Convinced, but not Converted.
By E. H. Whitney
The above words were written on the margin of a REVIEW which, with other of our publications, had been loaned a young lady friend and neighbor. The state of her mind was more fully revealed by conversation afterward. She had felt that she had given up all for Jesus; but when this Sabbath truth was presented to her, and had been honestly and candidly investigated, a new cross lay before her—a heavy cross: the scorn of the world, separation from friends to a great extent, increased difficulty perhaps in the struggle for daily bread and raiment. There it lies with its inscription, “And whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” “If ye love Me, keep my commandments.” Will she lift it? The question is one between God and her own soul, whether she will, with David, make haste and delay not to keep all of God’s commandments, or turn again to the traditions of men and the observance of a day which to her has already lost its sacredness. We cannot decide for her. “All has been done for me that can be done. What remains I must do myself,” she has said with reference to the decision, and she understands her own case and the fearful responsibilities involved. What is this conversion which she so honestly admitted she lacked? What is conversion but a turning away from old courses and carrying out our convictions in our lives? Of what profit is the theory of the truth if not carried into practice? What will it avail us to believe if we do not act? Do not “the devils also believe and tremble”? How shall we escape their fate if we acknowledge truth, but fail from any cause to obey? “But how can I lift this cross situated as I am? Surely in my case God will accept the will for the deed,” say some. Is this conversion? Can there be conversion without obedience? “Except ye be converted and become as little children ye shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven.” God accepts no compromises. He will have the whole, and it is but our reasonable service. Saul tried to compromise, and how was his service received? Shall we fare better? Can we in view of eternal life, refuse to give up what we are called upon to yield here, and with open eyes straightway accept death as our portion? Or can we be so blinded by this world’s interests as to believe them to be of greater importance than eternity? There are many cases like this where conviction comes home to hearts when the truth is heard, though few so honestly acknowledge it, and fewer still have the courage to obey. And not with regard to the main truths of our faith alone, but in our daily experience we who have already accepted these, and profess to be trying to live them out, meet with convictions. Are we converted? If we are living up to all the light we have, we must needs have a daily conversion as we are daily convicted. And while we see the danger in the case of others, let us realize the perils of our own situation, if when, by the spirit of prophecy, the faithfulness of friends, or the workings of the Holy Spirit in our own hearts, we are convicted of any error in our lives, we refuse to yield to the conviction, and persevere in a course which will surely lead us away from God. Light will come to us no faster than we will walk in it. If we refuse to follow our present clear convictions of duty, we may be sure that no new light will come to us; and the way that leads round the cross ends not in peace. Let us try to yield to every God-given conviction of duty, be grateful for any means by which our sins may be shown us while we have space for repentance, however humiliating it may be to our carnal natures, seeking for true conversion and submission to God’s will, and he will surely lead us from victory to victory till the last sin shall have been overcome and we shall be pure from every stain of sin, washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.