Theological Term of the Week

conversion
A sinner’s willing response to the gospel call in which he repents of his sin and places his faith in Christ; the turn from sin to God by the one who is being saved.

• From scripture:

  For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God…. (1 Thessalonians 1:9 ESV)
  
  I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:20-21)

• From The Second Helvetic Confession, Chapter XIV, Of Repentance, and the Conversion of Man

  The doctrine of repentance is joined with the Gospel. For so has the Lord said in the Gospel: “Repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in my name to all nations” (Luke 24:47).

  WHAT IS REPENTANCE? By repentance we understand (1) the recovery of a right mind in sinful man awakened by the Word of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit, and received by true faith, by which the sinner immediately acknowledges his innate corruption and all his sins accused by the Word of God; and (2) grieves for them from his heart, and not only bewails and frankly confesses them before God with a feeling of shame, but also (3) with indignation abominates them; and (4) now zealously considers the amendment of his ways and constantly strives for innocence and virtue in which conscientiously to exercise himself all the rest of his life.

  TRUE REPENTANCE IS CONVERSION TO GOD. And this is true repentance, namely, a sincere turning to God and all good, and earnest turning away from the devil and all evil.

• From George Whitefield1, Repentance and Conversion:

  I am preaching from a Bible that saith, “He that is in Christ is a new creature, old things”, not “will” be, but “are passed away, all things”, not only “will”, but “are become new.” As a child when born has all the several parts of a man, it will have no more limbs than it has now, if it lives to fourscore years and ten; so when a person is converted to God, there are all the features of the new creature and growth, till he becomes a young man and a father in Christ; till he becomes ripe in grace, and God translates him to glory. Any thing short of this is but the shadow instead of the substance; and however persons may charge us with being enthusiasts, yet we need not be moved either to anger or sorrow, since Paul says, “I travel in birth till Christ be formed in your hearts.”

  The author of this conversion is the Holy Ghost: it is not their own free will; it is not moral suasion; nothing short of the influence of the Spirit of the living God can effect this change in our hearts; therefore we are said to “be born again, born of God, of the Spirit, not of water only, but of the Holy Ghost; that which is born of the flesh, is flesh, but that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit”: and though there is and will be a contest between these two opposites, flesh and spirit, yet if we are truly converted, the spirit will get the ascendency; and though for a while nature and grace may struggle in the womb of a converted soul, like Jacob and Esau, yet the elder shall serve the younger, Jacob shall supplant and turn out Esau, or at least keep him under: God grant we may all thus prove that we are converted. This conversion, however it begins at home, will soon walk abroad; as the Virgin Mary was soon found out to be with child, so it will be soon found out whether Christ is formed in the heart. There will be new principles, new ways, new company, new works; there will be a thorough change in the heart and life; this is conversion: at first it begins with terror and legal sorrow, afterwards it leads to joyfulness; first we work for spiritual life, afterwards from it: first we are in bondage, afterwards we receive the Spirit of adoption to long and thirst for God, because he has been pleased to let us know that he will take us to heaven.

Learn more:

1. John Gill: Of Conversion
   
2. Tom Schreiner: Conversion in the New Testament
   
3. Kim Riddlebarger: Biblical Conversion and the Modern Church
4. Jared Wilson: The Beauty of Conversion
5. John Piper: The Role of the Holy Spirit in Conversion
6. Wayne Grudem: The Doctrine of Conversion (mp3)

Related terms:

• effectual call
• regeneration
• repentance 

1I recommend John Piper’s sermon on George Whitefield, which comes in manuscript, audio, or video form.

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

I’m also interested in any suggestions you have for tweaking my definitions or for additional (or better) articles or sermons/lectures for linking. Credit will be given for any of these suggestions I use, too.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms organized in alphabetical order or by topic.

Theological Term of the Week

regeneration
An act of God whereby a soul, previously dead to him, experiences a spiritual resurrection into a new sphere of life, in which he is alive to God….”; 1 an inner work of the Spirit in which new spiritual life is implanted so that a person’s whole nature is changed and he or she can respond to God in faith. Also called new birth, rebirth, spiritual birth, being born again or quickening.

• From scripture:

  Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:3-8 ESV)

  For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:3-7 ESV)

  And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:1-5 ESV)
  

• From A Brief Confession of the Principal Articles of the Christian Faith (The Mennonite Confession by John de Rys and Lubbert Gerrits):

  Regeneration is … a true illumination of the mind with the knowledge of the truth (John 8:32), bringing with it a change of will and of carnal desires and lusts, a sincere mortification of internal wickedness (Eph. 4:22–24; Col. 3:9–10) and of the old man delighting himself in lust, wickedness and sin. It is, moreover, a vivification which manifests itself in an honest life according to God, in true goodness, justice and holiness. It is a removal of the stony heart (Ezek. 36:26), full of vanity, stolidity (Eph. 4:17–18), blindness, ignorance, sin and perverse pleasures, and, on the contrary, is the gracious gift of the promised heart of flesh (Ezek. 36:26), replete with the law of God (Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10), light, sight, wisdom, understanding, virtue and holy desires. This regeneration has its rise from God (John 8:47; 1 John 4:1–2, 6–7) through Christ (1 Peter 1:3, 23; James 1:18). The medium or instrument through which it is generated in us is the Holy Spirit (John 3:5–6) with all his fiery virtues, apart from any co-operation of any creature. Here concerning the regenerate we affirm that they are born not out of anything whatsoever which the creature does, but from God (John 1:13; 1 John 3:9); and by it we become children of God (John 1:12), divine, heavenly and spiritually minded, just and holy. We believe and teach that this regeneration is necessary to salvation according to the words of Christ: “Verily, verily, I say to you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”; and “Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5)…

• From Regeneration by J. C. Ryle:

  In short, beloved, the plain truth is, that by nature men are all dead in trespasses and sins, strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world, prisoners in the hand of Satan, in a state of miserable condemnation, spiritually dark, blind, and dead; and, worst of all, they neither know nor feel it. The cold corpse in the grave does not feel the worms that crawl over it; the sleeping wretch who has drunk poison, does not know that he shall wake no more; and so also the unhappy man who is still unconverted cannot understand that he is in need of anything. But still, every natural man in the sight of God is dead while he lives; his body, soul, and mind are all turned aside from their proper use, which is to glorify God, and so he is looked upon as dead. And this either is the state of every single soul among us at this minute—or else it used to be. There is no middle state; we cannot be half-way, neither dead nor alive; we were dead and have been brought to life—or we are now dead, and the work is yet to be done.

  Nor yet is this doctrine for publicans and harlots only: it is for all without exception; it touches high and low, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, old and young, gentle and simple; all are by nature sinful and corrupt, and because they are so, Jesus tells us solemnly not one shall enter into the heavenly rest without being born again.

  …To be born again is, as it were, to enter upon a new existence, to have a new mind and a new heart, new views, new principles, new tastes, new affections, new likings and new dislikings, new fears, new joys, new sorrows, new love to things once hated, new hatred to things once loved, new thoughts of God and ourselves and the world and the life to come, and the means whereby that life is attained. And it is indeed a true saying that he who has gone through it is a new man, a new creature, for old things are passed away—behold, he can say, all things are become new! It is not so much that our natural powers and faculties are taken away and destroyed; I would rather say that they receive an utterly new bias and direction. It is not that the old metal is cast aside—but it is melted down and refined and remolded, and has a new stamp impressed upon it, and thus, so to speak, becomes a new coin.

  This is no external change, like that of Herod, who did many things and then stopped—or of Ahab, who humbled himself and went in sackcloth and walked softly; nor is it a change which can neither be seen nor felt. It is not merely a new name and a new notion—but the implanting of a new principle which will surely bear good fruit. It is opening the eyes of the blind and unstopping the ears of the deaf; it is loosing the tongue of the dumb, and giving hands and feet to the maimed and lame—for he who is born again no longer allows his members to be instruments and servants of unrighteousness—but he gives them unto God, and then only are they properly employed.

Learn more:

1. J. I. Packer: Regeneration
   
2. Tom Ascol: Regeneration
3. Robert Reymond: Regeneration
4. John Hendryx: Two Views on Regeneration
   
5. John Piper: Finally Alive (pdf)
   
6. John Piper: Sermon series on the new birth (mp3s) This is the sermon series from which the book Finally Alive (see above) came.

Related terms: 

• conversion
• justification
• monergism
• saving faith
• synergism 

1T. C. Hammond, In Understanding Be Men, page 140.

Today’s theological term was suggested by Kim of The Upward Call. Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms organized in alphabetical order or by topic.

Theological Term of the Week

Moving on to subjective soteriology, or what we experience in the salvation process as the benefits of redemption are applied to us.

effectual call
A work of the Holy Spirit in which sinners are convicted of their sin and drawn to Christ in such a way that they are persuaded to embrace him in saving faith; “the work of God’s Spirit whereby convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ and renewing our wills, He persuades and enables us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the gospel.”1 Also called the internal call or the effective call.

• From scripture:

  …those whom he called he also justified… (Romans 8:30 ESV)

  For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God….

  …we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18, 23 ESV).

• From The Westminster Shorter Catechism:

  Q. 30. How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?
  A. The Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.

  Q. 31. What is effectual calling?
  A. Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.

  Q. 32. What benefits do they that are effectually called partake of in this life?
  A. They that are effectually called do in this life partake of justification, adoption, and sanctification, and the several benefits which in this life do either accompany or flow from them.

• From Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem:

  This powerful act of God is often referred to as effective calling to distinguish it from the general gospel invitation that goes to all people and which some people reject. This is not to say that human gospel proclamation is not involved. In fact, God’s effective calling comes through the human preaching of the gospel, because Paul says, “To this he called you through our gospel so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:14). Of course, there are many who hear the general call of the gospel message and do not respond. But in some cases the gospel call is made so effective by the working of the Holy Spirit in people’s hearts that they do respond; we can say that they have received “effective calling.”³

  We may define effective calling as follows: Effective calling is an act of God the Father, speaking through the human proclamation of the gospel, in which he summons people to himself in such a way that they respond in saving faith. It is important that we not give the impression that people will be saved by the power of this call apart from their own willing response to the gospel…. Although it is true that effective calling awakens and brings forth a response from us, we must always insist that this response still has to be a voluntary, willing response in which the individual person puts his or her trust in Christ. This is why prayer is so important to effective evangelism. Unless God works in peoples’ hearts to make the proclamation of the gospel effective, there will be no genuine saving response. Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44).

Learn more:

1. Paul Helm: Effectual Calling
2. John Gill: Of Effectual Calling
3. Thomas Watson, from A Divine Cordial: Effectual Calling (suggested by Kim of Hiraeth)
4. William Payne: Effectual Call
5. Greg Welty: Election and Calling: A Biblical/Theological Study (pdf)
6. John MacArthur: The Doctrine of God’s Effectual Call (mp3)
7. Wayne Grudem: The Gospel Call and Effective Calling (mp3)

Related terms:

• conversion
• external call
• irresistible grace
• prevenient grace
• monergism
• regeneration

Filed under Salvation.

1Westminster Shorter Catechism

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

I’m also interested in any suggestions you have for tweaking my definitions or for additional (or better) articles or sermons/lectures for linking. Credit will be given for any of these suggestions I use, too.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms organized in alphabetical order or by topic.