Counting Converts

Counting Converts

“...If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed...”
John 8:31

The report comes: “We had ten people saved this week! Isn’t this great!” Oh, how we love to hear reports like that. The sad fact is, we are often too hasty in counting converts. Any honest consideration of most modern day converts will show that there is rarely any lasting evidence that anything has taken place (2 Cor 5:17). I am not suggesting that we should take individuals who make a profession and place them on a 90-day probation period before they earn their stripes as a Christian, so-to-speak. I am saying we should dust off our Bibles and line up with God’s Word.

Consider the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2). The Bible says there were about 3,000 saved (Vs. 41). Is this written because they responded at the altar call? No, God used Luke to write this account many years after this event took place and Luke explains his reason for classifying these converts in the next verse: “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles` doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Vs. 42). You see, the proof of true conversion is not a “profession”, it is a transformed life that endures. Instead of boasting about perceived results, let us serve God diligently so that we may see true results. Let us not be satisfied for people to merely profess Jesus Christ as Lord—let us strive to see them possess Jesus Christ as Lord.

For a better Biblical understanding on evidence of genuine conversion, please see our Evangelism Study Guide: True and False Converts.

Other Resources of Interest

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Laboring in Your Field of Harvest