What the Bible Says About Conversion

Scripture

¹ But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest
² and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
³ Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him.
⁴ And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
⁵ And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
⁶ But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
⁷ The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.
⁸ Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.
⁹ And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
¹⁰ Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”
¹¹ And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,
¹² and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”
¹³ But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.
¹⁴ And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.”
¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.
¹⁶ For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.
¹⁷ So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
¹⁸ And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized.
¹⁹ and taking food, he was strengthened.

Acts 9:1-19

Acts 22:6-16: ⁶ “As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me.
⁷ And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
⁸ And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’
⁹ Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me.
¹⁰ And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’
¹¹ And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.
And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,
And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.
And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth;
¹⁵ For you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard.
And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.

Acts 26:12-18: ¹² “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.”
¹³ At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me.
And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
¹⁵ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
¹⁶ But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you,
¹⁷ delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
¹⁸ to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

2 Corinthians 5:17-21: ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
¹⁸ All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
¹⁹ that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
²⁰ Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
²¹ For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Romans 6:1-14: What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
² By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
⁷ For one who has died has been set free from sin.
⁸ Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
⁹ We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.
¹⁰ For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.
¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
¹² Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
¹³ Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
¹⁴ For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Ephesians 2:1-10: ¹ And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
³ among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Colossians 3:1-17: ¹ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
² Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
⁴ When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
⁵ Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
⁶ On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
⁷ In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.
⁸ But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.
⁹ Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.
¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
¹¹ Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
¹² Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
¹³ bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
¹⁴ And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
¹⁵ And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
¹⁷ And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Titus 3:3-7: ³ For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
⁴ But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,
⁵ he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
⁶ whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
⁷ so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

1 Peter 1:13-25: ¹³ Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
¹⁴ As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,
¹⁵ but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
¹⁶ since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
¹⁷ And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,
¹⁸ knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,
¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
²⁰ He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you
²¹ who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
²² Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
²³ since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
²⁴ for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,
²⁵ but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

John 3:1-21: ¹ Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
² This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
³ Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
⁸ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.
⁹ Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”
¹⁰ Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?
¹¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.
¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
¹⁹ And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
²⁰ For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
²¹ But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.

Matthew 18:1-4: ¹ At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
² And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them
³ and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Luke 15:11-32: ¹¹ And he said, “There was a man who had two sons.
¹² And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them.
¹³ Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.
¹⁴ And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.
And he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
¹⁶ And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
¹⁷ “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!
¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.
¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
²⁰ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
²¹ And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
²² But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.
²³ And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.
²⁴ For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
²⁵ “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.”
²⁶ And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.
²⁷ And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’
²⁸ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him.
²⁹ but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.
³⁰ But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’
³¹ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
³² It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

Galatians 2:15-21: ¹⁵ We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners;
¹⁶ yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
¹⁷ But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not!
¹⁸ For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.
¹⁹ For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.
²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
²¹ I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Philippians 3:7-14: ⁷ But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
⁸ Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
¹⁰ that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
¹¹ that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
¹² Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
¹³ Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 1:12-17: ¹² I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service,
¹³ though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief.
¹⁴ and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
¹⁵ The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
¹⁶ But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
¹⁷ To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.