p. 101 | CONVERSION by F. Kuegele

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Feb 17, 1890

CONVERSION.

By F. Kuegele

TRUE religion is not a thing merely of theory and speculation, but of experience and practice. A religion by which the heart and soul are not comforted, and which is not applied in practice, is an utterly worthless thing. A conversion which does not bring about a change of heart, mind, and sentiment, is only a delusion, and not a conversion at all. By it a change is brought about, so that we become different people from what we were before; and of this the converted Christian is well aware. You will not understand me as saying that conversion is a peculiar feeling creeping over the skin, or a strange kind of sensation vibrating through the nerves; we know that conversion is not a change of feeling, but a change of heart; not something bodily, but something spiritual,—the hidden, mysterious work of the Spirit of God; nevertheless, conversion is a thing of experience. A converted person may indeed not be able to name the day, time, and place when and where this wonderful work of the Spirit was effected in him, but this he knows, that a great change has occurred within him, and this he knows by many things. He knows that formerly he had no real confidence toward God, but now he has; he knows that formerly his soul had not the trust of being cleansed from sin by the blood of Jesus, but now it has; he knows that formerly he could not pray with the assurance of being heard in heaven, but now he can. So conversion is a thing of experience, because the converted man knows that inwardly he has become another man than he was before; and in the persevering Christian this experience continues and multiplies. The Christian experiences that, though the flesh remains in him, yet he is no more, as he formerly was, led by the flesh, but is led by the Spirit, and is led on step by step. His spiritual knowledge expands so that he sees more clearly the counsel of God unto his salvation, becomes more grounded in the faith of Jesus, more resigned in afflictions, more experienced in battling against sin. If we, therefore, would know whether we are converted to God, and Christians indeed, we must look and see whether we are led by the Spirit of Christ; for if we are led by the Spirit of Christ we are truly Christ's own, as the apostle here says: "If ye be led of the Spirit ye are not under the law."

You might say, then, St. John in his first Epistle, chapter 4, warns us, and says: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world." How then are we to distinguish the Spirit of God from the spirits of delusion? The Lord answers: "Every tree is known by his own fruit." If a spirit makes a great show of godliness, have a little patience to look and see what fruit it will produce, and by the fruit you will be able to tax the nature and quality of the tree. A distinctive mark of the Spirit of Christ is that he leads not only into some, but into all truth, and teaches to avoid not only some, but all sins; for, promising the Holy Ghost, the Lord declared, "He will guide you into all truth;" and to the Ephesians St. Paul writes, "The fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth." Every spirit teaching some truths of the Scriptures and making light of other truths revealed equally clear in the word of God, and every spirit teaching men to walk godly in some things and allowing them unrebuked to transgress in other things, is not the Spirit of God, but a spirit of delusion. Remember, therefore, to judge of the spirits, not by the pretense which they make, but by the fruit which they bring, trying all by the "more sure word of prophecy," and you will be able to distinguish the spirits and to know whether the Spirit of God is in you. The Holy Ghost works this mind and sentiment in the heart, that man wants to err in nothing, but wants to be guided into all truth; that he wants to transgress in nothing, but wants to walk in all righteousness.—Rev. F. Kuegele, in Lutheran Witness.