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Scripture Reading: Acts 26:15-20

What Being Converted Looks Like

 

Intro.

1.  Are you converted to Christ and His Cause? If your answer is “yes,” how do you know you are truly converted? Only by your choices and actions can you really tell if you are converted to Christ and to His will. 

2.  Convert (epistrepho), “to turn to, to turn one’s self about, turn back” (Thayer, 243-244).

  a.  Turn to the Lord (Acts 9:35; 11:21; 14:15; 15:19).

  b.  Conversion is produced by gospel preaching, Acts 26:17-20.

  c.  Repent (change mind) and be converted (turn). Baptism is the moment the turning starts, Acts 3:19 (2:38).

3.  What does converted look like? Gal. 6:1-4 Spiritual...humbly examine.

 

I.  BEING CONVERTED LOOKS LIKE:

  A.  Conviction, Heb. 11:1. (Faith that rests on solid evidence)

    1.  “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (NASB)

    2.  The gospel gives convicting evidence upon which one’s faith rests.

    3.  Converted looks like relying in the Bible, the word of God, for everything that pertains to life and godliness, 2 Pet. 1:3.

    4.  Converted soul is convinced, not double-minded, Matt. 6:24.

    5.  What conversion looks like: Acts 19:18-20.

    6.  Where there is a lack of conviction, complications (excuses) arise to rationalize not putting the Lord first, Lk. 9:57-62.

  B.  Conforming to Christ, not Conforming to the World, Rom. 12:1-2.

    1.  Conform: “To assimilate a pattern, to become behaviorally or socially similar to; to fashion according to.”

    2.  Conformed to the image of the Son, Rom. 8:29; Col. 3:10.

    3.  Not fashioned after the world, Rom. 12:2; Jas. 4:4.

      a.  The flesh (priorities, language, immorality, goals, etc.).

      b.  The spirit, Gal. 5:16, 22-23.

    4.  What conversion looks like: Acts 18:8; 1 Cor. 6:9-11.

  C.  Continued Steadfastness, Acts 2:42; Col. 1:23; 2 Tim. 3:14.

    1.  Endurance in the face of every obstacle, Heb. 12:1-2.

    2.  Not a rocky heart without depth, or a thorny heart filled with competing forces, Mk. 4:16-19.

    3.  Being converted looks like faithful consistency, not sporadic irregularity, Heb. 6:11-12. Dependability, reliability, soundness.

    4.  What conversion looks like: Heb. 11:32-36.

    5.  Without continued steadfastness, compromise results, Gal. 1:6-7; 2 Tim. 4:3-5, 10.

  D.  Conduct Worthy of the Gospel, Phil. 1:27; Rom. 12:9-21.

    1.  There is a connection with brethren, not isolation from brethren, Acts 2:44-46.

    2.  What conversion looks like: Acts 9:19-22.

    3.  Without converted conduct, complaining and confusion exists, Phil. 2:14-16.

 

Conclusion

1.  You can recognize the converted Christian and the unconverted Christian, Heb. 5:11-14.

2.  It’s not what you hear, it’s what you do that shows you are converted to the Lord, Jas. 1:22.

3.  It’s not what you say, it’s what you do that shows you are converted to the Lord, Matt. 7:21.

4.  It is the influence of the converted soul that is the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

 

 

By: Joe R. Price

Posted: August 1, 2016