Thursday, July 30
A careful study of the book of Acts reveals God through His Spirit working miracles in human lives. Acts is a case study on the gospel’s triumphing over cultural biases, transforming lifelong, deeply ingrained habits, and teaching all humanity Christ’s grace and truth. The Holy Spirit meets people where they are, but He does not leave them there. In His presence, they are changed. Their lives are transformed.
Read Acts 16:11-15, 23-34; Acts 17:33, 34; and Acts 18:8. These are just a few of the conversion stories in the Bible. What do the various accounts teach us about the power of God to change the lives of all sorts of people from various backgrounds?
What an amazing variety of people. Lydia was a prosperous Jewish businesswoman, and the Philippian jailer was a middle-class Roman civil servant. The Holy Spirit can reach all spectrums of society. His power to transform reaches both men and women, rich and poor, educated and uneducated.
The last two characters on our list are equally as remarkable. Acts 17:34 refers to the conversion of Dionysius the Areopagite. The Athenian Areopagites were part of the legal counsel of judges who tried court cases. They were prominent, well-respected members of Greek society.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the ministry of the apostle Paul reached even the upper echelon of society. Crispus (Acts 18:8) was a ruler of the Jewish synagogue. He was a religious leader steeped in Jewish Old Testament thought, and the Holy Spirit broke through and changed his life. These case histories reveal that as we witness for Christ and share His Word with others, the Holy Spirit will do remarkable things in the lives of all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds, cultures, education, and beliefs. We cannot and must not make assumptions about who can or cannot be reached. Our job is to witness to anyone and everyone brought into our lives. The Lord will do the rest.
Christ’s death was universal; that is, it was for every human being, ever. What should this crucial truth teach us about how we should never assume that anyone is beyond the hope of salvation?
