“In these godless and worldly times we must earnestly and diligently preach conversion. We must insist on its necessity. We must reason, exhort, convince, beseech, and plead; ‘Turn ye, turn ye; why will ye die?’”

“We must explain from the divine Word what is the nature of this change. We must labor to have the plainest hearer understand this vital subject and his personal relation to it. We must show how God, who alone has the power to give the new life, yet has thrown all the responsibility on man, by putting within his reach the life-bearing means of Grace.”

“It was the lot of the writer of this book to be brought up in the midst of revivalistic surroundings and preaching. As a pastor also his lot has been, at times, cast among proselyting zealots. His Church, his faith, and his people, have been rudely attacked and slandered. It became necessary either to give way or to defend himself and his faith. This made it necessary to study and examine the whole subject of conversion and experimental religion. He has enjoyed the happy experience of finding that the more he studied the matter in the Word of God, the more did he discover that the Church whose name he bears holds, confesses, and teaches on this point also nothing but the pure truth as it is in Jesus.”

“It has been a source of the greatest delight and comfort to discover how the scriptural doctrine meets every difficulty, clears away all doubt, harmonizes seeming contradictions between divine sovereignty and human responsibility, giving all the glory to God, and laying all the responsibility on man.” — Pastor George Gerberding

Book Chapters

• 1 Conversion: Its Nature, Necessity, and Efficient Agencies – Acts 3:19
• 2 The Conversion of The Woman of Samaria – John 4:28-29
• 3 The Conversion Of The Prodigal Son – Luke 15:17-20
• 4 The Conversion of the Publican – Luke 18:13
• 5 The Conversion of Zaccheus – Luke 19:2-9
• 6 The Fall and Re-conversion of Peter – Matt. 26:69-75
• 7 The Conversion of the Dying Thief – Luke 23:39-44
• 8 The Tests and Fruits of a True Conversion as Seen in Peter’s Reinstatement Into the Apostleship – John 21:15-20
• 9 The Conversion of the Three Thousand – Acts 2:37-42
• 10 The Conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch – Acts 8:35-39
• 11 The Conversion of Paul – Acts 9:1-9, 17-18
• 12 The Conversion of Cornelius – Acts 10:1-6
• 13 The Conversion of Sergius Paulus – Acts 13:6-12
• 14 The Conversion of Lydia – Acts 16:13-16
• 15 The Conversion of the Philippian Jailer – Acts 16:25-34
• 16 A Spurious Conversion – Acts 8:9-14, 18-25
• 17 Almost Converted – Acts 24:24-25

Publication Information

• Lutheran Library edition first published: 2017-09-03
• Updated: v6.2021-04-07
• Copyright: CC BY 4.0