False Conversion - A Mortal Danger!
Tomorrow's World Magazine
April 1971
Volume: Vol III, No. 04
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False Conversion - A Mortal Danger!

This article affects YOU! The really GREAT DANGER for most professing Christians is revealed here. You NEED to know!

MOST OF you reading this article realize that you had been LACKING something for many years.
   Now you have come to understand a great deal of new truth. A new way of life is opening up before you. Now you are beginning to really UNDERSTAND Bible prophecies, and the great PURPOSE being worked out here below.
   WHY have you been in almost total ignorance of the real meaning of Bible prophecy and of world affairs all the years before this?
   If you were truly a Christian — a begotten child of God — WHY weren't you given to understand these things before? Why didn't God seem more REAL? Why didn't you really study and UNDERSTAND the Bible all these years?

Does This Mean Someone Else?

   The little word my is a precious one to most people. They lovingly speak of my opinion, my job, my house, my country, my religion and my God.
   We RESENT being told that our opinion, our faith, or our religion is wrong. We like to continue to believe what we have been accustomed to accept as true. Everyone HATES to admit he has been wrong.
   Yet, in all this maze of religious Babylon, somebody HAS to be wrong!
   Are you willing to admit that it could be YOU?
   May God help you to do so! Because if we will believe our Bible, we will find that MOST of the people on this earth are steeped in religious error.
   One of the least understood principles in all the Bible is that God has purposely blinded this world and is letting it go its own way and learn lessons during this first six thousand years of human history.
   Hard to believe, isn't it?
   Yet — in many places — your Bible indicates that this whole world has been completely DECEIVED in spiritual things. Remember that a deceived person doesn't know he is deceived. He is sincere. But he is sincerely WRONG!
   Because of false teachings and false concepts assumed since childhood, people are spiritually DRUNK — having a distorted outlook — so that they are unable to see spiritual truths. Like a drunk person, they are stupidly SATISFIED in the foggy, hazy, confused spiritual state in which they find themselves.
   They THINK they are all right — on the surface at least. But deep down inside is the haunting realization that something is missing — their religion seems EMPTY — God seems UNREAL somehow, and so very, very far away.
   In these last days, before the second coming of Jesus Christ, you need to KNOW whether or not you are prepared to meet your God! With an open mind, you should be willing to prove whether or not you have ever been really Converted.
   Your misplaced confidence in a FALSE CONVERSION is a great and MORTAL deception which could very easily cause you to forfeit eternal life! It is such a dangerous deception because your own personal VANITY will, in many cases, prevent you from admitting that jot( have never been converted!
   Are you willing to FACE this possibility? Are you willing to CHANGE if God shows you through His Word that you have never really been converted before?

What Conversion Really Is

   God's Word says: "Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. 8:9). In plain language, you have to have Christ's Spirit in you or you are not a Christian — you have NEVER been converted.
   A truly converted person is filled with and LED BY the Holy Spirit of God. God places and lives His very life within us through His Holy Spirit. By this means, we are begotten of Him as children and thus partake of His very nature! "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:14).
   Frankly, in the past, most of you didn't even know WHAT the Holy Spirit was, what it was supposed to do in your life, and what was the real result of your being led by God's Holy Spirit.
   In Romans 5:5, God tells us: "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts BY the Holy Spirit which is given unto us." Through His Spirit, God gives us His love. Thus we partake of His nature — His character. And God's character is expressed in the spiritual principles contained in the Ten Commandments — obedience to God's Law. "For this IS the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous" (I John 5:3).
   God's Spirit leads us to OBEY Him as our Maker and Ruler.
   The Apostle Peter was inspired to write of "the Holy Spirit, whom God hath given to them that OBEY him" (Acts 5:32).
   Real conversion, then, involves a real surrender to obey God and His Laws. In Acts 2:38, Peter was inspired to tell HOW to be converted. He said: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
   You repent of SIN. And what is the Bible definition of sin? "Sin IS the transgression of the law" (I John 3:4). That is the Bible definition of sin — breaking God's Law! So to really be converted, you must REPENT of breaking God's Law. Remember that in the New Testament, this Law was magnified by Jesus Christ — particularly in Matthew 5 and the Sermon on the Mount as a whole. We are to keep not only the letter but the spirit or intent of God's Law in every phase of our lives.
   Jesus said: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY word of God" (Luke 4:4). You must repent of disobeying God's Law — His Word — His RULE over your life. Then you need to be baptized as an outward sign of your willingness to completely BURY your old self — and literally give your very life to God and to Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, High Priest, and Master.
   In Romans 6:1-4, the Apostle Paul describes baptism as a burial of the old self. It is to be a complete immersion of" the body under the water as a type of the burial of the human body in the grave.

False Conversion IS Very Common

   But frankly, most people attending the churches of this world and having been baptized by them never really knew WHAT to repent of! They didn't know WHAT sin really is4
   At the time of baptism in most churches, most people sincerely intend to "do better" or to "make their peace with God." But since they have not been taught what sin actually is, they completely fail to realize how ROTTEN and SINFUL they have really been!
   They don't really REPENT! They aren't broken up about the wretched state of their lives and their own human VANITY and selfishness, which expresses itself constantly in all of us.
   And such people don't immediately begin to study and UNDERSTAND the Bible. They just continue to go along with the customs, the ways and the traditions of this world. Their lives are not actually CHANGED. They don't come to personally KNOW GOD!
   Speaking of converted people, Jesus said: "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you INTO all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come" (John 16:13). A truly converted person, then, will be guided into new TRUTH by God's Spirit. He will come to understand and GRASP Bible prophecy — or things to come!
   Genuine conversion actually REVOLUTIONIZES a human being's life! It is a renewing of his mind — his attitude — his character!
   He comes to really KNOW God — to constantly study and UNDERSTAND more and more of God's Word — and he is able to pray and talk to God in a personal way. He receives constant answers — he is blessed — he GROWS more like Christ every month and year of his life!
   The sad truth is that most professing Christians haven't even began to get ready to START on the road to this kind of Christian life!
   Are you willing to face this fact and ACT on it?

Face Up to Human Nature

   The Almighty God, who created our minds and our human nature, states twice a warning for us in the book of Proverbs. He warns: "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Prov. 14:12; 16:25).
   It is only human nature to believe that your way is right. But God says that the way that SEEMS right to a man ends up in death! Remember that the wages of sin is DEATH (Rom. 6:23).
   The greatest stumbling block that prevents most people from accepting the truth and being truly converted is their OWN VANITY. Most people have grown up in and attended some church or another. And they hate to admit that they have never been converted! Human nature makes them want to maintain their OWN righteousness.
   God has inspired an entire book in His Word to deal with this common problem of human beings. It is the book of Job — one of the least understood books in all the Bible.
   The primary lesson in this entire book is that God HATES our own human self-righteousness!
   Notice Job's attitude throughout this book! "God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live" (Job 27:5-6).
   Job again voices his real attitude in Job 31:6: "Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know MINE integrity." Even Job's carnal friends could sense his own self-righteousness and vanity. "So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his OWN eyes" (Job 32:1),
   Finally, after dealing personally with God and learning a little more about his own insignificance and utter weakness and wretchedness, Job at last REPENTED. "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I ABHOR myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:5-6).
   But the real question remains: Have you ever come to really ABHOR yourself? Have you REPENTED in dust and ashes? Have you totally SURRENDERED yourself to God and given your very LIFE to Him to use as He sees fit?
   God commands us to quit justifying the self! "Let the wicked forsake HIS way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon" (Isa. 55:7). But perhaps you don't think you've been wicked?
   The Almighty God declares: "There is NONE righteous, no, not one" (Rom. 3:10). Again, He states: "For ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (verse 23).
   Yes, we have all sinned! We have all broken God's Law. And most of us are STILL breaking His Law and trying to justify doing so!
   God thunders: "For my thoughts are NOT your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isa. 55:8-9).
   Our own human ways and reasonings are always WRONG!
   This means YOU! Don't apply this to someone else — apply it to YOURSELF!
   It is almost certain that most of you reading this article still have what the Bible describes as a "carnal" mind. Many of you think you are already "saved," when the truth of the matter is that you have NEVER come to the place of total surrender to God and His absolute RULE over your lives! Therefore, you have NEVER received of God's Holy Spirit and been begotten as His spiritual son.
   That is WHY you have not been able to understand Bible PROPHECY before! That is WHY you never really understood the great PURPOSE being worked out here below. And that is why God always seemed so far away — so UNREAL.
   This lack of God's Spirit is the reason that you were not continually GROWING in grace and in knowledge — and that you have lacked vital Scripture truths so many years of your life.
   Now it is time to AWAKEN! Now it is time to be really CONVERTED!

What You Should Do

   First of all, you should apply this article to your own SELF. And you should strive NOT to get your feelings hurt by the correction and the exhortation which is here given in deep LOVE!
   Remember that when Jesus had been showing His disciples that they had to literally "eat" of Him and His message, many got their feelings hurt and drew back. "Many therefore of his disciples, when they heard this, said, This is an hard saying, who can hear it?" (John 6:60.) But Jesus asked the twelve, "Will ye also go away?" (John 6:67.)
   Then Peter gave an answer which has the same significance today. He said: "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life" (v. 68).
   If God has shown you by the "fruits" that this is the WORK of God, then you should FEAR to turn aside from the truth! Where else would you go?
   Thousands of you have come to realize that you are getting the truth and message of God through this Work.
   But most of you have never thought of actually DOING very much about it!
   The Apostle Paul was inspired to write: "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" (I Cor. 11:1). The Greek word here literally means to "imitate." You need to imitate the example of God's ministers — and of Jesus Christ.
   Frankly, most of you have never been counseled by one of God's true ministers about real conversion and baptism. If you realize the vital necessity of this personal contact and guidance of the true servants of Jesus Christ, then here is GOOD NEWS.
   As a part of 'the ADULT EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM we, now have TRAINED MEN — graduates of AMBASSADOR COLLEGE- available in all parts of the world, ready to counsel with you PERSONALLY — to answer questions — to help you with any spiritual problems — and to baptize any who are ready for it.
   We WON'T send anyone to see you, UNWANTED. Not unless you REQUEST IT! But, PLEASE feel free to invite such a visit. That's what they are there for. Actually most of them are consecrated and ordained ministers. They, and we here at the Headquarters of this great Work want only to HELP — to SERVE. We count it a PRIVILEGE to do so.
   ALL of you need to realize the vital importance of coming to REAL conversion! Don't put it off too long!

Be Willing to CHANGE

   Never forget that before real conversion comes real REPENTANCE. You had better humble yourself until you can sincerely repent as David did in Psalm 51. "Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin," David cried. "For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my SIN is ever before me" (Psalm 51-2-3).
   Notice that David did not try to justify himself — he acknowledged his sin freely and asked for forgiveness.
   He continued: "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this EVIL in thy sight" (Psalm 51:4).
   God didn't have to argue or "reason" David into admitting his guilt! As Job, David had come to see himself as he really was and to ABHOR himself. And you are no better!
   When you are finally ready to repent of breaking God's laws, of following human traditions, of conforming to this society and its ways, then here is what God requires of YOU. "The sacrifices of God are a BROKEN spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (Psalm 51:17).
   At that time, you will be humble and TEACHABLE like a little child — not assuming that you are a spiritual giant before you even start on the road to real conversion.
   And you will realize the great DANGER of assuming — because of spiritual pride and vanity — that a previous false conversion was the real thing. You will KNOW that this kind of vanity could prevent you from ever being truly converted — and could cut you off from God for all eternity!
   You will also KNOW that God has always given the right advice through the SAME ministers He is using to preach His message to the world.
   "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

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Tomorrow's World MagazineApril 1971Vol III, No. 04