True stories of conversion from the Bible
Theologically speaking, conversion is an act of human volition (will), where a person makes the choice to respond to the internal call of God, through the influence and power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enables a non-Christian to see his/her sinfulness and lost-ness and then turn away from themselves to Jesus Christ...to save him/her from his/her sinfulness and self.
At https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/conversion they list four examples of conversion.
1. Someone can convert from a life of religious indifference to a spiritual life in relationship with Jesus Christ.
2. Someone can convert from a self-centered life, where material things engross the attention and deaden the sense of spiritual things to a spiritually contented life with Jesus Christ, free from the love of money and the things of the world. They list the rich young ruler in Luke 18, as a prime example of this kind of conversion.
Luke 18:18-25: A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’ ” “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
3. Someone can convert from a life of sensuality, characterized by open sin and shame to a life of righteousness and holiness with Jesus Christ. They list the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 as a clear example of this kind of conversion
Luke 15:11-24: Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
4. Someone can convert from a mistaken way of serving God to a life of trust, dedication, and spiritual service...as a servant of Jesus Christ. They list the Apostle Paul in Acts 26 as a perfect example of this kind of conversion. Paul converted from his life as a self-righteous Pharisee, who persecuted, condemned, and helped put to death Christians to the most dedicated Christian in the New Testament. In Acts 26, Paul shares his dramatic conversion with King Agrippa.
Acts 26:9-20: I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities. “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.
James 4:9 gives us insight into the inner-workings of conversion, as the Holy Spirit turns the light on, inside the spirit and soul of a sinner under conviction. What are they convicted of? They are convicted of or deeply persuaded of their utter sinfulness before God Almighty. James explains what the repentant sinner will experience, as conversion is working salvation into a lost person (non-Christian).
James 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
During the conversion process, a convicted-lost sinner will feel afflicted from their sinfulness. As this affliction deepens, they will begin to mourn and weep internally and many times externally. As they mourn and weep, any laughter in their lives will turn into a grievous mourning. Any worldly joy in their lives will turn into heaviness. Their spirit and soul can feel so heavy, that they feel themselves sinking down into hell itself. SUCH IS THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CONVERSION.
Conversion is:
> Individual
> Personal
> Intimate
> Only in relationship with Christ
The turning in conversion can be sudden and dramatic or it can be a gradual kind of metamorphosis. In the case of the Apostle Paul, his conversion was sudden and dramatic. In the case of Cornelius (the Roman Centurion in Acts 10), his conviction and seeking the Lord had been going on for a while, when the Holy Spirit told Peter to go to the city and home of Cornelius to share the gospel with him...as which time he was converted. The Holy Spirit will work this process according to the will of Jesus Christ (the saving one) and the glory of God the Father.
If we put all of the concepts about conversion together, we can see these principles:
Conversion is the conscious experience of salvation from the beginning of the process to the end of the process.
1. It is the manifestation in one’s outward life of anyone who has been born-again by the Spirit of God.
2. Just like other aspects of salvation, conversion is referred to in the Bible...as both an act of God and an act of the person experiencing conversion (salvation).
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- God must call the person to Himself through the work of the Holy Spirit.
- The person must come, as God persuades the person of his/her sinfulness and his/her need for salvation.
- Then by grace, the person repents and believes and begins trusting in Christ.
- God gives the sufficient grace for the new believer to start living a new life.
3. Therefore, conversion is the supernatural transformation in a person’s life, that springs from the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit in that person’s spirit and soul. The new child of God turns from:
- Pride to humility.
- Independence to total dependence upon God for their salvation.
- Pride to self-condemnation, like comparing the mind of the Pharisee to that of the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14, when the repentant tax collector said, “God be merciful to me a sinner”.
Some wisdom from the ages!
Thomas Goodwin, the godly Puritan, put it this way...” Conversion is the total change of man’s chief end”.
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Before Roman authorities made exclusive demands upon its inhabitants/citizens, conversions to Christianity were occurring slowly at first, and then at a higher pace. By 100 AD about 0.0126% of the population was Christian. Then after the Emperor Constantine’s conversion in 312 AD (the first emperor to embrace Christianity), the growth skyrocketed. By 350 AD, professing Christians constituted a majority of the population (56.5%) (Stark 1996: 6–7).
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As Alexander Whyte tartly put it, “conversion is just conversion”. It is just to turn around. It is just having hitherto gone on the wrong road and henceforth to go on the right road. It is just to stop going away any further from God, and from Jesus Christ, and from eternal life, and to say, “I will arise and go to my Father.” [James Fraser of Brea, 21.]
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When we are converted...we are converted from:
1. Some kind of error in our belief system.
1 Timothy 2:3-7: This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.
2. So we come to the knowledge of the truth (Romans 1, 1 Timothy 2:4).
3. We are converted from sin to godliness (Romans 6:18-22).
4. We are converted from loving the world and things in it - to loving Christ (1 John 2:15-17)
5. We are converted from fear to love (Romans 5:9-10)
6. We are converted from being lost to being found & restored (The Prodigal Son).
We turn from faith in anything we could ever do for salvation and we turn to what Christ did for us. As the old hymn says, “JESUS PAID IT ALL”!
Romans 3:28: For we maintain that a person is justified by faith (in Jesus Christ) apart from the works of the law (trying to keep God’s moral laws and/or commandments).
Isaiah 53:4-6: Surely He (Jesus) took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him (Jesus) punished by God, stricken by Him (God the Father), and afflicted. But He (Jesus) was pierced for our transgressions. He (Jesus) was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was laid on Him (Jesus), and by His wounds (through the crucifixion) we are healed (from our sinfulness). We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to our own way and the Lord (God the Father), has laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he (she) is a new creature."
Conversion involves: The spirit, the soul, and the body
Here is an interesting note about conversion from:
“The St. Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology”
As Latin became the language of Western Christianity, both epistrephō and metanoia were translated into the word conversion (‘to turn over’); subsequently, ‘conversion’ became its English derivative.
Conversion is not only a word but a concept, a tool of analysis. It is a movement from something to something (Morrison 1992). Although there may not be non-Western linguistic equivalents, the concept of conversion is used to describe a universal change: either an initial embrace of Christianity or a changed commitment to another form of Christianity. It follows that if there is conversion, there can also be ‘deconversion’ (or ‘apostasy’, as those within the tradition might express it) – and, vice versa, what was rejected may also be reaffirmed. A crisis of faith may lead to deconversion; a crisis of doubt may lead to reconversion.
https://www.saet.ac.uk/Christianity/Conversion#section1
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Let us look at specific examples of people in the New Testament who experienced conversion and manifested the characteristics we have studied above!
Zacchaeus the Tax Collector
Luke 19:1-9: Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, He looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed Him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter how Jesus had gone to be the guest of a sinner. But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Note: Two of the greatest proofs, that a person has been converted, is his or her sincere desire to gain a clear conscience with those he or she has offended in the past or taken advantage of and to make financial restitution when needed.
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The Prodigal Son is converted in Luke 15:11-32
And Jesus said, A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me’. So he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired men.”’ So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son’. But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet, and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate...for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again. He was lost and has been found”. And they began to celebrate.
Note: Remember how the Greek word for conversion (epistrophe) means to turn back, to turn around, or to return. This is exactly what the Prodigal Son did. He repented and wanted to be converted back into the lost relationship with his father. Lost sinners do this same thing, when they repent and are converted to the Lord Jesus.
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Bartimaeus receives his sight and
is converted in Mark 10:46-52
Mark 10:46-52: Then they came to Jericho. And as Jesus was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here”. So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you”. Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” And Jesus said to him, “Go...your faith has made you well”. Immediately he regained his sight and began following Jesus on the road.
Note: The fact that Bartimaeus got what he wanted and didn’t just tell Jesus, “SEE YA” is proof of his conversion. He wanted to be with Jesus and began following Him, which is indicative of other people who came into contact with Jesus and began following Him as a disciple. They were converted through their encounter with Jesus.
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The Philippian Jailer is converted in Acts 16:25-34
Acts 16:25-34: But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear...he fell down before Paul and Silas. After he brought them out...he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household”. And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.
Note: The Philippian Jailer could see the power of God (through the earthquake and open doors) that was applied to that prison on behalf of Paul and Silas, in response to their praise and worship and trust in Christ. The Jailer was given grace to repent and turn to God and he demonstrated his repentance by his deeds...he cared and took care of Paul and Silas as long as he could. He was not ashamed to identity with them and associate with them, as new disciples of Christ. He and his family were converted.
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3,000 Conversions on the
Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:37-41
Acts 2:37-41: When the people heard Peter’s message about Christ, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” With many other words he warned them and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Note: This means about 3,000 people actually experienced genuine conversion that day and were added to the number of other believers in Jerusalem.
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The Conversion of the Samaritan Woman in John 4:1-42
This encounter between Jesus and this Samaritan Woman is explained in detail in these 42 verses. I would like to pull from these 42 verses, select Scriptures that help you see the process of this woman’s conversion. It is profound and ended up helping to bring many more in this city to Christ.
...In verse 7, Jesus asked the woman for a drink of water.
...She was shocked to hear a male Jew ask a female Samaritan for a drink. Jews and Samaritans despised each other, because Samaritans were half breeds (half Jewish and half Assyrian).
...Jesus quickly turned the focus of their conversation to the need for salvation, using the analogy of physical water that would satisfy one temporarily and spiritual water (living water representing the Holy Spirt) that would satisfy one forever. He told her that she should ask for this gift of living water.
...She was stuck on regular water from the well, so He had to take the analogy deeper until she finally asks for this spiritual water.
...At that point, Jesus had to help her to see her sinfulness and need for salvation, so He told her that He knew she had lived an adulterous life, having had five (5) husbands, and was now living with a man that she was not married to.
...This opened her eyes to the supernatural knowledge Jesus had and she references the promised Messiah, who would explain everything.
...So, Jesus said to her, “I am that promised Messiah. Woman you are talking to Him”.
...She believes Him and immediately goes back into her town and began telling everyone, that she had found the Messiah.
...Many came from the town, met Jesus, and believed in Him and professed that He was the Savior of the World.
...This woman was converted to Christ, became a great witness for Christ, and led many in her town to the Lord and salvation.
...All of this happened in two days, showing how powerful genuine conversion is.
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The Conversion of the Criminal crucified with Christ in Luke 23:32-43
Friends...as you view this image, please remember there were no ropes helping to hold these three men up on their crosses. The only things that held Jesus and these two other men to the crosses were the spikes in their wrists and feet.
Luke 23:32-43: Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with Jesus to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified Jesus there, along with the criminals—one on His right, the other on His left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”. And they divided up His clothes by casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at Him. They said, “He saved others, so let Him save Himself if He is God’s Messiah...the Chosen One”. The soldiers also came up and mocked Him. They offered Him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself”. There was a written notice above Him, which read: this is the king of the jews.
- One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Him:
.... “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us”!
- But the other criminal rebuked him saying:
... “Don’t you fear God, since you are under the same sentence? We
are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.
But this man has done nothing wrong”.
- Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”.
Note: Historical traditions say this man’s name was “Disma”.
Jesus answered him... “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
There are some very important principles in the conversion of this suffering and dying man. This man was the last person Jesus spoke to on this earth. And what did Jesus do with these last words? He responded to this man’s repentant heart and faith in Him as his savior and Jesus converted him, shortly before the man took his last breath in this life.
This was a true death bed conversion, but his death bed was an upright cross. Therefore, this man not only seems to be the last person Christ spoke to, the man was also the last person He saved, before He died Himself. Jesus died doing His work of salvation. PRAISE GOD!
This man’s experience confirms, that last minute or so-called death bed conversions can and are real and genuine. Jesus promised this man, that he would be with Jesus in paradise that same day. How exciting and encouraging is that? By the grace of God, the man’s faith was real and powerful.
It is very possible, that this man had been aware of Jesus during His 3-year ministry of preaching, teaching, healing, and saving. He may have heard some of Christ’s messages. He may have witnessed some of Christ’s miracles. We don’t know, but we do know the probabilities of this man knowing who Christ was (as a Jewish man) and what Jesus claimed about Himself. For the man said told the other criminal how Jesus had done nothing wrong.
And now divine providence brought this man face to face with Jesus, as they are both hanging on their crosses and dying. The man’s faith was completed and sealed and he went from a cross to paradise with Jesus that same day.
As long as you are alive and have your cognitive powers, it is never too late to get saved...be converted. But friend, don’t take a chance on having that last chance opportunity, because you have no idea if the circumstances in your mind and heart and life will be provided for your conversion during the last moments of your life. Call on the Lord Jesus today. Ask Him to forgive you and save you and take you to be with Him in paradise, the day you die.
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Thank you for your time in reading the three devotional commentaries on conversion. Please let me know if you have any comments you would like to share or questions you would like to ask.
To keep this piece from being any longer, I stopped it here, without including some very important conversions stories. These conversions are from the lives of people who lived from the second century all the way up till our time now.
These are so interesting and played such a vital part of the last 2,000 years of history. So, these additional stories will be shared in the appendix sent out to you in a week or two.
Yours in Christ,
Gene
719-351-4380
gene@gobblefamily.com
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