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Jesus told Nicodemus,
Jesus told Nicodemus,
Jn. 3:7 You should not be surprised at my saying, `You must be born again.’
The author's title says, "You Must Be Converted." He uses Jesus' language but substitutes a different word. This is a bit of dishonesty.
In fact, the author will use the word "conversion"/"converted" 12 times, but the Bible uses the word (epistrophé, to turn about) only once:
Ac. 15:3 The church sent them on their way, and as they travelled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted.
That word is related to epistrephó (to turn, to return), which is used 36 times. Most often, this word is used to describe changing course. This can be a vessel changing course, a person turning around, or occasionally, people turning to God.
Another word, strephó, means to turn, but mostly to change direction. It can also refer to turning to God:
Mt. 18:3 And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
This implies repentance, but in actual fact that when used of Christians, these Greek words simply mean the action of turning (to God), without the mechanism being described.
Repentance is a part of that mechanism. "Repent" is metanoeó, change my mind, change the inner man:
Mt. 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
To repent only means to change, but does not describe what to change to. Thus, the command to be Born Again, another part of the mechanism. That is the New Man, which the author adequately describes.
When we repented and believed, we first died to several things:
- The bondage of the law (Ro. 7:6)
- Hostility to God (Ro. 8:7)
- deadness in transgressions (Ep. 2:5)
- confidence in the flesh (Ph. 3:3)
Our fleshly nature was circumcised from us, and we were buried and raised;
Col. 2:11-13 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ.
Paul clearly states that the sinful nature has been put off. But we need to align ourselves with this reality. The new birth ("...alive in Christ") begins the process of aligning:
Ro. 8:12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation — but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.
Ro. 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Ro. 13:14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
Col. 3:5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
This can only occur by the leading and empowerment of the Holy Spirit:
Ro. 8:14 ...because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
2Co. 3:8 ...will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?
2Ti. 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
Ga. 3:3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?
Ga. 5:25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
None of this describes conversion as the author presents it. To us, conversion implies an action in response to pressure. A convert is someone who is persuaded to join up after being presented with sufficient reason to change.
"Born again" implies none of this. It's a new start, a supernatural work, an abandonment of the old life in order to embrace the new. It's identity, transformation, something completely different from the previous thing.
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(88) Q. What is involved in genuine repentance or conversion?
A. Two things: the dying-away of the old self, and the rising-to-life of the new.
(89) Q. What is the dying-away of the old self?
A. To be genuinely sorry for sin and more and more to hate and run away from it.
(90) Q. What is the rising-to-life of the new self?
A. Wholehearted joy in God through Christ and a love and delight to live according to the will of God by doing every kind of good work.
(91) Q. But what are good works?
A. Only those which are done out of true faith, conform to God’s law, and are done for his glory; and not those based on our own opinion or human tradition.
Most of us have a similar attitude toward change. We don’t like it. And we have our reasons. Change is uncomfortable. We prefer what we know. We all eventually dislike new music in favor of what is familiar to us (yes, so will you!). And in preferential matters reluctance to change is fine.
But we also resist spiritual change. We can grow comfortable doing what God forbids and avoiding what he requires. But we must be changed. To be saved we must “turn to God from [our] ungrateful and impenitent ways” (Q&A 87). We must be converted.
And conversion is more than a one-time event. In the new birth believers die to sin. Consequentially we may no longer live in it (Rom. 6:1). Jesus told his those already following him that “unless you are converted … you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3 NKJ). Even believers must put off their old selves and put on the new (Eph. 4:22, 24). Conversion—or spiritual transformation—begins with the radical change of regeneration. But it continues with the ongoing positive change of sanctification, our grateful response to God’s grace.
You Must Put to Death Your Old Self
Growing in your relationship with God requires a growing negative relationship to sin (Rom. 8:13).
Converted people increasingly sorrow over sin.
We’ve been told that guilt is harmful to us; we need to retrain our attitudes so that we feel good about all that we are and do. But the new self is truly heartbroken over sin (Ps. 51:17). Peter was right to weep bitterly when he denied Christ (Mark 14:72). James tells us to mourn and weep over our sin, humbling ourselves so that God will lift us up (4:9, 10). Even some secular people recognize that we should feel pain when we have done badly. But godly sorrow goes further; it produces repentance—better understanding and actions—which leads to salvation through God’s grace (2 Cor. 7:9, 10).
Converted people increasingly hate sin.
Spiritually new people “abhor what is evil” (Rom. 12:9). And not just in others but in ourselves too (7:15). We hate the damage our sins cause. Our harsh words can destroy peace among friends. Our lust can stifle intimacy within marriage, even if we aren’t yet married. But no matter the consequences, we should hate sin because God hates it. God’s “wrath … against sin is so great that He, rather than leaving it unpunished, has punished it in his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, with the bitter and shameful death of the cross.”[i] We cannot love sin and God.
Converted people increasingly run from sin.
Sometimes this means literally fleeing the scene (Gen. 39:12). When confronted with the sin of anger or lust, it might help to take a walk. You cannot fight all sin by running. But those who learn to sorrow over and hate sin go to great lengths to keep temptation far away. We may give no opportunity to the devil (Eph. 4:27).
But resisting sin can’t be all negative energy. We can’t sorrow, hate, and run our way into a new life. A rodeo clown can’t forever run from an angry bull; he must run toward a place of safety. Sinners can’t only run from sin; we must run to the safety of God. Our ability to resist sin must be energized by new life.
You Must Come to Life in the New Self
Rising to new life means coming to delight in God and in his will.
Converted people delight in God.
The “rising-to-life of the new self” is “wholehearted joy in God through Christ.” When given freedom we tend to do what we think will give joy. So as we become more spiritually whole we no longer believe sin’s promises. We doubt that pornography will fulfill us, that belittling others will make us accepted, or that stealing will make us secure. We now know that true joy is only found in genuine fellowship with God. As we believe God, we find that temptations’ promises lose their grip on our hearts. We say “no” to sin by saying “yes” to God and the blessed hope we find in him (Titus 2:12). As we come to love God’s voice in Scripture, and become “renewed in knowledge after the image of [our] creator” (Col. 3:10), we find joy that we had been seeking elsewhere.
Converted people delight in God’s will.
We are designed to find joy in what God wants. But how can that happen? Our best acts are spurred by love. But in the fall we lost our delight to do God’s will because we stopped loving God. In conversion God pours his love into our hearts (Rom. 5:5). Because we love God, doing his will is no longer burdensome (John 14:15; 1 John 5:3). Believers begin to want what God wants and do what he wants.
But how do we know what God wants? This question is vital because often ethical decisions are “based on our own opinion or human tradition.” But opinions can deceive us. Human traditions can be a hodgepodge of biblical spirituality, pop psychology, and strategies for communal self-preservation. Truly God-honoring works have three essential traits. First, good works proceed from true faith. “Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23). We cannot do good while sinning against biblically-informed consciences. “Without faith it is impossible to please God;” we must believe that God exists and that he truly cares about our actions (Heb. 11:6).
Second, good works are lawful. Christians are not under law; we are not in bondage to the law as slaves (Rom. 6:14). Instead, the law becomes for us the way sons honor their Father. Lawful works are God-like works: whoever believes in Jesus will do the works that Jesus did (John 14:12). Against all right behavior there is no true law (Gal. 6:23).
Third, good works are done for God’s glory. If we do works to be praised by others, we cancel their goodness. People-pleasers forfeit heavenly rewards (Eph. 6:6; Matt. 6:2). For God-pleasers, reward is an afterthought.
Change can be hard. But would it be worth it if change meant being remade “in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24)? Only God can fix our mess and make us holy. But he does it through our participation in his program of change as we put off our “former manner of life” and put on the new self (Eph. 4:22).
[i] “Celebration of the Lord’s Supper—Form 1,” https://formsandprayers.com/liturgical-form/#9.
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