The moral Individual—III – Chambers, Oswald
Conversion
The literal meaning of conversion is a change of mind after watching certain facts, e. G. , we read in acts 28 that the barbarians changed their minds about paul (acts 28:6). We are dealing with conversion here not so much on the religious side as the ethical. Beware of making conversion synonymous with regeneration. Conversion is simply the effort of a roused human being; the sign of regeneration is that a man has received something. When a man fails in christian experience it is nearly always because he has never received anything. There are books which set out to give the psychology of new birth by saying that suddenly something bursts up from a mans unconscious personality and alters him: a man is never born again by a subliminal up rush, but only by receiving something that was never there before, viz. , the holy spirit. Certain forms of sin exhaust them- selves and we may say of a man now he is saved, but he may be nothing of the sort. According to the new testament the only evidence of new birth is not merely that a man lives a different life, but that the basis of that different life is repentance. The bedrock in the classic experience of the apostle paul was not only his enthroning of Jesus Christ as lord, but his enthronement on the basis of a real ringing repen- tance wrought in him by the holy ghost.
1. Mental conversion
A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. ( James 1:8)
Instability is an appalling snare in the natural life, and is disastrous spiritually for let not that man think
That he shall receive anything of the lord, says James. There may be conversions of heart which are not con- versions of mind; the last thing a man comes to is the conversion of his mind. Our lord refers to this insta- bility in his parable of the sower and the seed they receive the word gladly, but they have no root in them- selves quicksilver Christians. They may have as many conversions as there are days in the year, and at the end of the year they remain the same unreliable emotional people, utterly incapable of resting in a stable point of truth, and they become eager adherents of every new interest. The main characteristic of young modern life to-day is an intense craving to be interested literature, amusements, all indicate this tendency, and in religion the church is apt to pander to the demand to be interested; consequently men wont face the rugged facts of the gospel, because when the holy spirit comes in he challenges a mans will, demands a reconstruction of his whole life, and produces a change of mind which will work havoc in his former complacency.
2. Moral conversion
Except ye . . . Become as little children. (Matthew 18:3)
Our lord teaches that moral progress must start from a point of moral innocence, and is consequently only possible to a man when he has been born again. A childs life is implicit, not explicit. To become as little children means to receive a new heredity, a totally new nature, the essence of which is simplicity and confidence towards god. In order to develop the moral life innocence must be transformed into virtue by a series of deliberate choices in which the present pleasure is sacrificed for the ultimate joy of being good. This aspect of truth is familiar in all pauls epistles, viz. , that the natural has to be transformed into the spiritual by willing obedience to the word and will of god. Such passages as Romans 12:2 (. . . Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind) and ephesians 4:23 (be renewed in the spirit of your mind) apply directly to the moral life of those who have been supernaturally saved by the grace of god, those in whom the holy spirit dwells and is at work. To renew means to trans- form to new life. These passages make it clear that we can be renewed in our mind when we choose. We have no choice about being born into this world, but to be born again, if we will but come to Jesus and receive his spirit, is within our own power. This is true all along in the christian life, you can be renewed in the spirit of your mind when you choose, you can revive your mind on any line you like by sheer force of will. Always remember that Jesus Christs statements force an issue of will and conscience first, and only as we obey is there the understanding with the mind (see john 7:17). The challenge to the will comes in the matter of study, as long as you remain in the stodge state there is no mental progressi am overwhelmed by the tremendous amount there is to know and its no use my going on. If you will forge through that stage you will suddenly turn a corner where everything that was difficult and perplexing becomes as clear as a lightning flash, but it all depends on whether you will forge ahead. When people say, preach us the simple gospel, what they mean is, preach us the thing we have always heard, the thing that keeps us sound asleep, we don’t want to see things differently; then the sooner the spirit of god sends a thrust through their stagnant minds the better. Continual renewal of mind is the only healthy state for a christian. Beware of the ban of finality13 about your present views.
3. Mystical conversion
. . . To whom god would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (colossians 1:27)
Mystical is a word that is easily abused; it means the type of mind the holy spirit develops in us whereby we see things by intuition. Intuition in the natural world is the power to see things at a glance without reasoning, and the spirit of god develops that power in the saint. The accuracy of intuitive judgement is in proportion to the moral culture of the one who judges. A child and a good woman are the best examples of intuitive judgement. It is a bad look-out when anything blurs intuition because it is an indication that something is wrong with the moral character. All this is common to human beings apart from the holy spirit; spiritual intuition lives in the same sphere as natural intuition plus the holy spirit. My sheep hear my voice, said Jesus. Keep the intuitive secret life clear and right with god at all costs; never blunt intuition. Whenever a man comes into personal contact with Jesus Christ he knows at once whether he is good or bad; he does not reason it out, he knows it intuitively. These are the moments when the spirits true endowments stand out plainly from its false ones. . . .
If a man love me, he will keep my words: . . . And we will come unto him, and make our abode with him ( john 14:23)the triune god, father, son, and holy ghost, abiding with the saint. These words of our lord refer to mystical communion with god in all matters of mental and moral judgement, and imply sympathy with all that the heart of god holds dear.