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Have you ever been out walking in a certain direction and realize you need to go somewhere that's the opposite way from where you're headed?? Like maybe you start to go to the Park, but remember that you need something at the grocery store?? That's what Conversion is like. A change of direction for your life because the destination and rewards are greater aimed toward God and Heaven than any other direction you could go.
In order to persuade anyone of this, two major misconceptions need to be cleared up --
1) Conversion is unnecessary -- Some groups feel that the Bible says that everyone will eventually be Saved anyway, so there's no need. These people are called Universalists. They evidently see the verses where it's God's Will that everyone be Saved (2 Pet. 3:9) and that Jesus died once for all (Heb. 9:28), and those are true. But the point they're missing is in every verse that says, "whosoever believes" (Jn. 3:16) or "whosoever calls" (Rom. 10:9-10). These verses clearly indicate that not everyone WILL be Saved. For example, Matt. 25:31-46, talks about how God will separate the sheep from the goats at the Judgment Day.
Others feel that life ends at death, so there's no point planning for Eternity. The Bible tells a different story. It mentions a "new Heaven and new Earth" and the dead rising to stand in judgment. That is the Spiritual equivalent of not planning for Retirement in this life. Fairly important unless you're born into money or simply cannot make enough to save ahead. The advantage to Salvation is that Price has already been paid. All we need do is accept the Free Gift and we're good to go. (although this series is about also gaining benefits now and growing our "assets" while we can) "Fire Insurance" is good, but we're called to so much more.
Still others don't see the point in Conversion because they think we'll always have another chance in the next life. The Bible says that we're only destined to die once. (Heb. 9:27) As some commentaries will say, the most important things about life only happen once. The fact that Jesus only needed to die "once for all" suggests that man only need die once for Eternity.
2) We can create our own way of Salvation -- Whether we feel that being a "good person" is enough to gain access to Heaven or if we simply differ on what the True Salvation of God looks like; it's only God Who gets the final say on the matter. Romans 3:23 says that ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. This, combined with John 14:6 where Jesus makes it clear that only He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; clearly indicates that there is absolutely nothing we can do to save ourselves. Being a "good person" is all well and good, but unless we are doing it for God, it's not worth anything to our Eternal Destiny. Karma, or the "Law of Attraction", or what have you... Those can be useful to guiding good behavior, but as mentioned in other posts; the only way to guarantee motives and destiny is with the Holy Spirit.
So, now that those false ideas are cleared up, we can get on with the issues that lead to True Conversion --
First, as with anything we find to fix in life, we have to identify and acknowledge that there's a problem. In this case, sin*. As indicated above, there is absolutely nothing we can do on our own to fix it. Jesus was the only One qualified to take our place in the punishment we all deserve. Romans 6:23 tells us that, "the wages of sin is death..." That means every sin every time. As sin is the thing that originally separated us from God in the Garden and brought death to humanity; it is the inherent problem we all share and thus, God is the solution we all need.
This leads us to Jesus, Who paid the price or (propitiation) for our sins. It was His punishment that healed our diseases (1 Pet. 2:24), His Crown of Thorns that heals our minds, and His death on the Cross with the shedding of blood that covers our sins. The fact of His Resurrection proves that this payment was sufficient for all of us.
The discussion was something I missed due to Mike's visit, but the questions in the material are as follow --
Jesus talks to Nicodemus in John 3:3 about the need to be "born again". What do you think He meant?? What exactly happens when someone is "born again"?? - I said that you have a recreated soul. This means your mind, will, and emotions are forever changed in light of His Gift of Salvation.
Jesus brought out a major reason for people not converting in John 3:19-20 when He spoke of people loving darkness more than light. In John 16:8, we read that the Spirit convicts people of sin when they face the challenge of Jesus' claims. The reaction is either to run to the Light or away. Which did you chose at first?? Do you think that choice happens more or less often?? - Personally, I came to the Light. It was basically a "no brainer" for me since I was only 6 yrs old and had been in Church basically since birth. As to how often this happens, I honestly don't know.
Romans 1:19-21 indicates that God makes Himself known to everyone. Why are we then commanded to tell others about Him?? (See Rom. 10:9-14) The point isn't to know ABOUT God, but to believe Jesus died for our sins. Describe your pilgrimage to Conversion. When did you move beyond believing in God to placing your trust in His Salvation?? - The Rom. passage tells basically that God makes Himself known to people through us. I didn't have a "pilgrimage" to Conversion, I grew up in Church and a Private Christian School.
Many people struggle regarding whether or not their sins have been fully paid for by the death of Christ. When people come to know Christ as their Savior, they can believe He died for their past sins -- but often have a problem believing He also died for their future sins. Why do you think this is true?? Heb. 10: 12 sheds some possible light on this. (according to the material) -- I personally don't know of anyone who thought this way, nor do I understand how one COULD think that. Jesus died ONCE for ALL, for ALL TIME long before anyone alive today was even born. So why would they think that only their past sins had been covered??
When do you think a person has "everlasting life" -- when they believe or when they die?? What are the implications of John 3:36 to a believer?? -- Everlasting Life begins at the moment of belief. Salvation is like a 401K program. The company offers, you sign up, you start building/receiving advantages/benefits immediately even though the full reward comes later. This also relates to the fact that not everyone WILL sign up.
I'll try to catch up on this week's material in the next couple of days. In the meantime, God Bless, as always!!
Footnotes:
The concept of "sin" can be a tricky issue. As I've mentioned in other posts, the book, "Misreading the Gospel through Western Eyes" is helpful in this question, at least to a point. The authors bring out the point that, "While the fact of sin is universal, the substance of sin is cultural." For example, here in the USA, many Christians consider it a sin to drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes due to the whole, "body is a temple" concept. However, in Indonesia, where at least one of these men has done Missionary work; Christians over there consider it a sin to play pool. No further explanation is given for this, but the point lies in the fact that the definitions of sin can be very different. I think that we need to keep things simple, just as Jesus did. When asked what the Greatest Commandment was, He said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your strength, and all you mind; and love your neighbor as yourself." So I would say the bottom line is to love God, take good care of yourself, and you'll then be better capable of treating others well. Aside from that, I actually think the Pagan motto works well. "Do what you will; but harm no one."
