Conversion

Book Review: Almost Christian, by Kenda Dean

Review by Matt McCullough | 9Marks Journal: Church and Parachurch: Friends or Foes? | 02.18.2011

This book is worth your time as a penetrating indictment of quasi-Christianity and a source of some helpful advice about how to fight back.

Book Review: The Tangible Kingdom, by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay

Review by Bobby Jamieson | 9Marks Journal: Church and Parachurch: Friends or Foes? | 02.02.2011

I celebrate the willingness to throw anything overboard that gets in the way of reaching others with the gospel, but I fear some of what’s getting tossed is actually precious cargo.

Leadership Interview with Mark Dever

An Amazing Testimony of God’s Grace

By M. Dever, M. McConnell | 09.30.2010

Mez McConnell tells the riveting story of how God rescued him from a life of drugs and violence and sent him to preach the gospel in inner-city Edinburgh, Scotland.

Can someone be genuinely converted and contentedly live in sin?

9Marks

Generally speaking, no.

How should a biblical understanding of conversion impact our evangelism?

9Marks

How should a biblical understanding of conversion impact our evangelism? A biblical understanding of conversion should lead us to:

How should a biblical understanding of conversion impact us personally as Christians?

9Marks

A biblical understanding of conversion should…

Can you give several examples of bad evangelistic practices that result from a bad understanding of conversion?

9Marks
Altar calls, decision cards. Altar calls and decision cards result from an overemphasis on the human’s role in conversion, as if conversion results whenever someone is persuaded to walk an aisle. (Never mind the movement of God’s Spirit!) Also, signing a card isn’t the same thing as repenting and believing. The Bible calls us to repent and believe.  

What practical difference does a biblical understanding of conversion make in the life of a church?

9Marks

A church with a biblical understanding of conversion will…

Why is a right understanding of conversion so important for a church’s corporate witness?

9Marks

A church that does not rightly understand conversion will…

How do I lovingly confront someone who claims to be converted but who lives like a non-Christian?

9Marks
Pray for yourself and the other person. Pray that you would be faithful merely to speak truth, relying on God’s Spirit to do the work of true persuasion (1 Cor. 3:6-7; 2 Cor. 7:8-10). Pray that he would convict and change the heart. Speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). Approach the person tenderly, patiently, and kindly. Explain that you are confronting them out of a deep and loving concern for their eternal good.

Can someone be genuinely converted and contentedly live in sin?

9Marks

Generally speaking, no.

How can I know if I’ve been genuinely converted?

9Marks

John’s first epistle offers several “tests” to help Christians know if they have savingly come to faith in Christ:

What does God do in conversion?

9Marks

Conversion does not mean that “God helps those who help themselves.” The change we need is so radical that only God can do it. In conversion, God gives life to the dead and sight to the blind. In conversion, God gives the gifts of repentance and faith.

What are people responsible to do in conversion?

9Marks

People are responsible to do two things: repent and believe. Conversion is a radical turn away from sin and to God through faith in Christ. Jesus summed up what humans must do in conversion when he commanded his hearers, “Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

 What does it mean to repent?

What is conversion?

9Marks

Conversion is a U-turn in a person’s life. It is turning with one’s whole person away from sin and to Christ for salvation. From idol worship to God worship. From self-justification to Christ’s justification. From self-rule to God’s rule.

 Conversion is what happens when God awakens those who are spiritually dead and enables them to repent of their sins and have faith in Christ.