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kingdom of Judah in the days of Hezekiah and again in the days of Josiah. Upon the preaching of
Jonah the Ninevites repented of their sins and were spared by the Lord, Jonah 3:10. These
national conversions were merely of the nature of moral reformations. They may have been
accompanied with some real religious conversions of individuals, but fell far short of the true
conversion of all those that belonged to the nation. As a rule they were very superficial. They
made their appearance under the leadership of pious rulers, and when these were succceeded
by wicked men, the people at once fell back into their old habits.
2. TEMPORARY CONVERSIONS.
The Bible also refers to conversions of individuals that
represent no change of the heart, and are therefore of only passing significance. In the parable
of the sower Jesus speaks of such as hear the word and at once receive it with joy, but have no
root in themselves, and therefore endure but for a while. When tribulations and trials and
persecutions come, they are speedily offended and fall away. Matt. 13:20,21. Paul makes
mention of Hymenaeus and Alexander, who “made shipwreck concerning the faith,” I Tim.
1:19,20. Cf. also II Tim. 2:17,18. And in II Tim. 4:10 he refers to Demas who left him, because
the love of the present world gained the upper hand. And the writer of Hebrews speaks of
some as falling away “who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were
made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age
to come,” Heb. 6.4-6. Finally, John says of some who had turned their backs upon the faithful:
“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have
continued with us,” I John 2:19. Such temporary conversions may for a time have the
appearance of true conversions.
3. TRUE CONVERSION (CONVERSIS ACTUALIS PRIMA).
True conversion is born of godly sorrow,
and issues in a life of devotion to God, II Cor. 7:10. It is a change that is rooted in the work of
regeneration, and that is effected in the conscious life of the sinner by the Spirit of God; a
change of thoughts and opinions, of desires and volitions, which involves the conviction that
the former direction of life was unwise and wrong and alters the entire course of life. There are
two sides to this conversion, the one active and the other passive; the former being the act of
God, by which He changes the conscious course of man’s life, and the latter, the result of this
action as seen in man’s changing his course of life and turning to God. Consequently, a twofold
definition must be given of conversion: (a) Active conversion is that act of God whereby He
causes the regenerated sinner, in His conscious life, to turn to Him in repentance and faith. (b)
Passive conversion is the resulting conscious act of the regenerated sinner whereby he, through
the grace of God, turns to God in repentance and faith. This true conversion is the conversion
with which we are primarily concerned in theology. The Word of God contains several striking
examples of it, as, for instance, the conversions of Naaman, II Kings 5:15; Manasseh, II Chron.
33:12,13; Zaccheus, Luke 19:8,9; the man born blind, John 9:38; the Samaritan woman, John