Two Conversions, One Faith

I still remember walking down the aisle, that burgundy-colored carpeted path that led to the altar where my pastor awaited with outstretched arms. Even at the age of fourteen and despite my youth, I understood the significance of that walk. The walk that ended with the pastor embracing me and me accepting Jesus Christ as my Savior.

With tears streaming down my face, I professed belief in God and the resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. Two months later, I was baptized and officially became a Christian. For most Christians this is the epoch of their lives, the point where everything changes and their lives extend out into eternity through their faith in Jesus as savior. For many, baptism is usually viewed as the point of conversion and true salvation, but for me it was only the first step.

In the next several years, I would struggle with the complex intricacies of human nature and the tenets of my faith - all those things that Jesus says in Mark 7: 17-24 that "defile" a person. Becoming a believer in Jesus is supposed to change you - the way you think and the things you do. For a while I had changed, but as I journeyed from adolescence to adulthood I began to realize the hypocrisy in my life choices. It wasn't until my latter twenties that everything changed again and a different conversion took place.

Most Christians view living under grace as being free from the Torah (aka the Law) that God gave the Jewish people in the Old Testament. For many years, as I studied the Bible off and on, I felt that this view was contrary to the continuity of the Bible, but I accepted it because that was what I had been taught. However, in Matthew 5: 17-20, Jesus says, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." It was here that my conversion from a Torah-less Christianity into a Torah-observing Christianity took place and a new baptism unfolded within my heart and mind.

For years I had been a professed believer in God and His Son Jesus but never completely understood how to live by the same Spirit that drew me to walk down the aisle and be baptized. It wasn't until years later after being convicted by the guilt and void of living hypocritically that the Spirit of God led me to find the answers. In Jeremiah 31: 33, God says, "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts." Grace is how those who believe are saved and is only the first step, while learning how to live in that salvation is the second step that lasts a life time.