Conversion

Key Verse: Romans 12:2
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really ist

Question: What does the key verse mean to you?

LESSON:

Once we have repented and received God’s Spirit, divine life has been begotten in our minds. One’s basic attitude must be changed or converted. This transformation is a tremendous undertaking. It requires a miracle! The receiving and indwelling of God's Holy Spirit is the power needed to help renew one’s mind. To grow spiritually we must take in spiritual food every day. This is done by studying and reading the Bible and daily prayer. We must strive to always put God first in our actions and our dealing with people. This is sometimes hard to do because we are used to putting our self first. The newly converted person will not feel a lot different in the beginning, but over time you should see growth in your life. God's Holy Spirit gives you the capacity to understand and grasp spiritual concepts and principles. Without God's Holy Spirit a person cannot fully understand the Bible. It is important to understand that God's Holy Spirit will not possess you like a demonic spirit. God’s Spirit will not force you to live righteously, but will strengthen you spiritually and even physically when necessary. God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey Him and the capability to please Him (Philippians 2:13). If we have the Spirit of God, it will show by the fruits we produce. Galatians 5:22-23 lists the fruits of the Spirit. These are totally contrary to human nature. Our old ways are better described in Galatians 5:19-21. The desires of the sinful nature will produce these evil results. Anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Since Satan is the God of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) the only weapon against him is God’s Holy Spirit.

Going back to the fruits of the Spirit, notice the first fruit is love. What is God’s definition of love (1 John 5:3); (2 John 1:6)? Love is keeping His commandments, which have been taught since The Beginning. Chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians (the Love Chapter) teaches that the greatest gift of all is love. The Commandments sum up love. The first four show us how to love God, the last six show us how to love our fellowman.

It takes time for one to grow spiritually and manifest the fruits of the Spirit. Fruit does not appear overnight on a tree. It takes time, water and sunlight to grow. The Bible shows that striving to emulate the spiritual character of Christ is an ongoing process of overcoming throughout the Christian life - of putting sin out of our life, learning to control and rule the downward pulls of our nature. God does not call people to the true Christian Way of life to be losers. He does not want anyone to miss out on the rewards and joy of eternal life in His family. The Lord isn’t being slow about keeping his promise to return as some people think (2 Peter 3:9), He is being patient because He does not want anyone to perish, so He is allowing everyone more time to convert to God’s Way.