To What are We Converted?
In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus was asked a question by a "lawyer": “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Notice that Jesus' response did not provide any fuel for accusation, and did not leave out any of the important aspects of the law. Instead, it reinforced the importance of keeping the law out of an attitude of love for God and fellow man (rather than as a tradition, ritual, or out of a sense of duty or just habit).
A. “Love the Lord…All the Commandments must be kept.
B. “Love thy Neighbor” - covers all responsibilities to mankind.
These verses also cause one to consider the act of conversion...and to what is one converted? Is it to a group of people or a set of laws? Is it to a religion of family? Or are we converted to Christ, the one that died for each of us?
I. Many believe, but not with all the heart
John 14:42; Jnes 2:19
II. Many Repent, but not with all the heart
A. Matt 3:7-9
1. Genealogy not adequate
2. Bear Fruit
B. 2 Cor 7:9-10
1. Godly sorrow produces repentance - Psa 51:3-4
2. Sorrow of the world produces death
III. Many Confess, but not with all the heart
A. Matt 10:32-33; but not by daily lives
B. Rom 10:9-10; but Jesus is not Lord of their lives.
IV. Many are Baptized, but not with all the heart.
A. Purpose is often incorrect.
1. Some are just initiated into a denomination.
2. Some just respond to pressure.
B. “Into Christ: - Gal 3:26-27
C. Obedience is from the heart – Rom 6:17-18
D. Authority may be incorrect – Acts 19:1-5
E. For the remission of sin - Acts 2:38
V. Many Obey; but not with all the heart - Matt 7:21-23
A. Not the one who says, but the doer
B. What they say is in His name; He calls iniquity.