Conversion Arises From Within

Conversion Arises From Within

By Alvin Petty

In the classic work, The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James, James states that conversion arises from within a person from their subconscious or we might say from their soul where the right is known but may not be paid attention to. The soul is our true self. It is eternal and it is connected to God. Becoming aware of this connection and paying attention to it brings us into God consciousness which is salvation. Conversion then comes from within and not by invasion from without.

In Luke 17: 21 Jesus said to the unbelieving Pharisees, “For behold the Kingdom of God is within you (in your hearts) and among you (surrounding you).” (Amplified Bible). These words are not spoken to his disciples but people who are not changed, not converted. So we ask is the kingdom of God in all of us? And the answer is yes. The Kingdom of God abides in the soul of the changed and the unchanged. Salvation arises and Christ comes to dwell in us when we listen to our own true self, our soul, and seek to develop our relationship to God. Then we are conscious of the Christ within and can follow him by listening to the inner voice of our true self which is the voice of Divine Spirit or Christ to us. This salvation is an inner experience that is already there but we are not awakened to it.

Of course those who have been spiritually changed, see, inherit, feel, and follow the guidance of the Rule of God in their heart. They follow the laws of the Kingdom and therefore have the resources of God working for them. As E. Stanley Jones said in his marvelous book, Abundant Living, “ The Kingdom works with them and not against them. Those who are not changed find the Kingdom is within them, but they are at cross purposes with it. In the changed person the Kingdom works as self realization, and in the unchanged person it works as self frustration. But it is there in both.” (p. 11).

The laws our soul seeks to remind us of are the very laws of God. They are not imposed upon us but they are written into the very structure of our being. They are in our different cells and tissues. They flow through our bloodstream. Just as an engineer stamps into an engine as to how it is to work, God has stamped onto us how we are to work. We are to work according to rule and law of God. The Old Testament calls this inner stamping the image of God. A train is made to run on the tracks but if it jumps the tracks it loses its freedom and self destructs. By staying on the tracks it was made for, it finds freedom, does its work and gets to where it is destined to be. (Borrowed from Abundant Living, P.11).

We need to learn to listen to the Kingdom of God within us for freedom, efficiency, and fulness of life which are built into your being and mine. Let us learn from our soul by choosing God’s Rule!