Conversion
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Intro
Intro
Why are we doing these unified studies on communion Sunday?
-emphasis on understanding the gospel
-uniting around the communion table
-working on application in Sunday School
-spending the day going out and living out the calling of our commission
“Conversion is our willing response to the gospel call, in which we sincerely repent of sins and place our trust (faith) in Christ for salvation.” Wayne Grudem
This definition springs from a host of biblical passages:
Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Luke
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
-We therefore recognize conversion requires both saving faith and repentance of sin. Indeed, we cannot have one without the other.
A Danger—have you heard of “easy believism?”— separating faith from repentance , believing that faith in Christ to be saved does not require a genuine repentance of sin, is to distort the saving gospel.
Faith
Faith
Faith is necessary to please God
By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith is distinguished from intellectual assent/approval
You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!
Faith is belief into Christ, union with Him
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
—this is not “belief about Christ”
—nor is it even to “believe Christ” himself, but to believe in Him
—that is to put one’s trust and confidence in union with Christ
So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
that belief is not the intellectual approval of the mind but the sincere conviction of your whole heart
Romans 9:
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
This reality of faith being rooted “in Christ” means we cannot serve two masters—repentance is necessary!
In your own heart and in your witness to others, is faith merely the belief of truths about Jesus, or are you believing, trusting in Him?
Have you come to trust in Christ personally, or are you still at the point of intellectual knowledge and emotional approval of the facts of salvation without having personally put your trust in Christ?
Repentance
Repentance
“Repentance is a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it, and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ.”-Wayne Grudem
Worldly sorrow vs. Godly sorrow…there is a difference
—> wordly sorrow is often a grief over pain or punishment as opposed to being distraught over the nature of our sin.
“Now, therefore,” says the Lord,
“Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
So rend your heart, and not your garments;
Return to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.
So rend your heart, and not your garments;
Return to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.
Who knows if He will turn and relent,
And leave a blessing behind Him—
A grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God?
“Now, therefore,” says the Lord,
“Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
God demands that we turn to Him and therefore away from sin…this is Godly repentance
For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. Therefore, although I wrote to you, I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the wrong, nor for the sake of him who suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you.
2 Corinthians 7:
Consider the story of the young ruler in
He approves of Christ, but does not have faith in Him
He has sorrow, but not a Godly sorrow for his sin that leads to repentance
Consider Esau in , who regretted and wept over his lost birthright, but found no repentance because he rejected God. His was a worldly sorrow.
Constrast
David and Nathan &
Nebuchadnezzar
Have you ever truly repented of sin? Did it lead you to a genuine commitment to forsake sin?
Does your sin grieve you, and does that grief result in turning toward Christ, or do you hold onto sin?