meaning of the Latin word from which the English comes. The Greek
word, which in the New Testament is translated "convert" or
"conversion," also refers to the act of turning. It is so translated
quite frequently. Thus the same Greek word that is in some places
translated convert, is in other places translated _turned, e.g._,
as in Mark v. 30: "Jesus ... _turned_ him about in the press."
Acts xvi. 18: "But Paul ... _turned_ and said." Matt. xii. 44:
"I will _return_ into my house." Acts xxvi. 18: "To _turn_
them from darkness to light." And so in many other places. It is
plain, then, that the meaning of the word is a turning or facing
about--a returning, or a changing of direction--as if a traveler, on
finding himself going the wrong way, turns, returns, changes his
course, comes back, he converts himself.

Applying this word now to a moral or religious use, it means a
turning from sin to righteousness, from Satan to God. The transgressor
who had been walking in the way of disobedience and enmity against
God, and towards eternal death, is turned about into the way of
righteousness, towards eternal life. This is a change of _direction_,
but it is also something more. It is a change of _state_--from a state
of sin to a state of Grace. It is still more. It is a change of
_nature_--from a sinner unto a saint. It is finally a change of
_relation_--from an outcast and stranger unto a child and heir. Thus
there is an outward and an inward turning, a complete change.

That this is the scriptural meaning of conversion is very clear
from Acts xxvi. 18. The Lord is about to send Paul to the Gentiles for
the purpose of converting them. He describes the work of conversion
thus: _"To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan unto God; that they may receive