The Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning judgment, but it is not the judgment of the world that is the focus of the conviction. The Holy Spirit is not bent on convincing the world that they will be judged. He convinces the world that Satan, as the world's ruler, has already been judged. The ruler of this world has been condemned.
Jesus said that the Spirit, when He comes, will convict the world "concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged" (John 16:11). If we are to take the explanatory clause seriously, then the judgment pertains to Satan, not the world. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of its sin, Christ's righteousness and Satan's judgment (John 16:8). Each convicting work has a clause explaining the convicting work.
The verb translated "judged" (κεκριται) is a perfect tense and passive voice verb. The perfect tense is written from the perspective of a future time. Jesus predicts that, by the time the Holy Spirit comes after Jesus' death and resurrection, the ruler of this world "has been judged!" The passive voice tells us that the judgment is done by someone else. On the cross, God judged Satan!
The verb (κρινω) means to be condemned. It is a legal term indicating a judicial verdict has been reached, usually in an unfavorable sense (BAGD, p. 450). A sentence of condemnation was pronounced on the ruler of the world when Jesus died on the cross. The tables were turned on the malevolent ruler who orchestrated the crucifixion. The one condemned by the world pronounced condemnation on the one condemning Him. The cross was a victory not a defeat.
The Holy Spirit convinces the world that their ruler has been sentenced by God. Some sinners in this world will respond to the Spirit's message; confess their sin and trust in the righteousness of Christ. Every sinner who is rescued from the clutches of this world's ruler pounds another nail in the coffin of the condemned ruler (Godet, John, p. 871).
The Spirit convicts people, who consider themselves good, of their badness. The Spirit convicts people, who consider Jesus unrighteous, of Jesus' perfection. The spirit convicts people, who owe allegiance to the ruler of this world, of his condemnation. Sadly, some will choose to ignore the conviction and to side with the condemned ruler rather than trust the righteous Savior because they cannot accept their own sinfulness. One day, the one condemned by the world will condemn the world and all will know what the Spirit taught was true. Until then, the Spirit continues to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment.
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