Converted to God
Minister: | Rev. Ronald Van Overloop |
Date: | 12/20/2015 AM |
Text: | Ephesians 4; Lord's Day 33 |
Psalters: | 406, 217, 426, 383 |
- The meaning.
- Conversion is a spiritual turning around - from going in a sinful direction to going in a God-glorifying direction.
- True conversion is a change in our consciousness of God (to Him and toward His attitude about sin).
- The conscious motivation behind conversion is love of God and realizing what sin does to Him.
- Conversion is to be understood in two ways.
- It occurs when spiritual life planted in regeneration comes to consciousness and then to activity for the first time.
- But conversion is also continual because of the presence of sin in us (our old man).
- Conversion’s author is God, not man.
- Conversion is a spiritual turning around - from going in a sinful direction to going in a God-glorifying direction.
- The parts of conversion are the mortifying (killing) the old man and quickening (making alive) the new man (Eph. 4;22-24).
- Our “old man” is that which we are by nature, i.e., by virtue of Adam’s relationship to us; it is totally depraved.
- By virtue of our relationship to Christ, our old man is crucified (Rom. 6:2), but …
- The mortifying (putting off) of our old man is first and most frequently evidenced in “sincere sorrow of heart.
- And conversion is a conscious quickening of the life of Christ in us.
- The first and most frequent expression of this quickening is a sincere rejoicing in God and in the things of God.
- It is ardent love and desire to live according to God, under the dominion of Lord Jesus.
- Our “old man” is that which we are by nature, i.e., by virtue of Adam’s relationship to us; it is totally depraved.
- The fruit of conversion is seen in the doing of good works.
- Good works are rooted in faith (Hebrews 11:6 and Romans 14:23).
- A good work is that which is in harmony with God's objective standard, His law.
- And good works have the end or goal of the glory of God (I Cor. 10:31; Romans 14:6-8; John 15:8).