4 Conversion and Baptism
Conversion and Baptism
Convert” means “change.” “We were converted last year,” a lady told me—she meant that her home was now on North Sea gas. And the van with “Conversions Our Specialty” on it belongs to a coachbuilder (not an evangelist!). But our subject now is Christian conversion, the vital inner change whereby we turn, or rather are turned (for conversion is God’s work in us), so that we live with, in, through, and for God henceforth.
What is Conversion?
Luke writes of this in Acts, where Christ sends Paul to the Gentiles “to open their eyes, that they may turn (convert) . . . from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified (made acceptable) by faith in me” (26:18). Paul summons Gentiles to “repent and turn (convert) toGod” (26:20), and God opens “a door of faith” (14:27) to them, resulting in “the conversion of the Gentiles” (15:3). We see close-ups of conversion in the stories of Paul himself, who for all his religiosity had no vital link with God till Christ found him (9:1-30); of the Ethiopian eunuch (8:27-39); of Cornelius the God-fearer (10:22 48); and of the Philippian jailer (16:27-34); to whom we might add the anonymous prostitute and Zacchaeus the extortioner in Luke’s Gospel (7:36-50; 19:1-10).
Conversion, we see, means commitment to God in response to mercy from God, and consists of repentance and faith. In Scripture these two overlap. Repentance is not just regretful remorse, but a total about-turn in one’s thoughts, aims, and acts, so that one leaves the paths of self-willed disobedience to serve God in faith and faithfulness. Faith is not just believing Christian truth, but forsaking self-confidence and man-made hopes to trust wholly in Christ and his cross for pardon, peace, and life, so that henceforth one lives to one’s lover-God in thankful, penitent obedience.
Though before conversion God may work in one’s life in obvious ways, making one seek him as Paul and Augustine did and inducing what Wesley called “the faith of a servant,” only by conversion does one become a Christian in the full scriptural sense, exercising “the faith of a son.” Spiritually, till conversion all is twilight at best.
Conversion is sometimes dismissed as a uniquely evangelical phenomenon, but it belongs to mainstream Christian experience everywhere. It need not be dramatically sudden or emotional, nor does one have to be fully aware of what is happening (though a conscious conversion usually proves a blessing). What is crucial, however, is that the marks of conversion—faith and repentance as principles of daily living—should be found in us; otherwise, we cannot be judged Christians at all, whatever experiences we may claim. Thus, the converted life-style is more significant than any conversion experience.
Where Baptism Comes In
Fine, you say, but what has this to do with baptism? You can, of course, be converted without knowing about baptism, just as you can be baptized and know nothing of conversion. For all that, however, there is a threefold connection.
First, baptism requires conversion. It signifies not only God’s saving work in us, through Jesus’ death and resurrection for us, but also our entry thereby into the new life through “repentance to God and . . . faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21)—that is, through conversion. Conversion, credibly professed, qualifies adults for baptism, and it is to conversion that baptism commits infants.
Second, baptism shapes conversion. From the symbolism of baptism we learn that becoming a Christian means accepting death with Christ (entire separation from the world), being washed through Christ (entire forgiveness for the past), and identifying with the risen life of Christ (entire consecration for the future); and that genuine conversion has to be a real response to God at all three points.
Third, baptism tests conversion. Conversion as a psychological recoil to religion is known outside Christianity; what identifies a conversion experience as Christian is its positive orientation to baptism’s threefold summons.
What, I wonder, does your baptism say about the Christian commitment, or conversion, that you profess? You will be wise to check and see.
Further Bible Study
True conversion:
1 Thessalonians 1; 2:9-16
Questions for Thought and Discussion
Who does the work of Christian conversion, and what is that work?
“Only by conversion does one become a Christian in the full scriptural sense.” Why?
Why is a converted life-style more significant than a conversion experience?