“Conversion Changes What You Want”

Sunday, July 22, 2018

Consider Paul’s words about the human heart before and after Christ: “...you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph. 4:21-24)

When our lives are transformed—which we often call ‘converted’—by Christ, a change takes place at the core level of existence: the heart. This is why we must always recognize the difference between a person’s need for conversion and his need to “learn the way of God more accurately” (Acts 18:26). We need true conversion; not just moral improvement.

Look again at Paul’s words. Do you see the contrast between “deceitful desires” and “renewed in the spirit of your minds”? Conversion means more than living a better moral life; it means changing what we want. Does that mean that we will no longer be tempted? Of course not. But it does mean that we no longer dwell on those desires—the ones that corrupted our lives and robbed us of salvation and joy in God.

For those of us in Christ, our prayer should be that God would transform our minds, that he would make us altogether new people, and that our desires for that which is holy will grow ever stronger. I pray that every person who names Christ is truly converted to be a Christian at every level, down to a change in the heart.

- Dan Lankford, minister

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