One of the ways the Bible speaks of salvation is through the term conversion.
When Paul and Barnabas spoke of the salvation of Gentile believers, their description in Acts 15:3 reports that their account brought great joy when they described “the conversion of the Gentiles.” Matthew 18:3 reports a declaration made by Jesus that said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of heaven.” In fact, the early preaching of the apostles is reported to have been, “Repent … and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19).
‘Turning’
The basic idea in the term conversion is that of turning. As applied to salvation, it refers to turning unto the Lord from moral evil or religious idolatry. The biblical testimony of the conversion of the early Thessalonian Christians is expressed in terms of such a turning: “How you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thess. 1:9).
Repentance and faith combine to constitute a genuine saving response to the gospel. The Apostle Paul described his preaching of the gospel in Ephesus, saying, “I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:20–21).
The Bible leads us to understand that Christian conversion involves both “turning to” and “turning from.” Hence, we might formulate a short definition of conversion as a personal decision to respond to the gospel by turning in sincere repentance from sin and unbelief and placing one’s personal trust in Christ as Savior.
Trust in Christ
The ideas of repentance and faith are so closely intertwined that we find biblical passages that mention repentance alone. One such passage is Acts 16:31, which mentions only faith: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.”
An example that names only repentance came from the lips of Christ himself when He commissioned His followers, saying, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations” (Luke 24:46-47). This observation has led some to coin such expressions as “penitent faith” and “believing repentance.”
The biblical assumption is that, rightly understood, true repentance involves trust in Christ and that true faith in Him involves repentance from sin and unbelief. The combination of the two equals Christian conversion.
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