1 Thess. 1:9; Acts 14:8-18, The Converted Church

Being a Christian demands a good pair of “trifocals”  as this chart demonstrates.

PAST	PRESENT	FUTURE
v3: Faith	v3: Love	v3: Hope
v9-10: Conversion	Service	Waiting
v10: Christ Incarnate	Christ Resurrected	Christ Delivering

Today we are considering the phrase: how you turned to God from idols (1:9).  This was well-known about these believers.  They had literally turned around.   It is used of someone who just turns around (Mt. 9:22);  Peter called the people to repent and be converted (Ac. 3:19); many people turned to the Lord (Ac. 9:35); God promised to open the eyes of the Gentiles to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God (Ac. 26:18).  All these uses can be applied to the Thessalonians.  

·        It was an immediate conversion.  This is based in the Greek tense of the word which indicates it was a decision with immediate results.

·        It was a deliberate conversion.  The tense denotes deliberate choice.  Furthermore in Scripture conversion involves the action of men.  Read Lk. 1:16, James 5:19-20 and Ac. 9:35 and you will see why in W. E. Vine’s NT dictionary he says that in no case is God, Christ or the Holy Spirit, said to turn, or convert, anyone.  It is tied to the gospel ministry of believers and the response to the gospel of sinners.

·        It was a visible conversion.  This is suggested to us by the word ‘how’ in the phrase we are considering.  But it is fundamental to the definition of the word.  Change is the essence of conversion.

·        It was a forward conversion.  They turned to God from idols.  Some had known of God through their ties to Judaism as God-fearers.  Others may have paid attention to the voice of creation.  But they came to know they were sinners, turned away from the Creator, and at enmity against God.  They turned away from idols, those worthless things (Ac. 14:15), as Paul called them.  The world is full of tourist spots famous for statues of gods or goddesses.  Every religion except Christianity has them.  You may have remarked as to the beauty of these images.  But we need to remember that Scriptures condemns the whole system of idolatry.  It was a major problem in OT Israel and it was the former life of NT believers.  

·        It was a Biblical conversion.  In Acts 3:19 to repent is properly to change your mind.  Conversion is an act of the will, the actually change.  Unlike Judas who only had remorse over his sin (Mt. 27:3,5) so that he killed himself, the Thessalonians through Godly sorrow that resulted in true repentance.

It doesn’t matter how old you were when you were saved or if you grew up in a Christian home.  If you have trusted in Christ you have turned to the Lord. And it will show more and more as you grow in His grace and knowledge.