Kicking a habit is not conversion

I think it is great when people tell me they no longer do a certain sin that they were a slave to for a long time. I know a man who got up one morning and said, “That’s it, I am not smoking anymore.” This man smoked all day, every day for 30 years until he quit. As wonderful as that is, it was not a conversion.

People kick all kinds of bad habits. Some do it for health reasons. Others do it for financial reasons. Some even do it for the Lord. But again, stopping a sinful behavior does not automatically make everything right with you and the Lord. That may seem odd, especially if you did it because of the Lord. Let’s take a closer look.

In Acts 3:19, Peter stated, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out…”  It is one thing to stop doing a certain sin, but getting it blotted out is another thing altogether.  Many people forget is that there are consequences to sin. It brings forth spiritual death (Rom. 6:23). This spiritual death means we are separated from God (Isa. 59:1-2; I Pet. 3:12). Knowing this, it is illogical expect that everything is restored as soon as we stop committing wrong.

Imagine a husband who constantly beats his wife. One day he wakes up and says to his wife, “I have decided not to beat you anymore.” Does the wife thank him and rejoice now that everything is okay?  Of course not. Where is the man’s sorrow and the repentance? We are told that godly sorrow leads to repentance (II Cor. 7:10).  Those who want to be saved must repent and then get baptized for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16). We need to make things right with the Lord, not just quit our wrongdoing.

To make things right, we must turn away from sin. However, we must also turn to the Lord and seek forgiveness. If we do not turn to Him, then we are just changing a behavior for ourselves. Christians are to live their lives for the Lord, so consider Him when you are deciding how to proceed in daily life.

  Chuck