When God Does A Conversion Project, It is Complete!
While forms of the English word "conversion" only occur five times in our English Bible, the idea is prevalent throughout Scripture. In both Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament), the original words which we render as convert or conversion are words which meant simply to turn, to return, to turn back, to turn one's back to another, or to turn from one condition to another. When the turning is spiritual in nature, we use the English word conversion to describe it as in Psalm 19:7 ("converting the soul"), Psalm 51:13 ("sinners shall be converted), and Acts 15:3 ("conversion of the Gentiles"; see also Matthew 18:3 and Acts 3:19).
A true conversion is a complete turning; a 180-degree change in direction or condition; going one way, then turning and going another.
Think of the Bible as a whole: God's entire plan of redemption is one of conversion --turning man's direction from being self-centered to being God-centered; turning scarlet, sin-stained souls into souls that are white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). Throughout Isaiah, God speaks of the "new thing" He is doing in Israel. With reference to bringing the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt, God said,
While forms of the English word "conversion" only occur five times in our English Bible, the idea is prevalent throughout Scripture. In both Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament), the original words which we render as convert or conversion are words which meant simply to turn, to return, to turn back, to turn one's back to another, or to turn from one condition to another. When the turning is spiritual in nature, we use the English word conversion to describe it as in Psalm 19:7 ("converting the soul"), Psalm 51:13 ("sinners shall be converted), and Acts 15:3 ("conversion of the Gentiles"; see also Matthew 18:3 and Acts 3:19).
A true conversion is a complete turning; a 180-degree change in direction or condition; going one way, then turning and going another.
Think of the Bible as a whole: God's entire plan of redemption is one of conversion --turning man's direction from being self-centered to being God-centered; turning scarlet, sin-stained souls into souls that are white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). Throughout Isaiah, God speaks of the "new thing" He is doing in Israel. With reference to bringing the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt, God said,
Do not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.
(Isaiah 43:18-19)
And He said the same regarding Israel's return from exile in Babylon:
Behold, the former things have come to pass,
And new things I declare;
Before they spring forth I tell you of them.
(Isaiah 42:9)
And about God's ultimate conversion project, the conversion of the entire planet:
For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
(Isaiah 65:17; see also 2 Peter 3:13; Revelations 21:1-4)
When God does a conversion project, it is complete! And nowhere is that more evident than when the New Testament talks about those who have been made new in Christ.
Your Benefits Package by Dr David Jeremiah
Your Benefits Package by Dr David Jeremiah
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