The preachers quoted here describe conversion as the turning of the soul from sin to holiness and from Satan to God, the greatest change a person can know. They insist it is not a change of opinions, that it must be thorough, and that it begins a lifelong conflict.
To be converted is to be turned. The New Testament verb, epistrepho, means to turn about or return,1 and answers to the Old Testament call to turn back to the LORD. Peter preached, "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3:19). Jesus said, "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3).
The turning has two sides, from and to. The Thessalonians "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God" (1 Thessalonians 1:9). Paul was sent "to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God" (Acts 26:18). Turning from sin is repentance; turning to Christ is faith.
Scripture speaks of conversion as something a person does and as something God brings about. "Turn thou me, and I shall be turned" (Jeremiah 31:18). Of Lydia it is said that the Lord opened her heart to attend to what Paul spoke (Acts 16:14). Reformed writers therefore distinguish the new birth, which is God's act alone, from conversion, the person's own turning that flows from it.
It does not come to everyone in the same way. Paul was struck down on the Damascus road (Acts 9); Lydia's heart was quietly opened; Timothy had known the Scriptures from childhood (2 Timothy 3:15). What matters in Scripture is not the manner but the reality.
The New Testament warns that a profession may be false. Some receive the word with joy and have no root (Matthew 13:20-21); many will say "Lord, Lord" who were never known (7:21-23). The test is fruit: "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Joseph Alleine wrote to rouse the unconverted, warning that "Conversion is not the taking upon us the profession of Christianity",2 and Jonathan Edwards wrote to distinguish true religious affections from counterfeit ones, holding that "True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections."3
True conversion, then, is a real turning of the whole person from sin to God through Christ, brought about by the Holy Spirit and proved by a changed life.
- Strong's Greek 1994, epistréphō: "to revert (literally, figuratively or morally)".
- Joseph Alleine, 36. A Sure Guide To Heaven, "Mistakes about conversion".
- Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections.
In their own words
Each line below is quoted exactly from a sermon on this site. Follow the link to hear or read it where it was said.
Conversion is the turning of the soul, from error to truth, from sin to holiness, from works to Jesus, and from Satan to God.
James Smith
in What Is Conversion?
Read in context
Conversion is the greatest change that a person can experience in this world.
E.A. Johnston
in Conversion the Great Change
Listen at 0:47
Conversion is not changing from one set of principles to another.
George Whitefield
in Repentance and Conversion
Read in context
Conversion is to the uttermost, or it is not conversion.
Art Katz
in Apostolic Conversion
Read in context
Conversion is the beginning of a lifelong conflict—it is the first blow in a warfare which will never end till we are in Glory.
C.H. Spurgeon
in Is Conversion Necessary
Read in context
Conversion is an empowerment by the supernatural work of Jesus Christ in a vessel.
Reuben Walter
in Five Evidences of Genuine Conversion
Listen at 41:17
Conversion is a Scriptural process through which a sinner becomes a Christian.
Alvin I. Hobbs
in Conversion--What Is It and How Produced?
Read in context
Where they differ
Preachers differ on whether conversion is better described as a moment or as an unfolding.
Conversion is an instantaneous transformation.
Brian Brodersen
in (Acts) the Conversion of Saul
Listen at 44:41
Conversion is like the opening up of the bud into a beautiful flower.
Richard Owen Roberts
in True and False Conversion
Listen at 37:39
What Scripture says
- Acts 3:19 repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out
- Matthew 18:3 except you be converted and become as little children
- 1 Thessalonians 1:9 turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
- Acts 26:18 from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature
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