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indicated a personal relationship with God. Jeremiah is a classic example of this for God said to
him, "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you, declares the Lord."
12
Peter would applaud our call for a personal relationship to God through Jesus Christ if we
read his sermon at Pentecost rightly. Echoing our Lord Jesus Christ and John the Baptist before
him, Peter exclaimed "Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for
the forgiveness of your sins."
13
This passage has traditionally been lifted up as a call to a personal
relationship to God through Jesus Christ. Paul, of course, would be the hero of evangelicals as
they stress the personal aspects of a relationship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Did
Paul not say, "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of
sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death?"
14
Certainly, our Lord is pleased with
evangelicals who emphasize a personal relationship with Him. His call is clear: "Come to me, all
you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
15
And again,
"I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
16
The Biblical emphasis upon personal conversion is evident. Old Testament voices focus
upon the possibility and reality of a personal relationship to God. There is no call or indication of
a necessity for that personal relationship, however. And if we look for an invitation or a demand
for "personal conversion," it is not present in the Old Testament. The New Testament revelation
on personal conversion is the source of the evangelical commitment to personal conversion. The
call to repentance is clear. The insistence upon being "born again" is emphatic. It must be
admitted, however, that if one limits personal conversion to a "new birth experience" or "time of
repentance" then one has not caught the full New Testament idea that personal conversion is not