TRUE CONVERSION
Sermon by: Rev. Steven R. Key
L.D. 33
Beloved in the Lord, What marks you as a Christian? What is the difference between you and an unbeliever? Both sin. In fact, our sins may even be said to be worse than those sins of unbelievers. After all, as we considered last Sunday morning in connection with L.D. 32, God has given us so much. To fail to express gratitude to Him leaves us inexcusable. In this past week I was reminded of that again, in reading from the prophecy of Ezekiel for family devotions at noon. In chapter 17 God sends his prophet to speak in a parable, and uses the figure of a tree to describe His Church. He spoke with application to one particular period of time; but it is a figure of speech that is certainly applicable to His Church in every age. "It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine." That certainly describes us, beloved. We have been planted in good soil by great waters. God has given us much. And for that very reason it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for those who reject such precious gifts of God. But what is the difference between you and an unbeliever. Do we not sin, just as they? Oh, but there is this difference: We who are in Christ Jesus are fighting a constant battle within ourselves. In the chapter which we read, Colossians chapter 3, that battle is called the mortification of our old man, or of our earthly, sinful members. And along with that, we do also this: put on the new man, and set our affections on the things above.
That is the life of true conversion, the subject which we consider this morning in L.D. 33. The subject follows immediately that which we considered last week, concerning the necessity of good works. We now must understand more clearly what that life of good works is. For we make a mistake if we look just at those exceptional works of an outward religious nature. What we must understand is that good works, true works of gratitude to God, begin in our inner closets, with the heart-felt expression of sorrow for sin. Without that, there can be no good works. Good works begin with true sorrow of heart that we have provoked God by our sins, and more and more to hate and flee from them. To know what God has given us in Christ Jesus, to know what it cost Him to redeem us and to reconcile us until Himself, causes us to look at sin in a different light than before. Then follows the delight to live according to the will of God in all good works. There can't be one without the other. And that conversion is a lifelong process, a constant activity in the life of the Christian. It is so, because the Holy Spirit works continually in us, accomplishing God's good purpose in us to the glory of His name. Daily we need to be renewed in the blood of the Lamb. Daily we need to be conscious of the terrible power of sin over our old man. Daily we must lay hold of the Word of God, that lamp unto our feet and light upon our path. For therein we lay hold of Christ. And so the Holy Spirit works that wonder work of sanctification, true conversion. That is our theme this morning,
TRUE CONVERSION
Concerning that subject, we shall see from Scripture our own experience enlightened. For our lives as children of God are marked by:
I. A RADICAL CHANGE
II. A CONSTANT STRUGGLE
III. A SURE EVIDENCE OF GOD'S WORK
THAT IS EMPHASIZED BY THE VERY WORD CONVERSION.
The word speaks of a turning around. Very frequently in the Old Testament especially, you have the concept very clearly spelled out in the exhortations of God's servants the prophets. Several weeks ago we considered one of those in Ezekiel 33:11: "Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel." Samuel explains the process in I Samuel 7:3, where after Israel had experienced the chastening hand of God for 20 years, we read that they lamented after Jehovah: "And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD will all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." To mention just one more Old Testament passage, Joel 2:12,13, the prophet also calls God's people to true conversion, when he preaches, "Therefore also now, saith the LORD, Turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil."
In the New Testament, we need only to consider now the passage which we read earlier, Colossians chapter 3. There we heard this call: "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." Then, in verse 5 the Apostle continues the thought: "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry." Conversion, that turning around, involves mortifying those thoughts and activities of our old man of sin. And that word mortify is a very expression word. It means put to death. Execute those works of the flesh. Engage in battle against them! Continuing now in verse 8: "But now ye also put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth." Put them off! Put them away! That is the turning, the radical change that characterizes true conversion.
That means, you understand, that we do always carry with us our old nature, that old man of sin. And that old nature is evil beyond description! It is exactly because of that old nature, that we must never have a "better than you" attitude over against any one. In the words of Colossians 3 we notice that the old man is characterized by deceit and every form of iniquity. That is why there is within us the inclination to sin. We have in ourselves the potential to commit any sin. There are many sins to which we are not tempted. But we have the potential to commit any sin. That is why we have to take every temptation so seriously. Don't think for a moment that you can expose yourself to temptation, and say, "Oh, that won't affect me. That won't bother me. I can go to the movies, and hear the profanity and vulgarities and the abuse of God's name, and see the graphic violence, and watch the portrayal of adultery and fornication, because I know that I won't be bothered by it. I can sit in my home and watch that stuff on television or on a video, and it won't affect me. I can go to the dance with all my peers (I wouldn't want to show myself different, after all), and I can feel the music in my body and sway with the music, but I know that I wouldn't be tempted to fornication, nor would I feed any evil thoughts in any one else." Or, "I can speak my mind, when somebody shares some juicy information with me, and enter into the conversation, because I know that I won't get carried away with the sins of gossip and slander." Or, "Just because I neglect Bible reading and prayer, and fellowship with God, doesn't mean that it will have an adverse affect upon me." That can't possibly be your attitude when you are living in the consciousness of how depraved is that old man you carry with you. That old man is under the power and influence of sin, and is subject to every temptation, except it is overpowered by the new man and the life of true conversion! That is the old man of sin. And true conversion is a turning around, a spiritual turning, away from sin and the leading of that old man, and unto Christ.
TRUE CONVERSION IS THE HOLY SPIRIT WORKING IN US IN SUCH A WAY THAT WE CONSCIOUSLY WALK AS BEFORE GOD'S FACE.
Oh yes, don't forget, when we speak about true conversion, just as when we spoke about good works last Sunday morning, we are speaking about something that takes place only in you who are new creations in Christ Jesus. Christ, having redeemed and delivered us by His blood, has also renewed us by His Holy Spirit after His own image! We have, therefore, not just that old man of sin, but a new man. And that new man is the mind of Christ in us. The new man is what you are from the perspective of the saving work of God in you. That new man, according to Colossians 3:10, is what you are as renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created you. Isn't that beautiful, beloved? If you think it is wonderful to look at the beauties of this creation, and to hear God bring it all into being by the Word of His power — and it certainly is wonderful to see His handiwork and to enjoy Him and to marvel at His work as Creator; how much more wonderful it is to consider His handiwork in you and me. Out of this depraved man, fallen into sin, with a heart that by nature stands in enmity against God, in hardness and rebellion, with a mind of sin, and a will that has a strong, often restless desire to follow the lusts of the flesh, God has come and by His efficacious Word and through His Holy Spirit has recreated me, so that He has made a new man of me. Isn't it amazing, to contemplate that work of God and to see what He has done in you?
True conversion is to walk in exactly that way, to contemplate Jehovah God, and to see Him as Wonderful, as Good, as your Redeemer-Friend. True conversion always takes God into account, and is marked by the fearfulness of offending Him. For love's sake, we are afraid to offend or provoke our Friend. That is the influence of that new man, the image of Christ in us. According to Ephesians 4:23, we are new renewed in the spirit of our mind. With a renewed mind, we understand things differently. The renewed mind doesn't merely evaluate things by outward appearance, or by the will and understanding of our sinful heart; but looks at and hears the Word of God and treasures it, bows before it. The new man has the kind of mind that is controlled by the regenerated heart that loves the Lord. And out of that love for God we reverence Him by our submission to His Word. So that when He reveals Himself as the absolutely sovereign God Who is God alone, we acknowledge His right to do what He wills. Because our minds are renewed by His Spirit. And when He says that He is the good God, we praise Him for that, because we know it is true. You won't do that otherwise. There are many times in our lives when through sorrow of heart or other grievous circumstances we could not possibly humble ourselves before God's sovereignty, except for His work in us through that new man. But that all belongs to true conversion, the work of the Holy Spirit in us. That is why we also search out what God requires of us. You do, don't you? With Samuel of old, we say, "Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth." We say, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" That is the new man. And that is the life of true conversion.
THE CATECHISM ACCURATELY SETS FORTH THE TRUTH THAT TRUE CONVERSION CONSISTS OF TWO PARTS: THE MORTIFICATION OF THE OLD, AND THE QUICKENING OF THE NEW MAN.
The Catechism once again speaks to our own experience, doesn't it — a constant struggle, always mortifying the old man, and quickening the new man. Scripture also points us to the reality of the struggle. That is true not only in Colossians 3, but in Ephesians 4, and perhaps especially in Romans 7. And yet when we talk about the constant struggle of the Christian life, we must not misrepresent the truth of Scripture either. We must not say, e.g., that the old man and the new man are equal in power, or that the old man is more powerful than the new man. That is certainly not the idea of the Apostle Paul, as taught in Colossians 3 and those other passages to which I referred. When he says in verse 3, "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God," and when he continues to issue the call to mortify the old man, he does so in the presupposition that the new man in Christ has power over the old! When Christ lives in us, then there is a supremacy of the new man over the old, no question about that. That new man, empowered by the Spirit of Christ through the Word of God, does battle and has the victory over the old man of sin. Indeed it does.
Certainly we experience the struggle, sometimes an extremely difficult struggle. Often we are moved to cry out, "O wretched man that I am; who shall deliver me from the body of this death!" But God addresses His efficacious Word to the new man in Christ. And as God works His Word in us by the power of His Holy Spirit, we look at ourselves and busy ourselves in the power of God's saving work. That is why, even in our struggle, we have the joy of a Christian. That is Q & A 90. We live in a constant spiritual tension, fighting a fierce battle of faith within our own being. Constantly sin must be put off and the new man quickened by the means God has given us for that spiritual growth in sanctification. But we live with a sincere joy of heart in God, through Christ. We have the victory. The exalted and sovereign Lord is our Lord!
AND SO OUR CONSTANT STRUGGLE COMES TO EMPHATIC EXPRESSION BY A CONTINUOUS PUTTING OFF OF THE OLD MAN OF SIN, AND A QUICKENING OF THE NEW MAN.
What is it to mortify the old man? "It is a sincere sorrow of heart that we have provoked God by our sins, and more and more to hate and flee from them." Notice, there are two central thoughts there. First of all, it is to cry, to cry. It is a sincere sorrow of heart. And that sorrow is not a self-centered sorrow. There is much of that, you know. We can look at our sins in a very selfish way, and often do. We look at them, after we have been caught or exposed, and grieve that we have made ourselves look bad. But that is not true sorrow for sin. We can be sorry that we hurt someone close to us — our family perhaps, our parents, a husband or wife. And that sorrow may be perfectly proper and fitting too. But if that's all it is, it is not true sorrow for sin. And if ever we will excuse our sins, and say of ourselves, "Well, this really wasn't so bad; not nearly as bad as so-and-so would make it," then we are not sorry at all. True conversion is a sorrow of heart, that we have provoked God! It is to grieve, because we have not walked in the way that He would have us go. It is to have a heavy heart, because we have been unfaithful to Him Who has given so much to us Instead of loving Him, we showed our hatred toward Him. Instead of serving Him, we have provoked Him.
But there is more. True conversion manifests itself not only in sorrow. But that mortification of the old man involves a turning from that sin. The Catechism emphasized that truth already in connection with Christian discipline. It spoke in Q & A 85 of the seriousness of one being forbidden the use of the sacraments. By that exercise of Christian discipline they are excluded from the Christian church and by God Himself from the kingdom of Christ. But the Catechism did not stop there. The hope was held before us of a return of such a man or woman. Such an one can again be received as members of Christ and His Church. But that can only happen when "they promise and show real amendment." In other words, there must be a turning from the sin in which they impenitently had walked. That is true conversion, nothing less. And that is true in our lives from day to day, too. When the Holy Spirit works that conversion in us, there is a ceasing of the sin. That is possible, you understand, only by the work of the Spirit. Else we would stubbornly continue in that sin. But conversion is a turning around. I already called your attention to the meaning of the word conversion. And a turning around means that we walk in the opposite direction from what we were walking. We can't have it both ways. We try that sometimes. We try to cling to our sin, while claiming the life of Christ. But that's impossible. If you are walking in one direction, your back is to the other. So to mortify the old man is to learn to say "no" to the devil and to our sin. To say, "Get thee behind me, Satan," that is mortifying the old man. To flee to God, to flee from the evil, that is true conversion. It is to hate our sins, and to flee from them.
And then there is the quickening of the new man. To quicken is to make alive. To seek to live out of the vibrancy of Christ's life — that is the quickening of the new man. The Catechism defines that this way: "It is a sincere joy of heart in God, through Christ, and with love and delight to live according to the will of God in all good works." Again, you sense the struggle within yourself, don't you. "A sincere joy of heart in God, through Christ" — is that what characterizes you from day to day and moment to moment? Or don't we in fact often complain, and feel sorry for ourselves, because our focus is wrong and sinful? "And with love and delight to live according to the will of God in all good works — again, is that your life? Oh, to be thankful to God, you see. We spoke about that at length last week. There can be no life of true conversion without gratitude to God. There can be no spiritual growth, without gratitude to God. There can be no proper spiritual attitude, without gratitude to God. There can be no proper worship, without gratitude to God. There can be no overcoming temptation and adversity, without a God-centered focus and an experiential understanding of what He has given you. There can be no willing giving of yourself to Him, without a relationship with Him that moves you to express your thanksgiving. But when you see Jesus as your Savior, when you know the love of God for you, when you understand what He has given you, and the sacrifice He has made; when you know the depths of depravity and sin from which He has saved you, then you find it a delight, a tremendous privilege to life according to His will.
THE CATECHISM SPEAKS OF TRUE CONVERSION.
There certainly is a fake conversion. There is a counterfeit. But it can always be known. And it can be known, because the counterfeit conversion refuses to submit to the Word of God. The sorrow of a counterfeit conversion always becomes manifest as a sorrow that was not true before God. It is sorrow that continues to point the finger at others, or to look at self, to hold a grudge and to walk in enmity against certain people. The Word of God does not abide in the heart. There is no true change. That is a terrible thing. It is made even worse by the hypocrisy of one who claims to have been converted, who claims to have had sorrow of heart, who claims to have turned from a sinful way — while yet continuing in it. The hypocrisy compounds their evil.
But true conversion gives sure evidence of God's work. True conversion is revealed by humble submission to God, to His Word. True conversion is seen in good works. And lest we misunderstand, the Catechism carefully defines good works. You and I don't establish the definition of good works. Works are not good, because we imagine them to be good. We have some pretty wild imaginations sometimes. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, Jeremiah wrote. And that aspect of our old man carries us away with its wild imagination sometimes. We like to think that we are good, or that the particular actions that we take are good, when they aren't at all. Be careful, beloved. Don't ever call good, that which God in His Word calls evil. Don't ever do that. Don't walk in a way that God calls evil, and claim to be doing good. Don't do that.
GOOD WORKS ARE ONLY THOSE WHICH PROCEED FROM A TRUE FAITH, ARE PERFORMED ACCORDING TO THE LAW OF GOD, AND TO HIS GLORY.
That's all. God is the standard. And His standard is set before us in His Word. Faith lays hold of that Word. The life of true conversion is the life that joins the psalmist in proclaiming from the heart: "Oh, how love I thy law!" So that, as we read on in Colossians 3, we see that the Christian is characterized by his spiritual attire. I refer to verses 12 and following. Hearing the exhortation of Christ, we who are the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on "bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do you."
And above all those things, there is one spiritual characteristic that marks us in whom Christ lives. That is love, which is the bond of perfectness, the bond which marks us as one with Christ. And that life is the life in which we live and die happily. We struggle, oh yes. But in Christ is the victory. And we begin to enjoy that already now. And we look forward to the time when the old man is forever put off, and we glorify our Redeemer forever in the fellowship of His love in heaven. Amen.
Preached: Randolph PRC 8/3/97 (am)
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