Peter 1:23 we read,
conviction of sin, you will not have conviction of sin. If you wish to produce conviction in others, you must use the word to do it. Not long ago a fine looking young man came into our inquiry-room. I said to him, "Are you a Christian?" "No, sir." "Why not?" "I think Christianity is a first-rate thing, but I have not much feeling about this." "But," I said, "do you not know that you are a sinner?" He said: "Yes, sir, I suppose I am; but I am not very much of a sinner. I am a pretty good sort of a fellow." I replied: "So, my friend, you have not very much conviction of sin. I have something in my hand that is a divinely-appointed instrument to produce conviction of sin." I opened my Bible to Matthew 22:37, 38 and asked him to read it. He read, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment." "What commandment is that?" I asked. He replied: "The first and great commandment." "In the light of that, what must be the first and great sin?" He replied: "It must be to neglect to keep that commandment." "Have you kept it?" The Spirit of God took it home to his heart then and there. It was not long before we were kneeling, and he was asking God for mercy through Christ. 2. In the next place, the Word of God has power to regenerate. In 1 Peter 1:23 we read, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever."