A ‘conversion’ in the English language has been defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “an experience associated with the definite and decisive adoption of a religion.” This is a good English definition of the word.
In the Bible, the Greek word translated as conversion appears only once. In Acts 15:3, the Greek word ἐπιστροφὴν is found transliterated as epistrophēn. This word means a return, a reorientation, or a moral revolution. In other words, in the Bible, it refers to a move toward God.
Though it appears only once translated as the word conversion, the idea of conversion appears elsewhere in scripture. For example, in Luke 15:7, it refers to the joy of Christians. And in Ephesians 2:8–9 it is used to refer to the cause of conversion as God’s grace. So, the idea of conversion is seen throughout the Bible.
CONTEXT OF ACTS 15:3
In Acts 15:3, this verse is talking about Paul, Barnabas, and others traveling to Jerusalem. While in places such as Phoenicia and Samaria, they converted many Gentiles and brought the news of this Christian joy to other brethren.
THE NATURE OF CONVERSION
In a Christian’s life, conversion may be sudden or gradual. This concept, though it appears only once in the English Bible, as mentioned in this article, is very familiar in the Old and New Testaments. It means a person turning their conduct around and returning to God.
Louis Berkhof defines the concept of conversion used in the Bible in this way:
Active conversion is that act of God whereby He causes the regenerated sinner, in His conscious life, to turn to Him in repentance and faith.
Passive conversion is the resulting conscious act of the regenerated sinner whereby he, through the grace of God, turns to God in repentance and faith. [i]
Conversion is an internal act of God that describes a part of God’s Plan of Redemption when a person individually becomes a Christian. Each Christian becomes aware of their depraved heart, that they have sinned against God, can’t do anything about it themself, and turn to God. Though many people remember their conversion fondly and consider it the defining moment of their Christian faith, it is not more important than any other part. All are important in the Christian’s spiritual life.
As the apostle Paul has written, Christians must “put off your old self…[and] your “corrupt” … “deceitful desires” (Eph. 4:22). He tells Christians “to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:24). The Christian’s struggle with the old man does not stop, but their life becomes dominated by their walk with God.
Unlike some other phases of God’s Plan of Redemption, such as sanctification, conversion happens only once. The change is forever; it is not repeated.
Conversion is not part of the natural being but is a supernatural work of God. This change in a person’s conduct and behavior is of a Christian and religious nature, and as we said, it happens only once.
THE ELEMENTS
Holy Scripture gives us two elements of conversion—repentance and faith. One, repentance is negative and backward-looking; the other, faith, is positive and forward-looking. Christians must realize that, though there is a connection between the knowledge of sin that gives the Christian repentance and the change in a person’s behavior during their sanctification, they are nevertheless different. Repentance, as already mentioned, is internal, while changing one’s conduct is purely external in nature. The Bible teaches that although repentance and faith are distinct but connected, repentance is closely related to sanctification, and faith is related to justification.
Repentance has been defined as “That change wrought in the conscious life of the sinner, by which he turns away from sin.”[ii] As the writer of this article has said before, it is the internal, negative, backward-looking element of conversion.
There are three aspects to repentance. First, there is cognitive knowledge of the personal guilt associated with sin and of its effect on everyone (Rom. 3:19, 20). Then, there is the sorrow for sinning against God (Ps. 51:2). It is a godly sorrow and represents itself as a feeling of self–reproach for the sin committed (2 Cor. 7:9, 10). And finally, you have the person who turns inward, away from sin, and desires to be cleansed of the sin (Psalm 51:7; Jeremiah 25:5).
Berkhof has defined saving faith, which is a gift of God given to the believer who acts upon it, with faith in Jesus Christ, “as a certain conviction, wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit, as to the truth of the gospel, and a hardy reliance (trust) on the promises of God in Christ.”[iii]It is the second of the two elements of conversion.
There are also three aspects of faith. The believer first has knowledge of faith, a heartfelt belief in it, and believes it to be true. The second aspect is when the believer has a conviction of Christ by faith, and it meets a spiritual need. This is the believer’s assent to the saving faith given by God. Thirdly, the believer not only knows that it is true and feels that it is the thing to do, but also actually acts on their faith and trusts in Christ.
WHAT IS CONVERSION?
There are many different takes among biblical scholars regarding conversion. The author of this article believes it to be the following. First, there is the general call to everyone, all human beings. Then, since no one answers the general call because of their depraved hearts, God has the Holy Spirit regenerate the hearts of the elect, those whom he had elected before the foundation of the world. Third, the elect hear the call, and it becomes effectual for them. After that, the prospective believer becomes aware of the effect of sin on humans, is sorry for the sin they have committed, and inwardly turns away from sin; they repent of their sins. They are then given saving faith by God, which leads them to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior; justification and adoption then ensue.
So, in effect, the general call is followed by regeneration, the effectual call, repentance, and faith. Conversion includes the last two: repentance and faith.
[i] Berkhof, Louis, Systematic Theology, combined ed., (The Banner of Truth Trust, 2021), p. 501.
[ii] Berkhof, p. 503.
[iii] Berkhof, p. 522.
