To become a follower of Christ, a person must be converted. That’s why we need to know what is involved in biblical conversion. Here’s a definition: conversion is the divinely enabled personal response of individuals to the gospel in which they turn from their sin and themselves (repent) and trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord (believe).
God’s Work
The words “divinely enabled” are critical in our understanding of conversion. Conversion is God’s work, a truth that follows naturally from the way the Word of God describes people apart from Jesus as slaves to sin (Romans 6:17), blinded to the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:3–4), dead in their sin (Ephesians 2:1), and without hope (Ephesians 2:12).
The one who repents believes, and the one who truly believes repents of his sin.
In short, dead people cannot bring themselves to life. We must be given life. From beginning to end, conversion is a divinely enabled work. That’s why, when God promised his people salvation through a new covenant, he assured them that he would initiate it and accomplish it (Jeremiah 31:31–34).
Only God can transform the heart. It is his Spirit that brings life, not man’s abilities, wisdom, or creativity. So, you may be wondering, where do we come into the picture?
Our Response
Conversion, while divinely enabled, is also “a personal response of individuals to the gospel in which they turn from their sin and themselves (repent) and trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord (believe).”
Those two terms, “repent” and “believe,” were part of Jesus’s initial invitation in the Gospels—“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15)—and they are crucial to our understanding of conversion. To repent is to acknowledge your sin before a holy God and to experience sorrow over that sin in such a way that you turn from it (2 Corinthians 7:9–10).
People are only converted when they hear the gospel.
To believe involves knowledge about Jesus, but it goes beyond mere intellectual or mental agreement. After all, even the demons believe, in the sense that they acknowledge Jesus’s identity and authority (James 2:19). The kind of belief that saves includes trust in, or reliance on, Jesus and his saving work.
Repentance and faith are not identical in terms of their meaning, but it’s important that we do not separate them in terms of our response to God. In some cases, faith is used to describe conversion (Acts 11:17; 14:23; 16:31), while at other times only repentance is mentioned (Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 8:22; 17:30; 26:20).
Sometimes both terms are mentioned, as when Paul spoke “of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). The one who repents believes, and the one who truly believes repents of sin.
The Gospel Must be Proclaimed for Anyone to be Converted
No one can be saved apart from receiving, understanding, and believing the gospel. This makes the task of evangelism critically urgent. God has ordained our mouths and our words (spoken and written) to be the means by which his gospel is communicated (Romans 10:14–17). People are only converted when they hear the gospel.
The Content of the Gospel Matters
It is absolutely essential that we get the gospel message right, especially in light of distortions of the gospel that are popular in our own context and around the world. Any “gospel” message that denies or dilutes the foundational truths of the gospel is unbiblical and does not lead to biblical conversion. This is why we must communicate the gospel clearly in a language that people apart from Jesus can understand.
Conversion is Radical
The Bible uses extreme language to describe conversion. Someone who has been converted has died to everything they used to be and received new life in Christ. They have been “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20) and created anew (2 Corinthians 5:17). They have been born again (John 3:3). Conversion to Christ is neither casual nor superficial.
Conversion is Noticeable
While no believer attains perfection in this life, a converted person is a changed person. This is particularly evident in a Christian’s belief in the gospel, love for God’s people, and growth in holiness.
The idea that one can come to Jesus and remain the same makes no sense biblically or practically. So what about those who profess to be Christian, but their lives don’t reflect a relationship with Jesus? Are they saved or not?
Conversion is Permanent
God never lets go of or loses anyone who has been truly converted (John 10:30). While it is true that some may profess faith for a time and then fall away, their departure from the faith indicates that they were never truly converted (1 John 2:19).
While God alone knows the condition of a person’s heart, it is neither biblical nor safe to assume that anyone who has denied the faith, or who shows no evidence of regeneration, or who has voluntarily abandoned the fellowship of the body of Christ, has been converted, regardless of what they have said or done in the past.
This excerpt originally appeared in David Platt’s book Mission Precision and has been lightly edited.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
