Words with Meaning

In a day of cycnicism, disillusionment, and existential jargon we do well to remember that truth, honesty, love, faith, and faithfulness are words with deep, abiding meaning.

In the realm of the Christian faith there are also words that still have deep relevance to man and his relationship with God. But some of these—words like conversion, repentance, confession, salvation, and faith—are no longer popular in certain theological circles. Can it be that their significance has been discarded for new concepts, the fruits of human imagination rather than of divine revelation?

One modern theologian has said: “The Biblical revelation of God shows us a God who acts, who reveals himself in events, rather in the imparting of information about Himself. And so neo-orthodoxy (rightly, I believe) has misgivings about ‘plenary verbal inspiration,’ since it always runs the danger of leading us to believe statements about God, rather than in God Himself.” Now, no one denies that the Bible reveals to us a God who acts. Nor does anyone question that, as the God of all history, God reveals himself in events. But God has also revealed himself in words, and these words have eternal implications for all men.

Those who inveigh against the emphasis on words are those most prone to deny doctrines conveyed by words. If doctrines are to have ultimate meaning they must, of course, be translated through faith into action. But this in no way invalidates the fact that truth is expressed in words.

Conversion speaks of a spiritual transformation, a transition that our Lord declared to be a “must”: “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3).

Conversion is a good word because it speaks of passing from death to life, from self to Christ, from time to eternity. It means that the center of gravity of life is changed, the objective for living transformed; the motive of thought and action becomes to know and do God’s will.

Another good word, a part of the conversion experience, is repentance. Not much is said about repentance today, but this silence does not mean that change of mind and heart is not a necessity—it just means that some men mistakenly think they know a better way.

Repentance involves a recognition of sin for what it is and an admission that we too have sinned and come short of God’s glory. Repentance means that we come to grips with the enormity of sin, and are sorry for our sinful nature and behavior.

An equally good word is confession. Confession of sin is an integral part of repentance and conversion. It involves first of all a recognition and statement of our unworthiness before God. It means coming clean with the God we have offended, admitting our own helplessness to solve our problem.

Confession is also a positive affirmation of our faith in Christ as the Son of God, an acceptance of him as Saviour, and an indication of a desire that he become Lord of our lives.

The Bible emphasizes the significance and meaning of these and other words having to do with God’s saving grace in Christ.

Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch telling of the conversion of the Gentiles through the preaching of Christ.

David, in Psalm 57, tells of the chain reaction of conversion—repentance and confession followed by forgiveness, and by the granting of spiritual power to go out to others: “Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee” (vs. 13).

Has not God indicated to us here the sequence of events? We become effective witnesses for our Lord only when we have experienced the conversion about which we preach to others.

In Luke 22:32 our Lord speaks to Peter of the conversion experience he was to have (involving a sense of sin, remorse, repentance, and confession), after which he would become a spiritual power. This same Peter, in Acts 3:19, preaching in the power of the Spirit, says to the people: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.”

The Apostle James declares: “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins” (Jas. 5:20).

The Apostle Paul affirms: “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:9, 10).

Where man’s free agency and God’s sovereign grace merge, God alone knows. But man’s responsibility before God is a fact, as well as God’s offer of redemption in Christ. It therefore becomes a matter of the utmost importance that God requires of men repentance and confession and offers as their reward conversion—a new life in Christ.

Can we exchange these vitally important words for something else, something that evades the truths they convey?

God forbid!

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