Converted to God

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