Biblical teaching discloses the reality of the comprehensive saving work through which sinful humans are reconciled to the triune God's eternally gracious presence. The divine love for humanity, first expressed through the grace of creation and election, culminates eschatologically in the death of Jesus Christ (John 19:30; Rom. 5:6-8; 1 Pet. 3:18). The resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ successively attest to the finality of God's salvific work, thus ushering in the empowering ministry of the Holy Spirit through which the gift of salvation is offered to Jews and Gentiles alike (Acts 1; Rom 8:11). Placed within this eschatologically oriented construal, conversion and sanctification are essentially the Holy Spirit's work of applying Christ's atoning work to us.

THE GRACE OF CONVERSION FROM THE TEXTURES OF SIN

A hallmark of evangelical church life is insistence on a personal conversion experience. Indeed, the gospel message can be summed up as a divine call to conversion of sinners. From the divine side, conversion points to God's electing and transforming grace. From the side of human experience, conversion involves repentance and faith that mark a decisive inauguration of the Christian life. Accordingly, a discussion of conversion calls for phenomenological consideration of the interchange between God and human.