Do You Think You Are Converted

By JC Ryle

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted” – Acts 3:19

The subject which forms the title of this paper is one which touches all mankind. It ought to come home to all ranks and classes, high or low, rich or poor, old or young, gentle or simple. Any one may get to heaven without money, rank, or learning. No one, however wise, wealthy, noble, or beautiful, will ever get to heaven without CONVERSION.

There are six points of view in which I wish to consider the subject of this paper. I will try to show that conversion is

I. A Scriptural thing;
II. A real thing;
III. A necessary thing;
IV. A possible thing;
V. A happy thing;
VI. A thing that may be seen.

Let me show, in the first place, that:

I. Conversion Is a Scriptural Thing

I mean by this, that conversion is a thing plainly mentioned in the Bible. This is the first point we have to ascertain about anything in religion. It matters nothing who says a thing, and declares it to be religious truth; it matters nothing whether we like or dislike a doctrine. Is it in the Bible? That is the only question. If it is, we have no right to refuse it. If we reject a Bible truth because we do not like it, we do so at the peril of our souls, and might as well become infidels at once. This is a principle which ought never to be forgotten.

Let us turn to the Bible. Hear what David says: “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul”— ”Sinners shall be converted unto Thee” (Psa 19:7, 51:13). Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ says: “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 18:3). Hear what St. Peter says: “Repent ye, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Act 3:19). Hear what St. James says: “He which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins” (Jam 5:20).

I could easily add to this Scriptural evidence. I could quote many passages in which the idea of conversion is contained, though the word itself is not used. To be renewed, to be transformed, to be created anew, to be raised from the dead, to be illuminated, to pass from death to life, to be born again, to put off the old man and put on the new man—all these are Scriptural expressions, which mean the same thing as conversion. They are all the same thing, seen from a different point of view. But enough is as good as a feast, in these matters. There can be no doubt of the truth of my first position: that conversion is a Scriptural thing. It is not a mere device of man’s invention: it is in the Bible.

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