (Rom. 8:29; John 20:17 and note John 20:17^2a; Heb. 2:10-12) as His multiplication (John 12:24), His increase (John 3:29-30), and His Body, which is His fullness, His expression (Eph. 1:23).

In this parable the Lord indicated that the disciples were then like a woman travailing in birth, and that He was the little child to be brought forth in His resurrection (Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5; Rom. 1:4).

Sin entered through Adam (Rom. 5:12), righteousness is the resurrected Christ (v. 10; 1 Cor. 1:30), and judgment is for Satan (v. 11), who is the author and source of sin (John 8:44). In Adam we were born of sin. The only way to be freed from sin is to believe into Christ, the Son of God (v. 9). If we believe into Him, He is righteousness to us, and we are justified in Him (Rom. 3:24; 4:25). If we do not repent of the sin that is in Adam and believe into Christ, the Son of God, we will remain in sin and share the judgment of Satan for eternity (Matt. 25:41). These are the main points of the gospel. The Spirit uses these points to convict the world.

To convict means to convince, to condemn, to cause people to rebuke themselves.

This "going" was ultimately fulfilled by His ascension in John 20:17.

Some MSS read, came forth from the Father. The word from in these MSS is the same as that in v. 27.

See note John 1:14⁵.

See note John 15:16^5c; so in v. 26.

Or, Whatever you ask the Father, He will give to you in My name.

After being born in resurrection, the Lord came to see the disciples in the evening of the day of His resurrection, and the disciples rejoiced at His presence (John 20:20).

The word from used by the disciples here does not have the sense of from with. It is different from the word used by the Lord in v. 27.

See note John 8:16¹.