To be justified means that all of one’s past sins–transgressions of the Law (1 Jn. 3:4). One who has “nailed the Law to the cross” has rejected God’s definition of sin and has therefore not been forgiven for breaking it. Having retained (stored up) all of his past sins (Rom. 2:5), he is unable to take the next step–conversion. He who has been forgiven of all past sins (justified) can then take the next step which places him on the path leading to his goal–eternal life.

To “convert” means to turn around, to go in the opposite direction. The truly spiritually converted do not turn in ANOTHER direction, but in the exact OPPOSITE direction. This is what is meant by the Lords Words written by the Apostle Paul in his second letter to the church at Corinth: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ (converted) he is a new creation. Old things have passed away: behold, ALL things have been made new” (5:17). In order for ALL things to be made new, ALL of one’s past spiritual life must be done away with. This is referring to the “old man” that must die (Rom. 6:6). Only then can a “new man” be created by the Lord (Eph. 4:24). This spiritual death to the old man necessitates the death of one’s old religion. In that same letter Paul, who received his gospel through revelation directly from Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:12), wrote in 6:14-18 that a total spiritual separation from one’s former religion (including its people on the spiritual level) was commanded by the Lord. Because bad always corrupts good, there can be no spiritual intercourse between Christ and Satan, righteousness and lawlessness (iniquity), light and darkness, a believer and an infidel, the temple of God (the saint) and the temple of Satan (the unbeliever).” One must “come out from among them (Satan’s people) and be separate, touch not that unclean thing (false church).” Only then will the Almighty be one’s God and one would be His child. Today, the “unclean thing” refers to the Catholic/Protestant church system.

Now spiritually separated from the world, which includes his former religious brethren, the convert must reverse his course of life–his”walk” (1 Jn. 2:6). He must become so different from his former churchmates that they view him as “peculiar” (Exo. 19:5/ Deut. 19:2/ Titus 2:14/ 1 Pet. 2:9) and will have no spiritual association with him. GOD IS A SEGREGATIONIST. HE EXCLUSIONIST, NOT AN INCLUSIONIST. This is totally opposite to what Satan’s false prophets tell us. One will notice that neither Jesus nor His apostles ever gave an alter call after preaching. Jesus often spoke in parables because He did not want the masses to understand the “mysteries of the kingdom” (Mat. 13:1-16).
Bear in mind that these were God’s chosen people to whom and for whom Jesus came (Mat. 1:21).

Contrary to universal church opinion, conversion is not salvation. Conversion places one on the path to eventual salvation, provided one “endures to the end (in his converted state). Then–at that time–he “shall be saved.” Conversion necessitates a total revamping of one’s walk, which must match the walk of Jesus Christ as a man (1 Jn. 2:6). One must overcome Satan’s temptations to sin (Rev. 3:21). One must change his speech, his actions, his thoughts, his choices, the places he goes, the books and magazines he reads, the t.v. programs and movies he watches, the people he socializes with, etc. Conversion means that ALL of his OLD life must be replaced by an ALL NEW life. Only those with “ears to hear and eyes to see” God’s Truth believe what is written in God’s Holy Bible. The other 99% of professing Christianity never hear His Truths and never study them enough to glean them from His Word.

In order to be fully converted one must receive the “mind (heart) of Christ” (Phil. 2:5/ 1 Cor. 2:16). Notice in Philippians that we have a choice relative to receiving the same mind that the man Jesus had received from the Father. The words “LET this mind be in you that was ALSO in Christ Jesus” prove that receiving such a mind (“heart”) is our choice. To make such a choice places one in the company of only a few people (Mat. 7:13,14). These are God’s Very Elect who have chosen the “peculiar” lifestyle that mirrors that of their Messiah. This choice brings about the next step on the convert’s path to eternal life/rebirth which will be awarded upon His return to earth to establish the Kingdom of God in the Holy Land with its capitol in Jerusalem. L.J.