TITLE ARTICLE ONE

A Radical Change

Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new”—2 Corinthians 5:17.

y line of discourse will be as follows: according to our text and many other Scriptures, a great change is needed in any man who would be saved…and this change is recognizable by distinct signs.

In Order to Salvation a Radical Change Is Necessary. This change is a thorough and sweeping one and operates upon the nature, heart, and life of the convert. Human nature is the same to all time, and it will be idle to try to turn the edge of Scriptural quotations by saying that they refer to the Jews or to the heathen, for at that rate we shall have no Bible left us at all. The Bible is meant for mankind, and our text refers to any man, of any country, and any age: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

We prove this point by reminding you, first, that everywhere in Scripture men are divided into two classes, with a very sharp line of distinction between them. Read in the Gospels, and you shall find continual mention of sheep lost and sheep found, guests refusing the invitation and guests feasting at the table, the wise virgins and the foolish, the sheep and the goats. In the epistles we read of those who are “dead in trespasses and sin” (Eph 2:1), and of others to whom it is said, “And you hath he quickened” (Eph 2:1); so that some are alive to God and others are in their natural state of spiritual death. We find men spoken of as being either in darkness or in light, and the phrase is used of being brought “out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1Pe 2:9). Some are spoken of as having been formerly aliens and strangers and having been made fellow-citizens and brethren. We read of “children of God” in opposition to “children of wrath.” We read of believers who are not condemned, and of those who are condemned already because they have not believed. We read of those who have “gone astray,” and of those who have “returned to the shepherd and bishop of their souls” (1Pe 2:25). We read of those who are “in the flesh and cannot please God” (Rom 8:8), and of those who are chosen and called and justified, whom the whole universe is challenged to condemn. The Apostle speaks of “us which are saved” (1Co 1:18), as if there were some saved while upon others “the wrath of God abideth” (Joh 3:36). “Enemies” are continually placed in contrast with those who are “reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Rom 5:10). There are those that are “far off from God by wicked works” (Eph 2:12; Col 1:21), and those who are “made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Eph 2:13). I could continue till I wearied you. The distinction between the two classes runs through the whole of the Scriptures, and never do we find a hint that there are some who are naturally good and do not need to be removed from the one class into the other, or that there are persons between the two who can afford to remain as they are. No, there must be a divine work, making us new creatures and causing all things to become new with us; or we shall die in our sins.

The Word of God, besides so continually describing two classes, very frequently and in forcible expressions speaks of an inward change by which men are brought from one state into the other. I hope I shall not weary you if I refer to a considerable number of Scriptures, but it is best to go to the fountain-head at once.

This change is often described as a birth. See the third chapter of the Gospel of John, which is wonderfully clear and to the point: “Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” This birth is not a birth by baptism, for it is spoken of as accompanied by an intelligent faith which receives the Lord Jesus. Turn to John 1:12, 13: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on his name: which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” So that believers are “born again” and receive Christ through faith: a regeneration imparted in infancy and lying dormant in unbelievers is a fiction unknown to Holy Scripture. In the third of John our Lord associates faith and regeneration in the closest manner, declaring not only that we must be born again, but also that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. We must undergo a change quite as great as if we could return to our native nothingness and could then come forth fresh from the hand of the Great Creator. John tells us, in his first epistle, 5:4, that “Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world,” and he adds, to show that the new birth and faith go together, “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” To the same effect is 1 John 5:1, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” Where there is true faith, there is the new birth; and that term implies a change beyond measure, complete and radical.

In other places this change is described as a quickening. “And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph 2:1). We are said to be raised from the dead together with Christ, and this is spoken of as being a very wonderful display of omnipotence. We read of “the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places” (Eph 1:19, 20). Regeneration is a very prodigy[1] of divine strength, and by no means a mere figment fabled to accompany a religious ceremony.

We find this change frequently described as a creation, as for instance in our text, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” And this also is no mere formality or an attendant upon a rite, for we read in Galatians 6:15, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.” No outward rites, though ordained of God Himself, effect any change upon the heart of man. There must be a creating over again of the entire nature by the divine hand; we must be “created in Christ Jesus unto good works” (Eph 2:10), and we must have in us “the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph 4:24). What a wonderful change that must be which is first described as a birth, then as a resurrection from the dead, and then as an absolute creation!

Paul, in Colossians 1:13, further speaks of God the Father and says, “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” John calls it a “passing from death unto life” (1Jo 3:14), no doubt having in his mind that glorious declaration of his Lord and Master: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (Joh 5:24).

Once more, as if to go to the extremity of forcible expression, Peter speaks of our conversion and regeneration as our being “begotten again.” Hear the passage: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3)…

My dear friends, can you conceive of any language more plainly descriptive of a most solemn change? If it be possible with the human tongue to describe a change which is total, thorough, complete, and divine, these words do describe it; and if such a change be not intended by the language here used by the Holy Spirit, then I am unable to find any meaning in the Bible, and its words are rather meant to bewilder than to instruct, which God forbid we should think. My appeal is to you who try to be contented without regeneration and conversion. I beseech you, do not be satisfied; for you never can be in Christ unless old things are passed away with you, and all things become new.

Further, the Scriptures speak of this great inner work as producing a very wonderful change in the subject of it. Regeneration and conversion, the one the secret cause and the other the first overt effect,[2] produce a great change in the character. Read Romans 6:17: “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.” Again at verse 22, “Now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” Mark well the description the Apostle gives in Colossians 3:9, 10, when, having described the old nature and its sins, he says, “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man.” The Book swarms with proof texts. The change of character in the converted man is so great that “they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Gal 5:24).

And as there is a change in character, so there is a change in feeling. The man had been an enemy to God before; but when this change takes place, he begins to love God. Read Colossians 1:21, 22: “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable[3] in his sight.”

This change from enmity to friendship with God arises very much from a change of man’s judicial state before God. Before a man is converted he is condemned, but when he receives spiritual life we read, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom 8:1). This altogether changes his condition as to inward happiness. “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 5:1), which peace we never had before. “And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement” (Rom 5:11).

O brethren, conversion makes a difference in us most mighty indeed, or else what did Christ mean when He said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mat 11:28)? Does He after all give us no rest? Is the man who comes to Jesus just as restless and as devoid of peace as before? God forbid! Does not Jesus say that when we drink of the water which He gives to us we shall never thirst again? What! And are we to be told that there is never a time when we leave off thirsting, never a time when that living water becomes in us a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life? Our own experience refutes the suggestion. Does not Paul say in Hebrews 4:3, “We which have believed do enter into rest”? Our condition before God, our moral tone, our nature, our state of mind are made by conversion totally different from what they were before: “Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2Co 5:17).

Why, beloved, instead of supposing that we can do without conversion, the Scriptures represent this as being the grand blessing of the covenant of grace. What said the Lord by His servant Jeremiah? “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jer 31:33). This passage Paul quotes in Hebrews 10:16, not as obsolete, but as fulfilled in believers. And what has the Lord said by Ezekiel? Listen to the gracious passage, and see what a grand blessing conversion is: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them” (Eze 36:26, 27). Is not this the blessing of the Gospel by which we realize all the rest? Is not this the great work of the Holy Ghost by which we know the Father and the Son?...

Do you know anything about this? I trust that a great number of you have experienced it and are showing it in your lives, but I fear some are ignorant of it. Let those who are unconverted never rest till they have believed in Christ and have a new heart created and a right spirit bestowed. Lay it well to heart, that a change must come over you which you cannot work in yourselves, but which must be wrought by divine power. There is this for your comfort: Jesus Christ has promised this blessing to all who receive Him, for He gives them power to become the sons of God.

This Change Is Recognizable by Certain Signs. It has been supposed by some that the moment a man is converted he thinks himself perfect. It is not so among us, for we rather question the conversion of any man who thinks himself perfect. It is thought by others that a converted man must be henceforth free from all doubts. I wish it were so. Unhappily, although there is faith in us, unbelief is there also. Some dream that the converted man has nothing more to seek for, but we teach not so; a man who is alive unto God has greater needs than ever. Conversion is the beginning of a life-long conflict; it is the first blow in a warfare which will never end till we are in glory.

In every case of conversion there are these signs following: there is always a sense of sin. No man, rest assured, ever found peace with God without first repenting of sin and knowing it to be an evil thing. The horrors which some have felt are not essential, but a full confession of sin before God and an acknowledgment of our guilt is absolutely required. “They that are whole,” says Christ, “have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mar 2:17). Christ does not heal those who are not sick. He never clothes those who are not naked nor enriches those who are not poor. True conversion always has in it a humbling sense of the need of divine grace.

It is also always attended with simple, true, and real faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, that is the King’s own mark: without it, nothing is of any worth. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (Joh 3:14, 15); and that passage is put side by side with “ye must be born again,” in the same address, by the same Savior, to the same inquirer. Therefore, we gather that faith is the mark of the new birth; and where it is, there the Spirit has changed the heart of man; but where it is not, men are still “dead in trespasses and sin.”

Conversion may be known, next, by this fact, that it changes the whole man. It changes the principle upon which he lives; he lived for self, now he lives for God. He did right because he was afraid of punishment if he did wrong, but now he shuns evil because he hates it. He did right because he hoped to merit heaven, but now no such selfish motive sways him: he knows that he is saved, and he does right out of gratitude to God. His objects in life are changed: he lived for gain or worldly honor; now he lives for the glory of God. His comforts are changed: the pleasures of the world and sin are nothing to him; he finds comfort in the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost. His desires are changed: that which he once panted and pined for he is now content to do without; and that which he once despised he now longs after as the hart panteth after the water brooks. His fears are different; he fears man no more, but fears his God. His hopes are also altered; his expectations fly beyond the stars.

The man has begun a new life. A convert once said, “Either the world is altered or else I am.” Everything seems new. The very faces of our children look different to us, for we regard them under a new aspect, viewing them as heirs of immortality. We view our friends from a different stand-point. Our very business seems altered. Even taking down the shutters of a morning is done by the husband in a different spirit, and the children are put to bed by the mother in another mood. We learn to sanctify the hammer and the plough by serving the Lord with them. We feel that the things which are seen are shadows and the things which we hear are but voices out of dreamland, but the unseen is substantial, and that which mortal ear hears not is truth. Faith has become to us “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11:1).

I may go on to talk about this, but none will understand me except those who have experienced it; and let not those who have not experienced it say it is not true. How do they know? How can a man bear witness to what he has not seen? What is the value of testimony from a man who begins by saying, “I know nothing about it”? If a credible witness declares that he knows such a thing to have happened, it would be easy to find fifty persons who can say that they did not see it; but their evidence goes for nothing…I pray that we may know what this change is; and if we do know it, I again pray that we may so live that others may see the result of it upon our characters and inquire what it means.

The phenomena of conversion are the standing miracles of the church. “And greater works than these shall he do,” said Christ, “because I go to my Father” (Joh 14:12); and these are some of the greater things which the power of the Holy Ghost still performs. This day the dead are raised, blind eyes are opened, and the lame are made to walk. The spiritual miracle is greater than the physical one. These spiritual miracles show that Jesus lives and puts life and power into the Gospel. Tell me of a ministry which never reclaims the drunkard, never calls back the thief to honesty, never pulls down the self-righteous and makes him confess his sin; that, in a word, never transforms its hearers; and I am sure that such a ministry is not worth the time which men spend in listening to it. Woe unto the man who at the last shall confess to a ministry fruitless in conversions. If the Gospel does not convert men, do not believe in it; but if it does, it is its own evidence and must be believed. It may be to some of you a stumbling-block and to others foolishness; but unto those who believe, it is the power of God unto salvation, saving them from sin.

From a sermon delivered on Lord’s-Day morning, July 19th, 1874,
by C. H. Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.

_______________________

Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892): Influential English Baptist minister. The collected sermons of Spurgeon during his ministry fill 63 volumes. The sermons’ 20–25 million words are equivalent to the 27 volumes of the ninth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica and stand as the largest set of books by a single author in the history of Christianity. Born at Kelvedon, Essex, England.

The Meaning, Causes, and Subjects of Conversion

John Gill (1697-1771)

onversion, though it may seem in some respects to fall in with regeneration and the effectual calling, yet may be distinguished from them both. Regeneration is the sole act of God; conversion consists both of God’s act upon men in turning them and of acts done by men under the influence of converting grace: they turn, being turned. Regeneration is the motion of God towards and upon the heart of a sinner; conversion is the motion of a sinner towards God, as one expresses it. In regeneration men are wholly passive, as they also are in the first moment of conversion; but by it become active. It is therefore sometimes expressed passively: “Ye are returned,” or converted (1Pe 2:25); and sometimes actively: “A great number believed and turned to the Lord” (Act 11:21) and “when it”—the body of the people of the Jews—“shall turn to the Lord,” which has respect to their conversion in the latter day (2Co 3:16). The effectual calling[4] is the call of men out of darkness to light; and conversion answers to that call and is the actual “turning” of men from the one to the other, so that with propriety, conversion may be considered as distinct from regeneration and the effectual calling. Concerning which may be observed,

I. First, What Conversion Is and Wherein It Lies. The conversion to be treated of is not

1. An external one or what lies only in an outward reformation of life and manners, such as that of the Ninevites. For this may be where internal conversion is not, as in the Scribes and Pharisees, and is what persons may depart from and return to their former course of life again. And where it is right and genuine, it is the fruit and effect of true conversion, but not that itself.

2. Nor is it a mere doctrinal one or a conversion from false notions before imbibed^{^[5]} to a set of doctrines and truths which are according to the Scriptures. So men of old were converted from Judaism and heathenism to Christianity: but not all that were so converted in a doctrinal sense were true and real converts: some had the form of godliness without the power of it, had a name to live and be called Christians, but were dead, and so not converted. Thus the recovery of professors of religion from errors fallen into, to the acknowledgement of the truth, is called a conversion (Jam 5:19, 20).

3. Nor the restoration of the people of God from backslidings to which they are subject, when they are in a very affecting and importunate[6] manner called upon to return to the Lord (Jer 3:12, 14, 22; Hos 14:1-4); so Peter, when he fell through temptation and denied his Lord and was recovered from it by a look from Christ, it is called his conversion (Luk 22:32). But,

4. The conversion under consideration is a true, real, internal work of God upon the souls of men. There is a counterfeit of it, or there is that in some men who are not really converted, which is somewhat similar to that which is always found in those that are truly converted, [such as] a sense of sin and an acknowledgment of it; an apprehension of the divine displeasure at it; great distress about it, a sorrow for it, humiliation on account of it, and an abstinence from it; and something that bears a resemblance to each of these may be found in unconverted persons, though their concern about sin is chiefly for the evil that comes by it or likely to come by it, and not for the evil that is in it. So in converted persons there is sooner or later light into the Gospel and the doctrines of it, particularly the doctrine of salvation by Christ, which yield relief and comfort to them under a sense of sin and encourage faith and hope in God. And there is something like this to be observed in some who are not truly converted, who are said to be “enlightened,” that is, in a notional[7] and doctrinal way; and to “taste” the good Word of God, though it is only in a superficial manner; and to “receive it with joy,” with a flash of natural affection, which lasts for awhile; and to believe it with a temporary faith, historically, and become subject to the ordinances. But yet in all this, there is no heart work, whereas true genuine conversion lies,

(1.) In the turn of the heart to God, of the thoughts of the heart, which are only evil and that continually and about evil things, not about God and the things of God: “God is not in all his thoughts” (Psa 10:4), nor in any of the thoughts of wicked men. But when converted, their thoughts are about their state and condition by nature; about their souls, and the eternal welfare of them; and about God and the methods of His grace in the salvation of men. It is a turn of the “desires” of the heart, which before were after vain, carnal, worldly, sinful lusts and pleasures; but now after God and communion with Him, after Christ and salvation by Him, after the Spirit and the things of the Spirit. It is a turn of the “affections” of the heart, which before were “inordinate”[8] and ran in a wrong channel. Before, they were fleshly, after the things of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. But now they are checked[9] and turned towards God, their hearts being circumcised to love Him; and Whom they love with their whole hearts and souls because He first loved them, though before their carnal minds were enmity to Him; and towards Christ, Whom they now love affectionately, fervently, superlatively,[10] and sincerely; and towards the saints, who are now the excellent in the earth, in whose conversation[11] is all their delight, though before hateful to them; and towards the Word, worship, and ordinances of God, which they take pleasure in attending on, though before a weariness to them.

Conversion is a turn of the “mind” from carnal things to spiritual ones, and from earthly things to heavenly ones. Yea, it is a turn of the “will,” which before conversion is in a very bad state, is stubborn and inflexible, biased to and bent upon that which is evil and averse[12] to all that is good; but in conversion God “works in” men “both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phi 2:13); He gives them another will, or however a turn to their will, so that of an unwilling people, they are made a willing people in the day of His power on them; whereas they were unwilling to come to Christ for salvation and take Him alone to be their Savior—“Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life,” says Christ (Joh 5:40), that is, ye have no will to come to Me at all for life and salvation; they chose rather to go anywhere than to Him for it—but now they are willing to be saved by Him and resolve to have no other Savior but Him. Yea, though He slay them, they will trust in Him and say, “He shall be our salvation.” And though before they went about to establish their own righteousness and did not and would not submit to the righteousness of Christ, now their stout hearts, which were far from righteousness, are brought down; and they become willing to be found in Christ and in His righteousness only. And inasmuch as before they would not have Christ to reign over them and chose not to be subject to His laws and ordinances, now they are ready to acknowledge Him as their King and Governor, turn their feet to His testimonies, and esteem His precepts concerning all things to be right.

(2.) Conversion lies in a man’s being turned from darkness to light: the Apostle says [that] he was sent by Christ to the Gentiles, as a minister of the Gospel, “to turn them from darkness to light” (Act 26:18), that is, to be the instrument or means of their conversion by preaching the Gospel to them. In this, conversion may seem to coincide with the effectual calling. But it may be observed that the effectual calling is a call to, but conversion is a turning of, men from darkness to light. God not only calls unto light, but turns them to light in every sense: to God, Who is light itself and in Whom is no darkness at all; to Christ, Who is the light of the world; to the Gospel, which is the great light that shines on men who sit in darkness; and to the light of grace, which is a shining light that shines more and more unto the perfect day.

(3.) Conversion lies in the turning of men “from the power of Satan unto God,” as in the above place (Act 26:18). Satan has great power over men in an unconverted state: his seat is in their hearts, which are the palace in which he rules. He works effectually with great power and energy in the children of disobedience by stirring up their lusts and corruptions, suggesting evil things to their minds and tempting them to them. He does all he can to keep them in their native blindness and ignorance and to increase it and to prevent them from hearing the Gospel and from its being beneficial to them, lest the light of it should shine into their minds. He captivates them, and leads them captive at his will; and they are willingly led by him, the lusts of their father they will do. But now in conversion they are turned from his power: he is dispossessed[13] of them and his armor taken from him in which he trusted; the prey is taken out of the hands of the mighty, and the lawful captive is delivered. Men are translated from the power of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. And though they are not freed from [Satan’s] temptations, yet they have grace sufficient given them to bear up under them till it is the pleasure of God to save them from them, who will shortly bruise him under them. And as they are in conversion turned from him, they are turned to God, who before were without Him, alienated from the life of Him, and strangers to Him; but now they are turned to the knowledge of Him, to love to Him, to faith in Him, and to communion with Him.

(4.) Conversion lies in turning men from idols to serve the living God: not merely from idols of silver and gold, of wood and stone, as formerly, but from the idols of a man’s own heart, his lusts and corruptions with respect to which the language of a converted sinner is, “What have I to do anymore with idols?” (Hos 14:8). This is a blessing bestowed in conversion: “Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities” (Act 3:26). In redemption Christ turns away iniquities from His people by bearing them and making satisfaction for them. And in conversion, He by His Spirit and grace turns them from their iniquities. He turns them from the love of them to an hatred of them, even of vain thoughts, as well as of sinful actions; from the service and drudgery[14] of them to the service of righteousness; from the power and dominion of them and subjection to them, and from a course of living in them to a life of holiness; and from the paths of sin to the paths of truth and uprightness.

(5.) Conversion lies in turning men from their own righteousness to the righteousness of Christ: not from doing works of righteousness, for such converted persons are most fit for and most capable of and are under the greatest obligations to perform; but from depending upon them for justification before God and acceptance with Him. [Of this] they must be convinced by the Spirit of God of the insufficiency of their own righteousness to justify them, being imperfect; and of the necessity, perfection, and fullness of Christ’s righteousness, which being turned unto, they receive, embrace, lay hold on, and plead as their justifying righteousness before God. And this requires more than human teachings: for though ministers are said to “turn many to righteousness,” that is, to the righteousness of Christ, yet only instrumentally and as the means of it, through preaching the Gospel in which there is a revelation of it. For God is the efficient cause of the turn of them to it; for though the Gospel is the ministration of it, yet it is the Lord that must bring it near to stouthearted ones far from righteousness and make them willing to submit unto it and to be desirous of being found in it. Men naturally do not care to part with their own righteousness: it is their own, and what they have been a long time and with great labor rearing up. To have it demolished, they cannot bear it. They would fain[15] hold it fast, and lean upon it, though it shall not stand. It is their idol in which they place their trust and confidence, and to take this away from them is to take away their god; as Micah said, when his idol was stolen from him, “Ye have taken away my gods…and what have I more?” (Jdg 18:24). Wherefore the conversion of a self-righteous person is more rare and difficult than the conversion of a profligate[16] sinner; hence our Lord says to the Scribes and Pharisees that “the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” (Mat 21:31); and that He Himself “came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mat 9:13).

(6.) Conversion lies in a man’s turning to the Lord actively under the influence of divine grace. And by this phrase, it is often expressed in Scripture (as in Isa 10:21; Act 11:21; 2Co 3:16), men being thoroughly convinced that there is salvation in no other but in Christ, that it is in vain to expect it elsewhere. After they have made many inquiries and searches to no purpose, [they] turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and look to Him alone for salvation; being apprised[17] of their danger, they turn as they are directed, encouraged, and enabled to Christ, the Stronghold, where they are safe from all danger and from every enemy. Being made sensible of the insufficiency of their own righteousness and of the suitableness of the righteousness of Christ for them, they turn to Him as the Lord their righteousness, in Whom all the seed of Israel are justified and shall glory. And being fully satisfied with the equity of the laws, rules, and ordinances of Christ, they turn to Him as their Lord and Lawgiver and submit to His commands, renouncing all other lords and their dominion over them. Though in their natural state they are like sheep going astray, in conversion they are returned to Christ, as the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls: the parable of seeking, finding, and bringing home the lost sheep is a fit representation of the conversion of a sinner….The parables following represent the same thing, as that of the lost piece of silver, for finding which the woman lights a candle and sweeps the house and searches every corner till she finds it, which gives her joy. This sets forth the high esteem and value the elect are in with Christ, comparable to silver, yea, to fine gold and precious stones; and the passiveness of men in first conversion, who no more contribute to it than the piece of silver to its being found; and the means and methods made use of in conversion, the light of the Gospel ministry and the stir and bustle on that occasion. The parable of the prodigal son and his return to his father is expressive of the same. His manner of living before his return is a lively picture of the state of unconverted men living in their lusts and pursuing the desires of the flesh and of the mind. In his return there are all the symptoms of a true and real conversion: a sense of his starving, famishing, and perishing state by nature; his coming to his right mind; his sense of sin, confession of it, and repentance for it; his faith and hope of meeting with a favorable reception by his father, which encouraged him to return and which he met with (see Isa 55:7).

II. Secondly, the Causes of Conversion—Efficient, Moving, and Instrumental.

1. First, the efficient cause, which is not man but God.

(1.) Not man, it is neither by the power nor will of man.

a. Not by the power of man; what is said of the conversion or turning of the Jews from their captivity is true of the conversion of a sinner, that it is “not by might nor by power,” that is not of man, “but by my Spirit, as saith the Lord of hosts” (Zec 4:6). Men are dead in a moral sense while unconverted, they are dead in trespasses and sins, which are the cause of their death; and their very living in them is no other than a moral death; nor can they quicken themselves, and unless they are quickened they cannot be converted; and being in a moral sense dead they are “strengthless.” They are not only “weak through the flesh,” the corruption of nature, but they are “without strength”; without any strength at all to perform that which is good, and much less a work of so great importance as their own conversion; they have not the command of themselves, nor any power over their hearts, the thoughts, desires, and affections of them. They cannot check them and control them at pleasure; they cannot think anything as of themselves, much less think a good thought. They cannot turn the streams of their desires and affections to proper objects. They cannot move their minds, nor bend their wills, even to that which is to their own advantage. Conversion is such an alteration in a man as is not in his power to effect….Conversion is the motion of the soul towards God. But as this cannot be in a dead man, and unless he is quickened, so not unless he is drawn by efficacious[18] grace; wherefore God, in conversion, draws men with lovingkindness to Himself; and, with the cords of love, to His Son; for “no man,” says Christ, “can come unto me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him” (Joh 6:44); and even converted persons themselves are so sensible of this that they pray as the church did, “Draw me, we will run after thee” (Song 1:4). The thing speaks for itself, and shows that it cannot be done by the power of man…

b. Nor is conversion owing to the will of men. The will of man before conversion is in a bad state: it chooses its own ways and delights in its abominations. It is in high pursuit after the desires of the flesh and of the mind. It is resolved to go after its lovers, its lusts, which feed its appetite and furnish with things agreeable to the carnal mind. The will is become a slave to carnal lusts and pleasures: though the natural liberty of the will is not lost by sin, it can freely will natural things, as to eat or drink, sit, or stand, or walk at pleasure. Yet its moral liberty is lost; it is shackled with the fetters of sinful lusts by which it is overcome and brought into bondage. And notwithstanding its boasted liberty, it is an home-born slave…he has no will to come to Christ, to be saved by Him; nor to submit to His righteousness; nor to be subject to His laws and ordinances, until such a will is worked in him by efficacious grace. Conversion is denied to be of the will of men; as the whole of salvation is “not of him that willeth,” so this part of it in particular, regeneration, with which conversion in the first moment of it agrees “is not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (Rom 9:16; Joh 1:13).

(2.) God only is the Author and efficient cause of conversion. He that made man’s heart and formed the spirit of man within him, He only can turn their hearts and frame and mold their spirits as He pleases. The heart of a king and so of every other man is in the hand of the Lord, and He can turn them as the rivers of water are turned. He, and He only, can give a check unto and turn the thoughts, desires, and affections of the heart into another channel, and the mind and will to other objects. He can remove the stubbornness of the will, bend it at His pleasure, and make it pliable and conformable to His own will. He can take away the hardness of the heart. Though it is like an adamant stone,[19] He can make it soft and susceptible of[20] the best impressions. He can break the rocky heart in pieces, yea, take away the stony heart and give an heart of flesh. As He can take what He pleases out of it, so He can put into it what He will, as He does in conversion—His laws, the fear of Him, and His Spirit. He can and does draw them by the powerful influence of His grace upon them to Himself and to His Son. And this He does without forcing their wills: He sweetly allures by His grace to come to Christ and His ordinances….The power of divine grace put forth in conversion is irresistible, that is, so irresistible, as that a stop cannot be put to the work and that become of no effect, through opposition made unto it from within and from without. Conversion is according to the will of God, His will of purpose, which can never be frustrated: “Who hath resisted his will?” (Rom 9:19).

2. Secondly, the moving, or impulsive cause of conversion, is the love, grace, mercy, favor, and goodwill of God. The same as are the moving cause of regeneration and effectual calling and not the merits of men. For what is there in men before conversion to move God to take such a step in their favor? (see 1Co 6:9-11; Eph 2:2-4).

3. Thirdly, the instrumental cause, or means of conversion, is usually the ministry of the Word. Sometimes, indeed, it is wrought without the Word by some remarkable awakening providence or another and sometimes by reading the Scriptures. But for the most part it is through the preaching of the Word; hence ministers are said to “turn many to righteousness”; and the Apostle Paul says he was sent by Christ into the Gentile world to “turn men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God” (Act 28:16). This is done both by the preaching of the Law and of the Gospel: “the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul” (Psa 19:7), though perhaps not the Law, strictly taken, but the whole doctrine of the Word is there meant. However, the preaching of the Law is made use of by the Spirit of God to convince of sin; for “by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom 3:20); and by means of it, when it enters into the heart and conscience, under His influence, sin is made to appear exceeding sinful, and the soul is filled with great distress on account of it. For the “law worketh wrath” (Rom 4:15), though some take this to be rather preparatory to conversion than conversion itself, which may be better ascribed to the Gospel…for “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Gal 3:2; Rom 10:8, 17). But then the preaching of the word of the Gospel is not sufficient of itself to produce the work of conversion in the heart: men may hear it and not be converted by it nor receive any benefit, profit, and advantage through it, if it comes in word only and not with the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. And when it is accompanied with the power of God or is made the power of God unto salvation, even then it is only an instrument and not an efficient; for “who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed?” (1Co 3:5).

III. Thirdly, The Subjects of Conversion. These are not all men, for all in fact are not converted; nor does it appear to be the design and purpose of God to convert all men; nor does He give sufficient grace to all men to convert themselves if they will. For He does not so much as give to all men the means of grace, the outward ministry of the Word: this was not vouchsafed[21] to the Gentiles for hundreds of years before the coming of Christ; and since, millions have never been favored with it; nor are multitudes at this day. And those who have the Scripture to read, to many it is a sealed book and to all, unless opened by the Spirit of God; and to whom the Gospel is preached, it is hid, unless it is given them to know the mysteries of the kingdom, which is not the case of all; the persons converted are the “elect” of God, both among Jews and Gentiles…in a word, they are described as “sinners.” “Sinners shall be converted unto thee” (Psa 51:13), sinners by nature and by practice, and some of them the worst and chief of sinners. And therefore the wonderful grace of God is the more displayed in their conversion.

From A Complete Body of Doctrinal and Practical Divinity.

_______________________

John Gill (1697-1771): Baptist minister, theologian, and biblical scholar. Author of A Complete Body of Doctrinal and Practical Divinity, The Cause of God and Truth, and his nine-volume Expositions of the Old and New Testaments. Born in Kettering, Northamptonshire, England.

Temporary, Counterfeit,
and True Conversion

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981)

hat do we mean by conversion? It is the first exercise of the new nature in ceasing from old forms of life and starting a new life. It is the first action of the regenerate soul in moving from something to something. The very term suggests that: conversion means a turning from one thing to another. The term is not used very frequently in the Scriptures, but the truth which the word connotes and represents appears constantly.

You will find that in the Scriptures the term itself is sometimes used in a more general way for any turning. For instance, it is sometimes used even of a believer. Our Lord rebuked Peter on one occasion and said, “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luk 22:32). He meant: when you come back again, when you have turned back. Here the word does not refer to Peter’s original coming into the Christian life; he was already in it, but he was going to backslide, he was going to go astray and then come back. That is described as conversion, but in the consideration of biblical doctrines, it is well to confine the word conversion to the sense which is normally given to it when we talk together about these things, that is, it is the initial step in the conscious history of the soul in its relationship to God; it is the first exercise, the first manifestation, of the new life that has been received in regeneration.

This, of course, is something which is essential, and there are many statements to that effect. It is stated specifically in Matthew 18:3: “Verily I say unto you,” says our Lord, “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” But all the texts which we have already considered in dealing with the doctrine of regeneration are equally applicable here, texts such as, “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God” (1Co 2:14); and, “The carnal mind is enmity against God” (Rom 8:7). Men and women must come from that before they can be Christians; they must turn from that to this other condition. So conversion is essential. Nobody is born a Christian. We were all born in sin, “shapen in iniquity” (Psa 51:5); we were all “the children of wrath, even as others” (Eph 2:3); we are all subjects of original sin and original guilt, so we must all undergo conversion; and the Bible is quite explicit about this.

The next question, therefore, to ask is: How does it take place? What is the agency in conversion? And here the answer is quite simple. It is first of all and primarily the work of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit, does it through the effectual call….The call becomes effectual and it is that which leads to the next step—what you and I do. You notice that we are mentioning this for the first time, but in any definition of conversion you must bring in the human as well as the divine activity. The call comes effectually and because it comes effectually we do something about it. That is conversion: the two sides, the call—the response…but in dealing with conversion, of necessity we must give equal emphasis to the activity of human beings. Now in regeneration and in the union, we are absolutely passive; we play no part at all; it is entirely the work of the Spirit of God in the heart. But in conversion we act, we move, we are called, and we do it.

We come, then, to consider the characteristics of conversion; and this, I sometimes think, is one of the most important topics that Christian people can consider together. Why is that? Well, it is vital that we should consider the biblical teaching about conversion because there is such a thing as a “temporary conversion.” Have you noticed how often that is dealt with by our Lord Himself in His own teaching, how at times He almost seems to discourage people from going after Him? There was a man who said, “I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest,” and our Lord, instead of saying, “Marvelous!” said, “Wait a minute!” “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Mat 8:19–20). “Do you realize what you’re doing?” He said in effect. “It’s a very foolish man who goes to war without making sure of his resources. It’s an equally foolish man who starts building a tower without making certain that he’s got sufficient material to finish it.”

Our Lord, because He knew the danger of a “temporary something” happening, was constantly dealing with it and seemed to be repelling people. Indeed, they charged Him with making discipleship impossible. Take that great sixth chapter of John where the people were running after Him and hanging on to His words because of the miracle of the feeding of the 5000, and our Lord seemed to be trying deliberately to repel them. So a large number, who thought they were disciples, went back, we are told, and walked no longer with Him. It is quite clear that our Lord was giving that teaching quite deliberately because He was drawing a distinction between the spirit and the flesh. He knew that they were carnal, and He was anxious to stress the vital importance of grasping the spiritual.

Take also the parable in Matthew 13—the parable of the sower—and our Lord’s own exposition of it. Notice particularly verses 20 and 21: “But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon[22] with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth[23] for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.” But notice what our Lord says about this same man: he, “anon with joy receiveth it [the Word].” That is what I mean by a temporary conversion. He seems to have received the Word, he is full of joy, but he has no root in him, and that is why he ends up with nothing at all. Now that is our Lord’s own teaching; there is the possibility of this very joyful conversion and yet there is nothing there in a vital, living sense, and it proves temporary.

There is also further teaching in the Scriptures about this same thing. Take Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8. We are told in verse 13, “Simon himself believed also: and…was baptised.” And yet look at the end of that man’s story. He was “in the gall of bitterness” (v. 23), and Peter simply said to him that he had better ask God to have mercy and grant him repentance. He seemed to be a true believer, but was he?

Then Paul speaks in 1 Timothy 1:19–20 of “holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck.” Now that is very serious teaching, and he says the same thing in 2 Timothy 2. Here Paul is writing to Timothy about certain people who seemed to have been believers but were now denying the resurrection, as a result of which, some frightened Christians thought that the whole Church was collapsing. “It is all right,” says Paul: “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his” (v. 19). God knows; He is not deceived or deluded. There is such a thing as temporary conversions, temporary believers, but they are not true believers. That is why it is so vital that we should know the biblical teaching as to what conversion really is.

What about the case of Demas, I wonder? There are many who would say that Demas was never a believer at all. I would not like to go so far. He may have been backsliding: “Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world” (2Ti 4:10). But, at any rate, he is a doubtful case. And then you come to that great classic passage in this connection in Hebrews 6, with a similar passage in the tenth chapter of that epistle. “It is impossible for those who were once enlightened…if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance” (Heb 6:4, 6).

Therefore, I deliberately use this heading of “temporary conversion.” There is obviously something wrong with these people, so we must ask questions. We must consider, we must have definitions, because “All that glisters is not gold.” All that appears to be conversion is most certainly not conversion according to our Lord’s own teaching and the teaching of the inspired apostles. So I know nothing that is so dangerous, reprehensible,[24] and unscriptural as to say, “But you mustn’t ask these questions.” No, no, let them come. Always ask: does the Scripture entitle us to say that? If we are to be true teachers of the Word, and helpers of others, and concerned about the glory of God, we must realize that there is such a thing as a temporary conversion which is based upon misunderstanding.

My second reason for being concerned about precise definitions is that there are not only temporary conversions but even counterfeit conversions. Now I draw a distinction, you will notice, between the two and the difference is that in the case of a temporary conversion, conversion is something that has happened as the result of the presentation of the biblical truth. In the case of a counterfeit conversion, it is a phenomenon which, though closely resembling and simulating Christian conversion, has been produced by some other agency that is not the truth. So we must draw the distinction.

This was never more necessary than today because there are so many people who seem to think that as long as there is a great change in the person’s life, it must be a true conversion. If a man gives up sins and lives a good life and does good, that, they say, is Christian. But it may not be. It is possible for a man to undergo a great, profound, climactic change in his life and way of living and experience which has nothing to do with Christianity. People may even come out of the world and join a church, and their whole life from the outside may apparently be different, but it may be a counterfeit conversion. It is a conversion in the sense that they have left one thing and have come to another, have given up sins and are now doing good, but it is counterfeit because they lack the necessary, essential relationship to truth. If you are only interested in phenomena, if you are only interested in someone who can get up and say, “My whole life is absolutely changed,” then you need only go to books on psychology. Psychology has been very popular now for many years, and it makes a most powerful attack upon the Christian faith—that is why I am so concerned about it. I heard a man say that if his Christian faith were attacked, it would not worry him. He would simply reply, “I don’t care what you people say; I don’t care what science says, I know because of what’s happening to me.”

Now my response to that was, “Yes, and every psychologist in your audience would smile. They would say, ‘We agree that you have had a psychological change and experience. But, of course, many things can do that.’ And they would continue to dismiss the whole of Christianity.”

No, the defense of the Christian faith must never rely simply upon some experience that you and I have had. The defense of the Christian faith is objective truth. So unless we are careful at this point in defining conversion, the danger is that we shall have nothing to say to those who have undergone one of these counterfeit experiences.

Then there is one other thing—and here we leave the counterfeit and the temporary and come to something which is more immediately practical. There are variable elements in connection with conversion, and because of these we must be very careful that we know what the essential elements are. Let me illustrate what I mean: take the time element, the time factor in conversion. Must it be sudden? Is it impossible for it to be gradual? Well, I would say that the Scripture does not teach that it must of necessity be sudden. The great thing is that it has happened, whether sudden or gradual. The time element is not one of the absolute essentials; it may have its importance, but it is not vital.

Secondly, must one’s conversion of necessity be dramatic? We all tend to emphasize these, do we not? They have human interest, we say, and we must be interesting. But must conversion be dramatic? Now if you read just one chapter in the Scriptures—Acts 16—you will see that you have no right to say that. Of course, if you only read the story of the Philippian jailer, then you will say conversion must be full of drama. But I am equally interested in the story of Lydia and there is nothing to suggest that about her conversion. Not at all! It may have been quite quiet, but it was equally a conversion. So here we have another variable element. Dramatic quality may be there, but it may not be. It is not essential.

Then there is the old vexed question of the place of feelings. Of course, they must be there, but there are feelings and feelings. They may be very intense, or they may not be, but they are still feelings. We all differ by nature and temperament, and in this matter of feelings we differ very much indeed. The most demonstrative person is not always the one who feels most….So it is not the one who is weeping the most copiously who is of necessity the most intensely feeling. Another person may be feeling so deeply that his feelings are down beyond the very possibility of tears, as it were. Feelings are variable and express themselves variously in different people. They must be present, but God forbid that we should insist upon a particular intensity or display of feelings.

And then there is the whole question of age. Some have said that unless you are converted when you are an adolescent, you will never be converted at all because the requisite psychological factors can never be there again. What utter rubbish! How unscriptural! I have never seen a more striking conversion than I once saw in a man aged seventy-seven: thank God for that! No, there is no age limit. Age does not make the slightest difference. We are talking about something the Holy Spirit produces. There is as much hope for the man who is shivering on the brink of the grave and of hell as for the adolescent—if you are interested in true conversion, that is. If you are interested in psychological experiences, then I agree, adolescence is the right time for it. Everything is very explosive at that point; you merely strike a match, and there it is. But we are not interested in psychological changes; we are talking about true, Christian, spiritual conversion. And there age, thank God, is a complete irrelevance.

Now we have considered these things because there is always a tendency to standardize the variable aspect of conversion. Sometimes it works out in the evangelist, in his desiring everybody to become a Christian in the same way, and he is doubtful of the converts unless they are all the same. But it may happen in us too; we all desire to be the same. That is always one of the dangerous things about reading of somebody else’s experiences; consciously or unconsciously, we tend to reproduce them. It is a part of our make-up and of our nature: we are imitators, and if we like a thing that we see in someone else, then we wish that to be true of us, too.

Then we also tend to concentrate on particular manifestations of conversion. The feelings, for instance, are only one aspect, yet we put all our emphasis on them. This can be extremely dangerous because feelings, as I have indicated, are one of a number of variables, and this way may lead to tragedy. Some people are always insisting upon the presence of a variable quality, which is not essential. Thinking it was essential, and not having experienced it, they say that they have never been converted. And this can lead to untold and unnecessary unhappiness….if we postulate[25] something that is variable and insist upon it, we may do ourselves or somebody else great harm. We may tell other people that they are not converted because they do not conform to our particular standard. So we must be very careful that we do not go beyond Scripture and say things which the Bible does not say. Therefore, how vital, how essential it is, that we should have clear definitions in our mind.

What, then, are these permanent elements? There are two essential elements in conversion, and these are emphasized everywhere in the Scripture—in the Gospels, in the book of Acts, and in the epistles. Paul, fortunately, has put it all in a phrase for us, in Acts 20:21, on that moving occasion when he said farewell to the elders of the church at Ephesus. I have sometimes thought that if there was one scene in history more than any other at which I should like to have been present, it was just that. “I’m going,” Paul says, in effect, to the elders, “you’ll never see me again, and I want you to hold on to the things I’ve told you, and to remember what I did when I was with you.” What was this? “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” That is conversion. Those are the essential and the only essential elements in conversion: repentance and faith. Sudden or gradual, it does not matter. Repentance must be there; faith must be there. If one is missing it is not conversion. Both are essential.

At this point, let me ask a question: in which order do they come? Which comes first, repentance or faith? Now that is a fascinating question. There is a sense in which faith is bound to come before repentance, and yet I shall not put it like that and for this reason: when I am talking about faith, I mean it in the sense that the apostle Paul used it—faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not faith in general. There must be faith in general before you can repent, because if you do not believe certain things about God, you do not act upon it, and there is no repentance. But I am referring to faith in the special sense of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In that case, repentance comes before faith and Paul puts them in that order: “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Why must repentance come first? Well, you will find that it always comes first in Scripture. Who was the first preacher in the New Testament? The answer is John the Baptist. What did he preach? The “baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Mark 1:4). This was the message of the forerunner, and the forerunner always comes first. Then the second preacher was the Lord Jesus Christ, and if you turn to the Gospels and observe the first thing He ever said you will find that He again exhorted the people to repent and to believe the Gospel (Mark 1:15). So, exactly like John the Baptist, the first thing He taught was repentance.

Then what did Peter preach? Take the great sermon on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. Peter preached and the people cried out saying, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” This was the reply: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Act 2:37, 38). Repent. And, as I have already quoted to you, repentance was the message of the apostle Paul. He started with repentance. He did it in Athens: God “…commandeth all men every where to repent” (Act 17:30).

Repentance is of necessity the first message, and it surely must be. It is Scriptural, yes, but Scripture also enables us to reason. Let me put it to you like this: Why should men and women believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? It is no use just asking them to believe in Christ. They are entitled to ask, “Why should I believe in Him?” That is a perfectly fair question. And people do not see any need or necessity for believing in the Lord Jesus Christ if they do not know what repentance is. Of course, you may be inviting them to Christ as a helper, or as a friend, or as a healer of the body, but that is not Christian conversion. No, no, people must know why they must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Law is our schoolmaster (Gal 3:24) to bring us there, and the Law works repentance.

In other words, the primary point about conversion, the primary thing in the whole of Christian salvation, is to bring us into the right relationship with God. Why did Christ come? Why did He die? The answer is that He did it all to bring us to God. And if we think about these things in any way except in terms of being reconciled to God, our view is entirely false. I say it hesitatingly because I know the danger of being misunderstood, but there is far too much Christianity today, it seems to me, that stops at the Lord Jesus Christ and does not realize that He came and did everything in order to reconcile us to God. Indeed, it was God who was “in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself” (2Co 5:19). I think the greatest weakness in evangelical Christianity today is that it forgets God. We are interested in experiences, we are interested in happiness, we are interested in subjective states. But the first need of every soul, as we shall see, it to be right with God. Nothing matters but that. The Gospel starts with God, because what is wrong with everybody is that they are in a wrong relationship to Him.

So we must put repentance first; it is the original trouble, the main consequence of the Fall and original sin. God is orderly in His working, and He starts with the big thing, the first thing.

From “Conversion” in Great Doctrines of the Bible, Vol 2, God the Holy Spirit
published by Crossway Books. Used by permission.

_______________________

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981): Perhaps the greatest expository preacher of the 20th century. He left a successful medical career to be a preacher of the Gospel. Successor to G. Campbell Morgan as minister of Westminster Chapel, London, England, 1938-68. Born in Wales.