John Piper describes conversion in this way Christian conversion is the act or process of being changed (without coercion but through our own volition) into a person who believes and treasures Jesus Christ, his saving work, and his promises above everything else, including all that we were believing or treasuring before conversion.
CONVERSION IS A CONDITION OF SALVATION AND A MIRACLE OF GOD
This teaching on the nature and origin of conversion clarifies two things. One is the sense in which conversion is a condition for salvation. Continuous confusion is caused at this point by failing to define salvation precisely.
If salvation refers to new birth, conversion is not a condition of it. New birth comes first and enables the repentance and faith of conversion. Before new birth we are dead, and dead men don't meet conditions. Regeneration is totally unconditional. It owes solely to the free grace of God. "It depends not on will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy" (Romans 9:16). We get no credit. He gets all the glory.
But if salvation refers to justification, there is one clear condition we must faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:28; 4:4-5; 5:1). And if salvation refers to future deliverance from the wrath of God at the judgment and our entrance eternal life, then not only does the New Testament say we must "believe," so that this faith must be so real that it produces the fruit of obedience. There must be faith and the fruit of faith. "Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead" (James 2:17; cf. v. 26). "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcism counts for anything, but only faith working through love" (Galatians 5:6). "Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14).
When we cry, "What must I do to be saved?" the answer depends on what asking: how to be born again, how to he justified, or how to he finally welcomed into heaven. When we say that the answer is "Become a follower of Jesus Christ," we mean God's work in new birth, our faith in Christ, and the work God in our lives by faith to help us obey Christ. This is the fullest meaning of conversion.
Which brings us to the second thing that has become clear from our discussion of conversion, understood as the coming into being of a new nature (a Christian Hedonist) that will obey Christ, is no mere human decision. It is a human decision-but, oh, so much more! Repentant faith (or believing repentance based on an awesome miracle performed by the sovereign God. It is the breadth of a new creature in Christ. Saving faith has in it various elements. The nature of these elements makes faith a very powerful thing that produces changes in our lives. Unless we understand this, the array of conditions for present and final salvation in the Testament will be utterly perplexing.
Consider the following partial list.
What must I do to be saved?
The answer in Acts 16:31 is "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”
The answer in John 1:12 is that we must receive Christ: "To all who receive him ... he gave the right to become children of God."
The answer in Acts 3:19 is "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your may be blotted out."
The answer in Hebrews 5:9 is obedience to Christ. Christ "became source of eternal salvation to all who obey him."
Jesus Himself answered the question in a variety of ways. For example in Matthew 18:3 He said that childlikeness is the condition for salvation: "Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter kingdom of heaven."
In Mark 8:34-35 the condition is self-denial: "If anyone would come me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For who would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and gospel's will save it."
In Matthew 10:37, Jesus lays down the condition of loving Him more anyone else: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worth me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” The same thing is expressed in 1 Corinthians 16:22: "If anyone has no love the Lord, let him be accursed." And in Luke 14:33 the condition for salvation is that we be free from love of our possessions: "Any one of you who does not renounce all that he cannot be my disciple."
These are just some of the conditions that the New Testament says we are meet in order to be saved in the fullest and final sense. We must believe in Jesus and receive Him and turn from our sin and obey Him and humble ours like little children and love Him more than we love our family, our possessions or our own life. This is what it means to be converted to Christ. This alone is of life everlasting.
But what is it that holds all these conditions together and gives them unity? And what keeps them from becoming a way of earning salvation by works? One answer is the awesome reality of saving faith-trusting in the word of God, the promises of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, not ourselves. This is the unifying key that not only unites us to Christ for justification, empowers us for sanctification. Yes, but what is it about saving faith that unifies and changes so much of our lives?
CONVERSION LEADS TO THE THE CREATION OF A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST
Jesus pointed to the answer in the little parable of Matthew 13:44: The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in [literally, from] his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." This parable describes how someone is converted and brought into the kingdom of heaven. This is a pretty straight forward description of conversion. The arrival of King Jesus in a life is like discovering ten million dollars in a bucket in a field. And you know the laws that given the field, you get the bucket. You think, “I have somehow, someway got to get this field before anybody else gets it.” So he covers it over and then we see a phrase that will radically change how you understand conversion: “and from or for joy he sold everything he had.”
Do you see what happens? He exercises self denial. He sells everything he had, everything. What emotions do you feel as you sell all your goods? Would it make sense for you to weep and mourn, “Oh, my Lexus! Oh, my in-home theater! Oh, my condo! Oh, my Dell Duo Core Centrino!” No. What emotions did this man feel as he sold all his goods? “Ok, that’s sold! All I need is $2,000 more. There goes the Lexus! Great, take it for $15,000 under blue book, I’ve got the price now! Take all that’s left for a dollar; that home theater system might as well be junk – I’m running off to buy that field!” Sell the wedding ring, sell the sea doo, sell the car, sell the computer, sell the surfboards, and sell the books, Bill. Sell everything. Nothing compares to the value of the field. All that this man once held dear, all he once thought important, all that he once valued, all that he once had worked so hard to attain – all this he now considers rubbish compared to the tremendous worth of the treasure in the field. So he pursued his greatest joy by selling all his possessions and buying the field. When someone becomes a Christian, he values Jesus Christ more than everything else. Jesus Christ is the great treasure, and the joy of knowing Him far outweighs the cost of any sacrifice, of any loss.
Brothers and sisters, too be saved is to have your eyes open to the value of Jesus. Paul says it clearly in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them (it means from getting saved) from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
People get saved when the light goes on in their hearts. What does it mean to be saved? It means the devil is punched by the Lord and eyes go open and the foolishness of the cross becomes wisdom and power. You were looking at Jesus and He was boring. Why would I want to go worship Him? I have the surf, television, golf, fishing, booze, money, girls, you know, the things of life. That’s life, you Christians are so boring. Then suddenly, late at night, light floods the heart and the cross is majestic. It was the sweetest thing a kid ever heard at the age of 22.
The kingdom of heaven is the abode of the King. The longing to be there is not the longing for heavenly real estate, but for camaraderie with the King. The treasure in the field is the fellowship of God in Christ. I conclude from this parable that we must be deeply converted in order to enter the kingdom of heaven and that we are converted when Christ becomes Treasure Chest of holy joy-a crucified and risen Savior who pardons all provides all our righteousness, and becomes in His own fellowship our pleasure.
Jonathan Edwards reminds us “The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams. But God is the ocean.”
Pastor Bill
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