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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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To Be Converted |
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Acts
3:19 Sunday
Next before Advent November
23, 2008 One person can lead a horse to water, but a thousand can’t make it drink. The wisdom of that old proverb is evident, and timeless. We can put it in more contemporary terms by saying you can pull a drowning man out of the water, but you can’t make him learn to swim. In other words, there is a difference between rescuing a person, and changing a person. The Great Rescuer, however, can do both. In fact, Christ never rescues a person without also changing the life of that person. In “Church Talk” we call being rescued by Christ, “salvation.” We call the change He causes in our lives, “conversion.” Thus, the Word of God says in Acts 3:19, Repent ye therefore, and be converted.” Conversion goes by many other names in the Bible. Born again, transformed, and new life in Christ all refer to this idea, this essential principle and truth that is taught throughout the Bible. It means simply that those whom Christ has rescued from the penalty of sin are also changed within so that their attitudes and desires are radically different, especially their attitudes and desires toward God. And these attitudes and desires needed to be changed. That is not my opinion, though I think it is a self evident fact. Those who claim that all people are naturally good seem to have the evidence against them. War, crime, corruption and abuse all testify to the fact that people are fallen sinners who have gone astray like lost sheep. If those things don’t convince you, just drive your car into Richmond during rush hour with all those “good” people. But the need for conversion is also at the heart of biblical teaching. Genesis 8:21 tells us the imagination of man’s heart is evil. Romans tells us people “hold the truth in unrighteousness.” That means we hold it down. We suppress it. I Corinthians 2:14 says, “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” What does this mean? Here are two verses that explain well the attitudes and desires of the “natural man” toward God. First is Philippians 3:18, speaking of the condition of these people, Paul says, “they are enemies of the cross of Christ.” The other verse is Colossians 1:21, which, speaking of Christians before their conversion, says we were “aliens and enemies” of God. But here is the clearest and fullest passage in Scripture on this subject. It is a collage of Old Testament passages, and it is found in Romans 3:9-23 (read this passage). So this natural depravity and desire to go our own way instead of God’s way needs to be changed. Our beings need to have an extreme makeover. We need to be converted from one way of thinking and acting, to another, from our ways to God’s way. Paul speaks of this very thing in Ephesians 2. Here he calls it “quickening” which means to be made alive. Let me read part of this chapter. “And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses
and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that
now worketh in the children of disobedience: among who also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the
desires of the flesh and the mind; and were by nature children of wrath,
even as others. But God, who
is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we
were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved;).” I said earlier that salvation and conversion go together. The Great Rescuer, our Saviour Christ, never rescues us from the penalty of our sins without also converting us from our sinfulness. They are two sides of the same coin. One of the great heresies of our time is the idea that we can be saved from hell without ever turning from our sins to godliness. This error makes it seem as though God’s only design for Christ’s death on the cross was to save us from hell. But Christ died to accomplish so much more than that. He died to give us new life. He died to make us into a new kind of people in a new kind of culture. He died to make us new members of a new family. He died to found His new people on earth, and that people is the Church. The Church is His bride. The Church is His family. The Church is His Kingdom. The Church is His body. He died to convert us. How can a worldly, self-centered sinner ever learn to love God, to crucify the ways of sin, to love righteousness even more than his own life? He must be changed. He must be converted. How can an idolater turn from his idols unto Jesus Christ? He must be converted. How can a secularist, an atheist, a humanist turn from his adulation of humanity to the humble worship of God? He must be converted. Something must happen inside of him to transform his being. This transformation is the goal of the cross of Christ. How can a person who hates the house and people of God, who thinks worship is boring, Christians are prudes, and righteousness is a burden and an impediment to real happiness become a member of the family of God, love the brethren and love righteousness? He must be converted. How can a person who considers the Bible outdated and hateful become a reverent believer and doer of the word? He must be converted. You see, real salvation is more than escaping hell. Real salvation is entering into Jesus. Real salvation is to have as our goal to be able to say with Paul, “for me to live is Christ.” The result of real salvation is godliness. God grant us godliness. Amen. The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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