True Conversion

We talk a great deal about conversion in the church, and rightly so, but often we limit our discussion to the things which lead to becoming a Christian (hear, believe, repent, confess, baptism), with little focus on what those kinds of things do to our hearts. The Thessalonian church offers us a view into true conversion, and we do well to examine the changes made in their lives to see if our own hearts are true to God.

Paul reported good things he had heard regarding the Thessalonians from Macedonia and Achaia (1 Thess. 1:8-10), and these things show us conversion in its truest sense.

First, they had turned away from idols (v. 9), and any real conversion will involve a turning away from past sins. That is the meaning of repentance, because sorrow for sin does not always lead to salvation (see Judas, Matt. 27:3-5). To be converted, one must be willing to disavow the old life of sin, for it is responsible for our contemptible state in the first place. A heart which seeks transformation will be characterized by the attempt to be rid of sin and its destructive hold on the soul.

Second, they had turned to God (v. 9), realizing that turning from sin was only half the change required. They needed God, and their hearts turned to Him for help in securing their salvation. Here is where repentance produces its good fruit, because serving God makes us better, stronger, more complete beings. It makes us saved beings, because it causes us to want to live our lives as He would have us, no longer as we would desire. The heart which turns to God recognizes that dependence on Him is necessary, for ""I know, O Lord, that a man's way is not in himself; Nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps"" (Jer. 10:23). God's people will be characterized by their willingness to serve Him.

In addition, the Thessalonians were waiting on the second coming (v. 10), and it is here that our hearts sometimes fail us. They eagerly looked for His coming, approaching each day as if it might be the last, while we sometimes fall into the trap that, ""ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation"" (2 Pet. 3:4). The truly converted in Thessalonica longed for Jesus to return, and such thinking is bound to impact our lives as we seek to be called to heaven with Him.

Finally, these brethren recognized that there relationship with Christ offered deliverance ""from the wrath to come"" (v. 10). No other can save us, and the wrath to come is as real as is our everyday existence, so the debt which is owed to Jesus will cause our hearts to draw to closer to Him and His word, so that we might live for Him.

The Thessalonians had hearts which changed to live for God, and that is what it means to be truly converted.