Conversion, God, and our Whole Self

From Genesis to Revelation, the Scriptures clearly indicate that conversion is absolutely necessary for people to be saved and to know God. Unless we turn from our sin and turn to God, unless we experience what the Bible calls a spiritual, supernatural circumcision of the heart (Deut. 30:6; Rom. 2:25–29), we will not be able to know God’s salvation and will remain under His wrath and judgment (Eph. 2:1–3).

As Tom Schreiner emphasizes, the necessity of conversion runs throughout the Bible. While it may not be the central theme of Scripture, it certainly remains fundamental to the entire story of redemption. Without conversion, we cannot know God as Savior, cannot receive forgiveness of sins, and cannot enter into God’s Kingdom and His saving reign.

But still the question arises: why is conversion necessary?

Popular and Biblical Understanding of Conversion

Before answering this question, it is worth clarifying that we are not talking about "conversion" in the popular sense of the word, but in the biblical sense.

• Popular understanding: Conversion is «the adoption of a new religion» or «the internal acceptance of a new belief system.» These definitions view «conversion» as a change in someone’s thinking that leaves the person fundamentally unchanged. This is not Christian conversion.
• Biblical Understanding: Christian conversion depends on the sovereign and supernatural work of the Triune God in the lives of people. In the process of conversion, God raises people from spiritual death to life. This enables them to turn away from what they once loved—their sin and rebellion against God—and turn to Christ with trust.

Three truths that confirm the need for conversion

Why is understanding conversion absolutely essential? Three fundamental truths underlie the biblical teaching on conversion and help us understand why it is so important.

Let me also emphasize that these three truths are inextricably linked. It is impossible to correctly understand the biblical teaching on conversion without an accurate understanding of the other truths.

1. The problem of human nature

The first fundamental truth that justifies the need for conversion is the biblical view of the human problem. Although man was created in the image of God, in Adam we rebelled against our Creator and thus became sinners subject to God’s wrath (Gen. 3; Rom. 5:12-21).

The Bible does not view sin as a minor problem that can be fixed by one's own efforts or better education. It:

• A universal problem (Rom. 3:9–12).
• A state that defines us by nature and actions (Eph. 2:1–3).
• A state of moral rebellion against God that we cannot change.
• A state that we, unfortunately, do not even want to change without sovereign grace from God (Rom. 8:7).
• A state of condemnation, guilt, and death before the Judge of the universe (Rom. 8:1; Eph. 2:1–3).

Salvation, the biblical solution to this problem, changes this terrible situation, and the decisive moment in this is conversion. We need:

1. The atonement for our sin, which Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross (Rom. 3:21–26).
2. A way out of a state of spiritual death to life (Rom. 6:1–23; Eph. 2:4–10). We need the Triune God to call us from the dead to life and give us new birth through the Holy Spirit (John 3:1–8) so that we can voluntarily respond to the Gospel in repentance and faith.

Thus, conversion is necessary because it is part of God's solution to the serious problem of human nature that Scripture describes.

2. The Doctrine of God

The second fundamental truth is the Bible's teaching about the nature and character of God. The human problem is what it is because of who the God of the Bible is.

Conversion is necessary because we, as sinful and rebellious creatures, cannot abide in God’s holy presence. Sin not only goes against God’s character, but it has also separated us from God’s covenant presence (Gen. 3:21–24).

Therefore, without satisfying the holy character of God through the sacrifice of the Son, we cannot know God as Savior. Furthermore, a legal agreement alone is not enough. Salvation also involves the inner cleansing from sin and the transformation of our utterly corrupt nature. This begins when we are united with Christ through the restorative work of the Spirit, which gives us the ability to voluntarily turn away from sin.

In other words, conversion is absolutely necessary because God requires His subjects to be holy, as He is holy. To be in His presence, we must be clothed with the righteousness of Christ, transformed by the power of the Spirit, and become new creations (2 Cor. 5:17–21).

Unless we understand God's burning holiness and His perfect righteousness, we will never understand why conversion is so important.

3. True conversion involves repentance and faith.

The third truth is that conversion embraces the whole of human nature, affecting the whole person. This means that in Scripture conversion involves both turning away from sin (repentance) and turning to Christ (faith). Both of these elements are necessary for true conversion. Therefore, repentance and faith are rightly viewed as two sides of the same coin.

Biblical conversion is never simply a change of intellectual perspective. Unfortunately, in many of our churches we encounter people who claim to be converted but who only show intellectual assent to the Gospel, with no evidence of real change (Matt. 7:21-23).

God demands a response from our whole being. Conversion involves a turning away from sin and turning to Christ, which involves the whole being of a person—his intellect, will, and emotions (Acts 2:37-38; 2 Cor. 7:10).

It is not enough to simply «tip your hat» to Jesus

Conversion is not optional; it is absolutely necessary. We cannot understand salvation and the Gospel without a solid understanding of it.

The nominal Christianity that prevails in our churches is not biblical Christianity. It is not enough to simply confess Jesus; we must experience God's sovereign and gracious work in our hearts, receiving new life and allowing the Spirit of God to move us to repent and believe the Gospel.

The remedy for this situation is to go back to the Scriptures, asking our great God to revive His church again, so that in our proclamation of the Gospel, men, women, boys, and girls will repent of their sins and believe in Christ Jesus our Lord.