How Do You Know if You Are Converted?

 I am currently preparing a detailed exposition of the Sermon on the Mount. I have arrived at 5:20 which reads, "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." [Matthew 5:20, ESV]

That should be an extremely startling question to you. As I begin my analysis of this verse, the first question that comes to my mind is, "How do you know if you are converted"? The second and third questions are related - what are the marks or the signs of genuine conversion? What does genuine conversion look like?

Spurgeon is quoted as saying, "A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats!" This past Sunday, I discovered this to be true. We visited a "church" and sadly they had a very low view of Scripture, however, the pastor had a very high view of himself and his act.

How can a man like that mishandle the word of God so badly and be so proficient at entertaining the crowd that he failed to shepherd the hearts of God's people with the word of God?

Sadly, many "churches" today are filled with goats being entertained by clowns because they are not genuinely converted. Matthew 7:21-23 is one of the most tragic and frightening passage in the New Testament (at least to me).

Jesus' statement to the disciples on that hillside so long ago is almost more relevant today than it was when he made it. In this day of "easy-believeism" and "cheap grace" are you truly converted by God through the power of the Holy Spirit? Will your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the externally holy and compliant scribes and Pharisees?

So, how do YOU know you are genuinely converted? What does genuine conversion look like?