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Page 37
That this is the scriptural meaning of conversion is very clear
from Acts xxvi. 18. The Lord is about to send Paul to the Gentiles for
the purpose of converting them. He describes the work of conversion
thus: _"To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan unto God; that they may receive
forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified
by faith that is in me."_
As already remarked, the word here translated to "turn" is the
same that is elsewhere translated to "convert."
If we now inquire more particularly into the nature, or process
of this change which is called "conversion," we find in it two
constituent elements. The one is penitence or contrition, the other is
faith. Taken together, they make up conversion. In passing, we may
briefly notice that sometimes the Scriptures use the word "repentance"
as embracing both penitence and faith, thus making it synonymous with
conversion.
Penitence or contrition, as the first part of conversion, is
sorrow for sin. It is a realizing sense of the nature and guilt of
sin; of its heinousness and damnable character. True penitence is
indeed a painful experience. A penitent heart is, therefore, called
"_a broken and a contrite heart_." It takes from the sinner his
self-satisfaction and false peace. It makes him restless, dissatisfied
and troubled. Instead of loving and delighting in sin, it makes him
hate sin and turn from it with aversion. It brings the sinner low in
the dust. He cries out, "_I am vile_;" "_I loathe myself_;" "_God be
merciful to me a sinner_."
This is the penitence insisted on by the prophets, breathed forth
in the penitential psalms, preached by John the Baptist, by Christ and
all His apostles. It is not necessary to quote passages in proof of
this. Every Bible reader knows that the Word is full of exhortations
to such sorrow and repenting for sin.
But penitence must not stop with hating and bemoaning sin, and
longing for deliverance. The penitent sinner must resolutely turn from
sin towards Jesus Christ the Saviour. He must believe that he took
upon Himself the punishment due to his sins, and by His death atoned
for them; that he satisfied a violated law, and an offended Law-giver;
that thus he has become his Substitute and Redeemer, and has taken
away all his sins. This the penitent must believe. Thus must he cast
himself upon Christ, and trust in Him with a childlike confidence,
knowing that there is now, therefore, no condemnation. Having this
faith, he is justified, and "_being justified by faith, he has peace
with God_."
True penitence always grows into faith, and true faith always
presupposes penitence. Where one is, there the other is, and where
both are, there is conversion. Penitence, therefore, is not something
that goes before conversion, and faith something that follows after,
and conversion an indefinable something sandwiched in between, as some
seem to imagine; but penitence and faith are the constituent elements
that make up conversion.
In the next place we would inquire: Who need this change? We
answer, first, all who are not in a state of loving obedience to God;
that is, all who are not turned away from and against sin and Satan,
and turned toward holiness and God. On the other hand, all who really
hate sin, mourn over it, strive against it, trust in and cling to
Christ as their personal Redeemer, need no conversion. No matter
whether they can tell where and when and how they were converted or
not. All who know by blessed experience that they now have in their
hearts the elements of penitence and faith, are in a state of
conversion, and if they earnestly ask God, may have the assurance that
their sins are forgiven and they are accepted in the Beloved. True,
this assurance may sometimes be dimmed by doubt or under the strain of
strong temptation, but as long as there is real hatred of sin and an
earnest desire to rest in Christ alone, there is Grace and acceptance
with Christ.
To the class of those who are in a converted state belong those
baptized children of the Church who have kept their baptismal
covenant. Given to Christ in holy baptism, the seeds of the new life
implanted through that divine ordinance, reared and trained by
Christian parents or guardians, they have belonged to Christ from
their childhood. From their earliest years they have hated sin,
repented of it, trusted in Christ, and loved Him. They are "_turned
from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God_." They need
only that daily dying to sin, and daily turning to Christ, which all
Christians need on account of the sins and infirmities of the flesh
which still cleave to them. Such were Joseph, and Samuel, and Daniel,
and Jeremiah, and John the Baptist, and Timothy, and others of whom we
read in the Scriptures. They were children of the covenant, and
therefore children of God. Of this class we have written in former
chapters. We need not enlarge on them here. They need no conversion,
because they are in a converted state. Yet there are well-meaning
people, who have more zeal than knowledge, who would violently exhort
even such to be converted, or they cannot be saved! Thus would they
confuse them, distract them, unsettle their faith in Christ, quench
the Spirit, and, perhaps, drive them to unbelief and despair. From all
such teachers, we pray: "Good Lord, deliver us."
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