The Bible refers to the process of salvation also as a process of conversion. As a matter of fact, Jesus refers to the process of becoming His disciple in the same way. In Matthew 18:3, Jesus stated, “Verily I say unto you, ‘Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’” He alluded to the fact that forgiveness of sins was a condition He based upon the conversion of heart (cf. Matt. 13:15; Mark 4:12; John 12:40; Acts 28:27). In Acts 3:19, Peter preaches to the gathered crowd in Jerusalem, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” James closes his epistle, “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins” (Jas. 5:19-20). Let us notice this transformation process with regards to what humanity needs to do in response to the gracious offer of salvation that Jesus has made possible through His offering on Calvary.
Faith changes our focus. By the very nature of faith, it shows that our focus is not on ourselves, but our focus is God. It pronounces our trust in God (cf. Rom. 4:3). It demonstrates our belief in Jesus (John 8:24). Thus, it signifies that we place our focus completely on God. Hebrews 11 (the Hall of Faith) provides this evidence concerning every faithful man and woman that the Hebrew writer lists. One by one, we see their focus. Abel focused his sacrifice to being righteous with God. In a world where many were focusing their walk in other ways, Enoch focused on walking with God. Noah focused his obedience to God. Abraham focused his travels on fulfilling the will of God. The same is true with us. The focus of our faith is the gospel of Jesus Christ (cf. Rom. 10:10-17).
Repentance changes our mind. From our introduction, the very definition of the term “convert” indicates a process of turning, and repentance involves a turning of our mind. The apostle Paul wrote, “As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death” (2 Cor. 7:9-10, ESV). We may see one of the classic examples of repentance in the prodigal son when “he came to himself” and said, “I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants” (Luke 15:17-19). Thus, repentance changes our mind from living as we want to living as God desires because we develop a conviction based upon godly sorrow.
Confession changes our allegiance. “…with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:10). What is it that we confess? In this case, we confess what we believe in our heart (Rom. 10:9)! That is, we confess that we have switched allegiances! Confession is that courageous confirmation that we desire to follow Jesus Christ. When Philip prompted the Ethiopian eunuch concerning his allegiance regarding his faith, the eunuch announced, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” (Acts 8:37). Far too many Christian martyrs have died for verbally demonstrating such allegiance.
Baptism changes our state. As Paul reveals in Romans 6, when we are submerged into the watery grave of baptism, we are demonstrating that we have crucified our old man of sin (cf. Gal. 2:20), but as we come up from the water, we experience a spiritual rebirth (cf. John 3:3-5; Tit. 3:5). We are in a new state—we begin to “walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4; cf. 2 Cor. 5:17). It is because the blood of Jesus washes our sins away in the process of baptism that we understand the change of state before and after baptism (Acts 22:16; Rev. 1:5).
Therefore, through our response of faith, repentance, confession and baptism, we change our focus, our mind and our allegiance, and thus, God changes our state from one unsaved to one whom God saves or from non-Christian to Christian. Here is the transformation in conversion!