A Call to the Unconverted (excerpts)
by Richard Baxter (1615-1691)
“Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way, and live. Turn, Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel ” Ezekiel 33:11.
Before we proceed, I will explain the difference between one who is converted and one who is not.
The Unconverted Person
First, the unconverted or wicked person is one whose chief interests are on earth. He loves his fleshly prosperity above heavenly things, thus He favors the things of the flesh, but neither discerns nor savors the things of Spirit. Although he may say that heaven is better than earth, he really does not believe it to be true, for if he could be sure of earth, he would let go of heaven, and be content to remain on earth. A life of perfect holiness, in the sight of God, and in God’s love and praise forever in heaven, does not find such appeal in his heart as a life of health, wealth, and honor on earth. And though he may falsely profess that he loves God above all, he never felt the power of divine love within him, but his mind is more set on the world or on fleshly pleasures than on God. In a word, whoever loves earth above heaven, and fleshly prosperity more than God, is an unconverted person.
A converted person, on the other hand is illuminated to discern the loveliness of God; and so believes the glory that is to be had with God, that his heart is set more on it than anything in this world. He would rather see the face of God, and live in His everlasting love and praises, than have all the wealth or pleasures of the world. He sees that everything else is vanity, and nothing except God can fill the soul, and therefore, let the world go whatever way it wants, he lays up his treasures and hopes in heaven, and for that he resolves to let go of all. As the fire mounts upwards, and the compass needle still points to the north, so the converted soul is inclined to God. Nothing else can satisfy him, nor can he find any content and rest but in His love. In a word, all who are converted love God better than all the world; and heavenly things are dearer to them than fleshly prosperity. The proof of what I have said you may find in the following Scriptures: Philippians 3:18, 21; Matthew 6:19-21; Colossians 3:1-5; Romans 8:5-9, 18, 23; Psalm 73:25-26.
Second, a wicked person is one who makes it his principal business to prosper in the world, and attain his fleshly goals. Though he may read and hear and do much in the outward duties of religion, and avoid disgraceful sins, he never makes it the principal business of his life to please God, and attain everlasting glory, and he puts off God with the attractions of the world, and gives God no more service than his own flesh can spare; for he will not part with the earth for heaven.
On the contrary, a converted person makes it the principal business of his life to please God, and to be saved, and he takes all the blessings of this life merely as accommodations in his journey towards another life, and uses the world only in subordination to God. He loves a holy life, and longs to be more holy; he has no sin except that which he hates, longs, prays and strives to be rid of. The drift and bent of his life is for God; and, if he sins, it is contrary to the very bent of his heart and life, and therefore he rises again and laments it, and dares not willfully live in any known sin. There is nothing in this world so dear to him that he cannot give it up to God and forsake it for Him. All this you may see in Colossians 3:1-5; Matt. 6:20, 33; Luke 18:22-23, 29; Luke 14:18, 24, 26-27; Romans 13; Luke 12:21, etc.
Thirdly, the soul of an unconverted person never truly discerns and relishes the mystery of redemption, nor does it thankfu1ly entertain an offered Savior. He is not taken up with the love of the Redeemer, nor willing to be ruled by Him as the physician of his soul, that he may be saved from the guilt and power of his sins, and recovered unto God; but his heart is insensible of this unspeakable benefit, and is quite against the healing means by which he should be recovered. Though he may be willing to be carnally religious, yet his soul is never resigned to Christ, and to Christ’s word and spirit.
On the contrary, the converted soul, having felt himself undone by sin, and perceiving that he has lost his peace with God and hopes of heaven, and is in danger of everlasting misery, ponders the truths of redemption with thankfulness, and, believing in the Lord Jesus as his only Savior, resigns himself to Him for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He takes Christ as the life of his soul and lives by Him, and uses Him as a salve for every sore, admiring the wisdom and love of God in this wonderful work of man’s redemption. In a word, Christ dwells in his heart by faith, and the life that he now lives is by the faith of the Son of God, who loved him, and gave Himself for him. For these truths in Scripture, see Job 1:11-12, and 3:20; John 15: 2-4; 1 Corinthians 1:20, and 2:2.
You see now, in plain terms from the Word of God, who are the unconverted (or wicked) and who are the converted. Uninformed people think if a person is not a swearer, or a verbal abuser, or a drunkard, or a fornicator, or an extortioner, or has not wronged anybody in their dealings, and if they come to church, and say their prayers, take the sacraments, and sometimes extend their hands to the relief of the poor, that such could not be an unconverted person. Or if one has been guilty of drunkenness, or swearing, or gambling, or similar vices, and then forsakes them, they think that this is a converted man. Others think that if one who has been an enemy and scorner at godliness, but then approves it, and joins himself with those who are godly, and is hated for it by the wicked, as the godly are, then this must be a converted person. Some think they are converted by the fact that they have come to a new opinion [or belief]. And some think, if they have come to a fear of hell, and had conviction and struggles of conscience, and because of that have purposed and promised to mend their ways, and follow a life of proper behavior and religious observance, that this must be true conversion. Indeed, these last ones are the poor deluded souls who are likely to lose the benefit of all our persuasions; for, when they hear that the wicked must turn or die, they think that this is not spoken to them; for they are not wicked, but are turned already. And therefore it is as when Christ told some of the rulers of the Jews who were more dignified civil than the common people, that “publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of Christ before them” (Matt. 21:31) – not that a harlot or other bold sinner can be saved without conversion, but because it was easier to make these perceive their sin and misery, and the necessity of a change, than the more righteous ones who delude themselves by thinking that they are converted already, when they are not.
The Converted Person
O people, conversion is a different kind of work than most are aware of! It is not a small matter to bring an earthly mind to heaven, and to show man the amiable excellencies of God, till he is overwhelmed by such love to Him that it can never be quenched; to break the heart for sin, and make him fly for refuge to Christ, and thankfully embrace Him as the life of his soul; to have the very drift and direction of the heart and life changed; so that he renounces that which he took for good fortune, and places his treasure where he never did before, and no longer lives for the same purpose, and is not driven by the same love for the world as he formerly was: in a word, he that is in Christ is a “new creation”: “old things are passed away, behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17). He has a new understanding, a new will and resolution, new sorrows, and desires, and love, and delight: new thoughts, new speeches, new company, (if possible) and new conversation. Sin, which was previously amusing to him, is now so distasteful and terrible to him, that he flees from it as from death. The world, which was so lovely in his eyes, now troubles him and appears as nothing but vanity.
God, who was before neglected, is now his only happiness. Whereas before, God was forgotten, and every lust preferred before Him: now He is set next to his heart, and all things must give place to Him. His heart is now occupied with God, and is grieved when He hides His face, and never thinks itself well without Him. Christ Himself, who was once only slightly thought of, is now his only hope and refuge, and he lives upon Him as on his daily bread; he cannot pray without Him, nor rejoice without Him, nor think, nor speak, nor live without Him. Heaven itself, which once was little more than an escape from hell when he could no longer hold onto the world, is now taken for his home, the place of his only hope and rest, where he shall see, and love, and praise that God who fills his heart already. Hell, which seemed nothing more than a bug-bear to frighten men from sin, now is a real place that is not to be ventured on, nor jested with.
The works of holiness, which he once was weary of, and it seemed concerned some people more than necessary, are now both his recreation and his business. The Bible, which before was to him little more than a common book, is now as the law of God, as a letter written to him from heaven, signed with the name of the eternal Majesty; it is the rule of his thoughts, and words, and deeds; its commands are binding, its threats are dreadful, and the its promises speak life to his soul. The godly, who seemed to him not unlike other people, are now the most excellent and happiest on earth. And the wicked, who were his play-fellows, are now his grief; and he, who could laugh at their sins, is now more ready to weep for their sin and misery (Psalm 16:3 and 15:4; Phil. 3:18).
In short, he has a new purpose in his thoughts, and a new way in his endeavors, and therefore his heart and life are new. Before, his carnal self was his end; his own pleasures and worldly profits were his way; but now, God and everlasting glory are his end; Christ, the Spirit, the Word, holiness to God, righteousness, and mercy to others, these are his way. Before, self was his chief ruler; to which the matters of God and conscience must stoop and give place. Now God in Christ, by the spirit, Word and ministry, have become that chief ruler, and to Him all the matters of self must give place. This conversion, then, is not a change in one, or two, or twenty points, but in the whole soul, and in the very purpose and direction of his life. A person may step out of one path into another, and yet be facing the same way, and be still going towards the same place: But it is another matter to turn completely back again, and take his journey going the opposite way. So it is here: a person may turn from drunkenness to thriftiness, and forsake his good fellowship, and other blatant, disgraceful sins, and set himself upon some duties of religion, and yet be still going the same way as before, satisfying his carnal self above all else, and giving it still the control of his heart and soul. But, when he is converted, this self is denied and taken down, and God is set up, and his face is turned the other way; and he, who once was addicted to himself, and lived to himself, is now by sanctification devoted to God, and lives unto God. While he once asked himself what he should do with his time, his energy, and his possessions, now he asks God what he shall do with them, and uses them for Him. Before, he would please God only so far as might go along with the pleasure of his flesh and carnal self, but now, he determines please God, though flesh and self be ever so much displeased. This is the great change that God will make upon all that shall be saved.
About the Author
Richard Baxter (1615-91) was one of the greatest of the English Puritan pastors and authors, most associated with the church at Kidderminster which he pastored for twenty years until he and other “nonconformists” were forced from their official ministry by an act of Parliament. Of his ministry there, it is said that “He found the place a desert and left it a garden,” and when George Whitefield came to Kidderminster 100 years later, he said to a friend, “I was greatly refreshed to find what a sweet savor of good Mr. Baxter’s doctrine works and discipline remain to this day.” Baxter was a passionate preacher, who “preached as never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying men.” A man of extraordinary diligence despite his lifelong ill health, he was a prolific author, even more so than his contemporary John Owen, often writing while imprisoned for the faith. He was especially concerned not with theory but with practical divinity. In addition to his A Call to the Unconverted, which had a profound effect on both Spurgeon and Whitefield, he is most noted for his devotional work, The Saints’ Everlasting Rest, and for his passionate call for the spiritual and moral reformation of ministers, The Reformed Pastor, which has remained a classic for over 300 years.