The words used in the Old and New Testaments to describe conversion are words that involve reorientation and redirection. They point to turning around and thinking in a new way. Conversion is like doing a 180degree reversal: a person is traveling in one direction, but then he turns around and goes in the opposite direction.

Conversion is not the same thing as regeneration, strictly speaking. "Regeneration is a creative work of God" (L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology, p. 465), and in this work, the human being is in the nature of the case completely passive. This is because mankind is dead in sins and trespasses (Eph. 2:1ff), and the dead sinner cannot bring himself to spiritual life. Only the Holy Spirit of God can give spiritual life to the dead, and in regeneration the dead heart is made alive.

Conversion grows out of regeneration. Sometimes it is said that, whereas in regeneration man is passive, in conversion man is active. But this can be easily misunderstood. We are active in the sense that our renewed will now can, by grace, choose for the Lord Jesus Christ and obedience to His Word.

In conversion we are conscious of living for the Lord. We are aware of being loyal to the kingdom of God, and we seek to bring all things into alignment with the Word of King Jesus. But this is not any attempt to earn our salvation or merit the benefits of God's kingdom. Our actions and our activity in the whole of the Christian life is rooted in and empowered by God's grace. But such actions are the actions of the Christian who is made alive in Christ. This is the power of Christ living in us (cf. Gal. 2:20).

Conversion means that we must start again, that is, turn around and move in the direction, the way, God wills for us. Jesus Christ called a child to Himself, had the child stand among His disciples, and then He said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change, convert, turn around, and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18.3). Conversion begins with a profound humbling of our sinful pride.

The Heidelberg Catechism in Lord's Day 33 provides a confessional explanation of true conversion. It shows how deep and wide Christian conversion must be. Conversion is composed of two parts: the putting to death of the old sinful nature, and the coming to life of the new nature in Jesus Christ. Both sides must be maintained, lest there be imbalance in the Christian's life.

The dying of the old nature involves three things: emotion, attitude, and action. The converted Christian is genuinely sorry that his sins have provoked and offended a holy God. He increasingly hates sin, all sin, his own sin and disobedience. He moves away from sinful activity, in flight where necessary. "Flee immorali­ty," says the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:18.

But the Christian life is not lived in a vacuum, and if the old nature of sin must continually be put to death, so too the new nature must be stimulated into reality by God's grace, again with emotion, atti­tude, and action. The converted Christian experiences heartfelt joy in God through Christ. This is expressed in song, conversation with others, based upon a deep pleasure in God's great love for us. Reformed Christians not only lament their sins; they also sing for joy! Their attitude towards obedience is one of love and delight. Those whose lives are turned around in a new direction seek to define that direction with recourse to the law of God. Converted Christians do not sim­ply "go through the motions": their delight is in the law of the LORD (Ps. 1:2). Converted lives are visible in the actions of good works in every area of life. "By their fruit you will recognize them" (Matt. 7:20).

Therefore, Christian conversion always starts in God's saving work at Calvary's cross and in the power of Christ's resurrection. It is brought to us personally through the Holy Spirit, and then it is seen in changed personal lives in the context of the Christian community. We cannot really pinpoint a day and hour when the Holy Spirit regenerated our heart, and many Christians do not experience a dramatic conversion on the order of, say, Paul on the road to Damascus. Yet Christians who live by faith show by their fruits that they move in a direction that is different from those who walk as "spiritual zombies" (dead even as they move). Some Christians speak of "daily conversion," and well they should: every day must be time of renewed awareness of sin, faith-filled confession of God's grace in Christ, and a life of service to God.

Christian conversion affects our marriages and home life, the education we seek and give, the business we do, the politics we pursue. Conversion is profoundly personal, but it may never be kept private nor be experienced in an indi­vidualistic manner. Making the nations disciples of Jesus Christ means turning people around from rebellion to obedience, baptizing them and teaching them obedience in everything that Christ commanded us (see Matt. 28:18-20). "He Himself became their Guide, led them to the rest they craved, by a pathway straight and sure, to a city strong, secure" (versification of Psalm 107).