1. ICEL Conversion to God

2. ICEL 1. By nature, we all want to go our own way. Isaiah 53: 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way. 1 Peter 2: 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

3. ICEL 2. To be converted is to turn around (epistrepho). Mark 8: 33 But Jesus turned around, and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter. Acts 26: 20 I preached that they should repent and turn to God.

4. ICEL 3. Real conversion is always to God and to Christ. Acts 11: 20-21 They began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus... And a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

5. ICEL 4. We also need to be converted from the old life. 1 Thessalonians 1: 9 They tell how you turned to God from idols. Acts 26: 18 I am sending you to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God.

6. ICEL 5. A true conversion to Christ has immediate effects. Acts 3: 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out. James 5: 19 Whoever turns a sinner away from his error will save him from death. 2 Corinthians 3: 14,16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

7. ICEL 6. Whoever is truly converted, bears the fruits of conversion. 1 Thessalonians 1: 9 You turned to God... to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven.

8. ICEL 7. A renewed conversion may sometimes be necessary Luke 22: 31-32 Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.