Transformation not Conversion

God told us to go into the world and preach the gospel to all nations. He never at any time told us to bring the world into the worship time of believers.

The gathering of believers is to worship Christ and to equip the saints for the work of evangelism. When we bring in unbelievers to evangelize them we dilute the message of holiness for those who wish to walk according to God's Word.

Ephesians 4:12-16

12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love."f

After we have preached the gospel to someone and they have trusted in Christ realizing their own sinful nature and repenting from it, they then become born again by the power of the Holy Spirit, not by their own words or their feelings of pain but by the transformation Christ does in them.

Romans 12:2

"2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

If someone says they converted to Christianity it is likely they were never born again. To convert means someone made the choice to join without the transforming work of Christ.

When we trusted in Christ He transformed us completely changing how we think through the Power of the Holy Spirit Whom He placed in us to be our teacher, our guide and our comforter.

Those who convert to become acceptable to "the club" they think they joined are attempting to please men and their own conscience through good works but are not being led by the Holy Spirit.

This is the reason we have so many deceived pretenders in the church gatherings today, they like the idea of "being a Christian" so they decided to make themselves a better person in the eyes of others.

If there was no brokenness over someone's sinful nature and no desire to be changed by Christ then there is no salvation and no transformation. It is tantamount to the Eve experience in the garden where the devil convinced Eve she could become good enough to be like God.

Those who are converted are still "the world" and do not understand the things of Christ because He does not live in them.

1 Corinthians 2:14 states, "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned".

This is the reason we have so much resistance to the truths of the ?Bible within the modern church gatherings. Many people claim they are Bible believers but do not obey Christ in many things. They twist the scriptures to make the words of God mean what they want it to say denying Him as they do it, while claiming they are speaking for Him.

2 Timothy 3:5-7

5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these. 6 For among them are those who slip into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

Notice this is the state of the modern church, they are always learning while denying the truth. They are weak minded and full of pride thinking their pride is the same as strength when it is weakness at it's worst.

Satan teaches the watered-down version of the Bible mixed with psychology to confuse and defraud those who live the pretense of Christianity.

There is a very big clue we can see among those who "converted" rather than being transformed, and that is there seems to be no Spiritual fervor and no desire to grow in holiness. The lifestyle may be somewhat better to fit into the newfound group they desire but it is mechanical and lacks enthusiasm for Christ. Often these people regress back to their old lifestyle while shouting "don't judge" to misguide through intimidation those who are weak in the faith.

May we not shrink back from challenging those who are not growing emotionally and Spiritually. If we love them we want them to be sure of their salvation, if they are not we hope they will ask Christ to change them into a new creation so that they will no longer be pretenders.

Ephesians 2:10

"10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

It is only through transformation by the Holy Spirit that anyone is saved from hell. Conversion in our own minds will never save us, only this life-giving transformation when Christ completely changes the way we think and comes to live in us that we can see heaven.

Stop Declaring People As Good or Bad According to the Flesh

I am dismayed when someone declares someone a "nice guy" or a "nice lady", they are making a judgment about them when they have no idea what their home life is like. They are basing their judgment on how friendly they are to the one making the judgment.

Even worse there are many people judging someone as "great" or "wonderful" because of some talent they have that pleases the one making the judgment.

judgment

When someone says; "don't judge", they must be consistent to be convincing. If one believes we should not judge bad in someone's behavior then they should never judge good in someone's behavior.

Behavior can be a manipulation to fool people into believing someone is good when behind the scenes with people they don't like they act rudely and even wickedly. Never take good behavior as an indicator of one's character. We must judge righteously with the discernment of the Holy Spirit based on the Word of God.

Those who are born again and living their behavior according to the Spirit will be able to be seen by other born again believers. The Holy Spirit is able to tell us when someone is genuine or counterfeit.

Satan loves to draw in kind hearted people through false inauthentic behavior.

How do we know if someone is false or genuine? Here is what God says that helps us distinguish between those who love God and those who are pretending to be good people.

Matthew 7:15-20

You Will Know Them by Their Fruits

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them."

And,

Galatians 5:22-23 " 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.…"

Born Again believers do not practice unkindness, unloving and manipulative ways. If they catch themselves acting rudely they are deeply convicted and repair the damage they did through confession of it and sorrow for it.

Romans 8:5

"Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit."

We can tell when someone loves us or hates us because we know what love looks like when we walk with Christ. Here is what God tells us love looks like:

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.

5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,

6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

8 Love never fails;

A relationship based on love will never harm the persons of its love. Those who love protect and are loyal to those they love.

When our loved one falls we feel bad and want to help. Those who do not love only want to further harm the one for whom they have contempt.

When we walk in the Spirit of Christ we can easily see the difference between love and role playing that only serves to hoodwink the one being manipulated.

May each one reading this post self-reflect to see if they are walking in the Spirit or if they are walking according to the flesh to gain advantage over others.

1 Corinthians 13:1 says, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal".

Only those who love deeply by the Holy Spirit of God will be able to evaluate themselves and admit where they fall short desiring to be changed by Christ to walk in righteousness and holiness.

Remember to judge righteously and not according to feelings but according to the leading of the Holy Spirit and knowledge of HIs Word.