Author : Patrick Farish
Conversion receives a great deal of attention. Unfortunately, the attention is more often directed toward the theories and alleged experiences of present-day people, rather than toward the statements of the New Testament which tell the truth of God relative to conversion. Lurid and spectacular stories, claiming to tell of someone’s “experience of salvation”, are heard with great interest, by many. The Heavenly Father, knowing of the human interest in such matters, provided for us in the book of Acts several accounts of men being saved, converted. We intend to study these records of conversion in future lessons, the Lord willing.
In this lesson, however, we look at the general subject of conversion in an effort to understand more fully what is taught in the Bible about man’s responsibility in conversion; when he is converted; and what the effect of conversion is, with reference to the condition of man’s soul.
There are two extreme positions taken with reference to conversion. There is, first, the idea that conversion is entirely a matter of action by God: that a person cannot be converted until God sends His Spirit directly into the heart of that person, thus changing him. This teaching is false because “God shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34). According to this direct operation notion only those God acts on will be saved, and ALL of them will be saved. So, those who are lost eternally will be lost because God did not act impartially toward them; and thus because, according to the inescapable conclusion, God did not want to save them. Nonsense. In judgment we will be judged by God, Who “will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.” (Romans 2:6-11) We must always remember that God “will render to EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS WORKS”, because He “shows no partiality”.
At the other extreme are those who think that one can earn or merit salvation: that he can so behave as to have salvation bestowed on him as a debt owed him. One related concept of this extreme is that certain unusually good people live so splendidly that they have good works left over, a surplus, to be used to the benefit of others who were not so good. This notion, also, is false. It is false because “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8, 9). Salvation depends on the grace of God; but the grace of God alone does not save or EVERY man would be saved whether he wanted it or not, for the grace of God has appeared to all men, Titus 2:11, 12. No, to be benefitted by the grace of God a man must take steps to appropriate that grace: he must do those works which God instructed him to do, and in the doing of those works he exhibits his faith and has nothing of which he might boast: he does not thereby “merit” or earn salvation. Conversion is a process in which both the grace of God and the faithful working of man are essential.
What Is “Conversion”?
We must determine what we mean when we speak of conversion. To “convert” means to turn, or to change, from one belief or practice or condition to another. The word that is translated “convert” in the King James Version is most often rendered “turn” in the American Standard and the English Standard Versions, though not in every case. There is a sense in which a second party is involved in a conversion and may truly be said to have “converted” someone else, as James 5:19, 20 makes plain (“brings him back”, ESV); but the statement in passive voice, “be converted”, should not be so understood as to eliminate personal, voluntary choice. Any person who is converted turns because he has changed his mind. No man is passive in his conversion. That is why the Lord said, Matthew 18:3, “Truly I say unto you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”. If you are not in covenant relationship with God, and we remember that God has specified HOW one enters that relationship, then you must change from walking after SIN, to walking after RIGHTEOUSNESS; you must turn from DARKNESS, to LIGHT; you must convert your allegiance from the DEVIL, to JEHOVAH. This change, or turn, called “conversion”, results in a change of loyalty, a change of mind, and a change of condition: from being enemies with God, those who convert become friends of God, and have genuine hope of life everlasting.
How Is Conversion Accomplished?
This is a most important question: HOW is conversion accomplished? What causes a person to turn? Conversion begins with a change of mind, and is brought to completion by a change of condition or state: but how is the mind changed? The obvious answer is, that one changes his mind or his belief in response to testimony. Some suggest that the Holy Spirit acts directly upon the mind of man, changing it from antagonism toward God to friendliness in some miraculous, irresistible fashion. The Bible teaches, however, that the Holy Spirit functioned in revealing the mind of God in the New Testament, and that these inspired words which are the New Testament are the extent of the work of the Holy Spirit in conversion. So, Jesus said “Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:7, 8). We see those whose preaching and teaching are recorded in the New Testament convincing men of their sin with NOTHING other than that which the Holy Spirit provided: Acts 18:27, 28, “And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.” This passage, telling of Apollos’ confuting, convicting with the Scriptures, is one of many that could be cited announcing this simple truth: the Scriptures are sufficient to the conviction of sin. Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ”. Belief, which is faith (Hebrews 11:6), comes from hearing the “word of Christ” which we have by the work of the Holy Spirit. When a person hears the “word of Christ” and believes, he has begun the process described as “conversion”. Conversion begins with the reception of divine testimony, the word of God, which produces faith. Man may reject this testimony, but so long as it is rejected he cannot convert from the service of Satan to the service of Almighty God.
What Is The “Turning” Point?
At what point is a man converted – what is the “turning point”? Conversion is a process which begins by changing the mind and is culminated in the change of condition, from enmity with God to reconciliation: but at what point is our relationship to God changed, turned, “converted”?
FAITH? Though some teach that we are justified by faith only, faith is NOT the turning point. Acts 11:21 states “And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number who believed turned to the Lord”. Their belief did not constitute the ultimate turning, or conversion, for their turn followed belief: they “believed”, then they “turned to the Lord.” Because this is so, when we read in James 2:19 that “the demons believe, – and shudder” we recognize that the Holy Spirit is not telling us that these demons were converted: if they were converted, there would be no occasion for them to shudder. When John 12:42 records that “many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue”, we are not to understand that these cowardly rulers were “converted”. Though conversion involves belief, this belief must be translated into action before the conversion is complete.
REPENTANCE? Repentance is a difficult change to effect. It involves the change of the mind, the turning of the affection from the willingness to do what is wrong, to the determination to do what is right. Repentance is caused by motives which God has provided, and it produces reformation of life: but neither that which causes repentance, nor that which is the fruit or result of repentance, is repentance itself. Matthew 21:28, 29 shows repentance to be specifically a change of mind: “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, Son, go and work in the vineyard today. And he answered, ‘I will not’, but afterward he changed his mind and went”. Older versions render it, “he repented … and went”. Here repentance, and the fruit of repentance, are plainly separated. The young man changed his mind … and went. In describing repentance as a change of mind we do not minimize it, for the mind or heart is the center and source of all our actions. When the mind is changed, the actions necessarily follow. Though repentance is a difficult change to effect, the man who has repented, changed his mind, about his sin, has NOT thereby been converted in condition. This is seen in Acts 26:20, where Paul informs King Agrippa that he had preached both to Jews and Gentiles that “they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance”. Their repentance was not their “turning to God”, for this turning followed repentance.
Are We Getting Closer?
When, then, is conversion completed? When, according to the Bible, is a man truly changed, turned, converted? The answer to this can be found by examining Acts 3:19 and 2:38. Peter said, in Acts 3:19, “Repent therefore and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out ….”. These people were to repent AND TURN, to have their sins blotted out. Our question is, after they repented, what did they do, to “turn”? Our question is answered by a comparison with Acts 2:38, “And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins …” Guided by the Holy Spirit in his speech, Peter instructed the people, in both passages, to repent. He promised them the blotting out, or remission, of their sins, in both passages. In between the instruction which is common to both passages, on the one hand; and the promise which is common to both passages, on the other hand, there is in Acts 3:19 the command, “TURN”; but in Acts 2:38 it is worded, “BE BAPTIZED”.
Therefore, according to the Bible, the turning point is baptism, When a man is baptized, then he is converted: not before.
While conversion is a matter of the free will of man, while there is no irresistible power of God brought to bear to convert man, this does not imply that NO power of God is brought to bear in conversion. To the contrary, Paul in Romans 1:16 said that the gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes …” The power of God is essential, and available, for salvation: but man must choose to submit. This does not mean that God is UNABLE to force man to serve Him: it means that God did not choose to exercise such power over man, preferring to leave man free to determine whom he would serve. What choice have you made? There is no middle ground. If you have not chosen to serve God, then you have chosen to serve the devil. When you choose to serve God, you choose to do His will, rather than your own. Have you, by believing Jesus to be the Christ, repenting of your sins and being baptized for the remission of those sins, been converted?
