The Fruits and Effects the Holy Spirit Produces, by J.C. Ryle, 1816-1900

Where the Holy Spirit is, there will always be deep conviction of sin–and true repentance for it. It is His special office to convict of sin.

“When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment.” John 16:8

The Holy Spirit shows the exceeding holiness of God. He teaches the exceeding corruption and infirmity of our nature, strips us of our blind self-righteousness, and opens our eyes to our awful guilt, folly, and danger.   He fills the heart with sorrow, contrition, and abhorrence for sin–as the abominable thing which God hates.

The Lost

He who knows nothing of all this, who saunters carelessly through life, thoughtless about sin, and indifferent and unconcerned about his soul, is a dead man before God! He has not the Holy Spirit.

The presence of the Holy Spirit in a man’s heart can only be known by the fruits and effects He produces. Mysterious and invisible to mortal eye as the Spirit’s operations are, they always lead to certain visible and tangible results.  Just as you know there is life in a tree by its sap, its buds, its leaves, and its fruits, so also you may know the Spirit to be in a man’s heart by the influence He exercises over his thoughts, his affections, his opinions, his habits, and his life.

I lay this down broadly and unhesitatingly. I see it clearly marked out in our Lord Jesus Christ’s words, “Every tree is known by his own fruit.” Luke 6:44