If you were to die today and stand before God and He were to ask you, “Why should I let you into My heaven,” what would you say?  A lot of people respond by saying something like this: "I have lived a good life, I have been a good person, or I have tried to help people." Or they might say, "I have gone to church. I have been baptized."

 
All of these answers seem to be so very reasonable to the vast majority of the world. And the world seeks to comfort themselves with responses like these. But such responses do not address the core issue of salvation.  They give far too much credit to human effort and fail to appreciate the lost condition of mankind. The core issue of salvation is not about how good we are or what we have done.  The core issue of salvation is whether or not we have been born again.
 
This week we will cover the third vital sign of a healthy church—a biblical understanding of conversion.
 
In John 3 we read of a very religious leader named Nicodemus.  He came to Jesus because he wanted to see the kingdom of God.  Jesus didn’t tell him that all he needed to do was keep up the good work, keep living a good moral life, or keep going to religious services.  Instead, Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed a whole new life, and that only God can give it.  No matter how good a person you may be, you will never be able to enter the Kingdom of God on your own effort.
 
Do you see why understanding this is important to good spiritual health?  If you understand your conversion to be something you do on your own instead of something God does in you, then you do not have a biblical understanding of conversion.   Of course conversion certainly includes taking action.  You have to make a sincere commitment.  You have to make a self-conscious decision. You have to repent of your sins and trust in Christ.   But real conversion is more than that.  Real conversion requires a new heart.  It calls for a transformed mind.  It involves the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  But we can’t bring these things about on our own.  We need God to convert us.