CONVERSION AND REPENTANCE

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What is Conversion?

When preaching the gospel, the apostles said, 'Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in other that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord' (Acts 3: 19).

Conversion is the act by which a person turns from the way in which the men of the world walk, to walk in God's way. It is not an effort to improve but the complete change which takes place when Jesus Christ transforms a whole life.
When a girl becomes engaged, a sort of conversion takes place. She stops living for her parents. She no longer thinks of herself, she lives only for her future husband. All her decisions are governed by her love for her fiance. She devotes all her time to him.
This is exactly what must happen in time life of anyone who receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. He ceases to live for himself and for the world. From that time onward he lives for God and for his fellow men. Wordy people seek their won glory. They are looking for success. They are attached to material things. The disciple of Jesus Christ has left all that behind. His one aim is to give glory to God.

False conversions

Unfortunately, these do exist. Those who have a desire to be saved, but who will still keep in their lives masters other than Jesus Christ, are not truly converted. Some do not leave their love of money, others secretly hold on to fetishes. Soon their faith in Jesus Christ will be stifled (Matthew 13: 1-23).
The book of Acts tells us the story of Simon the sorcerer (Acts 8: 9-24). He had believed. He had even been baptized. But he had become converted because he hoped to gain something: he wanted to possess the power of the apostles for his own glory. It was a false conversion. We do not have the right to judge our brothers in the faith by saying, 'So-and-so is not converted.' But we must watch over ourselves (1 Corinthians 10: 12). Let us serve no other masters besides Jesus Christ.

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What is Repentance?

The meaning of this expression is very close to that of the word 'Conversion'. Repentance is part of conversion. But while a person is converted only once in his life, he has to keep on repenting.

The verb 'to repent' in the language of the writers of the New Testament means 'to change one's way of thinking'.
Repentance is the act by which I leave my human way to thinking for God's thinking. Men do not take sin very seriously. For them, lying, pride or impurity are not very serious things. By repentance, a man recognizes that he is wrong. He recognizes that his heart and his thoughts are evil and that sin is a very serious matter. If men were willing to acknowledge when they were wrong, there would be no more wars! But no one is willing to admit that he can be mistaken. Everyone wants to be in the right. That is why peace is not possible. To repent is to acknowledge that God alone is right.

The signs of repentance

There is first of all sadness at having offended God, at having caused Him pain. Sincere repentance can sometimes lead to tears. In Psalm 51, King David, who had committed a very serious sin, has left us a prayer of repentance which is most instructive. It teaches us that another sign of sincere repentance is a deep desire to be delivered for ever from one's sin. Finally, true repentance must not be merely a matter of feelings, but it must produce fruit. John the Baptist said to those who came to be baptized with the baptism of repentance: 'Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with your repentance' (Matthew 3: 8).
Zaccheus, the tax collector, has left us a good example of the fruits of repentance. He said to Jesus. 'If I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much' (Luke 19: 8).
God does not always ask us to give back four times as much, but He wants to see us putting right our faults when that is possible.

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