Merriam-Webster defines a ‘conversion’ in English 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.
But conversion is not a specific step in the Plan of Salvation. This English term, found only once in the Bible, refers to a section of the Plan of Salvation. It specifically refers to regeneration through faith. It generally refers to God reformatting a person’s spirit from the old corrupt self, causing them to turn toward God and to believe in Jesus Christ.
CONTEXT OF ACTS 15:3
Acts 15:3 describes 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 section 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 coming to believe in Jesus Christ and call it their conversion, they are wrong because the term refers to a person’s regeneration through belief in Christ. It is not a one-event thing. It is a group of elements of the Plan of Salvation.
Conversion is a defining moment in a Christian’s faith, but it is no more important than any other part. All the elements included in what we call conversion 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. This change in a person’s conduct and behavior is Christian and religious.
WHAT IS CONVERSION?
Biblical scholars have many different views on conversion. The author of this article believes it includes 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. Then the individual who has been effectively called becomes aware of the gospel, and 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. God then gives them saving faith, which leads them to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
So, in effect, regeneration is followed by the effectual call, the gospel, godly sorrow, confession, repentance, faith, and belief in Jesus. Conversion includes regeneration through faith: regeneration, the effectual call, the gospel, godly sorrow, repentance, and faith. It is effective internally and is expressed externally in the sinner’s conscious life.
[i] Berkhof, Louis, Systematic Theology, combined ed., (The Banner of Truth Trust, 2021), p. 501.
