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***Conversion as an ongoing process is indeed authentically Christian***

I've heard it said that conversion is a crisis and a process.

***But how comfortable you are, as an Evangleical, with the notion that an initial act of faith needs to be a struggle sustained by unending work?***

Perhaps I misunderstand you, but I would say that a person who is struggling to secure their justification by unending work is either unconverted or has fallen away from grace...

"I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness." - Gal 5 2-6

Having said that, it is true that a person, once converted, enters into a warfare - a struggle against the world, the devil and their own fallen human nature. This struggle is unavoidable in the life of a believer because the Holy Spirit now resides in them and it is His will to "clean them up" so to speak. This is the struggle of sanctification.

Justification is not a struggle. It is a gift, freely given by grace and received using the instrument of simple, childlike faith. Justification make us instantly acceptable in God's sight - because God sees us, as it were, covered in the blood of Christ. This requires no work by us, just a simple acceptance of the death of Christ on our behalf.

(If I may be permitted to use a personal experience.) Before I was converted I knew that Christ was calling me to follow him. I struggled against this for a long time because I did not want anyone to interfere with my life. I wanted to be the master of my own ship.

But God allowed circumstances to come into my life which wrecked my "ship" and brought me to my knees. From this vantage point I was able to truly see myself, my stupidity and sinfulness. But despite all that, despite all my sin and my long rebellion against him, I realized that Christ still loved me and wanted me to follow him. He could heal my wreck of a life if I would give it to him. But there was now to be one difference - now he was to be in charge.

I accepted his offer and gave myself to him. In the days following I literally felt like I had been snatched from one universe and placed in another. I felt as if I was totally clean and that a great burden had been taken off my shoulders. I felt the the love of God shining on me like continuous sunshine. Suddenly, things that used to never bother my conscience would deeply grieve me Things that I previously thought were good I knew to be bad. Whenever I had prayed before in my life it had been dead and a drudgery. Now when I prayed I felt like I was talking to a dearest friend. I used to be apathetic to reading the Bible - now when I read it, it seemed electrified. My one goal and my one pleasure became getting to know Christ better and doing those things which pleased him.

I caught a lot of grief. A lot of people I knew began to mock me and many of my former friends dropped me. But to be honest, I was so thrilled with my new relationship with Christ that I hardly noticed.

From that initial point on, this new power that entered my life (which I recognize from the Bible to be the Holy Spirit) has stayed with me, kept me and guided me for many years. It almost seems like his power is a great magnet that continually "draws" me to God - in spite of my own many failures and weaknesses. I do not struggle to hold on to God, HE is holding me. But my job is to yield to His power, His influence, His will - especially when it goes against that which I would prefer.

So it doesn't seem to be so much an "unending work" as an "unending relationship" which is sustained by Him. His, "yoke is easy" and his "burden is light". They only time it gets hard is when I make it hard for myself by failing to choose what I know He wants me to choose.

(I would love to hear your thoughts and please forgive me for being so long-winded.)