Basic Christian Beliefs: Conversion

I am continuing this series of sermons on basic Christian beliefs. Today’s topic follows from what I said in the last sermon about human nature. The Biblical view of human nature is that we are a mix of good and evil – we are made in the image of God with tremendous potential for goodness, courage, heroism – but there’s also a dark, murky, evil side to human nature.

The Bible calls this dark side of us “sin”. Sin means that so often we are chained to self-interest and prone to be self-centered. We put self at the center of life and leave God out of the picture. This evil side of our human nature distances us from God, destroys human relationships, and spoils the goodness of life. The problem is we can’t pry ourselves loose from this evil that colors so much of who are and what we do. So, if we’re ever to fulfill the destiny God created for us, we need help! Blind, wicked, mortal man needs pardon and deliverance!

The good news of the gospel is that God has done something to address the human situation. God sent His Son Jesus to pardon and rescue us. Christians use terms like “redemption” and “salvation” to describe what God does through Christ. When we put our faith in Christ and surrender our lives to Him, certain things happen.

For one thing we are justified. “Justification”. The word justification in the Bible has to do with how we can come before a holy God and be counted as a righteous person. How can we be in a right relationship with God and be acceptable to God?

One of the great doctrines and fundamental teachings of the Christian faith is that we are justified not by the good things we do or by the religious things we do, but by what Christ had done for us.

Let’s look at some verses in Romans, chapter 3. Romans 3:20 says, “No human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin”. This says that no one is made right with God, no one can be righteous before God, by trying to keep the God’s law and commandments (one of the problems is that we can’t fully keep them all!).

Notice Romans 3:23 and 24: “Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus”.

All of us have sinned. We are justified or made right with God as a gift, through what God has done in Christ. This is not something we can earn or deserve.

Further on, Romans 3:26 says, “It was to prove at the present time that he himself (God) is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus”. Notice, those who have faith in Jesus are the ones justified or made right with God!

You may say, “Harry, are you trying to say that all the good things I do can never make me right with God or acceptable to God?” That’s right! A lot of people think the way to please God and the way to have a relationship with God and go to heaven is by being kind and doing nice things. Unfortunately, a lot of people in the church have this view too. The problem with this very common view is that it fails to take into account the depth of human sin and evil and how far it separates us from God.

What are you trusting in to make you acceptable to God? Are you trusting in all the good things you’ve done, or in what Christ has done for you? We have to be trusting in either one or the other. One of the core beliefs of Christianity is that we are “justified” or made right with God not by our good works, but by trusting Christ to make us right with God.

The Articles of Religion of the Methodist Church addressed this matter. It said, “We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own work or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by faith, only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.” Notice it says that being justified by faith is a doctrine that brings comfort. Why? Well, if we’re trusting in good works and religion to make us right with God, how do we know when we’ve done enough good things? How much is “enough”. Am I good enough? Have I gone to enough worship services? Have I helped enough people?

God offers to forgive our sins and accept us back into relationship with Himself as a gift because of what Jesus has done. Faith means we accept the gift God offers in Christ.

Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Being justified brings inward peace and assurance!

Justification is something objective that happens between God and us. We are given a new status with God. But this also has an effect on our life. It changes us! Historically, this change has been called “conversion” or the new birth. The Word in the Bible sometimes translated “conversion” means to turn around and go in a different direction. When we meet Jesus and put our faith in Him, our life begins to move in a different direction!

Christ begins to transform us from the inside out!

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 it says, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” This is wonderful imagery here! When we come to Christ, God begins a “new creation” in us. In the beginning, when God created everything, it was all good. But then sin and evil came into the picture and creation became fallen. But when we come to Christ God begins a re-creative work inside us, and we begin to be restored to the goodness God intended.

Another way the Bible describes the change Christ brings about in us is that it’s like a new birth, like being born all over again. A very religious man named Nicodemus came to Jesus one night. In that conversation with this religious leader Jesus said that Nicodemus and all people need to be born again in order to get into the kingdom of heaven. John 3, verses 3 through 6 say this:

“Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit’”.

The word here translated “born from above” can mean “born again” or “born from above”.

Nicodemus was a very religious man, a leader of the Jews who believed in God, yet Jesus said he needed to be reborn spiritually. The transformation that Christ begins to work in us is like our turning around and facing a new direction, like being born all over again.

One of the problems is that many people think only real bad people need to be converted or born anew. We can certainly understand the drug dealer, child molester, or dirty-minded, foul-mouthed person needing spiritual transformation – but not nice, decent people who smell good and dress well and go to church! But the Bible says that because all of us have this condition called “sin” and have that evil side to us that keeps us chained, we need the power of Christ to transform us from the inside out!

Let me digress a moment. I don’t talk a lot in sermons about being born again. But it seems that whenever I do, word comes back to me (through the grape vine!) that someone is upset. My question is: Why? Why are some people so resistant to the teaching that we must be reborn spiritually?

To me, that’s like my going around saying, “I hate babies! I hate it when new babies are born! I wish no one in the congregation would ever have a baby, and we should outlaw having new births in this country!” Or, it’s like my saying, “I hate it when people find new life in Christ! I get sick of seeing God change people. I don’t want to see selfish people become unselfish. I don’t want to see people addicted to bad habits overcome them through the power of Jesus. I don’t like it when people come into a close relationship with God. I’m weary of seeing people filled with new love towards others because Christ has come into their life!”

Why do people get upset when we talk about conversion, or experiencing spiritual rebirth? It’s in the Bible! Jesus talked about it! I can’t help but wonder if these people haven’t been born anew and the Holy Spirit has them under conviction! I don’t know that I’ve ever heard someone who has been born anew knocking it!

Our United Methodist heritage has affirmed this Biblical teaching about conversion or the new birth. The Confession of Faith of the Evangelical United Brethren church said, “We believe regeneration (new birth) is the renewal of man in righteousness through Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, whereby we are made partakers of the divine nature and experience newness of life. By this new birth the believer becomes reconciled to God and is enabled to serve him with the will and the affections.”

In the present United Methodist Discipline (the guide book for the denomination), it talks about our heritage and our belief in regards to conversion: “We believe God reaches out to the repentant believer in justifying grace with accepting and pardoning love. Wesleyan theology stresses that a decisive change in the human heart can and does occur under the prompting of grace and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In justification we are, through faith, forgiven our sin and restored to God’s favor. This righting of relationships by God through Christ calls forth our faith and trust as we experience regeneration, by which we are made new creatures in Christ. This process of justification and new birth is often referred to as conversion. Such a change may be sudden and dramatic, or gradual and cumulative. It marks a new beginning, yet it is part of an ongoing process. Christian experience as personal transformation always expresses itself as faith working by love.”

Note that it talks about a “decisive change in the human heart” that can occur through the work of the Holy Spirit. This change can be sudden and dramatic, or a longer and slower process. Perhaps some get annoyed because they think conversion always has to be a sudden and dramatic experience. Mine wasn’t. My conversion was more like a process, a series of events whereby I slowly but surely began to experience a different kind of living with new values, new goals, and new affections through the power of Christ.

If we can only see conversion and the new birth as God’s gracious way of offering us a new beginning and a new life in the company of Christ!

There is a young man by the name of Percy Campbell. By the age of 14 Percy had racked up 39 felonies on his criminal record. News reporters dubbed him “Crime Boy” and a 1994 Miami Herald article labeled him “the ultimate lost cause.”

His crimes finally landed him in an adult court, where he was sentenced to a term at the Last Chance Ranch, a program for the worst juvenile offenders. The Ranch’s curriculum focuses on hard work, discipline, and character-building. In 2 years at the Ranch, Percy has become a champion bodybuilder, and has gone from a second-grade to a seventh-grade level of education. He also has become a disciplined, conscientious young man.

To symbolize his commitment to a new life, Percy decided to have a funeral for his old self. In a corner of the ranch, he planted a cross with the words, “Crime Boy, R.I.P. Born 1980. Died 1997.” It’s a reminder to him that his old life is over, and he has bright new life ahead of him. That’s what Jesus does for us! He gives us the power and the chance to die to the old life dominated by sin, and to begin a new life in partnership with Him.

Recently I read about a former heavy-metal rock singer who is now telling people about Christ. David Soesbee was voted in high school as the most likely to be incarcerated or dead before the age of 30. But he’s found new life in Christ and is telling others about it.

During a 6-hour period in Sydney, Australia, David visited door to door and prayed with 43 people who put their faith in Christ. This young man said, “The people of Australia are very receptive to the gospel message. They have a yearning to fill that God-spaced emptiness in their lives.”

Now you don’t have to be a criminal or heavy-metal rock player to need God’s forgiveness and spiritual rebirth! Well-dressed respectable church people can be just as far from God and enslaved to evil as a bum on a street or person in prison. As a young man, I never did any sins that made newspaper headlines, and I was a pretty decent young man. Yet I needed spiritual rebirth!

One of the core beliefs of our faith is the possibility of conversion or new birth! In our United Methodist tradition, we have a great history of recognizing that faith is not just having right beliefs in our head, but being able to experience God in a way that transforms how we live!

One of my favorite Christians was a Methodist bishop named Gerald Kennedy. Among his numerous writings was a small, readable book called The Marks of a Methodist. He has a chapter called “Experience” and a section in that chapter where he talks about Methodists and conversion. He mentions John Wesley and the early Methodists:

“Now Wesley and the early Methodists believed in conversion and were attacked for their belief by prominent churchmen. They were accused of saying that they had experienced miraculous conversions, and Wesley asked sensibly what other kind of conversion there was. It was said they claimed an experience that created perfect men immediately. Not so, replied Wesley, for ‘a man is usually converted long before he is a perfect man’”.

Then Bishop Kennedy spoke of our present time:

“I went across my Area a few years ago to hold a series of evangelistic meetings. I made the strange and disturbing discovery that we have lost the mood of it. We no longer know how to set up a meeting in which people might get converted. The choirs sing anthems, the offertory is played, the responsive reading is read, the hymns are sung, but the main thing is missing. There is no room for something unplanned entering into the sanctuary and shaking men’s lives. It is all under control – our control.

“One of the main questions facing us today is whether formal churches can find room for the Spirit to move in the hearts of the congregation…if not, then we must confess that in the main part, we are no longer Methodists and we have lost our distinguishing sign…

“(People) may be more sophisticated today, or think they are, but this generation is as much in need of being converted as any in history. It is the same Gospel and our faith is in the same God. What a day for The Methodist Church if we could but find the point again!”

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