Yesterday I had a long discussion with a fellow who said that he had a couple of false conversions to Christ, but his life did not change much afterwards. In the first he was encouraged to pray a sinner's prayer. In the second, he was encouraged to "commit" his life to Christ, repenting for His sins.
He had just concluded a study of what is required to be saved, and I believe that he had come to the correct conclusions, for they matched the understanding God also has given me from reading His word. So what was wrong with his previous "conversions"?
A Sign of False Conversion
First of all, His life did not really change. Jesus made it clear that a sign of a true child of God is the fruit they bear:
"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit." (Luke 6:43)
True children of God have been regenerated, or "born again" by God's Holy Spirit. God changes their character and adopts them as his own children. Once, their life was characterized by constantly living in sin, which is bearing bad fruit. Now, it is characterized by the desire to love, fellowship with, obey and please God.
So a lack of change was the warning sign that something went wrong with his previous conversions. But what was it specifically that went wrong?
How Are we Truly Saved?
The Bible makes it very clear that we are saved by grace through faith, and not by our deeds:
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (NIV, Ephesians 2:8-10)
Notice that it says we are saved by grace. Grace is God's undeserved mercy and favor. This means that salvation is bestowed on us as a free gift that God gives to us in compassion, love and mercy. You don't have to earn it. You do not owe Him "a debt you can never repay" after you receive it, for then He would be selling it to you. It is a free gift, and should be received as a free gift.
Next, notice that this grace comes to us "through" or by means of faith.
What is faith? The book of James makes it clear to us that true saving faith is more than just believing that God exists, or having correct beliefs about Him:
"You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder." James 2:19
True faith is trusting in Christ:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
Why Believing God Exists Alone Will Not Save You
Suppose you heard about a fellow who had the reputation of being the best personal trainer in town. You and your best friend believed that, so you both hired him. But when the trainer gave you guidance, you thought you knew better ways to do things, so you did not follow his instructions. Your best friend did follow his instructions, though. Then three months later, when you and your friend looked at yourselves together in the mirror, it became apparent that you had not made nearly as much progress as your friend had.
So what was wrong with your belief in this trainer? You believed he was the best personal trainer in town, but you did not trust Him. In other words, you did not really believe IN him. If you had, you would have followed his instructions. That is the difference between true saving faith and mere intellectual assent or belief. True saving faith is transformative. God makes a new creation out of you. It also results in obedience. You are not saved BY that obedience, for Paul makes it very clear that we are not saved by our deeds. However, obedience, or bearing good fruit, is a SIGN that you had true saving faith. The branch really cannot take credit for the fruit it bears, for if you were to cut the branch off, it would stop bearing fruit. So clearly, it owes it's fruit to the sap that flows in from the trunk, not to itself. Likewise, the "good fruit" that a born-again child of God bears—good deeds—are enabled by God, so God deserves the credit for them. That is why when those who are born-again get to heaven we will cast our crowns, which will be among the rewards for our good deeds, back before God in worship, for He is the one who truly deserves the credit for them.
How an Incorrect View of Repentance Can Result in a False Conversion
Lastly, this fellow I spoke with had a false view of repentance. Yes, repentance is required for salvation, but what exactly IS it?
If repentance were God requiring that get our life straightened out before he will save us, that would be a work, would it not? That would mean that we must earn our salvation by our works, wouldn't it?
Sure enough, our suspicion is correct, for when we check the Greek dictionaries, we find that that the Greek word for repentance, metanoēsate, simply means a change of mind. In this case, it is a change of mind that results in turning to God in trust to save you from your sins:
"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord." (NIV, Acts 13:19)
There are two kinds of unbelievers:
Those who know they are sinning, but love sin more than God and want to stay in sin, and
Self-righteous people, who either deny that they are sinning, or think that they are "good enough" to merit salvation.
So repentance is not pulling yourself out of sin in order to get saved, for that would be a work, and the Bible makes it clear that we are not saved by works.. That would be like a lifeguard cruelly telling a drowning man, "You need to get your act together before I am going to save you." Rather, true repentance is a change of mind that results in trusting in Jesus to save you from your sins. So if you have been trying to save yourself, isn't it obvious that you are drowning? Call to the lifeguard for help, and trust Him to carry you to the shore.
Like Salvation, the Faith to be Saved is a Free Gift
Lastly, notice that Paul tells us faith (trust) is a gift of God. You do not have to work up faith within yourself. It is a free gift. Ask God for a saving faith or trust in Jesus, and He will give it to you.
Jesus said,
"Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (NIV, Matthew 17:20)
Not many of us have enough faith to move mountains, or if we ever do, have that kind of faith for very long. So obviously, most of us have very small faith.
However, we are not saved by faith, but rather through it, according to Ephesians 2:8 above. Just as a profound message can come to us through a very weak little wire, the profound gift of salvation by grace can come to us through the faith we have in Jesus, even if we are yet too weak to hold a faith that moves mountains. Just call to Jesus to save you, and trust Him to do it with what little faith you can hold.
We Cannot Work Up Saving Faith or Earn Salvation; Both Must Be Received As a Free Gift
The faith to be saved is a free gift that comes from God. Salvation is a gift from Him. You do not earn salvation by saying a prayer. Only grace will save you through faith, though that can be expressed in a prayer asking God to save you. Nor can you earn salvation by committing your life to Jesus. He will enable you to do that as or after He saves you. You cannot earn salvation by straightening your life out first, either. God will enable you to straighten your life out after He saves you, and with all of us, that's a process God will not totally complete until we get to heaven, for even the Apostle Paul wrote, “Brethren, I count not myself to have arrived.” Once you are saved, you will begin growing, but it takes time for children to grow to maturity. That doesn’t mean that you can sin and get away with it, for like all good parents, God disciplines His children when they sin. But it does mean that like all newborn children, you will have growing to do and may find yourself stumbling before you learn how to walk and run. If you stumble, stop sinning and confess that sin to Jesus. He will forgive you.
A wonderful benefit of being in Jesus is that it will be Christ’s righteousness that will clothe you, not your own. So once you have become born-again, put on those beautiful, spotlessly clean robes and wear them.
Salvation is ALL God's work, not yours, for it is a free gift that He gives to you in His love, mercy and compassion for you. You have but to receive the gift in trust. In fact, God will only grant it as a free gift.
What are You Waiting For?
So, if you have not done it yet, or had a false conversion in the past, what are you waiting for? Call out to the Lifeguard to save you from drowning. Trust Him, and let Him save you. He is faithful. He will do it.