Conservative journalist and commentator Brit Hume says that a true conversion is something that is obvious to others.

Can people tell from the outward living of your life that you are truly converted?

Even identifying the realty of “true conversion” suggests that there are “false” conversions and brings the concept of “conversion” to the floor for debate.

The very word “conversion” implies the need to be converted or changed from one way of thinking or living to another. That implies there are some ways of thinking and some ways of living that are “better” than others. Egad! That is not very post-modern.

The concept of conversion is certainly Biblical. People hear the good news of the Gospel, they believe in Jesus and receive forgiveness and redemption in His name. As an outward sign of that inward transformation, they are baptized. Outward evidence of God’s inward work becomes evident through the expression of the gifts of the Spirit, cultivation and production of the fruit of the Spirit, and lives that have “taken off” the old ways and “put on” the new way of life in Christ.

One easy example to which we can point is the conversion of the apostle Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsus, on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). Saul persecuted the Church. Saul was confronted with the Gospel. Saul believed. His life was radically changed. His thoughts changed. His plans changed. His deeds changed. His friends changed. Inside and out, his life was converted. He was a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ – 100 percent given over in every way to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

People were not immediately convinced of the sincerity of his conversion. Even Ananias, to whom the Lord spoke in a vision about Saul’s conversion, was not easily persuaded. But Paul had changed. He had been given the Father’s eyes, the very mind of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, but it took awhile for the world to see Saul differently. Over time, the outward evidence of his life bore witness with his words that he was indeed a follower of Jesus Christ.

Nominal Christians, people who are “Christians” in name only, are leading lives that bear little resemblance to the life of Jesus. They know that they’re not Muslim and they’re not Jewish and they’re not Hindu and they’re not Buddhist, so they must be Christian, right? Wrong. You’re not a Christian by default. You’re actually a pagan by default. You become a Christian through conversion: Your worldview conformed to the Bible as your mind is transformed by God’s Word; your life conformed to Christ as your will is submitted to the will of the Father; your actions transformed by the Holy Spirit who continues to work within you – a lifelong process called sanctification.

So, let’s take a moment to examine our own lives. If we were charged in a court of law with being a Christian, would there be enough public witness to convict us?

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